Easily the best anime of the season for me. I've watched plenty of sci-fi works depicting how the future would look like with AI or robot developed beyond human intelligence. They usually get stuck up in the repetitive "WHO AM I!? AM I EVEN HUMAN!>!>!!>?!?!?!" idea, it gets boring real quick. However, by using an episodic formula facilitated by Sudo's clinic setting, AI no Idenshi goes around the idea with multiple scenarios and perspectives. There is a variety of characters of different issues, showing wider possibilities of the future AI. Not just that, the AIs in this anime have a distinct feature that separates itfrom other AI fictions. That is, they are not limited to one type of body or level of intelligence. The majority of AIs in this anime are called Humanoids, pretty self-explanatory, but Humanoids do not have a steel frame wearing skinsuit like we usually envision. Rather, this future has developed some black magic that replicates the human body for these AIs to live within. Humanoids grow, age, fall ill, are physically limited and die in similar fashion to humans. This distinct feature opens up a lot more fresh ideas for the story.

AI no Idenshi also has this conservative flavor in writing its characters and script. Most of the characters are very normal, thus realistic. They don't yap about their thoughts 24/7 or do comedic skits randomly. They don't suffer from the wacky anime tropes. It's one of those old school writing, you know, like Monster. There's just a mature tone to it. It's not entirely cold and boring though. As Risa, a young girl with a cheery and expressive personality, plays a major role in the anime. She is the one who yaps about her thought a little too much, which serves as a good balance to Sudo's cold quiet boring behavior. I love Risa. She's so damn cute. Long twin tails are so damn cute OMFG. I may have overlooked her flaws due to my bias.

Finally, there is one thing about this anime which may be a hit or miss for viewers. With each episode presenting two stories, that may or may not be connected at all, AI no Idenshi almost never concludes its story with a definitive answer. It constantly brings up a question, and viewers will not get a revelation or satisfaction. The objective of the story is to present the possibility, not to send a moral message. AI no Idenshi is extremely bad at hiding this too. The stories can just end without a cool one-liner or musical exit. One anime that's extremely good at closing its melodramatic episode with one-liner is Cowboy Bebop. It also helps that Cowboy Bebop has the hardest ED in anime history. So viewers may find AI no Idenshi's endings abrupt and incomplete, leaving a bad aftertaste. In its defense though, too many one-liners get obviously corny and they don't have a genius to make a banger ED.

"Doug, you're a fantastic speaker. What's your secret?" And he said, "Oh, I always finish with a joke. And that way, people think they had fun the whole time." --Patrick Winston in MIT How to Speak, IAP 2018