Though this too is like
the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya where the broadcast order does not follow the chronological order, it did so in a bit more deceiving fashion--while arcs are out of order, they didn't break the arc and insert some other random episode in the middle as
Haruhi did where it blatantly made you aware that the episode orders are not correct. Here it merely rearranged it in a lot less noticeable way but if you have paid attentions to the details, you'd totally notice some referencing inconsistencies. Here is a list of key points that I managed to pick off:
- Arc 1 (ep 1-2): Short hair, immediately after arc 3.
- Arc 2 (ep 3-4): "They are STILL working on the human monument project?", chronologically after arc 3, but with long hair, so it would be after arc 1.
- Arc 3 (ep 5-6): Assistant present, chronologically after arc 4.
- Arc 4 (ep 7-8): First meeting of assistant.
- Arc 5 (ep 9): Um...where does this one go...it looks like a finale of some sort...
- Arc 6 (ep 10): Just graduated, no assistant, immediately after arc 7 but before arc 4.
- Arc 7 (ep 11-12): School, the beginning of everything.
It's basically a logical puzzle where you use clues to try to arrange a correct chronological order. With those clues given, there are some definitive orders can be arranged with exception of episode 9:
11-12-10-7-8-*-5-6-1-2-*-3-4-*
Since there's no clue given for episode 9, as far as I can tell, it really could go on any one of those (*) spots. But since episode 9 looked like a finale, I'd say for now I'd just put it in the end, unless someone could tell me a reason it should go elsewhere. So my final conclusion on the chronological order would be:
11-12-10-7-8-5-6-1-2-3-4-9
Put technical stuff aside, this anime is by far one of the smartest anime I've seen in making hilariously humorous yet direct-to-the-point remarks about the problems that exist in today's society. In addition, it found the most hilarious and creative way I've seen anywhere dealing with time paradox heads on: the time paradog. It is by far the best line I've heard from this anime all season, not the part when the assistant named it, rather, the explanation grandfather gave right afterwards in the background: the universe would produce time paradogs in place of time paradox whenever time paradox is about to occur, which in turn, would prevent time paradox ever from occurring--you'll just end up with a bunch of time paradogs lying around. Brilliant!!
One reason it can afford to make the crude direct-to-the-point criticisms of today's society is the usage of the so called fairy, the smartest creatures in the world who aren't capable of producing sweets and other stuff they like. In my personal opinion, both of them represents human, but at different level: fairies in the story represents today's society at a macro level whereas humans in the story represents today's society at a micro level. So depending on the issues being address, they would use either human or the fairies, because certain issues exist only in micro level and others are better made example at a macro level.
Final Scoreboard:
Drama: 97 (Hilariously over dramatized)
Comedy: 98 (Plain hilarious)
Action: N/A
Art/Animation: 93 (Strange, flat, colorful, different)
Sound/Music: 95 (Catchy)
Character: 97 (Fun)
Plot: 94 (Cleverly out of order)
Ending: 97 (Very well)
Re-watch value: 80 - Still hilarious, and you can try to pick up more clues on the chronological ordering
Overall: 97 - Blunt and Funny
Recommendation: It's pretty save to say that no other short season series from the summer season could beat this in terms of ... anything. So go pick it up and watch it if you still haven't done so, because it is
Anime of the season for Summer 2012 Season
