Dennou Coil Series
Dennou Coil is likely a show that many people are familiar with, but given its now somewhat dated release window for those keeping up with current shows it has likely slipped through the gap for many others. Conceptually
Dennou Coil is simple. It targets youths adventuring around their own hometown, donning glasses that let blend the real world with virtual pieces. This passage to a digital realm opens up a world these children have mostly to themselves, where they can interact with virtual pets, monsters, warfare, and even entire spaces. This is a space where the imaginary teeters closer and closer to reality in a format that is easily shared by an entire group of children. Even with this basic set up of children exploring and roaming around their hometown as virtual delinquents,
Dennou Coil's comprehensive attention to detail provides rich thematic elements that really have time to bloom as the story matures.
One of the most notable things about
Dennou Coil is how coherent and well thought out the world is. The virtual world of the glasses is well established in terms of its potential; we see the creatures it can bring forward, both intentionally and unintentionally, and we are introduced to the interactions glasses users can have with the world. The boundaries of that are regularly pushed, but the mechanical workings of the virtual space all feel concrete. Lurking just behind that this rich history exists for this world that our cast is running around, spanning multiple generations while being presented in ways that never feels overbearing. We see the effects of characters left behind in the world inside virtual spaces, we know there are numbered cyber detectives in Mega-baa's employment who are unaccounted for from t he start, and we can tell that the hidden motivations for characters lies in the past rather than the future. Purpose for many characters lies in discovery, redemption, or atonement, and all of these feel meaningful because they are events closely tied to the past.
The well established world of
Dennou Coil serves as an incredibly solid foundation for its thematic elements to be taken seriously. When Daichi is confronted with the loss of his gang of friends when he's dethroned as the leader you get the sense of inadequacy that's felt afterwards, but it means more because the club itself has a history with Daichi booting people out of the club. Stuff like this seems kind of trivial on the surface, but it makes the characters here feel all the richer for it, and as the plot continues to introduce heavier moments it still manages to maintain this tie between the past and the present.
It has to be mentioned, but it isn't just the characters themselves who feel richly detailed. The production on
Dennou Coil is lavish in a way few other runs of television anime can stand up to. Backgrounds are heavily layered and stunningly realized, providing a maze of houses and buildings, intensely attractive but plain enough to feel like a genuine and familiar world. They provide the perfect setting for the imaginative set pieces and outstanding character animation, loaded with intense and colorful expressions that sell the emotion of scenes. Characters carry unique postures that fit to their personalities, with reserved characters folding their limbs in or taking up unassuming stances while brasher characters pop with hunched over figures that help them fill the expertly framed shots. There are even small subtleties to stupid things like run animations, with the main character carrying a daintier gait up until the climax of the entire show where she breaks into a full on run that carries a heavy confidence to it. Top all of this off with phenomenal but subtle effect and lighting work that helps to sell the virtual world here by distorting images and you have something that is truly special on a visual level.
Dennou Coil is astounding in every respect, spanning from a focus on what seems like delightful nostalgia for playing around as children to horror elements that mirror zombie movies. Its range is remarkable, and it executes exceptionally on each element that is brought forward. Its fun side is amusing and engaging, and its emotional side feels well realized and thoughtful. It is incredible that a show like this exists, and it should be experienced by as many people as possible because we will likely never see something like it again.
