Joker Game - Review - Ashley's Anime

Don’t you just love when something is surprisingly pleasant and you just want more of it after the fact? It took me two episodes, but I am actually in love with this anime. I feel like this could have been my Law & Order SVU for anime because I could have continuously watched episode after episode and never complained. While also eating food that I have no memory of.

Joker Game takes place just before and during WWII, following the story of a Japanese spy group known as the D-Agency. This is a team of elite spies, men whose real names we will never know, and the show tells us how each of them deals with their different missions as Japan enters a time of war. And boy, I could make so many awful jokes about the D-Agency’s name and its attractive members, but I have to leave something to the imagination so… Let’s get on with the actual review!

The Good:

I would have never thought that spies were my thing, let a lone an anime that takes place in WWII but, I actually found myself loving it. I love the fact that each episode talked about a different character and their stories as they were put in the field as spies.

Not only that, but it was really good at building in terms of time. It starts out when the D-Agency had just finished coming together and training was wrapping up, so when we finally get to episode 3, we see these men go out and do the job they were trained for. It also didn’t really bounce around in with different events that happened during the war; it was very linear and straight, unlike my sexuality.

Each episode also stuck to the theme of the Joker game. In episode 1, we see the agency play this game and in the second episode we see it actually applied in practice. But the game is continuously relevant throughout the entire show. Which was also what kept it so amazing because the ending was already somewhat of a surprise.

Well, at least for me. Perhaps I am not as observant as some of the other viewers. It sort of felt like when my mother used to tell me things when I was a kid and I never found them relevant until I was an adult. The episode would give us hints, but unless you were perceptive and could see that far ahead into the plot, it was always one step ahead of you.

The Bad:

So this anime was not without its flaws. I knew Joker Game was going to be good, but I did not anticipate it to be my cup of tea since I’ve never been much of a spy fan. What also threw me off was its presentation of the first two episodes. I could have done without Sakuma, he sort of killed my buzz. But Miyoshi… Whew… What a cutie… He gave me the strength to go on.

And for as smooth as the members of the D-Agency are, there were some episodes that I found somewhat awkward or that didn’t totally make sense to me from a real-world point of view. For example, the episode titled Ceberus had a really awkward ending, in my opinion. I liked the story, it was really well done in it’s mechanics, but I felt that giving up her child to a strange man at the end so she could turn herself in was… Odd?

Like, really lady? We’re just cool giving this kid to some dude you just met? And he was totally fine just taking this little girl and her dog in? And then later, when we see the members all together again, I’m pretty sure that guy was still there. W-what? What happened to the girl? Where is she now? W-w-what???

This sort of thing happened a couple times throughout the season, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Really, I didn’t find it to be problematic, mostly because I realized emotional turmoil of that level would throw the show off the steady beat it had built throughout the series. I guess the only other thing that was really bad was that one dude’s face. You know the one I’m talking about.

Recommendation:

Watch this anime. It is definitely worth it. I think, not only was it well done and suspenseful, but for the amount of episodes you got, it was definitely an accomplishment I’ve only seen a few anime achieve. Sort of like college students trying to get a job in the field they got their degree in. Keep trying, buddy.