Sakurako-san no ašimoto ni wa šitai ga umatteiru

In my opinion, Japanese "Bones" suffer from a fundamental shortcoming: some scenes do not make any sense at all. For example, I learned that Japanese police officers probably do not carry weapons, and if they do, even if someone seriously stabs them, they do not simply draw them and send the person to hell in a handbasket (or at least they do not injure them). Then again, in the first episode, I learned that getting to a crime scene in Japan is apparently no problem at all, and the police will let you do almost anything. I was also rather disappointed with the first episode, where I more or less learned what happened and how it happened, but the questions of who and why were not answered. I guess I live under the delusion that crime should always be properly explained in a crime drama. The cases are quite interesting, and the investigation has a bit (unfortunately, really only a bit) of the right atmosphere. However, I now see certain underdevelopment and failure to develop the last storyline as the biggest problem. If some stronger hints that some cases are connected and that someone is behind them and maybe has an interesting motive had been shown and handled much better, this could have been a suspenseful and interesting show. However, the anime's creators have just relatively dryly introduced us to the fact that someone is behind it. With the few hints that have been dropped, which other sub-plots have covered up too much, I have to accept that fact and not get excited about it. And so I waited for the final episode, and my suspense was practically nil, and all I had left was a bit of curiosity about how it would turn out, which is just an incredible shame. Plus, SPOILER ALERT; the conclusion did not wrap anything up. Rather, it just offered some love story stuff, so all that suspense and building a more serious storyline took a back seat. Well, if this is a sign that there will be another series where the writers focus on Sakurako's fight with the mysterious "Hanabusa," then I'll give it another chance. SPOILER ENDS As for the rest, I quite like the main characters. In my opinion, it is nice to have a woman in her prime as the main female protagonist and present her as an original and interesting character. Although I liked his relationship with Sakurako, the main male protagonist was not as interesting. I like the visuals a lot, and the soundtrack has a rather positive effect on me. I think this could be an unfinished anime series with a lot of stuff that did not make any sense and that ended before it could become more interesting. On the other hand, it could be an introduction to be followed by another season, where they could have dealt the cards better. Some of that mysterious atmosphere could have been worked on, something the Japanese "Bones" and even viewers who have not yet gotten involved with them would definitely deserve. 5/10. (14.10.2015)