C Danchi

I felt compelled to share my thoughts on 'C Danchi,' an anime that has garnered its fair share of criticism. While I'm not typically one to write reviews, I couldn't resist expressing my fascination with the unique lovecraftian world crafted within this series.

What struck me most was the inventive fusion of Lovecraftian horror with Japanese cultural elements—a blend that proved to be both captivating and refreshingly original. While the execution may have left something to be desired at times, particularly in terms of animation quality, I found myself drawn to the richly textured themes of cultism and cosmic horror that permeated the storyline.

Despite its brevity ... at just four episodes, 'C Danchi' managed to spark my imagination and leave me pondering its implications long after the credits rolled. Yes, there were moments where the narrative could have been more polished, and certain Lovecraftian purists may take issue with the liberties taken in adapting the source material. However, for those willing to embrace its unconventional approach, there's a lot to enjoy here.

From the enigmatic Cthulhu cultists to the intriguing presence of the Yog-Sothoth child, the series is rife with fascinating characters and references that pay homage to Lovecraft's mythos while adding a distinctive twist. Sure, Cthulhu may not be portrayed as the all-powerful deity we're accustomed to, but I appreciated the fresh perspective and reinterpretation offered by the creators.

In the end, 'C Danchi' may not achieve god-tier status, but it's far from being labeled as trash. If you have a penchant for lovecraftian anime with a touch of randomness, I encourage you to give it a try. After all, with just four episodes, it's a low-risk investment that may just leave you pleasantly surprised.

Housing Complex C is interesting. It's only 4 episodes, and that's its main problem. It has a very interesting premise, and I genuinely enjoyed it, but being as short as it is is problematic.

This show has enough to have been 12 episodes, but because there are only 4 the pacing is all over the place. The first 3 episodes build up the tension nicely, only for the last episode to dump a load of exposition in the first half, and speed-run through the rest of the reveals and twists in the other half. Again, if it were a longer show I feel it could've ... been done a lot of justice, but for the amount of episodes it is the story really doesn't get the development and pacing that it honestly deserves.

In case you're still interested though, I'll continue the review:

Plot/World-Building - 6/10

As previously mentioned, this show has a good premise! It's just the short episode span that forces it to skip out a lot of helpful development and pacing. As there are mysteries present, plot and world-building have to be revealed over time, but (aside from the general pacing/short-run issue) it's handled well enough. Things are explained and teased enough to feel like there's actually something to grasp here but not TOO much that the ending is spoiled and revealed right off the bat.

Art Style/Animation - 7/10

The artistry here does what it needs to accomplish. It's nothing ground breaking but it works well. The characters are expressive and their personalities read through their designs pretty well. The settings are actually very nicely detailed and some scenes were actually really beautiful to watch.

Script/Voice-Acting - 8/10 (Eng Dub)

There's not much to be said here in terms of script. It did what it needed to do. Each character spoke in a natural, easy to understand way that fit their characterisation well. Again, alongside the pacing issue, there were occasional dumps of exposition and dialogue that go a bit convoluted, but other than that it was all well-done. The voice acting was stellar. Each actor fit their role nicely, and the last episodes **events** were delivered seriously well by all involved.

Characters - 7/10

For the millionth time, I'll mention the 4-episode span of this show. There wasn't enough time to fully explore most of the characters, especially since there's quite a few important ones. However, with what we were given - it was good. I found it easy to connect and empathise with a lot of these characters, and genuinely enjoyed a lot of their personalities and interactions. Majority of them were relatively standard, friendly people, but overall the cast of characters are likeable enough to enjoy watching.

Overall - 6/10

There's a genuinely interesting mystery to explore here, and it is handled well enough. Watching this show is definitely not a BAD experience, but it can get a little confusing at times in terms of pacing and the occasional exposition dumps. Luckily, with the short episode span, at least it's not too much of a commitment. I would definitely recommend this if you're an avid viewer of horror or mystery, but maybe not so much if you're not too interested in either genre as this show may not hold your attention very well.

It's a shame that the horror genre of anime is such a sparse one, as the horror genre holds plenty of potential for creative concepts and compelling stories, especially when paired with its natural companion genre, mystery. Naturally, the idea of a mystery horror anime based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft, one of the more notable contributors to the horror genre, is a promising one. Alas, Housing Complex C can barely be called a horror or mystery anime. Its myriad strange writing decisions and nakedly manipulative presentation elicit far more questions than its barely-there plot and cast of barely-characters, and never to positive ... effect.

In terms of mystery, Housing Complex C offers a heaping helping of dead ends and red herrings, going to great and nonsensical lengths to obscure the nature of events and the identities of its antagonists. Characters often bend to the whims of the mystery plot, completely changing their personalities as required and putting on facades for the audience rather than each other. Meanwhile, the few actual clues the show offers are delivered with the subtlety of a sledgehammer blow to the face, to the point where one is liable to dismiss the actual answer as a possibility on the grounds that "it couldn't possibly be that obvious". This leaves the eventual reveals feeling cheap and unsatisfying, not helped by the show's reliance on meandering explanations and confusing infodumps

The series fares no better as a work of horror fiction, with tame and played out supernatural imagery, a complete lack of tension or atmosphere and no real scares to speak of. With only four episodes, the anime has little time to establish and develop its characters, so there's little cause to mourn their eventual offscreen deaths. Its most meaningful attempts at horror come from very occasional uses of gore and mutilation, a thin layer of Lovecraftian lacquer and the invocation of a decidedly sophomoric form of misanthropy, delivered with a side of ham-handed commentary about the evils of xenophobia.

To conclude, Housing Complex C is a thoroughly unimpressive and undercooked outing, taking promising concepts and source material, mixing them with basic takes on tired themes and sacrificing them (if you'll pardon the metaphor), along with character, plot, tension, logic, consistency and general writing quality, on the altar of an amateurish murder mystery that concerns itself more with ten-a-penny depictions of social strife than with earning its reveals through clever writing. The series evokes more frustration than horror with its awkward dialogue, reams of cavernous plot holes, underdeveloped characters, overdone themes and answers that only raise more questions. If it's a mystery or horror series you're looking for, you could do a lot better than this.