Ah, a detective series set in a futuristic setting with a little splash of Minority Report sprinkled in. This is the premise for Your Forma, and I knew straight away that from the premise that this would be a show I would like. So, after adding it to my ‘To Watch’ list and checking out the first episode, did it measure up to my expectations, or did it fail to meet them?
Let’s go!
First Episode Synopsis
Echika is a detective that specializes in Brain Diving. By connecting to her partner and to another person, she can peer into that person’s memories to discover clues or important information about a case. However, when she does it alone, she can sometimes cause brain-related injures as the result of her dives. This is why she has partnered with Harold Lucraft, an RF model Amicus (android) with skills that are equal to her.
One day, a crime is committed by an RF model who is of the royal family line. Because three similarly looking RF models were created, New Scotland Yard takes all precautions and asks Harold to come in for a line of questioning. While this is happening, Echika meets up with Darya, a member of the royal family who had been summoned to London because of the incident. After Darya returns to her hotel, she is attacked. Since Harold was being held in New Scotland Yard at the time of the attack and verified not to have moved, he is cleared of suspicion and is allowed to commence his investigation, somewhat.
Those who lead New Scotland Yard don’t want Echika or Harold on the case. They would much rather see the entire RF line dismantled under the assumption that their advanced AI programming gives them free will; however, it’s unveiled that they are, indeed, strictly programmed, and their supposed free will is nothing more than just a clever ruse. Echika also reminds them of her brain-diving capabilities and that Scotland Yard’s involvement and proposed solution would jeopardize her entire department. They reluctantly allow her to take over the case.
With Harold’s help, Echika does a Brain Dive on a comatose Darya. There, she discovers an important clue that leads them straight to the very developer of the RF Amicus AI!
Worth Watching?
YES – If you’re a fan of shows like Ghost in the Shell or ID:Invaded, Your Forma will be right up your alley. While I cannot judge how deep the cases will be or if there will be any unpredictable turns after a single episode, they did make an effort to throw a couple of curveballs your way straight out of the gate, which can only be seen as a good thing. While it’s not exactly a direct homage to Minority Report in the sense that crimes can’t be predicted, the act of peering into one’s memories takes a piece from that cult classic film. It more resembles ID:Invaded with its Full Dive system more than anything; however, outlining the fact that Echika’s diving can cause brain damage gives what normally would be an overpowered ability a nice sense of risk vs reward that is sure to come into play the more this series progresses.
The only complaint I have about the show is that both Harold and Echika feel a bit flat as characters. Echika does show a little personality here and there (she even has a cute little tsundere moment towards the end), but for remains rather monotone and stern for the majority of the episode. Harold attempts to speak a few lines of humor, but passes it off as his programming, and he is operating within his normal parameters (which is the joke in and of itself). While the humor is not laugh-out-loud funny, it’s enough to make you crack a smile in an otherwise serious show.
There are a lot of characters introduced in this first episode that I am sure will grow on us over time, so I would wait to break out the spreadsheet to keep track of them all. Despite the rather large initial cast, the show mainly focused on Echika and Harold, thus keeping things well-contained and manageable.
The art style for a television anime is pretty top-notch, too. At one point during one of the rainy scenes, I found myself asking, “Makoto Shinkai, is that you?” Some of those scenes had no right to look that good for a mere television anime with 13 episodes listed. Needless to say, Geno Studio did a pretty good job with it, and that opening (visual-wise) gave me some Ghost in the Shell vibes at the beginning.
All in all, it held my attention and by the time the credits rolled, I thought I had reached the halfway mark of the episode. If a first episode can make 23 minutes and change fly by that quickly, you know that you have aw inner on your hands.
