1 review
The story starts off in an interesting setting. An area in Japan termed "Hell's gate" is sealed off through massive walls. Laws of physics fail to work within Hell's gate and it spontaneously and mysteriously emerged out of nowhere.
Coinciding with Hell's gate is the spotting of humans with supernatural abilities called "contractors". They're called contractors because they must perform a repetitive action after using their powers as part of a contract.
Another trait of contractors is their supposed rationality. Their decision making is based on efficiency rather than emotions. Due to this they resemble sociopaths.
Contractors don't appear out of thin air unlike hell's gate. Humans transform into them, for mysterious reasons.
With this setting, this show could have addressed the mystery behind the hell's gate and contractors in an interesting way, it could have discussed the impact of contractors on society from a philosophical POV, or could have discussed the impact of human to contractor transition from an individual's perspective (anime parasyte does it well).
The show does none of this. It turns into a generic action anime and nothing more.
The potential philosophical POV I mentioned above could have included discussing prisoner's dilemma or stag hunt dilemma to show that rationality often entails cooperation and altruism despite how the show erroneously equates rationality with selfishness and sociopathy.
The repetitive action as part of contract is just an aesthetic without any significance.
4/10.
Coinciding with Hell's gate is the spotting of humans with supernatural abilities called "contractors". They're called contractors because they must perform a repetitive action after using their powers as part of a contract.
Another trait of contractors is their supposed rationality. Their decision making is based on efficiency rather than emotions. Due to this they resemble sociopaths.
Contractors don't appear out of thin air unlike hell's gate. Humans transform into them, for mysterious reasons.
With this setting, this show could have addressed the mystery behind the hell's gate and contractors in an interesting way, it could have discussed the impact of contractors on society from a philosophical POV, or could have discussed the impact of human to contractor transition from an individual's perspective (anime parasyte does it well).
The show does none of this. It turns into a generic action anime and nothing more.
The potential philosophical POV I mentioned above could have included discussing prisoner's dilemma or stag hunt dilemma to show that rationality often entails cooperation and altruism despite how the show erroneously equates rationality with selfishness and sociopathy.
The repetitive action as part of contract is just an aesthetic without any significance.
4/10.
- Ddinosaurr
- Sep 22, 2025
- Permalink