ACCA Series Review – A Unique Way of Planning A Coup

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ACCA Overview:

ACCA tells the story of Jean Otus, an inspector who travels the 13 districts of the Kingdom of Dowa, who is about to get drawn into a whole lot of political intrigue. With rumours of a coup gathering momentum, what will Jean do? Probably smoke a cigarette.

I reviewed ACCA week to week so if you are interested in my episodic thoughts click here.

ACCA Review:

Those of you who followed my week to week reviews already know, I loved watching ACCA. It was a must watch every week and I couldn’t get enough of it. Watching it, talking to others about it, speculating about where it was all going. So, now that it is finished, what are my thoughts.

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Unsurprisingly, I still think ACCA is truly an incredible story. I’ll go into detail later but, after getting to the end and thinking about it, I realise that the audience for ACCA is actually kind of small. The opening act moves almost terminally slow, the information is revealed as necessary during the second act but requires a lot of work on the part of the audience to put together, and by the third act the cards are on the table but for the final twist, which I found immensely satisfying but I can understand that many people out there my wonder what on earth the point of watching the show was.

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So, I’m going to explain why I loved ACCA and why it is amazing. But I’ll also not be surprised if you tell me in the comments you dropped this early on, or it didn’t do much for you. This one is definitely a matter of whether you get into it or not, or whether you enjoy stories that slowly give out the details and allow you to fit them together numerous ways before it shows its hand.

First and foremost, the opening theme is perfect. While it isn’t the most striking anime theme music in history and nor does it pack much punch outside of the context of the show it perfectly sets the tone for the anime you are about to watch. Heavily influenced by jazz and yet not particularly fast paced the opening hints at a show that is laid back, just a little bit off-beat, but full of hidden intrigue, and that’s more or less exactly what it delivers. I must admit the opening theme was part of what made me so excited to start each episode.

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Secondly, the characters really grabbed me. I know some people will disagree, but I found Jean Otus fascinating from start to finish. He is different from your usual anime protagonist being older, non-violent, no shouting of any sort, not a super genius or particularly amazing at anything, not incompetent, not the focus of a harem, etc, etc.

While some may dismiss him as bland, I found him to be a highly nuanced character and a lot of my enjoyment in the earlier episodes came from trying to figure out what was going on inside his head. Later in the series we get more of a look at him and there are moments where full and genuine expressions cross his face, and it all just works perfectly at fleshing out a character who feels very real.

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However every character in this series, regardless of screen time (and some of them barely appear in two episodes) manage to feel like an individual. A character crafted with care and attention to detail. They fill the role they are given in the narrative but also add some truth to the world being constructed.

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And that brings me to the third reason I loved this series. The small details. Everything in this story has purpose. Whether it is creating a distinction between one district and another, foreshadowing a later plot point, giving a character back story, every single detail is there for a reason. Some obviously carry more weight than others, but nothing is wasted. Even the excessive focus on food (do not watch this show hungry) serves the valuable purpose of clearly identifying districts and later creates links between characters who share a love of a particular type of food.

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But my number one reason for loving my watch of ACCA is that at no point did I feel I was being talked down to by the narrative. They allow the audience time to process information and to put it together. Even when information is revealed they don’t feel the need to excessively explain how the new information fits in with the old. They just reveal it and move on expecting that the audience can and will make the connection themself. It’s been a long time since I’ve really found something that didn’t make me feel like they expected my memory was jettisoned every twenty seconds.


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All that said, I do have to address a few minor criticisms because no matter how much I loved it there are definitely some criticisms that are needed. Spoilers coming.

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The big one that actually really rocked me was after they formally acknowledge (by having a character say it) that Jean was royalty, suddenly every character was just talking about his bloodline like it had been common knowledge from the start. While it did help steer the narrative along it felt like a very sharp turn in the narrative that didn’t get quite enough time to develop.

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The other criticism I have is Lotta, Jean’s sister. While she is certainly cute and loves her bread, and she does at times progress plot points, I kind of felt like her removal from the story wouldn’t have harmed it in the least at most points. Okay, they would have needed a different portrait to draw the link between the Otus’ and the royals, and the whole attempted assassination plot probably would have needed to be scrapped but it didn’t serve all that much purpose anyway.

The Rail being infatuated by her storyline also could have easily been swept away. That said, if they did that, then a lot of the air time of the series vanishes, so I guess they just needed to do more with her character to make her feel a little bit more needed. At the moment she just kind of feels there.

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As I said at the start, I fully understand why this anime won’t appeal to everyone so I won’t tell you that you have to watch it or that I don’t understand why you didn’t like it. However, if you haven’t given it a go and you wouldn’t mind an anime that has a fairly clever story and some great writing, then its worth checking out. I had a blast with this during the 2017 Winter season and I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more shows like it.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 12 – Terrific

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ACCA Episode 12 Review:

While I suspect not all will be thrilled with the way this resolved, for me it was the perfect way to end this story. At all times, things have been pretty laid back and resolved without much in the way of violence, and for the coup to end the way it did works perfectly in terms of being true to the feel of the story and characters. It probably would have been unnatural for this to end any other way.

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There’s something immensely satisfying in seeing where the characters end up after the ceremony and while this journey was meandering at times, it doesn’t feel like any of it has been wasted. I fully enjoyed every moment of this story. You can read the full review here and I’m definitely going to rewatch this series later in the year just to see if it can stand up to a second watch (I’m still concerned that half the fun of this show will vanish when you know where it is going).

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 11

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ACCA Episode 11 Review:

ACCA has been a great watch and while part of me wondered if the final episodes could deliver after the last of the mysteries seemed revealed, ACCA episode 11 answers the question with a resounding ‘yes’. Everything about this episode worked and continues to tie the plot together while continuing to give us highly nuanced and interesting characters.

A few points to touch on:

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Firstly, Nino came back in one of the most dramatic ways possible. I won’t spoil, but this was actually the first action-like scene this show really delivered on and provided both a great reunion between Nino and Jean and pushed the plot forward. No tugging heartstrings just for a cheap emotional outcome. This scene was used with purpose and did no overstay its welcome as it was one of many major plot developments in the episode.

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Secondly, Jean, who I have always found fascinating, actually emoted regularly throughout this episode and yet didn’t break from his usual stoic character. It is amazing how they made him seem more involved and emotional, while it didn’t seem like they’d just transformed his character for narrative convenience.

Thirdly, of course, we have the coup which is pretty much out in the open at this point. I’m still not certain whether Jean seriously intends to go through with the plan as laid out or if he has his own agenda and thoughts about how it will end, but he’s certainly letting things run its course at the moment. Still, a few of his lines this week made it seem as though there is one more secret to be revealed and I hope that I’m not disappointed.

And finally, the Prince is heading to Badon for the ACCA centennial (or whatever it is) and it seems like Maggie was trying to give him one last chance to not be a moron which the Prince utterly and completely threw away. Regardless of how the coup turns out, I’d really like the Prince to be brought down several pegs. Not necessarily killed (though I probably wouldn’t shed many tears) but at least soundly given a reality check.

Okay, I loved this episode and I cannot wait until next week.

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 10

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ACCA Episode 10 Review:

There’s no doubt ACCA has been an amazing watch so far and even this episode works very well and continuing the narrative and driving us ever closer to a climax that is definitely taking shape now.

However…

The writing in ACCA Episode 10 has to be questioned. Now that Jean knows he is royalty it seems like every character in the entire show knows and just casually mentions it in passing like it is nothing. Previously cigarettes arrived in unmarked envelopes, now characters hand them to Jean with speeches about why they are betting on him to become the next King. Its weird and is probably the first major mis-step this show has taken.

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Still, the end game of this show is far clearer now even as we anxiously await the final pieces to slot into place and all and all its been an outstanding ride. Let’s hope it makes it to the end without any more intrusive blunders.

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 9

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ACCA Episode 9 Review:

Part of me is really happy to find out in ACCA Episode 9 that Grossula is not the mastermind, but I’m not certain about the actual reveal. Sure it fits but it didn’t quite feel satisfying, mostly because we still don’t know what’s actually behind everything. Hopefully that reveal is coming soon.

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Jean is all but absent from this episode though things certainly escalate as Lotta is forced to flee from would be assassins. However, in true ACCA fashion, this isn’t resolved through some sort of fight but merely a few words from the Chief with an implied threat and Lotta is momentarily spared.

This episode is intriguing and things are definitely moving. I just wonder what the final outcome will actually be.

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 8

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ACCA Episode 8 Review:

ACCA Episode 8 continues to know when it is time to make a reveal and this week the focus is entirely on what happened with the Princess and how Nino ended up watching over Jean and Lotta. Normally I’m not big on flashback episodes where we’re told what happened back when, usually because we’ve already made the logical assumptions and it feels like we’re treading over old ground while the main story stagnates. ACCA doesn’t have that feeling.

Yes, we’d kind of put the pieces together during the previous episode but due to the ambiguous nature of so many statements seeing the reality of what happened and seeing a lot of it from Nino’s view has really consolidated the plot up until now. Its satisfying in that it confirms most of what we’ve suspected but at the same time it doesn’t feel like we already had all the answers.

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Though probably the biggest surprise is the age difference between Nino and Jean. Earlier in the episode I wondered how Nino had met Jean in high school given how much older he was supposed to be and ACCA didn’t just ignore that point. It addressed it head on (though I’m still not convinced people won’t guess your age just because you wear glasses).

All and all, this was another solid episode. The last few minutes where Jean returns home leave me feeling uncertain about what is going to happen next. He is always hard to read but in this case it kind of feels like even he doesn’t know what is next.

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 7

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ACCA Episode 7 Review:

If you haven’t watched ACCA Episode 7, spoilers ahead.

This show is a joy to watch. After weeks of holding off on giving us anything solid this week seems all about having characters just dropping major reveals casually like it is nothing into their everyday conversations. We don’t learn everything, and there is still the question of whether what we are being told now is absolutely correct, but it feels like things are coming together in a big way even while we still have quite a bit of story still to come.

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Nino is out of sorts for a lot of this episode and I would have loved to have known what was going through his head while taking photos of Jean eating with the King. It was more or less at this point that I decided the royal connection was absolute rather than just a theory and I’m glad that the series decided to confirm that later this episode rather than dragging it out any further. There’s probably more to the story, but what we get this episode is quite a satisfying bit of intel.

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Mauve finally talks to Jean again and doesn’t say what we would have suspected. In fact, she’s the one who clues Jean in on why so many people seem fixated on him.

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Despite having so many reveals, this episode doesn’t seem to make the mistake of giving away the whole game. It is too early yet and once again ACCA proves it knows what it is doing with the pace of these reveals giving us just enough when we need it without throwing their whole hand on the table.

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 6

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ACCA Episode 6 Review:

I can’t help but get into full speculation mode while watching ACCA episode 6. The Prince hanging the portrait and kind of seeing the girl in the portrait the king always looks at kind of just fuels the idea that maybe there’s a connection between the royal family and Jean. Though in addition to that there’s a lot of characters acting pretty suspiciously around Jean and I’m starting to think that none of them know what is actually going on.

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Mauve kind of burns Jean here and later we see she’s more or less written him off as an ally or information source, even though Jean still very much wants to help her out. However, Mauve has been tracking a coup that her own subordinates have suggested probably isn’t happening, so what is she really up to?

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Jean’s work colleagues kind of manage to sum up his personality. While he is intensely focussed on details when working, he genuinely seems disinterested in people in his day to day life. As a direct result, unless he’s actually turned his attention on something specifically (such as Nino last episode), he’s prone to missing critical details. It’s an interesting facet of his personality.

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And here’s Nino, back following Jean around only no longer even pretending to be subtle. He did at least adhere to Jean’s temporarily benching him and stayed with Lotta early in the episode but it seems like he’s back in business, though that leaves us wondering who he is reporting to (I’m voting for the King).

Anyway, this episode scatters its focus all over the place but these are all plot threads and characters we’ve gradually been introduced to so it isn’t overly confusing. The only real question is where are we going? All of these conversations and interactions seem to be pointing somewhere but that destination is still kind of hazy.

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 5

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ACCA Episode 5 Review:

ACCA is fascinating. And ACCA episode 5 continues to keep me highly entertained.

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Okay, the food obsession continues with the various people watching Lotta continually being distracted by eating, which is just kind of amusing but is hiding the more important question of whether or not the Prince’s infatuation with Lotta is actually of any significance or whether it is just one more plot thread that is being strung along.

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Jean gets a hint about his watcher and that leads him to finally confronting Nino, only this doesn’t go the way most confrontations go. I guess when you are permanently laid back even the momentary shock that maybe a friend of yours betrayed you can quickly be rationalised, and what I like is that Jean thought through all of the other times he may have suspected Nino was involved and kind of put it all together. I also really liked Nino’s momentary despair when he realised Jean had noticed.

Other shows this season don’t get subtle. ACCA thrives on these small moments that show when a character is about to change their thinking or has suddenly experienced a set-back.

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I am really starting to wonder if any coup exists or if this really is just a lot of political maneuvering but either way I’m keen to see where this show goes next.

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James


ACCA Episode 4

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ACCA Episode 4 Review:

You kind of suspected that some of these 13 districts wouldn’t be all sweetness and light and giant food and ACCA episode 4 takes us to a district where the locals are less than impressed by the leadership they are receiving. Their representative, who promised to change the district, essentially left to live the good life elsewhere and never returns to the district.

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But while the story of the local district coup is interesting it all feels a little diversionary from the overall picture, even though certain comments by characters keep reminding us that Jean is still under suspicion and that in each district there are some issues sitting just beneath the surface.

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Probably the part of this episode that most intrigued me was the first few minutes where we have Lotta talking with Nino (who seems ot have nowhere else to go other than hang around his supposed friends little sister). Lotta’s putting together a package for the owner of the building that Jean and Lotta look after but she’s never met the owner.

Nino skillfully manages to take the package from her under the guise of delivering it to the post office but then makes a phone call where it seems he is talking to the owner of the building because Nino tells them he has the package from Lotta and he also confirms that this is the same person he was talking to on the phone in the last episode (so the mysterious other person Nino was working for). This has definitely given me plenty to speculate about as to who the owner is and why everyone finds Jean so fascinating but I guess we’ll just have to wait to see how this plays out.

Random speculation: The owner is either the King or the King’s advisor and Jean and Lotta are related to them. It kind of fits with the information we have but is probably wrong (still it’s fun theory). I kind of want it to be right because then we can have Jean take the place of the idiot Prince and because he’s been out in the districts he actually knows what is going on so as either advisor or royalty he’d be kind of useful to have in a position of power provided he could be bothered to act.

ACCA is available on Crunchyroll.


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Karandi James