If you’re a long-time reader, you probably already know that I hate being asked what my favorite anime is. However, sometimes picking a favorite anime of the current season is a bit easier. Now to be fair, while I do have a Funimation subscription too, I’ve only been paying attention to Crunchyroll this season. Sorry, Funimation, you might be on my Roku 4, but Crunchyroll is on my Apple TV 4, and I like the Apple TV 4 better.
This season has been tough to call until now. Episode 9 of The Perfect Insider: Everything Becomes F came out just a few hours ago and it has – by far – the best plot bombshell I’ve seen in years. I’ll keep this spoiler-free, but I highly recommend a 6-point harness while watching episode 9 if you understand the technical bits of computers. It’s genius (and yes, for those who have watched the episode, what happened is technically possible.)
Now, let me get this out of the way now: is The Perfect Insider an anime I’d recommend to everyone? No. Even as one from the legendary noitaminA block, still no. The Perfect Insider is a murder-mystery that absolutely requires your full attention (well maybe not so much on the recap episode, which was greatly disappointing to see in a noitaminA series) but yes, that does include the painful Engrish scene. It’s one of those series that will likely have you picking up on more important bits with a re-watch – and not in the form of that re-cap episode, but it does raise a couple.
The Perfect Insider is not an easy-watch series. With few exceptions, it is very much a serious series with a detailed, complex plot that has very little humor in it, the notable exception being a scene that starts off light-hearted but very quickly turns to absolutely serious, and one of the very important scenes in the series. To fully enjoy The Perfect Insider, you really need to pay close attention to the point that I’d actually recommend shutting phones off. It’s almost too easy to miss an important detail.
Since the season isn’t over yet, I don’t want to turn this into a review of The Perfect Insider. I prefer to save my reviews until after I’ve completed a series (In the case of continuing series – ie: YuruYuri – completing the season; In the case of a 26-episode series season that stretches over two anime seasons – ie: SHIROBAKO – until the end of the series‘ season). That being said, I don’t know where The Perfect Insider will go from here. Episode 9 was, in my opinion, the best of the series so far. That does set my expectations pretty high for its conclusion. I’m hoping they’ll be met. Nonetheless, The Perfect Insider is my favorite series of the season at we approach the season’s end. If you like mysteries, a touch of horror, and can devote your full attention to an episode, I strongly recommend it. If you enjoyed Another, I definitely recommend it. You can watch The Perfect Insider as it airs on Crunchyroll*.
*May not be streamable in all regions due to licensing restrictions.
