Dennou Coil

Original Title: 電脳コイル - Coil A Circle of Children
Romanized: Dennou Coil
Literal: Cyber Coil

Plot Synopsis

Yuuko "Yasako" Okonogi is a meek but otherwise average girl just moving to a new city with her parents and younger sister. She, and all the other children in the area, wear the latest generation of internet-connected glasses that overlay a virtual world onto what they see, a place inhabited by virtual pets, digital tools, and--in the case of kids who like to break a few rules in the quest to have fun--some hacked tricks that give them all manner of weapons with which to play pranks on each other. Of course, this activity doesn't go unnoticed by the area's authorities, who created the giant pink Satchi to cheerfully and blindly hunt for kids and their little bags of technically illegal tricks ripe for erasure.

Yuuko's life gets rather more exciting when she gets roped into joining a couple of lively classmates in her grandmother's cyber-detective agency. Even more so when she meets the like-named Yuuko "Isako" Amasawa, also a new student in her class, whose unparalleled cyber-skills make her feared among the school's self-proclaimed Hacker Club.

But this other Yuuko is hunting for odd virtual creatures--"illegals"--for the purpose of unlocking some secret hiding in the shadowy areas of virtual space. Something that seems connected to Yuuko's hazy memories of her late grandfather, and something that becomes increasingly dangerous to those involved.

Quick Review

Rating: 4.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2009-04-03

Like Ghost in the Shell meets My Neighbor Totoro, Dennou Coil takes place in a near-future world drenched in technology, yet still sunny, well-lit, and pleasantly familiar. Using glasses that overlay a magic-like virtual reality onto the real world, the kids' make-believe games are given visual form and a high-tech facade that is appealing for its blend of nostalgia and wild imagination. The series begins with a variety of slice-of-life episodes ranging from cheerful adventure to brilliantly warped comedy, but as the ghost-in-the-machine moves from urban legend to some fantastically creepy moments the drama builds to a darker and dramatically effective conclusion. Built on creative technology and lavish visuals, driven by a very human emotional core with messages about loss and heartache, and pieced together with satisfyingly solid storytelling and setting, the closest thing it has to a weak point are a handful of somewhat clumsily dramatic episodes early on.

Though appropriate for younger viewers and carrying valuable messages for them, Dennou Coil is substantial, appealing, and intellectually satisfying enough to be of plenty of interest to an older audience. Highly recommended as a near-perfect package of fantasy adventure, science fiction, spine-tingling mystery, and human drama.

US DVD Review

There is no official North American release as of this writing.

Content Guide

Though there's no objectionable content, and it is certainly age-appropriate for the middle-school cast, there are some generally mature themes, very scary scenes, and heavy enough drama to warrant a 10-up.

Violence: 2 - Most of the violence is just playful virtual warfare, though later on there is more direct physical conflict with real implications.

Nudity: 1 - Nothing even remotely erotic; just incidental bathing scenes and similar household activities.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Cute childhood romance, and some more general mature themes in later episodes.

Language: 1 - There is no official English translation, but likely quite mild.

Notes and Trivia

Dennou Coil is an original creation for NHK, Japan's public broadcasting equivalent of the BBC, broadcast on their high definition channel. There is a short manga adaptation by Mizuki Kuze, not available in English as of this writing. There is also a series of novels adapted from the story, by the coincidentally-named Yuuko Miyamura; the seventh book was published in December 2008.

The "Dennou" in the title literally means "electronic brain," but the meaning in context is very close to "cyber" in English. "Coil" is written phonetically, so is just the English word; the specific reference is eventually explained in the series. The original also includes the subtitle "Coil A Circle of Children" written in English.

Dennou Coil was conceived, scripted, and directed by animator Mitsuo Iso, new to all those roles apart from scripting one episode each of RahXephon and Evangelion. He has, however, been an animator on a wide variety of well-known projects since the '80s. It's not surprising that he was one of the key animators of Ghibli films Only Yesterday and Porco Rosso, though he's filled the same role in productions as varied as the first Ghost in the Shell movie, Perfect Blue, FLCL, Blood, and Blue Submarine 6. Given his apparent skill as a director and writer, I certainly hope he's put in those roles more often.

The series takes an interesting tack when dealing with money. The penalty for having your glasses erased by the automated authorities is having to restore from a backup, which is consistently referenced as costing as much as an otoshidama. Otoshidama is a relatively large cash gift--currently on the order of US$100--given to kids as a new year's present. Because this is the default measure, meaning "large sum of money for a kid," the series gets its point across to viewers of any age without having to throw numbers around or worry about inflation.

Availability

As of this writing not available or licensed officially in North America.

Looking to buy? Try these stores: RightStuf (search) | AnimeNation | Akemi's a(nime)Store