Review

I originally came to this show with little to no expectations on what I was in store for, while the premise did intrigue me at the start it was the characters and their dynamics that swept me from the floor. The one thing that really caught me off guard is how our main protagonist Iwanaga Kotoko just has zero chill and no filter on her. Like every episode she’ll be making dirty jokes or saying how she wants to eat Kuro’s banana These characters and their interactions are what make most of the show imo, now don’t get me wrong that doesn’t mean the story isn’t good as well but the same characters without these characters coupled with their seriousness and goofyness wouldn’t be worth the watch.

The OST, especially the main theme was a banger. Both openings and endings peak. Especially the endings with the jazz songs just scratch that itch for me.

Now, I love myself a mystery anime. Hell I daresay mystery is my favorite genre of all time in media and this anime does a great job executing the mystery aspect while also leaving clues for you as the viewer to come to your own conclusions. In/Spectre is about (in the most non-spoilery way) Iwanaga Kotoko and her boyfriend Kuro solving cases regarding spirits, spectres and the supernatural thus came the name In/Spectre because it is a pun on Inspector .. yes. Throughout all of their cases you really feel the sense of curiosity overtake you. There were many a times that I was just awake at 3am because I couldn’t stop until the arc was over, except the first season screwed me over when it came to this since it was basically just 2 arcs so I finished s1 in two nights

The real charm of In/Spectre comes with the absolute bullshit Iwanaga concocts just to satisfy the curiosity of the viewers and the people involved. The best example is her meeting with the giant snake where she literally lies that the girl dumped the fetus of her dead child who she had with her ex-boyfriend who supposedly cheated on her and did a double suicide with a girl but no he was framed and killed so she killed the killer who confessed to her after he thought his life was getting ruined because of karma but no actually she lied that she killed him to protect the younger brother of her ex-boyfriend who actually did the killing cause he had a future when she didn’t. When it was actually just that, yea she killed him because he framed and killed her ex-boyfriend and that the snake misheard her saying “I hope they find you” but was too prideful to admit he misheard. Absolute cinema. It was at this moment that she had me in her grasp and I was thoroughly hooked on this show.

The existence of Kuro who is part human, part mermaid, part kudan who is immortal and can choose one of the most probably futures that will happen whenever he dies and then his cousin who is also his first crush and has the same powers but are on opposite sides because one has accepted their monstrous being while the other wants to fucking create a GOD and turn herself back into a normal human is certainly interesting Then we have Iwanaga who is smart as shit because she is the Goddess of Wisdom for the yokai because they kidnapped her when she was 11 and told her she should sacrifice an eye and a leg to become their goddess of wisdom to which she said yes with the brightest smile is just hilarious. Like when she is rediscovered people think some sick twisted kidnapper did that to her but no she just happily agreed to it with no coercion at all. Like they politely requested her while bowing and that’s all it took lmao

All in all, this was a solid show where I had fun every bit of the way with I’d say no episode or moment feeling like a drag/waste of time. It was great to the point that I actually updated my score as I am writing this review and thinking back on everything that happened. If anything’s a testament to how good the show is, I gave a brief intro to my sister about this anime similar to the first part of my review after she saw me watching it and as soon as I finished it she asked me to watch it together so I started my rewatch the very day I finished Season 2 (although that rewatch hasn’t finished due to a mismatch of schedules) Score: 9.5/10

Notes

Season 1

• Interesting(?) premise set in the first episode, though I really can’t foresee the direction this anime will take at the current moment
• Holy, this girl really has no filter 😭
• Uhhhh I do not like how she disappears in the ending 😭
• I do like the ED though, Jazz I’m always in the mood for jazz
• Yea lmao I agree with the snake, these explanations aren’t satisfying. Things just don’t make enough sense imo
• Lmao I love her
• No way they fucking ended the episode without revealing the real reason ugh
• Hmmm finding something she threw in long ago…
• Oh, and I just realized that in contrast to the ED the OP has kuro disappearing
• Yea what could this thing possibly be that she decided to attempt this sidequest while taking the blame for a murder? Something so important that she thinks she wants retrieved even when she is about to be jailed for life on account of murder
• That’s what I’m saying, this snake really is sensible huh
• WHAT
• yea it does make sense why it would be so important… I just wasn’t expect such a dark turn holy 😭
• This bitch lied just to satisfy our desire for a proper fucking reason!
• Damn random 2 year timeskip? And I am greeted by boobs?
• Oh my god, this police officer is the ex-girlfriend of kuro fucking took me till she mentioned “I have seen Yokai before” to realize it was her, ashamed of myself
• Holy girl has too many screws loose 😭
• Damn she knows how to throw legs with just one leg
• I must say, I don’t see myself skipping this ED, I like it more than the OP lmao
• We just got an opening of another anime mid episode, peak
• I fucking love her lmao
• Holy, he was part of a friendly experiment in his family. I thought he just randomly saw a mermaid and went “I want to eat that”
• Hmmm the site created the ghost, reminds me of the urban legends episode from mob psycho
• OMG she’s a mahou shoujo
• Ahh fuck, she just had to say “as long as no one approaches her” 😭
• This police officer really wanted to be proactive
• Holy the nanase case really keeps getting more complex, fuck I can’t stop watching
• I want to kill myself… I just had the grand realization that In/Spectre… is a pun on Inspector
• Hmmm so rikka the cousin we saw in that flashback created nanase, iwanaga better have a good lie to convince me of the reasoning this time too
• This lie she is spinning about a femal officer… Is sounding awfully like a description of Saki
• yep… Knew it 😭 my girl is ruthless
• I hope solution 2 is just… gaslighting the “witnesses” that they didn’t see what they saw 😭
• ok the real solution 2 might as well be the complete opposite of what I wanted… Surely one of the others though
• seeing rikka’s blood splattering on the pc/monitor makes me wonder… when she comes back to life obviously the blood goes back in her body but what about any damage caused by it? what if it shortcircuits something does that get reverted? I’d assume not so she isn’t as smart as we thought
• I love these two so much
• Absolute Cinema
• I’m in love, with both her and the show
• Ok beginning of episode 12… that dramatic disappearance really made me think rikka pulled some BS and the ghost was about to have a round 2
• LMFAOO
• Oh so she wants to create a god and make the god make her normal… so ig season 2 will be part 2 of dealing with rikka’s bullshit
• Peak and sweet ending

Season 2

• We got four arms this season?
• Oh the first mini arc is about four arms
• Is that silhouette of the pet a fucking small alligator???
• I have a feeling everything she’s saying is a lie… I wonder why
• That’s an ugly ass lizard
• Damn starting episode 2 with a murder, peak
• Ok nvm he alive (and I recognize the VA from somewhere)
• Sassy yuki-onna lmao, saves the guy, talks about an author, robs him of half his money. Peak
• Lmao I already like her
• Bro getting princess carried by her 😭
• Amazing typical betrayal over a woman
• He almost got killed again 😭 women am I right?
• He’s arguably having a better married life with her than his ex-wife
• OMG she’s playing resident evil
• Ofc, if boobs don’t work, ass must be the answer
• And ofc iwanaga said it’s fine as long as they use condoms 😭
• I ship them
• Ok, after watching both OP 2 and ED 2 this anime is 2 for 2 for me liking the EDs more than the OPs not that they are bad just that EDs are that much better
• Lmao that face, he refused to come didn’t he?
• Girl gave them an existential crisis cause of her lies peak
• Ofc my girl knows who the killer is already
• Ahh it was the subordinate who still wanted him to come back, she knew he was just living a shut-in life so had no alibi… man just can’t catch a break and gets betrayed left and right 😭
• Yea… who tf calls and asks “Are you alone?” as the first thing
• Hell yea they’re married

• My guy did come he was just hiding, how considerate and her peak acting
• A standard case of having a yandere fall in love with you then
• Rakugo mentioned!! How timely that I am also watching Akanebanashi weekly
• Why is rikka with the couple from the OP
• She’s going to a horse race (Umamusume mentioned) using her cheat ability to make her horse win 😭
• She got hit by a truck in front of them… rip to the witnesses potentially
• Ok incest lover…
• Mmm the “I saved a yokai cat and now it doesn’t leave my house” arc.. well as long as rikka isn’t making a god
• Bro just randomly had a meteorite tree lying about
• Bro just admitted to that so casually
• What in the umineko arc (I have no clue about the story of umineko but I think there was a murder mystery at the start when I played a bit of it once)
• Hell yea girl, go expose this old man
• Bro pulled a gun on a yokai goddess and a monster who can’t die
• So instead of dealing with Rikka’s bs this season we instead had to deal with the shit Rikka thought Iwanaga could solve 😭
• Is Rikka maybe trying to distract her and do shit somewhere else?
• Yea, Kuro just said that too
• Is Rikka trying to show Kuro that since she is so ruthless against anything the breaks the order, and since the Sakuragawas essentially go against the order she’ll do the same to them too? 🤔
• Oh how fitting
• How about you instead tell me what in the world did I witness in the first half of this finale :sob:
• Most random conversation between 2 friends be like
• I bet she was just haunting this guy and he’s confusing it for subconscious guilt
• Yep, she was just haunting him lmao
• Bro lost all desire to kill her after learning she’s just a horndog 😭