Anime Review: [C] - The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

Economics never looked so cool.

For this week's anime review, I've decided to show off a title I picked up a while back on a whim that turned out to be very interesting and engaging. With that said, let's grab our wallets and check out [C] - The Money of Soul and Possibility Control.


[C] - The Money of Soul and Possibility Control (also known as [C] - Control for short) is an eleven episode series that was directed by Kenji Nakamura, the director of several popular series including The Big O and Mononoke. As the name of the series would suggest, [C] - Control is about money, or more specifically, the wonderful world of economics. The show stars one Kimimaro Yoga, a nineteen year old student studying economics in order to ensure he has enough money to have a normal future. This all changes when he is abruptly contacted by Masakaki, an otherworldly representative of the mysterious realm called the Financial District, who offers him a very sizable amount of money in exchange for his "future" as collateral and his participating as an "Entre" in the District. Unfortunately for Kimimaro, he quickly learns that being an Entre means he must participate in weekly duels with other Entres in order to preserve his money, and therefore his future. Assisting him is his Asset Msyu, a representation of his future that does battle with the Assets of other Entres, and a large cast of characters who all have their own reasons to invest in Kimimaro.

This anime is primarily an action-orriented series, although a fairly sizable amount of time is dedicated to examining multiple economic concepts and the philosophical implications thereof. Terms like Entre (short for Entrepreneur), Asset, Deal, Collateral, Flation, and others all have their root in economics, with their roles in the story being reflective of how economic transactions occur in the real world. Similarly, the idea of how money relates to securing a desired future, the nature of the future itself, and other more philosophical topics are examined in-depth by the cast. Of course, as I said before, this series is no slouch when it comes to action, and said action is very well presented; the whole series is very well animated, making use of both traditional animation and CGI in order to give the whole show a very unique look, helped by a lot of the particularly strange designs given to both the Financial District itself and its residents.

I'd definitely recommend [C] - Control to anyone who is a fan of Kenji Kakamura's other works, or is just looking for a series with a very original concept done well. With a high quality presentation, an interesting premise, and an entertaining cast of characters, it's a series sure to engage just about anyone. And while I can't account for the accuracy of how the show handles economics (I'm by no means an expert in the subject), I'd imagine there's certainly enough there for anyone interested in the subject to get a kick out of this anime.