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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:4209#1552] |
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Talentless Nana focuses on a school full of superpowered teens called Talented who are being trained to use and control their powers to combat "enemies of humanity" and seemingly focuses on a young man named Nanao Nakajima seemingly being a Talentless, one without any superpowered abilities. However like Deca-Dence, this series deceives its audience by revealing that the main character of focus is actually Nana Hiiragi, a girl who claims to have mind-reading abilities yet is actually a Talentless contracted by the government to kill all the Talented on the island school they are at. One of the effective elements of Talentless Nana is its titular character's planning and deceptive capabilities to try having things swing her way against the Talented. Knowing she can't confront them directly due to lacking any special abilities, Nana instead has to fall back on strategy, deception, and manipulation to attempt creating openings that will allow her any opportunity to exploit a vulnerability with whomever she targets. The Talented, in spite of their abilities, still have conditions that restrict and limit the extent to which they can utilize them which Nana attempts to learn through attempting to own said Talented's trust or observing their actions and physical condition. Nana's skills also come into play when attempting to deflect any suspicion that others may have of her being responsible for the murders she commits as another student, Kyoya Onodera, is suspicious of her connections to each of the cases and rivals her in reasoning capabilities thus requiring Nana to have to set up situations to secure an alibi. Another effective direction to Nana's situation is the gradual development she undergoes as she spends more time with the Talented. While starting off hardened in her resolve to kill the Talented, Nana's commitment to her mission shows signs of wavering as she develops genuine attachment to some of the Talented, notably her bond with Michiru. More of Nana's backstory is also fleshed out in later episodes to explore what led her to be motivated in wanting to kill off the Talented, having its tragic elements and also exploring more about the government forces at hand driving Nana to complete her mission. However, further details on said forces in question are not fully explored due to the anime's manga source material still being ongoing as of this review I am writing. As far as the Talented in question are concerned, focus on them is a bit of a mixed bag. Some of the major characters like Kyouya and Michiru get a reasonable amount of depth shown from their actions and/or having their personalities and backstories fleshed out. Others are largely relegated to simple character types with barely any focus and/or serve as irredeemable villains as a source of conflict for Nana to overcome. A case could be made that for the latter, as stated by one Talented character, that having no parents around to keep their impulses in check allowed for the Talented as teens to foolishly abuse their powers for personal gain. But for a premise that is seemingly pushing for a morally gray narrative with Nana's complicated thoughts and actions on her mission, having the villainous Talented without any irredeemable traits does take away a fair bit from this dimension to Nana's mission against the Talented. In short, Talentless Nana is largely engaging through exploring Nana's character with the planning and manipulation she undergoes in her efforts to kill the Talented, as well as her character gradually being fleshed out and developed to explore what led to her developing the motivation to kill the Talented and start gradually having reservations about her mission. Other elements of the series are hit and miss with fleshing them out as many of the Talented felt underdeveloped compared to others and the story ends inconclusively during a major point in its development. Still if you are looking for something of a psychological thriller to dabble into where focus is more devoted to brains over brawn, Talented Nana may be just the anime for you. Last updated Saturday, October 08 2022. Created Saturday, October 08 2022. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:4209#628] | ||||||
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(Six episodes watched): I probably would have dispensed with this show after a mere five minutes or so if I hadn't read a mention that there would be a surprise twist that would turn things around near the end of episode one. That's because it seemed corny and devoid of novelty at first. Sure enough, we get a surprise (Nana isn't exactly the bubbly cheerful girl that she first appears to be)--but whether this surprise turns things around wasn't clear to me. Nanao suspects she's one of these 'enemies of humanity', she says he is--who am I to believe? What will the premise of this show be? Is Nana disgusted by the base urges she reads within people's minds and wants to punish them? But why go after Nanao, who seems better than most? Nanao must still be alive, despite a certain misfortune he experiences, since he appears prominently in the OP sequence; and Kyouya must have a major role to play. I didn't get it and didn't really see why I should bother to. But I decided to watch another episode in hopes that things would be clarified, but if they weren't I'd be done with Talentless Nana. As with several other recent series, it's not until episode two that the basic premise is explained. Nana is actually a government informant who is authorized--indeed expected--to kill any Talented who has powers that could cause immense damage if the person went rogue (that still doesn't explain why she targeted Nanao, though, does it? In fact, it seems to me that his particular Talent would make him extremely valuable to the government). And apparently she, being 'Talentless Nana', doesn't actually have any paranormal ability--is she just so clever that she can guess what people are thinking? Several other things don't add up: if the government doesn't want to take any chances, why not just nuke this island or something like that? I can't help feeling that while some are assholes, for the most part the Talented are the good guys (maybe that's what I'm supposed to think; it's not clear). Shibusawa definitely didn't deserve what happened to him. In contrast, I hate Nana and am frustrated that so far she has gotten away scott-free with what she has done (this reminds me of Death Note, but this series isn't nearly as good). Onodera is suspicious of her but so far hasn't managed to save anyone. And these 'Talents' are so bizarre, such a mixed bag (everything from time travel to the ability to freeze things instantaneously), that they are hard to take seriously. It sometimes seems that this show is having a hard time deciding whether it wants to be a drama or a comedy. But the plots Nana comes up with are fairly clever and if these paranormal abilities really existed they just might work. So, while frustrated I was not prepared to quit just yet. The logic behind this show just seems kind of loose. Nana seems to have a grudge against those Talenteds with the least dangerous abilities. For instance, in episode four she goes after a girl whose skill is that she can heal pretty much any injury(?). We're told that this might actually kill thousands of people, but how that could possibly be isn't explained. The fanciful tale of 'Enemies of Mankind' that the Talenteds believe is weak at best. During episode four I was feeling vaguely tired and eager for it to be over. I almost quit at this point but decided to keep watching. Nana's opponent in episodes four and five is such a dick that you almost feel sorry for her. Almost. I think I will quit this show; the way Nana can talk her way out of any problem is aggravating, and I don't feel like I'm getting much in return. Last updated Monday, November 30 2020. Created Friday, October 09 2020. | ||||||||
