Joker Game

Joker Game is a historical spy anime set in the time during World War II. The first two episodes were really well done..after that the show just becomes another episodic one with spy plans being foiled. It was alright. Story 8/10 It was pretty good. Plot twists here and there. However, because it did turn episodic after episode 2 I lost interest in catching up with it. Art 9/10 Studio I.G know their animation. Well done, fluid scenes with not lag. Sound 9/10 Apart from the opening we have standard themes here and there. Opening is my third favorite of all time. Character 7/10 Some characters were bland, others not so much. Not much characterization occurred as..once again it was an episodic show. So you do not really see the motivations of these characters nor have any feelings for them. Overall 7/10 It was ok. 7/10

Looking for a Psychological Thriller that isn't on MAL's list and this fits the description. Looked through Spring time 2016 releases and found this. It really does need the Psychological genre tag added to it. The story line seems random but its really not, the idea of what to do with that information the spy's collect is always at the back of your mind. The Boss I'd say is a prevalent theme in most episodes. Beating a dead horse here but this deserves the Psychological Genre, not often you can take spys and a creed of no killing and make it treat to watch.

Ok... I give 10 for everything : Story , Art , Sound , Character , Enjoyment and overall . AND i am going to explain why i give such high marks . In my reviews , i am still going to mention tastes in anime . Everyone have different tastes in anime so i kinda of understand why people give 6 or 5 .. This is my perspective point of view . Every episode screen different spy at different countries carry out their mission for the sake of their country . IT is REALLY Not easy to make an anime like this . That you have to get some information about Germany , Russia , China and so on . Especially if its fiction , they have to think of ideas that doesn't sound too crazy and yet so believable . I LOVE how they make this series so freaking realistic like every episode is so different but the way they describes the actions behind the spy is so epic . The voice actors also have to play a very important part role as well . The way that they do their voices so calmly also make the entire anime went to a whole new level . IT just gets better at later episodes when you finally start to get better understanding of how the series kind of works . I Can even say that this is one of the best anime i ever watch despite so much negative reviews though . The idea of spy concept is really cool but do you guys know the hard work that one need to have ? IT is really not easy to make an anime like this so yeah .... Give it a try .... Before judging this anime because the negative reviews make this anime looks so bad :( BUT TRUST ME.......... IT IS REALLY GOOD.

Joker Game was an anime that I thought would be either really good or either really bad. Anime has always been a hit or miss with their westernized ones as many of them fail to capture the tone and style of something western. Joker Game manages to accomplish that in ease as it’s a very stylish series, but it also creates many hiccups along the way that restricts this series from accomplishing much more than it is capable of. But Joker Game manages to be a really good “mission-of-the-week” anime that is fairly consistent with both its style and substance, but a lack of a main and focused story is somewhat underwhelming. Joker Game make you want more out of it. ~{Story}~ The anime takes place before WWII, creating a fictional story about Japan creating a secret spy organization called D-Agency, where several agents are given special missions that all around the world, which can supply Japan with some valuable information that can give them the upper hand in an upcoming war. If the premise hasn’t informed you already, this is an episodic series, as every episode provides a mission with one of the spies being the lead character of the episode. These missions tend to get wrapped up in the same episode too. Many of these episodes turn out to be quite good and enjoyable, however there are some episodes where the story feels lacking and the episode feels pointless overall. Some of the stories would have benefitted from being more than one episode long. And maybe an episodic approach wasn’t too great. Sure, it is nice to see each of the spies get their own little story and getting the “daily life of a spy” vibe out of this anime, but it would have been really nice if there was an overarching story that gets tied up perfectly well in the end. The lack of a main story (not a main premise) makes the series lack focus. And by the end of the series, you might just be saying “That’s it, huh?”. Story: 5/10 ~{Presentation}~ Probably the best thing about Joker Game is how they nailed the setting and the atmosphere of a pre-WWII era. The way the characters act, dress, think and talk, the way the streets look, how civilians react publicly, all feel real and that’s a sign of a well done setting. Westernizing an anime isn’t an easy task, especially when you have Bebop and Baccano to compare yourself too, but Joker Game manages to gain the style of western entertainment, and traditional Japanese writing to create something that manages to balance the two without making one of the two compartments looks weak. The tone is always consistent in the series as it always adds a political and suspenseful vibe to the series. The series is episodic and it works well for most of the time. But some of the directing in some of these episodes falls weak in comparison to others and the lack of a main story makes this series lack any impact. If it had a major story playing in the background, or if all of these tiny stories tie up together at the end, this series could have been a lot better. Presentation: 6/10 ~{Character}~ There’s a lot of characters in Joker Game, a lot. Well, maybe not as much as Mayoiga, but there’s a good amount of characters. The characters don’t really give a very good first impression as they first all seems like clones of each other, both in appearance and behavior. However, since almost all of them get their own episode where they get a good amount of focus, they end up being more likable characters. That being said, by the end I still didn’t know who was who and who’s named what. It might be a little irritating for some but the characters aren’t about who they are but what they do. By the end of the series, these characters are still very mysterious and we still know little-to-none about them, but that’s how it’s supposed to be since they’re spies. They gave up their identity for their job and that’s why we don’t know who they are, but we know what they do. We may never even know their real names. However, this also causes the viewers to lack any emotions for these characters. If any of them die, I wouldn’t feel much because I’m not invested into these characters. “Oh there goes Agent #6”. The problem with trying to give focus to all of the characters is that none of the characters get enough focus to make them established characters. However, the characters were never the main focus of this series. Character: 5/10 ~{Art}~, The art itself is very clean and neat in Joker Game. Production I.G’s production values are apparent in this series as character models look detailed, backgrounds are well detailed and well colored and facial expressions are well drawn. My major complaint with the art is how the character designs lack variety. Your main cast of characters look like clones of one another. They only way to differentiate them is by their hair style, so if they ever wear a hat, it feels like their wearing a mask. Their facial designs just feel to similar to one another. That being said, the art is the strongest point of the series. The pre-WWII era setting was very well-drawn as it feels really real and alive. The buildings, clothes, people, all feel like they’re from that era. The art manages to recreate that era in their anime, and it just adds to the style. Art: 8/10 ~{Animation}~ Just like the art, Production I.G manages to make its animations top-notch too. Joker Game, almost all the time, feels very fluid and consistent. There wasn’t any moment in the series where I noticed an animation quality drop. Though Joker Game may not be as action-packed as you guessed it would be by reading the premise, the anime is still pretty to look at. When some moderate action happens, the action looks top-notch and neat. Though a lot of this series is just talking and walking, but the studio manages to do, whatever they do, right. And the backgrounds are, for the most part, well-animated, so it helps in making the images more alive. Overall, it’s consistently fluid and smooth and it is one of the better animated series of the season. Animation: 7.5/10 ~{Voice Acting}~ Joker Game has a large cast of character, a really large main cast. So it would be nice to have a really well-established seiyuu cast and luckily this anime delivers just that. When you have well-known seiyuu like Morikawa Toshiyuki, Nakai Kazuya, Kaji Yuki, Fukuyama Jun, Kimura Ryouhei, Shimono Hiro, Hosoya Yoshimasa, Seki Tomokazu and Sakurai Takahiro, you know there’s no chances of them messing up the voice acting. All of the seiyuu delivers in this series and I’ve never noticed a hiccup. Even the supporting characters are really well done. The seiyuu all manage to capture the pre-WWII era and manages to make their characters have a westernized feel to it. Voice Acting: 8/10 ~{Music}~ There are some ups and downs in the music of Joker Game. The background music is slightly underwhelming for an anime of this genre and setting. Some stylish tracks that match the era, setting and style of the series would be nice. The OST of Bungou Stray Dogs from this season would have worked great with this anime. That being said, it’s primarily the background music I have issues with in this anime as the OP and ED theme songs are quite good. The OP, “Reason Triangle”, is one of my favorites from this season as it’s really catchy and addicting. The music and the vocals of the song is so good and so fitting for this series. The ED, “Double”, is a pretty good song as the vocals are nice. The only issue is that it doesn’t match the anime much, thus it lacks the ability to complement it. Music: 7/10 ~{Enjoyment}~ Did I enjoy Joker Game? Yes, I did. Did I enjoy it as much as I was hoping to do? No, not quite? There are many factors that hinder my experience with this series, such as a lack of a main story as without it, the series loses quite some focus. I didn’t find the characters to be memorable either. But as the same time, I can’t help but appreciate its style and its dedication to its tone and setting. The…

After watching Haikyuu Second Season, I had to see what Production I.G. had to offer next which was Joker Game for the spring season 2016. Story It made me confused and disappointed. I have some historical knowledge but it shouldn't matter in watching anime but this made me think, what happened in Japan in those years. Also, the anime is episodic so every episode centers in one character doing his spy duties and such. It makes me more confused because they weren't given enough introduction and they sometime look similar to each other. The mysteries isn't something you can even solve unless you have knowledge about the terms in whatever the episode's about. Art: I love the art and how they animated it, and I like how they created the character design of the minor characters. But the spies, who are the main characters, all have similar looks, they just have different hairstyles or maybe because they weren't introduced properly. Sound: The opening was okay, and I did not notice any background music that stood out and the ending theme was mediocre. Character: They made a mistake by making it episodic, it made little character development. The only character that stood out in this show is Lieutenant Yuuki, since he appears at most episodes but the others are like throwaways that you don't even care if they die or such, since they did not deliver satisfying story about them. Enjoyment: I did enjoy the last episodes but the start and the middle are a drag, I must tell you! Overall, I'm disappointed Production I.G.

Joker Game is a quality spy, historical anime in lot of ways but yet it might not be the most eye caching series of 2016. There are certain reasons for that. Yet, I think this series has done successfully well with lots of limitation. Story: Story takes place before World War 2 where several intelligence on other countries' social and economic situation has become a valuable asset. As a result, Japan, has established a new spy organization known as the "D Agency" to obtain this weapon. While the history has no connection what so ever to the story, they made it like it was real. The general expectation from an anime series is the story starts from episode one and continuing the same story throughout the series but in this series that hasn’t happened, rather every episode’s story are different from the other with different spy on the mission except for 2/3 episodes and finished within that episode. But each of the events is bringing the main focus here and that is how “D Agency” operates their mission no matter what the obstacle is. The stories are pretty much unique and complex. Characters: You can basically sense from the plot section that with different spies operating in different episode there is no main protagonist but there is and his name is Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki who is the mastermind behind the spy organization. So, basically with different spies are showing different episodes every spy individually gets the spotlight but the bigger spotlight was on Yuuki who strategize everything behind the scene. So, overall character development was good mainly on protagonist side. The only problem that I can see is that there is no main antagonist. Art & Animation: Since Production I.G has produced it has to be good but on honest perspective it was very good. Music & OST: I am not sure this section is one of the strong part of this series but the opening and ending was on good level, inserted ost’s I don’t think so (hear one ost over and over again). Final Thoughts: Joker Game might have gone underappreciated for various reasons. Number one, though it’s a spy based anime, there is also history and drama which doesn’t draw the casual audiences. Number Two, it doesn’t have that broad storyline that will leave mark on the viewers (even the sequence of events are not in order). Burt here’s the thing that Joker Game does bring out even though it has its limitations. One, the direction is very clever and impressive. Two, the stories are pretty unique. Three, on a ideology basis this series was one of the most successful out there that has expressed the ideology almost perfectly (A spy doesn’t kill neither they are willing to sacrifice). Overall, I think Joker Game has just edged past many other series on the spring list and gone at the top.

Now, it is not a complete detective story, I know, but it firstly gave the impression when a couple of first episodes arrived. So we can at least say that it is a Chekhov-like story, that gives a mystery at the beginning of each episode and solving it at the end. This is how it is like. As I always say, I love theoretical grounds on shows. And this show has several. I take *dying or killing is the stupidest thing* thought as critics to *die for mother nation* or any other military approach, that is just great. But, there is no other grounds to mention. ** Story ** As I told, seperated stories in each episodes. At least, I would wait for a complete puzzle by solving the little pieces. This is how a detective story is like, right? This is what it falls short. You enjoy, okay, but there should be a bigger scene of mysteries. And also, it finished like there will be a second season. I do not know what people thinks about this, but I decides on series to *have an end as soon as possible*. This is a climax. So the ending -at least- did not satisfy me. It will surely go on. That is why I take two points from story. ** Art ** It is very good. Especially the brightness and darkness makes you sync with context. This is where it is unique. Also character art design is good, like, it contains *sirs* and *ladies*, you know what I mean. But it is surely not a masterpiece. ** Sound ** Opening, good, ending, good. But I will not listen them while I smoke. OSTs are also good. ** Character ** I love the way that characters having static characteristics and they can adapt the theory. It is quite professional. ************* I enjoyed the show, but do not wait for a great detective story from it. That is all.

Which card will you take, it doesn't matter as it'll always be the Joker. Joker Game is a pre-World War II where a group of spies known as D-Agency will send in their newest spies to the world in the brink of a World War. This anime was by in large one of the hardest anime for LA to keep track on merely for the confusing plot underlayed with constant amnesia and constant betrayals. However this anime does make good use of the amnesia trope and even gives the plot twists a run for it's money making the D-Agency a company not to take lightly. Where this anime hardly has a focus would be on it's characters but that's because Joker Game takes more of an emphasis to the changing tides of the plot and the character actions more than putting the characters in detail plus for the fact that many of these spies goes through the "amnesia" trope that trying to dig deep to these spies or think this anime is a character piece is not the best way to look at Joker Game. Narrative cohesion in this anime is even harder to keep track on with every episodes following a different spy or Colonel Yuuki himself and putting them with mystery and heavy red herring backstories making the cohesion just that hard to keep up. Sure plot twists' loosely brings in the narrative cohesion but if anything the plot effects towards the plot twists or "plans that are achieved" are ALWAYS on the background, the only exception is when D-Agency as a whole is on focus. The only character that seemed to get some semblance of character and focus goes to the Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki but like the complexity of the plot and plans of this anime, his character development is rocky and vague and hard to get "know" him, his power over others and his precognition/planning abilities however is shown in full force however. The plot twists does somewhat come out of nowhere and some of these plot twists do come out of nowhere a la "just as planned", however some if not most are justified as Joker Game subliminally gives you information to solve what the spy in question does to achieve their plan thus the plot twists if not are done well. The animation by Production I.G did a top notch job for an effective spy game anime, from the character designs to backgrounding to the more tense moments, the animation is above average, typical of Production I.G Joker Game is a complex anime filled with betrayals, amnesia in a pre-World War II era and sure the characters aren't as fleshed out but that's not what Joker Game is about, it's about deceiving your opponents and getting the upper hand with your personal information hidden thus moving the plot or plan forward. If your taking a low blow to this series as World War II propaganda, sure take it as a bit of jingoism, but for an anime about spying and using the amnesia trope well AND well planned plot twists, Joker Game "maybe" a hidden gem of Spring 2016 but it's definitely a complex spy thriller nonetheless, you just might need to see in broader range to see it.

Watched it through and actually loved it. So you already know the basic premise, SPIES, but let's delve deeper into the "anime" aspect. It starts off incredibly strong. You get to meet all the different interesting characters, hear spy stories, get a full backstory of how the strongest of civilians were chosen for the project but sadly, the first 3 episodes are also the highlights. The mechanics between the group are amazing, they even go on their first mission together and that garners up some real suspense but after that, the anime just decides to dedicate an episode for each spy. Now, that's all fine and dandy but it wasn't what we were expecting, at least not me. So it starts of 10/10 and then it doesn't get bad, don't get me wrong, just the pacing drops comparatively to 7/10. It is also pretty important to note that the story doesn't move linearly but jumps from point to point so that get's kinda tricky and I mean, I'm pretty dumb but in some episodes, I really couldn't tell the difference between spies, maybe because of the way that they were animated but I just couldn't keep up and got kinda lost. It doesn't give us enough time at the beginning to really notice everybody since there are a lot of them. On a visual standpoint, for me it looked like a masterpiece. Just by the composition of the scenes, the lighting and the shadows. From an animation standpoint, it was okay I guess. I also made a video review about it on YouTube, would appreciate if you'd check it out. MudanTV Joker Game Review. Cheers

I made a video: you can find it at my YouTube channel "BasementOtaku" Video Script: JOKER GAME (6/10): HOW DARE YOU! A 6 OUT OF 10?! More information on my rating system is in the video description. Now it is time to vomit language as I begin a potentially spoiler filled review. Joker game is a very pretty show. Many backgrounds are wonderfully detailed and the architecture is generally consistent for the time period and different countries where the stories take place. That isn’t to say the animation is all that impressive, it is unobtrusive for the most part but the show does a great job of having a considerable level of detail in the character designs. You can generally tell the difference between characters from different countries, where German characters have different facial structures from their Japanese counterparts. The first two episodes display most everything wrong with Joker game quite clearly, because they aren't dressed up in exotic locals or using stories that center around characters that aren't spies. The dialogue feels stiff and fails to convey any sense of urgency. This isn’t helped by the spies as characters as they act ‘oh so cool’ keeping a calm composure and generally looking down on those around them. Then at the end of the second episode as will become a trend in all of the others, a lengthy dialogue scene spells out exactly what happened in the episode explaining points the were obviously hidden from the viewer that makes the reveal feel cheap, even more so on a re-watch. What makes the show so interesting, aside from the great art, is the themes and ideas presented. Episode 3 dealing with how German occupation can turn friends against each other and episode 4 looking at themes of morally bankrupt individuals partaking in murder and pedophilia. The real kicker in episode 4 was how the one soldier reacted after hearing how his boy sex slave had been killed, displaying remorse over the loss of his perceived love rather than the horror of his own actions. There are a few very intriguing episodes and if I were to recommend the series I would personally say to just watch episodes 3, 4, 10, and 11. If you watch to watch the others they can still be entertaining but I found those four to have the best self contained stories.

Story: 10/10 I liked the story. A spy agency working behind the scenes before World War II. It was interesting because although Japan is technically the enemy during World War II, I like anime that focus on the perspective of the villain since usually, the villain's point of view is as interesting as the hero's. Art: 8/10 The art was really good. It fit the anime and it stayed consistent throughout the series. The only problem I had with the art was that I don't know if it's just me, but it looked like some of the spies had similar face designs. I could be wrong, though. Sound: 10/10 The music is perfect. It's perfect for this anime. Both the opening and ending songs are great and the music played during scenes do a good job of setting the atmosphere. Character: 2/10 Here's where the anime disappointed me. Most of the characters have no personality. I can't even say they're 1-dimensional because I don't even know what their personality traits are. Also, I get that they're spies and had a lot of training, but they were never put in a situation where they had to think on their own and not just rely on Yuuki's training. Even when it looked like they were in a dire situation, at the end of the episode, we find out that it was all just a part of the mission. I wish something that wasn't part of the mission happened so that they could use their own logical thinking and wits to escape. We never even found out what happened to that liaison who was reporting to Yuuki and the military. Finally, we only get backstory for like 3 of the characters. Enjoyment: 4/10 It was hard to enjoy the series as a whole because it was episodic. Final score: 4/10 I was very disappointed in this anime. I stuck with it because although it was episodic, I was hoping for a huge plot twist such as all of the missions that the spies completed would come around full circle and be related in some way so something significant would happen. But it turns out that they don't. One thing that was stupid was that it turns out there's another agency that hated the D Agency, but they only appear in 1 episode and never show up again. If that's the case, what's the point of even giving them an episode if they don't even pose a threat?? It's lazy writing and shows that they were running out of ideas. I would've liked if the agencies were pitted against each other such as if the spies from each agency encountered each other or something to that effect. Finally, this is just my opinion: I know that not all of the characters are Japanese, but it didn't make sense when the non-Japanese characters spoke to each other in Japanese! For example, the British people speak to each other in Japanese and so do the Germans! Overall, don't watch this anime. You'll just be disappointed in the end.

This anime is not for everyone to watch. I believe that it depends on the person. If you like spies, secret agencies, secrets, older era and fancy clothes and hats, then you're in the right place. But if this is not your thing, then you better not watch it. Though I personally would tell you to try just the first two episodes. And then judge for yourself if you want to continue or not. This anime was for me a great one. I watched it by chance and the first two episodes were mindblowing for me. The anime followed a nice story through the episodes, getting us to know each character through each episode. Every character was unique and every character's episode was surprisingly good and cool. Many will find it confusing and at first many will think that the characters all look alike, but eventually asIi also did, you will start telling who is who and understanding the plot of the story. Surely the story left some gaps and some unanswered questions, but those were few and the overall story was understandable and clear. The visuals were pretty good. I can't say the same for the sound, because I don't remember the songs much clearly. To sum up, I really enjoyed this series. It was short, an episode to introduce a character and go on also on the whole plot story and it was really cool. If you like spies, secrets and agencies then this is a really good anime for you. But even if you don't , you may find it also cool and nice if you give it a try.

Joker Game is an anime about spies in Japan before the outbreak of World War 2. I’ll admit, it was pretty good in the first few episodes. I only felt like it went down after around episode 2 as episode 3 was really boring in my opinion. Although some episodes did make up for it, the ending was lackluster. It showed so much promise but failed to deliver on what it could have been, sort of like Charlotte. Story: 5/10 The story is average at best with no overarching plot line and lots of confusing things at time. Script writing is decent for most of the series but it is better in the first 2 episodes and a few other episodes. Most of the story tries to develop the characters but it doesn’t do a good a very good job with it. It just tells a side story of some of the spies which can be interesting sometimes but most of the time, it is really boring. You only hear of the characters in those side stories and they never appear again and it really feels like all the work they did was for nothing. The title is also called Joker Game which is a game that they play in the beginning of the anime and it would have been an interesting plot point but they don’t take advantage of it and just leave it there doing nothing to expand on it. They also just leave things about spies such as betrayal and deception in the dust. It feels like they had a great idea about the story but they absolutely fail the premise with these episodes about the characters which are uninteresting. Art: 7/10 The art can be decent to amazing at time. It has its good moments but it also has its bad. Take for instance the train scene in episode 6. The background outside the train looks terrible. It’s like you take the grass texture from a game made in 1980, slap it onto the ground, and put nothing in the background. Other than that, the artwork is fine. Sound: 8/10 The sound is solid. There Op is great and the Ed is fine. Everything else is fine and adds to the experience. Characters: 5/10 The characters in my opinion are just boring. The only one that was actually interesting in this anime was Yuuki due to the way he is presented in this anime. Every other character is forgettable though. This is because many of the characters only get one episode to develop, grow, and become fully fleshed out. Now one episode is not enough for this. This makes all the characters feel really bland. Some can be somewhat interesting but most of the time, it is just boring. The side characters are actually more interesting than the main characters in some cases. The German general guy and the British intelligent officer were more interesting with a way more interesting character design than all the main characters. Overall though, the characters felt very average compared to many other series and how they handle character development within twelve episodes. Enjoyment: 6/10 I really enjoyed the first two episodes of Joker Game. Although it was fun, all good things come to an end and it came rather quickly. Episodes 3-12 were for the most part, a step down from the first 2 episodes and didn’t give me the same sense of enjoyment that the first 2 did. The ending was especially disappointing for me and I really did not enjoy it. Overall: 6/10 Joker Game was a unique show as it was set right before World War 2 and telling the stories of spies, something rarely done in anime. It starts off with an amazing first 2 episodes but with lackluster characters, and with an uninteresting story, makes for an experience that is quite boring although it can be interesting at times. Although the art and sound are solid, it can’t save Joker Game from its story and characters. Watch if: - You want something more unique in an anime - Can stand an okay story with okay characters - You liked Baccano! - You like it where each episode focuses on a character Don’t Watch If: - You need a good story or characters - Need a good ending - Can’t watch anything boring - Need a lot of action in the show

Joker Game excels in its intricate storytelling, setting it apart as a thoughtful espionage thriller. The art and music create a fitting atmosphere for the pre-WWII era, and the episodic structure provides snapshots of covert operations across different countries. Each episode offers a self-contained narrative, often delving into morally gray areas. However, character development is a notable weak spot. Aside from Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki, the other agents feel underdeveloped, which may leave viewers disconnected from the cast. This intentional anonymity enhances the show's theme of secrecy but sacrifices emotional investment. Despite this, the show's strong pacing and sharp plot twists make it a captivating watch for fans of spy dramas.

First of all, I have to say this is the first "spy" anime that I have ever watched before. And I will say I enjoyed every moment of this anime from the very beginning to the end. Although short, this anime has a lot of detail packed into it, when it comes to characters and graphics. This anime is also apart of a back to back genre of anime that I have been watching nonstop. And that is the "historical" category. This anime really takes it time when going into detail to explain every single situation down to the very second, from start to finish. I am going to look for more anime just like this one.

First and foremost, this anime was good. This wasn't the anime I was expecting to watch. I didn't expect to learn about spy tactics and morales, but it was definitely and interesting plot to watch. The anime basics were all good to me (Story; You follow an organization called D-Agency on all sorts of different missions lead by the mysterious man Yuuki, Art; this is what got me to watch the anime... I was interested in the style and probably the weakest point for me was the Characters; the all seem to be interesting men that have join the D-Agency for their own purposed and morales, but you don't get to learn about the at all... BUT that might also be the best thing about this anime because they are doing their jobs as spies to "blend-in" and not be the one's that are in or out of any situation) The reason I give the anime a score of 8 is because of how different it is from what I've watched before. It's almost like having a whole bunch of short stories come together at the end, but even when it does there is still no clear conclusion to it all. I liked how the animation was never lazy, and nothing seemed like a filler. I just don't think this anime was meant for me because I like getting attached to characters and back stories, so it was as if I was missing something while I watched the whole anime. I would suggest this anime to anyone who needs something a little different, maybe to test where there boundaries are with anime genres. In the future I hope to give the Manga a try, and see if they go into more character depth there (I'm interested in knowing the background of D-Agencies civilian spies, and also see their growth)

Altough Joker Game isn't a bad anime, I do not recommend this anime to anyone. If you do feel the need to watch Joker Game though, I advice you to only watch the first couple of episodes. After the first couple the story becomes worse and worse. [NO SPOILERS] Story 5 / 10 Joker Game's story is not something to write home about. It starts out very promising with a newly established spy agency who have to gather intell for Japan during the second world war. The plot, however, is very confusing and although this anime tries to make it look like all episodes are connected to each other, all episodes look more like separate stories than one big plot line. Note that there is nothing wrong with a confusing story. If a story is well written, the confusing part can be used to even improve the show. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Joker Game. Characters 3 / 10 There is no character development at all. You won't bond with the characters and most of the time you won't even know their names, or who they are for that matter. This results in a lot of frustrating confusion. Characters are boring and seem to be all the same. Art 7 / 10 The art is good, but not great. Sound 5 / 10 Definately insufficient. There is absolutely nothing special about the music in Joker Game. Enjoyment 6 / 10 Not taking into account the last couple of episodes, I did enjoy Joker Game somewhat. The first couple of episodes were pretty good. I especially liked the train episode. Overall 5 / 10 In my own anime list, I rated Joker Game as a 6 / 10. I did this because the first couple of episodes were good enough to make this, at least to me, enjoyable enough to not rate it as insufficient. Since I'm trying to be as objective as possible while writing reviews, I have to take the last episodes into account too. For that reason Joker Game deserves a 5 / 10 as nothing can justify these last horrible episodes.

Most of the anime released by Kadokawa are well-made and attractive. I have been watching anime for over 15 years and I don't remember any anime from Kadokawa that I have given a score lower than 7. This anime was also really beautiful and attractive. A story far from common stereotypes, an international setting, mystery and unique design all added to its appeal. It is really a pity that such stories are only made in 12 episodes when they have the potential to be made into several seasons. I recommend this anime to people who like mysterious and puzzle-like stories.

It certainly is better in quality than most of the series out there, but that being said; Joker Game is challenging to watch, for me at least. I acknowledge that it is part of the "mystery", but storytelling is just confusing and often very hard to follow. Okay, some things are happening and agents find themselves in different scenarios, but you as the viewer, have no damn clue why and how is this agent doing that thing. This could be the "mystery" only if it was solvable by the viewer but when you do it intentionally so that everybody have no idea what is going on, this just becomes confusing. As I said, it is still a very well-done series. Intrigue, action, mind games, heroes, and villains; Joker Game offers everything that makes an anime worth spending your time.

~spoilers for various episodes of Joker Game, take caution and enter with care~ As it states in my bio, I tend to make the grave mistake of rating a show based on its last episode or its final arc. I watched Joker Game in April of 2020, and now, three months later my opinion has starkly shifted on the anime. I still will sing its praises of being a good spy anime, especially for fans of historical fiction and episodic storylines that do not focus too much on character development. However, I can no longer ignore the blatant problems of Joker Game that have been brought to my attention, the ones that I pushed to the back of my mind when I originally completed the show. When reading reviews of Joker Game that felt similarly as I did, one common excuse to the non-character development that permeated throughout the show was because the spies are not the main focus of the show. It was the information that they were to gather that should hold the main focus of the character. Needless to say, I disagree with this sentiment. Here I return to my final episode fault and make an argument that each of the spies should have received character development as the spy featured in the final episode did. Odagiri was that spy. We watch him struggle to investigate and come to terms with a person of interest due to her physical similarities to the woman who raised him. In the end, he decides to end his time as a spy, for he knew he could never be like the fellow men in his organization. Now I’m not suggesting that every spy in the D Agency end their respective episode by leaving the agency, but give us insights into the minds of these spies. Show us vulnerability as was done with Odagiri. Spies don’t get to be vulnerable, so show them coming into their roles, fighting their previous emotions, shedding their past by the wayside, and fulfilling the role of what they need to be. This isn’t a character-based show, but give us moments with these characters that define and separate them from the rest of the cast, just as what was done in the final episode. Without this extra flare for the characters, its plot and presentation were all the show had left to succeed in, for the visuals and music were standard. While watching Joker Game, I picked up on the episodic structure as soon as episode three, but in the first two episodes, that isn’t what the show is presented as. The first two episodes are a two-parter and by the end of the second episode, the viewer is most likely under the impression that this show is going to follow Sakuma above the rest of the agents as he comes into his position at D Agency. However, this does not occur, much to the confusion of the viewer. By the end of the third episode, the viewer is up in arms about why the hell we were just thrown into June of 1940 in France of all places, so divorced from the events of the previous episodes. This spirals the show into a path of absolute confusion until around episode five when it is realized that, oh, this is just the structure of the show. And I don’t object to episodic structures. When executed well, the episodic structure compliments a show. But in this case, it offsets the viewer so strongly that a drop of Joker Game is very likely to occur. It drags on, as some might put it. As I look back, it is now clear to me that this structure was detrimental to the progression of the story and characters, and did not maintain viewership as it would have preferred. As I come to my conclusion on this review, I want to preface that I don’t believe Joker Game is a bad show. There is excellent symbolism and anti-militaristic themes that really shine in an anime about espionage in pre-World War 2 Japan. This show was on my favorites list for a reason, but this show has a list of detriments too long to ignore when making an objective review of this show. If you would like to give Joker Game a try, go for it. It is not a bad show, by any means. Joker Game is simply a prime, masterclass even, example of an anime with a unique, compelling premise, but fell through in terms of execution. Just please give me an espionage anime that doesn’t hop around the timeline and doesn’t drag on, I’m begging you. It’s all I’m asking for at this point.