If I were to describe this series, I’d describe it as a mixture of Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One”, and George Orwell’s “1984”, but in a very kid-friendly sense. It tackles themes of a futuristic world of augmented reality and information control, and in a sense, it almost has me fearing if this kind of world is what we’ll see in the future.

In a nutshell, Yurei Deco is set in a world filled with advanced technology where people see the world through “Deco”, which is a compulsory piece of equipment for citizens that allows them to see things in augmented reality. The other function of Deco is for the Customer Center, which is basically the government, to keep tabs on all its citizens. If you don’t have a Deco, you’re considered to be “dead” or “nonexistent”, or a Yurei, as this show describes the phenomenon as. The main character, Berry, has a broken Deco, so she can see some things that the citizens can’t see, such as the Yurei. Through this, Berry’s mundane life expands, and a sci-fi adventure of mystery and exploration begins.

My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20

STORY: 13.5/25

The story is interesting, and relatable to a degree, because there are quite a few parallels to modern society, such as the “love” system, which resembles social media likes and also seems like some type of currency or social status. It also has me thinking if the future could be like this, with higher-ups choosing what we see and don’t see. Heck, that might be happening already, who knows? Overall, it’s quite simple, as most of the series is focused on solving mysteries, and also, trying to figure out who “Phantom Zero” is along with the “Zero Phenomenon”, which reduces the love of every person and object down to zero.

The issue I have with the story is that it’s rather underdeveloped. The love system and the world itself are a bit under-explained, and I think that took away from the intrigue I had at the start of the show. With the simplicity of the premise, it wasn’t very engaging all the way through, but it definitely had its good moments.

ART: 7.4/10

I find the colour palette to be quite nice and refreshing, but the character designs left a bit to be desired. It has the Science Saru touch to it, and you can almost feel that Masaaki Yuasa was directing this, but it seemed a bit watered down and less jarring compared to his works.

MUSIC: 8/10

The OST isn’t too noticeable, but there are some good spots of music here and there. Opening and ending are solid, and I enjoyed them as well.

CHARACTERS: 12.6/20

The characters are pretty nice as well, and fun to watch. They each have their unique personalities, and in some cases, some emotional backstories as well. Berry and Hack bounce off each other pretty well, since they’re both curious, mischievous, and want to have fun. They even have unique ways of speech, which was pretty memorable. Finn was a good character too, with a good backstory, and I like the quietness of his character. Not much to really talk about here, since the characters are pretty simplistic.

ENJOYMENT: 10.2/15

Not every part of the show was the most engaging, but I found some episodes to be quite the watch.

THEMATIC EXECUTION: 12.8/20

I like what the show was going for, but some times, the themes just weren’t executed the greatest. I saw a lack of direction in the story themes sometimes, but this show executes the fun factor, and some of the tech factors decently.

OVERALL: 64.5/100

This show was good, but it could have been much better with a bit more depth and a better direction to the story. Overall, just a simple, fun show that won’t have you at the edge of your seat or anything, but will have you intrigued at times.