Review of Den-noh Coil

"But actually, what is real? Does being able to touch things make them real? If something can't be touched, does that mean it isn't real? What things are really, truly here? What things are actually here for sure?" Technology has, historically, always belonged to the young generation. When a new breakout in technology is made, it's the kids that find themselves most savvy with it, as well as have it influence their daily lives in every way imaginable. For millennials it was the computer, for generation z it was the smartphone, and for generation alpha... Well, we don't know yet. But for the fictional gen alpha ofDennou Coil, it's Dennou technology---AR technology that lays the cyberspace over the real world and blurs the lines between what is real and what is not.

And that is why Dennou Coil makes for the perfect coming of age story.

A big part of being a child is relying on the technology that is part of every day life, having never lived without it, and the plot of Dennou Coil is all about how closely interwoven AR technology is in the lives of these children. It affects everything they do, from their school work to their after-school play. The main plot is about these child characters uncovering the mysteries of the digital world, but whenever they have downtime, they are experiencing things such as school clubs and summer festivals and going through hormonal changes. Dennou Coil very accurately captures what it is like to be on the cusp of your teenage years, figuring yourself and your relationships with others out.

But Dennou Coil is more than that, still. Most importantly, Dennou Coil is a story about grief. The main characters are all followed by death, and it is only through overcoming that grief that the story reaches its happy ending. Futhermore, it digs deep into grief in wondering what truly it is okay to grieve. As the opening quote says, Dennou Coil calls into question what can truly be considered "real" in the wake of technology intermingling with our daily lives, and as such, what we should feel about it.

Dennou Coil so accurately grasps what it is like to be a child since the advance of technology, and winds in with it a harrowingly real representation of grief that makes it both a charming and thoughtful watch overall.