Written by Dai_Loli
Dystopia. A society that often appears to be utopic but actually represses its citizens through overwhelming surveillance and unchanging, strict laws that protect its own interests.
More often than not, dystopias are depicted in science fiction works as futuristic cities where technology and security regulate all aspects of its inhabitants' lives. Its residents live normal lives, but things spiral into chaos and despair if they dare rebel against the established laws. As a recent example, currently airing Steins;Gate's (amazing anime, by the way~) cast strives to prevent a future where
such a dystopia is enforced, as any rebellious act against it are met with deadly force.
Sion, the protagonist of No.6, lives in such a society in the titular town “No.6”. Being a gifted child, he has been given everything from a very young age: wealth, access to the best facilities and the opportunity to pursue his dreams through higher education. He is pure at heart, kind and always seeking more knowledge.
His sheltered life, however, has left him rather clueless and inexperienced about life in general.
His life takes a sudden turn when a fugitive boy stumbles into his room on a stormy night. This boy,
Nezumi (japanese for “rat”), is the complete opposite of Sion: wild, violent, snide and cautious. Their encounter is nevertheless unforgettable, as they are intrigued by each others' radically different mentalities. Instead of reporting him to the authorities, Sion takes him in, treats his wounds, feeds him and shelters him for the night. The next morning, he finds his new friend gone without a trace. The police in search of Nezumi quickly find that he visited Sion's house and, having neglected his duty as an upstanding citizen of No.6, strip him of everything, shutting the door on his promising future.
Fast forward 4 years later, Sion works a low paying job as a park attendant and witnesses the rotten corpse of a man lying on the park grounds. Hours after having reported the body, he is shocked to hear the news report tell a false tale about the body they found and voices his concern to his colleague. Having barely ended their conversation, his co-worker suddenly begins aging at ludicrous speed, his life sapped away right in front of Sion's eyes, ending with the grotesque sight of a wasp erupting from the corpse's neck.
After reporting the incident, police come and escort him to the Bureau of Public Security for interrogation, but actually unveil that they recorded his outrage about the news lying to the viewers. They thus suspect he has something against the way the city runs and are taking him to a correctional facility. On the way, Nezumi sets a trap for the policemen, saves him and manages to bring him outside of the city's walls where he lives, in order to protect him from a city that no longer wants him. Now with truly nothing left, how will Sion adapt to this situation?
How will his relationship with Nezumi evolve and what is the mystery behind the strangely convenient deaths of No.6?
You might think I spent a lot of time detailing the foundations of the plot, but I found it necessary in order to not let you all fall for the trap that is the first episode. Although the encounter and relationship with Nezumi are crucial to the story, it was a bad idea to put the rest of the plot on the back burner until the second episode where things are finally put into perspective and move at a much brisker pace.
Based on a 9-volume series of novels written by Atsuko Asano that started out in 2003 and just recently concluded this year, No.6 also made its debut as a manga this year, and now, with an anime adaptation upon us, one can begin to assume No.6 is onto something good. After seeing five episodes, I must agree that No.6's blend of conspiracy investigation, swift action and focus on human relationships is showing promise.
The show also makes unexpected references to classical tales such as
Hamlet by William Shakespeare and The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde. The latter of which rings particularly true with the theme of the anime, as The Happy Prince tells the tale of the statue of a now dead prince that knew nothing of sorrow as he lived sheltered from the outside his whole life. The statue, however, witnesses the desolation and poverty of the city and sacrifices its own body and life in order to try and save them. The swallow that falls in love with and aids the statue in its quest could also easily be tied to Nezumi.
Actually, that last line rings even truer than you might expect, and this is where I touch upon the aspect of this anime that is inevitably going to turn off a lot of you (and, mind you, that includes myself). I kept it for last because I wanted to try and first convince you that No.6 has everything it takes to be a noteworthy anime and stand on its own against the rest of this season's offerings, which is more than I can say for the other animes boasting this particular element.
Enough beating around the bush: No.6 is a shoujo, it's written by a girl, for girls. The two main male characters are thus great friends... maybe a bit too great, actually, with hand holding and compliments such as “you're warm yourself” in the first episode only. They get attached a bit too much, get very emotional at times and do and say things you wouldn't exactly try on your fellow heterosexual male friends. That's not saying anything overtly gay has yet happened after five episodes, though, as it has all been kept on the down low and tolerable levels, but it's definitely there. The opening theme starts with a rainbow streaming down vertically across the sky, for crying out loud. Bottom line is, if you're homophobic,
watching No.6 will trigger some alarms for you, and it might ruin your enjoyment of the rest of the anime.
As a final word, No.6 has made me think. There are countless girls out there putting up with the anime industry's tendency to put scantily clad ladies strolling around and experiencing wardrobe malfunctions at least twice every episode, all in the interest of following stories they enjoy and characters they admire despite the exposed skin. No.6 shows us a compelling plot rigged with mystery, characters with depth and emotion and a very commendable animation effort by studio Bones. Are we not going to give all that a chance because of the presence of some mild Boys Love atmosphere? Your call, really.
Enter, here, the story of Usagi Drop.
