I'm torn about "Heaven's Memo Pad." The 2011 anime has some good ideas in it, and an inspired visual style. It tackles some really big and serious themes. But somehow, bad writing constantly gets in the way.Poor Narumi is an ordinary teenager near the end of high-school life, when he gets roped into meeting Alice, a "NEET" detective with a motely crew of other NEET assistants (an ex-boxer, a military expert, and a giggilo that crashes on the couches of his customers). Living alone above a small ramen shop, Alice is a petite young girl with a superios intellect that observes the world from the comfort of a dark room and electronic blue light, forever in her pajamas and surrounded by her stuffed animals and favorite soft drink "Dokepe." The group constantly works to uncover the lost mysteries and unveil the names written in "Heaven's Memo Pad," or some other gibberish. In doing so, the various mysteries revolve around real societal issues in Japan and elsewhere: prostitution, murder, scandal, gang wars and drugs. There is some potential in this. The setting allows a magical visual style (best seen in the opening credits) to enhance character designs, clothing and Alice's blue marble eyes. But there is no fantasy here. Each plot, some covered in a single episode, some over three or four, feel grounded and relavent. There is opportunity for good writing and character development, and when bookended with a cast of lovable lead mascots, it could be an impressive anime production.And yet, the writing is pretty horrible. First, the whole depiction of NEETS, right down to the weird catchphrase of the show: "It's the only NEET thing to do." NEET is a phrase short for "Not in Employment, Education or Training," which could label most recent graduates, but typically describes a generation of Japanese who would prefer to stay inside and watch television at the expense of their parents, rather than seek out the beginnings of making a living on their own. In the late 2000's, the term became more commonplace thanks to a few anime with a plot that revolved around the concept. But the use of the word in "Heaven's Memo Pad" feels purely for a fad: most of the NEET characters are technically working, and their pride in being a NEET (even incorrectly) feels invalid. Even if you don't get paid, you cannot be a "NEET detective," as Alice so often states herself to be. It's hypocritical.
Next, those individual mysteries are sometimes interesting, but the victims (or villians) involved with each story are chipper and cute anime strereotypes with barely a brain. The main characters are also guilty, subject to bad jokes and character interaction. Logic is thrown out the window to make for more drama. Big reveals can be predicted episodes in advance. Lines of thought drag on forever in monologues that feel unnecessary for the plot, only present to keep a certain inconsistent mood. Even Alice's "brilliance" doesn't come off as all that clever, instead she simply seems like the captain of a ship that flows without a rudder. It isn't really until the final episodes (a crime involving drugs) that the story becomes more engaging: the writing is still bad, but higher stakes and a handful of cool scenes elevate it.Visually, the design is inspired, but the animation is mostly on "par" throughout, with generally stiff character movement but expressive faces. The songs feel like the type of Japanese pop songs you would expect around the colors pink and blue, generic but fitting. The English dub is generally good, but the writing requires a lot of references to modern Japan-only culture, resulting in necessary subtitles more often than most shows would bother to explain. I consider this not to be a complement.But "Heaven's Memo Pad" COULD have been a great drama! It had a good foundation! It wouldn't take much to fix up the writing to appear more meaningful... even a completely reworked dub script could save it. But as it stands, the story brings everything down. As usual, I've grown fond of these characters after twelve episodes, but by the end I wouldn't hesitate to slap them all on the head and tell them to get a real job.