The Perfect Insider
The Perfect Insider
TV-MA | 09 October 2015 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    Konterr Brilliant and touching
    FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
    Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
    Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.
    danteshamest TLDR: Slow first episode, but enjoyed the rest.At first I wasn't impressed. I watched the first episode and the apparent slow pace made me lose interest. But several months later I continued with the 2nd episode, which is when the murder actually happens. By the end of the the 2nd episode I was hooked and watched the rest of the episodes in a day. This is now one my top 10 favourite manga/anime ever, along with Higurashi, Death Note and Liar Game.I won't talk about the plot other than that it's primarily a locked room murder mystery. I recommend going into this series blind. By the end of the 2nd episode you should be able to decide for yourself whether to keep watching or not. Personally I loved all the red herrings and twists. There's enough clues for you to guess the truth before the big reveal.I will however talk about the art. The only way I can describe it is "smoooooth". The animations are fluid and there are so many backgrounds and angles used. Unlike most of the popular shounen anime these days, every scene looks brand new and I don't see many assets reused. The character's movements flow from scene to scene, and their actions all carry a unique flair. For example, in one scene the male protagonist is waving his cigarette in the air in a dimly lit room, and the way the light trails his movements is beautiful.
    Wm_Gardner I did not expect much from this anime project because, ironically, I love anime but dislike most of the anime which are produced. In other words, I am pretty picky about what I like..... "The Perfect Insider" is very clever, written about characters with far above average intelligence, and who also have unconventional views on life. As such, the dialogue reflects this with some of the discussions taking on direction and meaning that you would never find in most Anime (or most other serialized shows, for that much). Another thing that is somewhat odd is that for several episodes there is a jump backwards, to the events (and events leading to) which occurred 15 years prior. While they are frequently discussed in the confines of the current time, they are only viewed in a 1-2 minute segment at the very end of these episodes.Without spoiling the perpetration of the crime too much, I have to admit that the way in which the character covers his/her tracks is quite clever. Mistakes are created in the OS that controls everything, which through their correction destroys key pieces of evidence. While I admit to figuring out the meaning of "F" early on (or at least what it represents) and while I did suspect the true identity of one character, I did not foresee the method used to cover the computer evidence. Quite simple, yet quite clever.One thing that truly disappointed me is that there is very little shock and seeming no remorse from the perpetrator once the identity of the person on the cart is revealed. There is shock that the person ever existed but none at the sociopathic nature in which the perpetrator was able to perform these acts on this particular individual. As for who the person on the cart is..... well, I can't say that I "knew" in advance, but there are plenty of hints, if you pay attention and if you care to speculate. As for how this person ended up being inside the locked room, well, that was pretty obvious by the method in which the last minute or so of many episodes were scripted.All-in-all, if you are looking for something without a lot of "fan service" and without "moe" (as in 萌 え or mo.e, NOT the female character's name) and without action, yet still has an intelligent concept and contains very intelligent dialogue........ this could be the one for you. If unconventional viewpoints, inappropriate relations (to include incest), and a slower pace do not appeal, then maybe you should head to one of the more popular titles.
    omenius_a The Perfect Insider is a "closed room murder" style of show about a rich orphan girl named Nishinosono Moe that goes on a camping trip with other students and her crush, professor Saikawa Souhei, to an island which houses a research facility, which in turn is home to a delusional "genius" named Magata Shiki. The genius gets murdered, the professor and orphan girl decide to investigate, and they try to solve the ridiculous murder but get fooled in the end by the actually still living Magata.Let's start off with what is good with the show. I found the drawing style quite pleasing. Above average, in fact. Since the budget was used for only 11 episodes, they had some money to put in each, and it shows. The voice acting is also decent, being a strong point of the series. The plot is captivating, and well imagined, but complicated by artificial means. The soundtrack accompanying the show is good as well, but this is about everything there is to say here. Now onto the hard part. Since there is a lot to cover, I will simply focus on the 3 main characters and hit key problems of the anime while dissecting said characters.In short, they are non-relatable, pseudocomplicated, and can be rather annoying. Truthfully, the only interesting character is the Chinese girl, which provides some much needed comic relief. But let's not lose track.Nishinosono Moe: A spoiled, rich orphan girl that believes she is smarter than everyone else (she's not). Is it possible for someone who studies computer programming not to know what a Trojan horse is? ( Their explanation isn't entirely correct either. Go figure.) How about not knowing how to use a knife? How about not knowing to google the way you eat a goddamn mushroom, or simply ask? Well, I could go on, but you get my point. In spite of all this, she appears to be the professor's favorite student, and she is also allowed to tag along to a murder investigation, permitted to go around asking people stupid questions and do what she does best in the whole series: be a nuisance to every living organism in a 100 meter radius. No, wait, she even bothered her uncle or whoever was in charge of the Police Department. So, basically, she annoyed everyone she knew about (Poor Suwano). . .It's worth mentioning that we are probably expected to identify ourselves with this clueless annoying girl, as she struggles to uncover the murder. Up yours too, anime. . .Saikawa Souhei: He is presented to us as a 'genius' professor, even though he quickly proves us otherwise. A simple examination reveals him to be simply narcissistic, and in no way does he qualify for the title of genius. He fails to think of the possibility that the killer could've been hiding beneath the P1, which is probably what actually happened. He almost fails to make the logical deduction that whoever "killed" Magata must've been inside that room for a while, thus pairing this info with the doctor's younger appearance and deducing the fact that the murderer could have been her daughter. Of course it takes him even longer to inspect the body and realise it's the other way around. In spite of this, he has time to make a bullshit speech about Dissociative Identity Disorder (the sickness Magata suffers from, which he worships), and how the'normal' people are actually inferior because they do not suffer from this disorder. It would be one thing if he'd be entering the mind of the criminal, but as we find out later on, he actually follows this line of thought, and admires the degree of dementia the murderous doctor displays. Stick to programming, dude. (though if Moe is your best student, I'm beginning to doubt you could even manage that)Magata Shiki: A "genius" programmer who was accused of killing her parents when she was 14, but she was found innocent due to her psychological condition. Normally when this happens, you take said person and transfer it to a ward, not a research facility that actually allowed her free roam (if she wanted it). Also you give her a full psychological diagnosis, while also taking blood samples for analisys, at which point you notice something is off, at which point you give her a pregnancy test, at which point you put the abusive, murderous uncle in jail where he belongs(by the way, he had fingerprints on the knife, and blood on him, so he should've been behind the bars anyway). But hey, that's too much bother, how 'bout she gets her own playgrou.. errr. . research facility? Also, how the hell do you trick your goddamn aunt to think that you have a little sister? Even if the aunt played along because she wanted her husband dead and knew she'd kill him, what is the reason she wouldn't give Magata away after that? I mean, Magata seduced your husband, killed him, killed part your family and f**ked up your life. You hate your husband? You should hate her just as much, if not more.This should cover the main problems with the series, as well as the main plot holes in the story line. There are a few more, like how Magata was able to enter that Inception environment even though she was already off the island, a.k.a. the only place those things operated in, but you get the idea. To sum it all up: The Perfect Insider is a waste of a rather good idea. Moronic dialogue, over complicated plot and poor screenplay transform what could have been an interesting murder show into a pseudo complex anime, with cliché characters that deliver little enjoyment over it's 11 episodes.
    Tweekums This eleven episode anime series is primarily set on a remote island which is visited by protagonists Sohei Saikawa, An associate professor of architecture at National N University, and Moe Nishinosono, the daughter of his mentor. They are on the island to see Dr Shiki Magata who has been locked up there for the last fifteen years… in that time she has had no direct interaction with anybody. She is computer programming genius who murdered her parents when she was fourteen. When the door to her quarters opens for the first time in fifteen years they find her dead; it couldn't have been natural causes or suicide as her arms and legs have been removed… how could the killer have got into the room and how did they escape afterwards? Sohei and Moe will have to explore many possibilities and there will be another killing before the mystery is solved.This is a good mystery series that should leave the viewer guessing until the final reveal. The case isn't rushed nor does it drag on too long. Like all closed room mysteries there is a large degree of unlikeliness about it but that doesn't matter; the genre relies on a possible solution not a realistic one. Sohei and Moe are fascinating characters, providing some humour without overdoing it; however it is Dr Magata who is the most interesting; even after her murder she features thanks to the way she has programmed the facility's computer system. There isn't much action but the animation is decent and the character designs are sufficiently distinctive. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anime fans who like a good mystery.These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.