DRAMAtical Murder

"DRAMAtical Murder" was a train wreck of an anime, sullying the video game's name.


When I first heard that "DRAMAtical Murder" was becoming an anime, I was so excited, I couldn't stop thinking about it. What I was met with, however, was a show consisting of average animation, bland plot lines, and no romance whatsoever.

Voicing Aoba is Kisaichi, Atsushi, known for his role of Aizawa, Yuuichi (Kanon). He is not very popular in the anime world, but his voice is pretty nice. He did a wonderful job of voicing Aoba regularly, and then digging deep to bring out Aoba's "dark" side. Most of the voices ... were too deep for my tastes, but they all sounded so good.

To be specific, the thing I hated most about the anime was the actual animation. When I expected something to rival the video game, I received awkward expressions, still panels, and just all around derps. The animation got better as the anime started to close, but it was still disappointing. Another sad fact was the no romance! This anime turned out to be like another "Togainu no Chi." All the romance was taken out. However, the anime did redeem itself at the end, but that alone cannot make up for the mistakes it had in all the episodes up to eleven.

I recommend playing the gmae instead of watching the anime, even though it has its good point. This anime is either a hit or miss; love or hate. Some players of the game will love it, while others will shake their head in dismay, just questioning why Nitro+ ever let this happen.

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Story - 6
The story is good, in a sense that it has potential. However, the anime never really elaborated on the story. I'm not sure whether they did this on purpose because of the preexisting fan base, or not. In any case, some elaboration would have been nice.

Art - 3
Again I say the animation was very badly done. The game's art was very good, and it was quite a disappointment that it dropped down to such a level.

Music - 8
At first I didn't like the music, but as I continued watching, the techno grew on me. I still feel that the opening song needs to be a little faster, but that's just me being nit-picky. All in all, the music fit very well, and the soundtracks played were nice and soothing. I especially enjoyed Clear's Jellyfish Song.

Character - 7
I got to meet a lot of different characters and learn about their back stories, but I felt like something was missing. There are still a lot of plot holes in all the characters, but overall each one was very enjoyable.

Enjoyment - 5
I actually started losing interest about halfway through. It became a chore to watch, but I couldn't stop because I had already watched over five episodes, and needed to write a review. Some moments were really nice for me, but those were few and far in between. I do have to say that the last episode was the best out of all the others.

Overall - 5.8
This anime had a lot of potential and showed promise, but studio NAZ didn't really do anything with it. Instead, it's left to sit on its heels. But as I said, this anime is either a hit or a miss, so while I didn't enjoy it very much, others may love it.

Firstly, this is a pretty short anime- only 12 episodes. It only took me one day to finish it, but to be honest, I don't know what I just watched;;

Story: 6
The story itself isn't that bad. Aoba's special ability was quite original (correct me if I'm wrong please- this is just based on the anime I've watched). However, the story was quite big. Although the idea was decent, I felt like 12 episodes wasn't enough to go into enough detail.
Even after I finished watching it, it just felt like a storm passed super quickly- too much to process in only 12 episodes.

OH! and I really ... liked the futuristic setting with the super advanced technology. That was really interested. I wish I had an allmate.

Art: 7
AHAAHAHA you have to admit.... the characters were pretty good looking. I guess they were a bit bland with no special or unique feature; but, at least they were nicely drawn~ I also really liked how Aoba's grandma was drawn! She kind of reminded me of a toned down version of Dola from Laputa!!
The background was nicely drawn too.

Sound: 4
The sound actually put me off after the first episode. The OP felt quite out of place, and even after 12 episodes, I still don't like it. But I guess that's just my personal opinion. The background music and sound effects didn't really support the plot. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good- it was just decent enough to bear.

Character: 6
They were gooooood looking~ Despite only being 12 episodes long, there was a fair amount of character development. This is probably because each episode seemed to be focused around Aoba getting to know the characters (you'll find out what this means when you watch the anime).
Most of the characters weren't well developed enough for me to get emotionally attached. But, they all had likeable personalities.

Enjoyment: 5
The anime was decent. The story started out slow, but progressed faster towards the end. I don't know how to word this... it was enjoyable but not? The ideas were fresh and interesting. But, if I had a whole queue of anime to watch, this one would be my lowest priority.
I guess I only finished it because it was 12 episodes and seemed like a quick anime.

Overall: 6
There are probably people who like it and people who don't. If you're into hot guys, technology, and a tiny bit of supernatural(?) then try watching it :) BUT! don't just walk away after the first episode. Like I said, the story starts of slow.

P.S. I just found out that it's based off a BL visual novel. I wish they had more romance in the anime :( There was no romance whatsoever... kind of disappointing;;

So, my overall thoughts (after playing the game and watching countless of lets plays, reviews on Youtube, and playing the visual novel that this is based on myself) was, that this anime had so much potential to bring this BL out there and it failed to deliver.

I'm a big fan of the BL genre in general, but after watching the first few episodes, I'd kind of already lost interest. But, after months of procrastinating, I finally finished it and I must say; it was kind of mediocre.

I give this anime a 5.

Because of the lack of good animation and the art looking hastily drawn. Some ... of the art just looks strange. Compared to the visual novel, that's vibrant, fun, detailed, and even feels like it has movement at times... This ain't it. Oh, and let's not forget about the lack of actual boy's love!

The characters sort of matched their counterparts in the VN and the music is great; because it's also good in the VN. But DRAMAtical Murder is one of my favorite yaoi visual novels and I feel like this anime was both rushed and not animated well. It wasn't fleshed out enough during the runtime and we didn't get to see as much of each character.

It was also way too careful about seeming "too" BL (and sadly, that's just like a lot of yaoi/yuri anime that isn't straight up a porno) but I feel like if the source material has put such an emphasis on the sexual/romantic aspects, then the anime should at least do some of that too. But this was, at most, a kiss between characters and that's kind of it.

The studio behind the DRAMAtical Murder visual novel Nitro+CHiRAL is one of my favorites in the genre of yaoi and this just doesn't live up to the quality of their visual novels. I loved the characters like I did in the VN, the voiceacting was decent and like I said, the music is good, too. Especially so if you enjoy futuristic-sounding dubstep and electronic.

But the lackluster animation, the way too short of runtime to such a long and detailed VN, and the lack of focus on the main genre of this story; makes this anime adaptation a joke.

An easy review of DRAMAtical Murder-- SPOILER FREE for your enjoyment!

OVERALL--
DRAMAtical Murder is adapted from a visual novel. As is the case with many VN to anime adaptions, the anime rushes as it tries to incorporate information from all of the various VN routes. With only 12 episodes, DRAMAtical Murder struggles in its development of both characters and the overall world. This leads to a slightly lackluster ending, with characters you really wish you could have known better. Still, I found it fairly enjoyable overall and would say it's worth watching since it's a quick 12 episodes. It's not amazing, but it's not as terrible ... as some people suggest.

STORY--
DRAMAtical Murder presents viewers with what could have been a very interesting story; unfortunately, it fails to fully take shape in only 12 episodes. It takes about 8 episodes before you actually begin to grasp the main conflict, and just when that conflict should begin to expand, the show is winding towards a quick conclusion. The story in itself is strong, but the anime fails to portray that in the time it is given. The ending left me asking, "That was all there was to it?" as I had hoped for greater depth and development.

CHARACTERS--
All of the characters have great designs with lots of detail and personality. I found each of them fun to watch and listen to. They also had very diverse personalities that seemed promising. Sadly, the little character development that happens in the show occurs so quickly that it doesn't really feel meaningful. These characters are ones you WANT to care about, but the show doesn't really give you the time to form strong attachments to them.

PROS--
+ Interesting character designs (with lots of good looking boys!)
+ Compelling story idea
+ Soundtrack is fitting of the futuristic setting
+ Enjoyable voice actors
+ Bright, colorful animation (but pretty low-budget)

CONS--
- Story is underdeveloped and could have benefitted from 24 episodes rather than 12
- Climax is rushed and ending conflict is pretty vanilla
- No good explanation of the setting/world of the story
- No meaningful character development
- Took the L outta BL (the VN is BL)

On the one hand, I disliked this anime....and on the other, I liked it sort of. The main issue with this anime is the plot/storyline. Early on, it seemed to be going somewhere interesting and then it sort of veered off and tried to have a lot of twists and turns that winded up not making much sense or were way too transparent. When it finally decides to get back to the main plot, it feels a bit....weak. The idea is good but for an anime of only 12 episodes, you need to utilize all the episodes you have and not try to rush things ... in a few episodes. The final battle leaves a lot to be desired...in fact it is rather anticlimactic and there were, imo, far better battles early on in the season.

Where this anime does excel, for the most part anyway, is the characters. All 5 of the main characters are incredibly interesting. Aoba, is the lead, and he isn't my favorite but he is compassionate and compelling enough where you want to root for him.

Mink to me is the character who is sort of one dimensional in his time on the screen. Even with a backstory and development, Mink left more to be desired but at the same time he has the most defined and structured personality of all 5 mains.

The latter 3 are my favorites and precisely why I loved this anime, despite the poor storyline.

Clear is the standout because he is so eccentric and just...a freak. From his initial intro and his overall look, this dude just leaves an impression on you and I loved Clear so much. Especially with his backstory...Clear is my boo.

Koujaku was someone I was a bit eh with at first but as the season went on, I grew to love him. His loyalty and dedication to Aoba is what compelled me to care but his backstory cut my deep and I was ready to jump into my screen and hug him. Such a big teddy bear hidden underneath such angst and aggression.

But Noiz...Noiz is my favorite and the best. He is not one of many words but his actions and mannerisms are precisely what make Noiz so interesting. As you learn more about him, you get to see why he is the way he is. I loved every scene with him and out of the 5, Noiz is definitely the most defined and multifaceted character with Koujaku and Clear as a close 2nd.

(Ren is also a standout as well even if he is not my favorite).

Really watch this anime for the characters. Ignore the plot...half the time it doesn't make sense and the other half it feels rushed. I would watch again just for the characters and I wish for a sequel.

There is a hint of boy's love/shounen-ai romance...It was established early on literally in one scene(a kiss) and then never mentioned again. Which was disappointing really.

However, there are more subtle boy's love moments between the characters as well throughout the season. But this could have been way better had they just let them go for it.

All in all, I rated it highly in spite of its story and it wasn't a bad watch....just not a something i'd easily say was one of my favorites.

In a dystopian cyberpunk society, the streets are controlled by gangs with special tattoos who play Rhyme, a street cyber game. Aoba is not a member of any team, but instead has amnesia and intermittent migraines after a mysterious accident.

Aoba is surrounded by his grandmother and a team of hotties who seem to know more about him than he does, and everyone in Aoba’s life is protective of him, from the street gang leaders, his boss, his grandmother, to Ren, his cute “AllMate” companion puppy.

Ultimately, the worldbuilding and the homoerotic tension carry more weight than the plot, which feels aimless and confusing (like, 90% of ... the dialogue is characters saying each other’s names). But I enjoyed it anyway because the anime has such heart and is very sweet.

The anime is based on a BL (boys’ love) game/visual novel, but the anime is not explicitly gay, unfortunately.

I remember when I heard they were going to make an adaptation on DRAMAtical Murder, me and the entire BL fanbase+other people were buzzing with the news and it easily became the most anticipated anime of summer 2014.

Honestly, I was disappointed. Not that I was expecting anything.

The story [6]
it was good. Seeing how I played the game, I saw where they were headed with the show but everything felt rushed, while the beginning was a bit of a drag (the game's beginning was also a bit slow). A whole ending with each characters was sandwiched between each episode. It would have flowed better if they ... were given more room between each episode.

Speaking of characters [5]
They didnt give us enough time to really get to know the characters better. With one episode to meet them, have them appear popping up in places, and one episode for their back story; there wasnt enough screen time for each character to fully soak in with the viewers.

Art/animation [3]
Were lacking in some places. The parts where it required many different frames (ex: running/fight scenes/etc.) were half arsed through. Animation was not flowy, art wasnt consistent and overall rushed.

Music/sound/voices/etc [7]
I respect the producer's choice of another song by goatbed giving the anime the same feeling as the game but I didnt really like it. Slight disappointment with behind-the-gas-mask- voice but that was based off personal preference and bless the producers for keeping the voices the same as the game.

enjoyment[7]
It was so bad it was good

I tried not to compare it to the game that much (I loved the game) If I could, I would've marked it a 6.5. Adaptation wasnt as bad as what I expected (*cough* togainu no chi *cough*) it does the game no justice but it was fun. I suggest if you really are interested, play the game.

This show is so bad it's good at times. As a fan of the games (get them on steam/JAST, it's cheap and better than the anime!), I mostly watched it to see some of my favourite scenes animated.
I think it's supposed to be watched after you play the games, and that's the only way I'd recommend it, can't imagine anyone getting into DMMd from just watching the anime alone. It's really poorly produced, so much so that it was incredibly funny to watch, but we did also get a bunch new songs SO as bad as it was I'm grateful it happened :) also ... them actually having Clear sing his jellyfish song was great, as a Clearfan I am content.

All in all the story is incredibly rushed, I don't think I'd have absorbed anything from it just watching it alone.

Support the game! Don't have your experience ruined by watching the anime before the game!

In terms of a standalone anime, the show certainly leaves a lot to be desired, but in terms of adapting a visual novel and trying to cram in one million storylines into twelve episodes, it was surprisingly successful. Not entirely successful, mind, but certainly successful enough to make you raise your eyebrows a little.

I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed this show. I am not familiar with the games, but I found myself following the plot and worldbuilding reasonably well. I thought a lot more could have been done with the (surprisingly very cool) sci-fi setting, but the anime seems to have avoided ... expansion in favor of following the games as closely as possible. This might not have been the greatest artistic choice considering the game is meant to be replayed with multiple storylines building on one another, therefore rendering it almost impossible to squish everything into a single linear plot, but hey, I'm not the producer.

The art is average, the story cohesive but by the skin of its teeth, the music forgettable. However, what sold me on this show was the characters. I liked them! I even liked their ridiculous outfits! They don't fit entirely neatly into preset character tropes, or at the very least they burst forth from those tropes in a gaudy and original fashion. I found the relationships between Aoba and the other gents compelling, and the show did a good job of showcasing all the available "options" although never quite getting particularly romantic with any of them. It's weird that the smuttiness of the games was toned down to this downright celibate level, but in terms of treating all shippers as equal under the eyes of Anime Adaptation, the show succeeded.

The pacing escalates to a frantic fever pitch as you can just about see the writers desperately trying to tie up one million loose ends in the last ten minutes, but I walked away more or less satisfied. I think it works as a more PG-13 entry onto these fun characters and this world... albeit why that seemed like a necessary addition to a smut game is one of the world's great mysteries.

I so wanted this to be a good anime, because some of the art is seriously impressive. Problem is, it doesn't matter how cool it looks when the story line is probably one of the worst I've come across period...
It would be nice if the main character wasn't the most stereotypical good guy protagonist too, but by the time you're a quarter of the way through, you've already learned to lower your expectations. You can't relate to the characters, and if you think for a moment your gonna get enough character development to know why the HELL they all keep following the crappy protagonist, then ... you're wrong.
For perspective, I literally do not even remember his name.

This is the opinion from someone that loves the game to death and even bought it. Honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought. Spoilers ahead especially in the story part

Story :
The pacing is just horrible. What were they thinking ?? At the start the story is going nicely but once in Platinum Jail the story takes us by the hand and drags us, without letting time to catch up what's going on. Because of that important character arcs are brushed to the side and scenes that hold so much meaning feel flat. I also can't understand some decisions like with Ren's worm. Why making ... Noiz remove it in the first place if Ren get infected by one in the end ? They could have taken a different scene from his route.
This horrible pacing don't help with the fact that Dmmd story is very complicated in the first place. Even if I know the game very well I had trouble adjusting with what was going on.

Art :
We all know too well the infamous episode of the anime... Luckily there is another version. I saw the 2nd version of the anime, not going to watch that horrible episode. From what I've seen, yes it's nowhere near the quality of the game but it's passable I guess ? From time to time it looked good to me at least

Sound :
That's really what made me watch this, the music and more precisely the character's songs that play after their episodes. When I saw that Itou Kanako, Vertueux and Seizi Kmura were coming back I had to give it a watch. I wasn't disappointed, at all. I love to death Clear's song, Lullaby blue, along with Koujaku's, by my side. The op, Slip on the pumps, grew on me with time and I fell in love with the ending, Bowie knife, the first time I listened to it. The VA all do a fantastic job on their characters, as good as before. The OSTs really feel like the game, I loved them.
I really recommend the anime for the songs alone.

Characters :
So I have a problem with them and that problem is directly linked to the pacing, they all feel flat. Maybe Mink is the more developed one, at least it’s what it seemed to me. Another problem is their bond with Aoba. Koujaku being a childhood friend is the only one who didn’t suffer from this problem but for the others
Noiz : A punk who agressed him and who broke into his house. He also did pick up fights with his best friend and looked into his dog without him knowing. Aoba has no reason to trust him nor to even care about him. Noiz just looks like a spoiled brat who likes to brag
Clear : A weird guy who fell one day and now follows him. They did have a discussion once but Aoba still looks really awkward around him. Hell I even think Aoba prefers to take his distance from Clear. I even start to think that the kindness that Aoba showed him was just pity, like how you would treat an abandoned kitten you found on the sidewalk. In the end his act of protection was just because he was his master, not because he was Aoba. That just makes me angry, treating Clear as an obedient dog and not his own person.
Mink : An ancient inmate that broke into Aoba’s home and kidnapped him. Thank god the almost rape scene wasn’t included but still Aoba was beaten up. Then when he did go out it was under a condition. So I don’t understand one bit why Aoba would want to help Mink with scrap. That’s bullshit. Aoba is acting like a nice puppy around him for no reason. Dude he kidnapped you
I also have one last thing to rant about in this section. It’s about Clear ending (again). So usually he would go boom by himself against the alphas and be out of order for about A YEAR. He even needed the help of Tae’s acquaintance, that I think worked on the alphas, to be repaired. But no, here he is a few episodes later, fighting. I guess Noiz repaired him, someone who never worked on androids. This makes absolutely no sense (even why would Noiz repair him)

Enjoyment :
Apart from the anger-inducing things I spoke about in the character section and the horrible pacing, this was quite pleasant. I absolutely love Aoba’s VA and while watching it some dmmd memes came to my mind. Some parts like the “baby” from Ren were funny and I wished they put more of those in the anime, like the Clear in an apron scene. The music was also really good (including the OSTs).

Overall :
I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone that has never heard of dmmd. That’s a terrible first experience with the franchise. It’s much more of a recap for those who have played the game, with bonus songs included. Go for it if you’re a diehard fan, otherwise, never touch it unless you wanna have a bad time. I really wanted to like it, the same way I liked the Togainu no Chi anime, even if this one wasn’t that good.

Separate scores :
Story 2
Art 6
Sound 9
Character 5
Enjoyement 8

I was looking for a BL anime such as given or yuri on ice. I saw this one was apart of the BL genre and was also considered an action anime as well so I was very excited to start an anime with two genres I really enjoy. After finishing this anime, it was not as I expected it to be. There was barely any BL in the anime other than a kiss and maybe some borderline bromance but that was it. I did not see any romantic relationships develop. So I was pretty disappointed on the romance and BL scale. The action scale was ... a little bit better. After seeing the first Rhyme fight I was super interested in seeing more of fights like that and such. But again, there was not that much action other than a few scenes throughout the anime.

I heard while watching this anime that this was an anime adaptation of a BL visual novel and I heard that was better than the anime so I would probably watch and play that visual novel now to satisfy the lack of what I couldn't get from the anime. There is also an OVA or special episode that brings the L in BL and the horror I read the visual novel had. The plot was cool and the characters were appealing and not as shallow as I thought reviews had said them to be. I just wanted to see more romance and action.

I was pretty excited to hear that DRAMAtical Murder would become an anime but after watching it I was left with a pretty dissapointed feeling. I haven’t played the game but I’ve seen some other people play it and it looked pretty ‘’promising’’.
I’ve seen some scenes from the game and I was pretty dissapointed when they didn’t appear in the anime. Of course some scenes might’ve been 18+ but they could’ve at least added some ‘action’ (if you know what I mean) into the anime.
The anime compared to the game is seriously NOTHING.

Story: 6
The story wasn’t that bad but was sometimes a bit confusing for ... me (probably because I skipped certain parts and missed out on a few things) and maybe a bit too much for only 12 episodes. I wasn’t expecting an anime with 30/40 episodes but I think that if they would’ve made the anime 20/25 episodes long that then the story might’ve been more clear and easier to follow. Because right now I’m still trying to figure out what I just watched and what actually happened. (luckily I’ve seen a few parts from the game so that helped me understand a bit better)
Let’s compare the game to the anime: the game has more happenings and the story becomes clear troughout the game unlike in the anime.

Art: 7
I really liked the futuristic touch and all of the advanced technologies in both the game and the anime.
I aslo liked how the characters were made. It’s an original style (my opinion. I haven’t seen any animes in the same style as DMMd) but after watching some people play the game I saw that the style between the game and the anime was completely different. (again, my opinion)
But: sometimes the movements of the characters (mainly with Ren) their expressions and their build are slightly weird and/or anatomicaly incorrect.
Lastly, I think that the scenery (background, buildings, ...) looked pretty good and also with a slight futuristic touch to it.

Sound: 8
I think the seijuu’s did a good job. The voices fit the characters perfectly. They sound exactly the same as in the game and exactly how I’d expect.
Not much to say about this.

Character: 7
Let’s all be honest for once and say that the characters are pretty hot.
Even though the anime was quite short we all get to know who the different characters were, what they did, how they acted, etc. but not all characters got described evenly/enough. The anime mainly focuses around Aoba getting to know all of the characters but he mainly hangs out with Clear, Koujaku, Mink, Ren and Noiz. It feels like the other characters are left behind.

Enjoyment: 5
I enjoyed watching it but at the same time I did not. It feels as if I got my hopes up for nothing.
It was a good anime but I think that I’ll have had more fun playing the game than watching the anime. Why? Because hardly anything happens in the anime. I was hoping for some guy x guy action but the only thing that happened was Noiz kissing Aoba once.

Overall: 6
You like boy x boy? Yaoi? Or just shounen-ai?
You might think that the anime will be the same as the game but guess what? It isn’t.
The game has lots of boy x boy scenes and content. Wich, surprisingly, the anime doesn’t. The only moment something actually happens between Aoba and another character is when Noiz kisses him. That’s it.
Luckily the art and character design were good because else I don’t know if this anime would’ve get the points I gave it now.

It's a shame that this didn't pan out to be a great BL.

The story was lack-luster at best. What started with a lot of potential, ended up falling flat towards the 6th or 7th episode. I had high hopes since there seemed to be a good set of laws/rules that the characters abided by - I'm a stickler for this. More or less, the characters kept their form, but the story did not.

As far as the art goes - it was beautiful. Very well done, great looking characters, better looking scenery & overall a fun, light design that was fitting for the theme. ...

One thing I liked was the opening song, which, again, fit the theme really well. Sound is a major pillar in this anime, so I'm sure the producers put a lot of energy into this.

I really, really liked the characters. They were very "believable" & had their own personalities - everyone had a backstory that meshed in with their personas really well.

With all that said... I did not enjoy this anime. Sure, it was pretty - but at a certain point you're just disappointed with what you end up with.