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So, the "Code: Realize" visual novels (which this anime is based on) is my favorite otome game of the ones I’ve played. It’s considered a classic within the otome game niche, and the games are very well-received: the first game has over an 8/10 on Visual Novel Database and is one of the highest rated otome games on the site; Cardia (the protagonist) is among the most beloved otome game heroines (with most praising her character developing from an emotionally-suppressed “doll” to embracing her humanity and becoming more expressive, playful, and confident; and her being fairly proactive in the story. Fun fact: in some ... Japanese character polls, she ranks higher than even some of the love interests. In fact, for the character poll for the final game in the series, she outright ranked above most of them; only two ranked higher than her) and both the plot and love interests are generally considered well-written and fun.

So it was quite a surprise for me to see the somewhat low ranking for the anime adaptation (6.7/10) on MyAnimeList and many complaints about Cardia being boring and bland, the love interests and character seeming too archetypal and one-note; the plot being confusing, not making sense, that it was “wasted potential of a good concept,” stuff like that. It’s the complete opposite of what those who play the visual novel praise it for.

So after a couple of years, I finally got around to watching the anime adaptation, and here are my thoughts:

Stuff I Liked:

•I really enjoyed Saori Hayami as Cardia. In the original game, Cardia is a voiceless character, which while I don’t exactly hate that, I do greatly prefer my leads to be voiced. I think Hayami’s voice fits Cardia well. It really did make me wish even more that Hayami voiced her in the game too.
I’ll admit, I may also be biased since I’m a huge "Spy x Family" fan too.
•I loved seeing the characters who were faceless (such as Delly’s parents and Etty) in the game actually be given a proper design in the anime.
•I really liked seeing Lupin actually have more moments of getting flustered and love struck around Cardia. You didn’t really see any of these in the original game, so it was cute and I felt added a bit of chemistry in an area of their romance that I felt the original game was lacking.
•I enjoyed some of the anime-only scenes that were added. I especially liked the ones where we get to actually see the war camp, the soldiers and how the war is affecting them.
•It was cool to see some of the scenes from the game animated.
•I thought they did a good job translating the character designs of the visual novel to an animated format.
•The backgrounds are very detailed and beautiful.
•I really liked the ending theme.
•Some of the action scenes were pretty good, especially those in the latter half of the anime.

Stuff I Thought Was Fine:

•The general soundtrack is fine, but I also didn’t really find any of the background tracks memorable, especially when compared to the game’s amazing soundtrack.

Stuff I Disliked:

•You know, it’s funny. One of the most common complaints about the visual novel is that the common route is too long. But here, it’s the exact opposite. At least the VN’s slow start gives time to flesh out the story and characters at a relatively natural pace, but here the plot is just rushed and so many things that are thoroughly explained in the original game are either only briefly brushed upon, left out, or completely changed (which I wouldn’t necessarily mind if the changes were actually better than what the game did, but they almost never were) to fit the time frame of the anime. I understand why that’s the case: they’re trying to condense a plot-heavy 50-hour game within the frame of 4 hours, so there really isn’t much of a choice but to rush things in order to get the all of the absolutely necessary plot points established. But that doesn’t really change the fact that it’s still rushed.

Most of my complaints are going to actually be about the pacing (which I think is ultimately the core problem that leads to many of the other issues with the anime.)

•The rushed pacing badly affected a lot of emotional scenes. In the game, the emotional aspects of the plot have much better pacing; they’re given the time to breathe and be built up to while you learn about the characters, the plot, and watch their relationship develop. Add into the characters having more time to develop overall in the game (giving the reader more incentive to care about them), and it makes the pay off of the emotional scenes hit much more deeply.

In the anime, because of the lack of time to breathe and develop both the plot, characters and their relationships, these scenes just feel… like they’re thrown in as quickly as possible to get the main point across, and then are dropped almost as quickly so they can move to the next part of the story, when lingering on those moments would make them hit a lot more.

•God, episode 7 of the anime does NOT do any justice for the chapter of the visual novel (chapter 8) that it’s adapting. One of the biggest revelations regarding Cardia’s character (which is given a lot of time to be built up to, explored and for the viewer to soak it in the game) is presented in under one minute in the anime. I was so confused when I saw it in the anime, I was like “Did I miss something? Is this supposed to be a teaser for now and this scene will be properly shown and revealed later?” But it’s not. I know I made complaints about the fast pacing before, but this was without question the worst instance of the pacing affecting the plot. I can only imagine how out of nowhere and confusing that scene would’ve been to someone who had no knowledge of the game.

There’s also another very important part regarding Cardia’s past that I feel was also presented in a way that’d be confusing for someone who isn’t familiar with the visual novel.

•Some of the action scenes weren’t great. Some of them weren’t really suspenseful and the animation was a bit lackluster in some of them. I don’t know how you make an animated action scene less suspenseful than the written words, sound and visual effects, and still images the game used, but they did. Also, some of the action scenes from the game weren’t adapted, which was disappointing.

•You know how I said it surprised me to see people call the characters in the anime bland? Well, after watching the anime, I understand why a lot of people who didn’t play the games thought that. The characters were largely simplified to their most basic personality traits, and while their backstories and some of their emotional struggles were brushed upon, the anime didn’t go in nearly as much depth of them as the game did. The character arcs they had were very simplified and rushed in the anime, while in the game they were genuine struggles for the characters to go through, and it made it all the more satisfying and emotional when they did finally persevere through them.

•Man, I feel bad for you Saint Germain fans. Pretty much all of the characters’ background and motivations from the game were watered down or not brought up, but he got it the absolute worse. Also, the organization he’s a part of and what they do is not at all fleshed out here, unlike the game where they’re very important to the plot.

•So I said I loved Saori Hayami as Cardia, and I do. But I feel like there wasn’t enough moments where she was over emotional and humorous (like she had in the game), to show Cardia’s character development from a doll-like girl to a feeling human. These moments weren’t non-existent, they were there (like when Cardia began crying in episode 9 or a moment in episode 12), but compared to the game, they were lacking. It’s especially disappointing because I know Saori Hayami is capable of doing the “reserved and sweet, soft-spoken character who has moments of humor, awkwardness, and strong emotion” well (Yor Forger from "Spy x Family" for example). I wish she was able to show that off here too.

•I know I said that the moments were Lupin was flustered around Cardia added a little something to their relationship that the game lacked. But it was only in that one aspect. Otherwise, it just wasn’t as well developed compared to the game. I guess saying it came out of nowhere wouldn’t be completely accurate since I did say there were moments where they were flustered by the other, but overall without a lot of the tender moments they had in the game, it just felt like their feelings for each other developed way too quickly.

•Also, Van Helsing defrosting and coming to care for Cardia felt like it happened way too quickly in the anime. Maybe you can argue the others come to care deeply for Cardia too quickly too, but at least they’re established as being open and caring guys from the get-go, but Van Helsing is very reserved and stand-offish. In the game, you do actually see him slowly warm up to the gang and Cardia, so it does end up making complete sense that he’d become very protective of them, but since most of those moments are lacking here, it just feels forced and jarring.

Overall Thoughts:

As an adaptation of the visual novel, it’s fine. Flawed, but fine. If you like the VN, I’d suggest treating the anime as just a series of scenes from the game animated with a few bonus new scenes and using your knowledge of the game to fill in the rest of the information regarding the plot and characters. If you’re expecting a genuinely amazing adaptation that has good pacing and nearly every aspect of the characters and plot thoroughly explained and shown, you’re probably going to be disappointed.

If you haven’t played the visual novel, I’m not sure I can recommend this series. Chances are, without prior knowledge to let you fill in the blanks, the characters will come across as somewhat flat and archetypal; and the plot will be confusing and seem like it’s just throwing a bunch of stuff to happen as quickly as possible. If the premise interests you, just buy the game instead.

Honestly, it’s a shame. I feel like the "Code: Realize" games in theory would make for an amazing anime, with the interesting plot and world building, characters and their growth and chemistry with one another, and the action. But it’s not a series that can be done justice with only twelve 21-minute episodes. I don’t blame the makers of the anime for how the anime turned out: again, condensing all of that story into such a short time frame would’ve been extremely challenging for anyone. I think they did the best with what they had, and if anything, I’m somewhat surprised they even managed to condense all of the absolutely necessary information into the anime at all (bad pacing or not.)

So yeah, just another among many examples of a visual novel being given a mediocre anime adaptation.

I'd only recommend it if you're into "so bad it's good" stuff because some moments are unintentionally funny.

**Spoilers**

I only gave it a 2 instead of a 1 because I thought the plot twist where the "Martians" were actually the original inhabitants of Earth and are trying to reclaim their home planet could be potentially interesting. Too bad the idea's executed horribly and everything else in the OVA (including the technical aspects like sound and animation) is handled terribly; bland at best and awful at worst. And even then I don't remember that plot twist ever being foreshadowed or hinted at so it ... just comes out of nowhere.