Born probably from Chiyo's unreasonable lust for animation, Occultic;Nine's anime adaptation is in an extremely weird spot. The source material will likely never be finished, and since the cancellation of the manga, lackluster release of the visual novel, and cancellation of the canon-ifying "Occultic;Nine New World" a few days ago, that makes this anime the most complete rendition of the O;N story. I've always really liked the concept of O;N, especially within the context of SciADV (the series it's a part of. You know, the one with Steins;Gate?). Tackling occult ideas by attributing fringe science to them sounds like a really really cool premise for a story. It's unfortunate, then, that it's such a broad idea, since this anime tells its story at lightning speed in a mere 12 episodes, with barely any time to actually... explain anything.
#Occultic;Nine is a mildly fun time for fans of scifi thrillers, but one that falls apart entirely if you even begin to think about it.
> This is a new world, unlike any other.
Plot: 2/10
If you were to watch this show and manage to mindlessly consume it, and with precisely zero knowledge of SciADV's other entries, Steins;Gate included, you MIGHT be able to convince yourself this plot is good. Unfortunately, knowing this show exists without having seen Steins;Gate is about as possible as surviving without oxygen for 10 minutes, and due to how ridiculously fast it goes even the most veteran subtitle readers like myself will have to rewind a couple times, making mindless consumption even less of an option. The fringe science concepts presented in Occultic;Nine really are cool on paper, and it gets points for that much, but the show's frantic attempts at justifying and explaining them in the very little time it has to do so are so pathetic and ineffective that by the end it's already stopped trying. Mutual recognition, idiot!
The story goes off in absolutely insane directions that don't really feel all too justified or well thought out, which of course, is a result of its 12 episode runtime and the sheer absurdity of what it's trying to pull. A lot of its twists are just worse versions of twists that were already written in other entries of SciADV, and the ones that aren't are just literal nonsense. By the end of the show there are genuinely more loose ends than there were interesting mysteries to begin with.
> Don't look at it with your eyes. Don't listen to it with your ears. You have only your hands to feel it all.
Themes: 5/10
Occultic;Nine does somehow have something to say. There is always something you can do. Even if you're the NEET God, wasting away your days running a dumb online blog, it's never too late to change, and that doesn't mean you're of no use to anyone.
Spoilers for Episodes 7-10: Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide
The turning point of the series sees most of our main cast discovering that they died without knowing it, and Yuta falls into a slump thinking that now that he's dead there's nothing he can do. But even in such an extreme situation, the story continues.
It's an... ok message, I suppose. I do generally agree with it in concept. But the story doesn't really deliver it in a very powerful way, and more importantly, fumbles it toward the end by making Yuta somehow "special" without explaining how or why.
> What can you do to promote world peace?
Characters: 3/10
The cast is more misses than hits. The highlight has gotta be Sarai, a scientific purist who resents his father's interest in occult topics. He has the most well defined arc of all of the characters, but even then, is just a worse version of Subaru from Robotics;Notes. Aria and Kiryu's roles in the story feel particularly detached and contrived, Sumikaze is nothing, Ririka is a walking representation of O;N's incomplete-ness, Moritsuka is mildly fun but ultimately not deep, Asuna is nothing, Miyuu is nothing, Ryoka is a walking representation of how stupid the story is, and that leaves us with Yuta. I actually... kind of like him, at least. Yuta is a particularly passive protagonist, which makes sense considering the themes of the story. He wants to be a hero and make lots of money, but he has a habit of ignoring information and responsibilities he doesn't agree with. That makes it all the more difficult for him to face reality when he gets wrapped up in the conspiracy at large, and his struggle with learning to take action is... actually pretty believable. I am also a big fan of the character designs, Yuta especially.
Visuals/Sound/Direction: 8/10
Shockingly, the most quality aspects of the show are these. The show is usually visually pleasant, with an art style that kind of reminds me of Mushoku Tensei? Albeit not that good, obviously. The animation is usually fluid and well done, though there are lapses every so often. The soundtrack rocks, particularly the Opening
(The Holy Three, Squared) and Ending
(Open Your Eyes) themes. It's also got the fun little quirk of being ridiculously fast paced and difficult to keep up with. While this was obviously done to fit all of the content into 12 episodes, which was definitely not for the best, I can't deny that it gives the show a distinct and not necessarily bad flavor. Contributing to this is the directorial style that isn't all that far detached from something like Monogatari, with strange and unique shot compositions that throw you for a loop. The only aspect of this I wouldn't say is good is the sound design, which lacks the oomph it would have needed for this aspect of the show to be perfect.
Conclusion
While Occultic;Nine is a fun little distraction of an anime I can't in good faith call it quality. If given enough budget to be a 24 episode series that takes the time to explain its concepts and flesh out its characters a bit more it could have at least been passable, but in its current state it just barely misses the mark. A blemish on SciADV's otherwise excellent track record.
SciADV reading order:
Chaos;Head Noah -> Steins;Gate -> Robotics;Notes Elite -> Chaos;Child -> Steins;Gate 0 -> Anonymous;Code 
