The Series (5/5)

    Den-Noh Coil is a highly interesting science fiction anime series from Maiden Japan studios . It was written and directed Mitsuo Iso, and is his directorial full series debut having directed a few episodes of Rahxephon prior to taking this on. The series tells the story of 2 sisters Yasako and Kyoko who have recently moved to a new city. Their society is one in which augmented reality has become common in every day life, and everyone from children to adult professionals wear a pair of glasses known as cybernavi that add an extra digital layer of visuals to their every day existence.

    The new city where the sisters live Daikoku is known to have a high concentration of hackers in their virtual realm. As such it has become rumored that dangerous digital creatures known as "illegals" have begun to appear in the e-space landscape and do damage to the virtual space in ways that make societal impact.

    I didn't have high expectations for Den-Noh Coil when it appeared in my mailbox, but right away my non-expectations were blown away. This show has a nice mystery/conspiracy plot running through it that is sure to keep viewers invested in the show. The characters are very well developed, and fleshed out so they don't feel like two dimensional animated caricatures and rather people the viewer is liable to care about.

    The show is well paced throughout the initial 13 episodes. Though the initial half of the show is more concerned with world and character building, and laying the foundation of the mystery elements of the show. I will personally have to see if that pays off in volume 2. The animation from Maiden Japan is solid, nothing too over the top, but it fits the atmosphere of the show quite well.

Audio/Video (4/5)

    Den-Noh Coil looks quite solid for the most part with nice colors, detail, and blacks. Banding is not an issue here, and I did not detect much in the way of noise. The show is presented 1:78:1 1080p with an AVC encode. The audio is presented with both DTS-HD MA 2.0 tracks in English and Japanese. Both tracks are quite decent with dialogue and score coming through nicely, and no issues with the track to point out.

Extras (1/5)

     Clean opening and closing animations.

Overall

    A really awesome sci-fi anime that feels like it has one foot in a reality we know. The Blu-ray looks and sounds quite good, but as per usual lacks in extras. RECOMMENDED.