Heaven`s Memo Pad: It’s the only NEET thing to do

“You don’t stand out much, do you?” Hiro to Narumi.

Narumi Fujishima, transfer student, believes that he’s just one of the crowd, no one special. Adopted by Ayaka, a cheerful classmate, he is coerced (in the nicest way) into becoming the only other member of the high school Garden Club which she runs.

So how does Narumi find himself acting as assistant to Alice, the self-styled NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) detective, investigating a murky case in which a couple of high school girls have been selling themselves? Ayaka, it turns out, has NEET friends who help Alice out with her investigations: three personable young men who can often be found hanging out at Hanamaru, a ramen bar where Ayaka works. And who exactly is Alice? We are never really told how old she is or what her true background is. Alice is yet another of those moe child-women so beloved by the creators of manga and anime, more like a frail Dollfie with her huge dark eyes and ankle-length black hair than a real girl. She sits at the heart of a sophisticated bank of computers and surveillance equipment, surrounded by soft toys: teddies, groggies, bunnies, the trappings of childhood. Childishly, she is the most faddy of eaters, surviving, it seems on a diet of Dr Pepper and leek ramen without the noodles, pork or egg (how come her skin is so beautifully clear?)  She seems almost incapable of looking after herself – and yet she is a genius in IT surveillance and investigation. And she describes herself as an advocate for the dead. “We dig up what was lost to the grave and hurt the living to defend the honour of the dead. And we humiliate the dead to comfort the living.”

It’s not long before Narumi has become part of Alice’s group, even helping to serve customers at Hanamaru. Suddenly his life has a purpose and he has friends. He even gets to swear blood brotherhood with the Fourth, Soichiro Hinamura, the charismatic young leader of the Hirasaka gang and Alice’s protector. Alice is still prickly and unpredictable, ordering him around and acting like a little princess at times, but as they work together on the cases that come up, they begin to relax around each other.

The cases that Alice investigates using all her IT wizardry vary from the bizarre (someone has been stealing the voluptuous Min’s chest wraps) to the dark and dangerous. A father with links to the yakuza disappears, leaving his young daughter with no one to turn to but Alice; an old and ugly rivalry between the Fourth and his onetime friend rears its head as Narumi and co take on the managing of a girl band; a dangerous new drug suddenly appears on the streets, with disastrous consequences.

Based on a series of light novels, Heaven’s Memo Pad (2011) is an unassuming but engrossing little series with attractive character designs and an intriguing cast of characters to match. It’s not afraid to deal with serious issues like drug-dealing and its sinister consequences; there’s no preaching involved but because we’ve come to care for the characters. The individual stories are neatly linked and little clues planted early on are developed and used later on in a satisfying way. The animation budget was probably not very generous as there are more than a few scenes that are very perfunctorily animated. However, a big bonus is the score by the versatile Taku Iwasaki which subtly underpins the action (even the eyecatches are worth listening to) and sets the mood without being obtrusive.

The attractive Opening Theme “Kawaru Mirai” is by Choucho and the two Ending Themes are “Colorado Bulldog” by MR. BIG (ep 1) and the lively, up-tempo  “Asunaro” by Kenichi Suzumura (eps 2-12). There’s one insert song “Sleeping Butterfly” by Choucho in episode 5.

There are no Extras. And even though there is an English dub, it’s somewhat disappointing, in spite of the presence of experienced voice actors like Blake Shepard as Narumi, Greg Ayres as Major, and Hilary Haag as Alice. This could well be because there has been no ‘reversioning’ of the original script as with FUNimation, so the actors are obliged to deliver the subtitles (with the occasional amplification) and these subtitles are sometimes, frankly,  a little bizarre, for example, “Quit gaping like a lewd.” So, this is one of those series where the original Japanese version wins hands down and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Narumi Fujishima and Yui Ogura as Alice are convincing as the leads.

With some neatly crafted stories, interesting characters, and a good score, Heaven’s Memo Pad is a surprisingly good and involving watch.