REVIEW: ‘Yurei Deco,’ Episode 1

Science Saru is back with an original anime series that is vibrant, adorable, and explores a world where the virtual is just as real as reality. Based loosely on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Yurei Deco is directed by Tomohisa Shimoyama and written by Dai Satō, Yurei Deco begins when Berry, an average girl from an average home, meets Huck, a girl who looks like a boy. Charmed by Huck, Berry meets up with the team Huck leads, the Ghost Detectives Club. Members of this club are “socially dead,” working invisibly within the digitally controlled society of Tom Sawyer. As she works with the group, Berry learns about Zero, a mysterious figure who lurks within Tom Sawyer’s underground. She and Huck decide to chase down this figure, and in time, the truth behind the city is revealed.

From the start of Yurei Deco Episode 1, seeing Science Saru’s take on Huckleberry Finn was an interesting start, and while there is clear inspiration from one of the American “classics,” this anime is unique. Particularly, Berry’s world is a data-managed city with bland grey buildings that have decorations or Decos you can map onto them, making them however you see fit—if you’re Love (the currency) allows it. Here on Tom Sawyer Island, people give and receive Love by engaging with each other through their avatars and Decos. And as any teen would, gaming is where Berry puts her focus.

Her hobby at the moment is trying to catch Phantom Zero, who’s believed to be behind the cases of Love loss known as the Zero Phenomenon. In Yurei Deco Episode 1, Berry heads into town to get the broken Deco in one of her eyes fixed and runs into a kid who seems like a ghost. Unable to be seen with Deco, the suspected Phantom sets Berry on an adventure.

Yurei Deco Episode 1 is an explosion of heart and color. It’s stunningly animated and offers up the foundation for a world that bridges technology and life in a rather unique way. That said, it is banal the way technology is woven into the story. The technology, the Deco—all of it is just a way of life and instead of piling on the exposition, the audience is trusted to figure it all out.

However, this is only effective given the way that Science Saru has crafted small variances between the real world and the Deco one. Changing the weight and the color of the line work in the animation, it becomes clear what is really there and what isn’t. Additionally, the vibrant colors help make this distinction as well, with overlay elements apparent throughout, showing peaks of the real city below it at nearly all times.

To be honest, Yureo Deco Episode 1 doesn’t have too much going on outside of setting up Berry’s adventure, but that works. We get to see the world of Tom Sawyer Island and get to know who Berry is, seeing her tenacity on full display. With the chase begun, Yurei Deco is shaping up to be a fun story with visually stunning animation to go with it.

Yurei Deco Episode 1 airs on Crunchyroll July 3, 2022.