The main thing that is similar in those two anime is the pair of main characters (man in his 40ties and a teen girl).

Both deal with the life of crime during the 1930's, and using a more western style character design for their characters.

bySilverOrlov on2025-04-21 21:45

I would say it's a very good series for its time. The only thing I didn't like were the two things typical of such series: expected unexpected surprises, like help that came at an inappropriate time, or, on the contrary, the villain's bad behavior that was too predictable. I really don't like such cheap tricks from the creators, but apart from such moments, everything else is literally good. Without this I would have rated it with 8, but for me personally it's a 7.

byymasumac on2018-05-17 12:01

I had forgotten how good this was. Seeing it now for the second time, it got me out of a terrible mood--no easy feat. Love this series.

byEsjee on2017-12-19 01:54

This show is actually quite good. Though its pacing does feel a little bit slow at times, and a few minor plot elements feel a little weak, the overall story is pretty solid throughout. The main character-- a young girl-- is both charming and understated, not too overbearing, not too whiny, and all-around respectable. She's intelligent without being a true genius, and her most unrealistic trait is probably her broad athleticism, which gets a workout in the action moments of the story. I would have been happier seeing a little bit more solid character development, but given the rest of the package presented, I'm mostly satisfied. This show is straight drama, but it's an excellent watch for a serious sit-down session.

bylassekrone on2013-08-08 19:16

One of my favourite animes ever.
It does loose a bit in the end but the first 10 episodes are great. Also would love to see a sequel with chiko all grown up

bysilvergoku on2012-04-03 15:08

highly underrated, this will capture you much more than you expect. What turns into a 1 episode per day will turn you wanting to watch all 22 in one day so beware and be ready to be captivated.

bygodfate on2012-02-04 18:26

Surprisingly good. Retro looking steampunk, awesome female lead - everything you can want.

bydeleted User 257071 on2011-12-01 10:23

With 90% trash ecchi titles airing these days, finding this was honestly a breath of fresh air. The story was amazing during the first half, and progressively lost some of its unique appeal, but still well worth watching.

byselenograp on2009-10-04 19:38

Great story, classic detective/thief mystery stuff with some great characters and sci-fi elements thrown in for good measure. The story makes up for the average animation.

byrazorvine on2009-09-22 11:28

Really enjoied watching it. Touching.

byfuugu on2008-11-17 23:14

definitely worth watching...

byrazoredge on2008-09-26 10:25

Very recommended to those loving a good gripping story. Through the retro setting it has a unique feel to it.

byglobal on2008-08-12 00:20

Great anime with an old-fashioned feel (unsurprising as the story is based on characters from decades ago), with quite a few twists.

byThatAnimeSnob on2012-02-02 21:30

Daughter of Twenty Faces is a light mystery/adventure concerning a team of thieves travelling around the world and stealing precious heirlooms. The story plays out in a most romanticized manner, as the thieves have their life’s goal to “liberate” beautiful items from those who don’t deserve them, as well as having a sense of adventure and freedom to do anything they like, liberated from the constrains of their society. This makes the feeling of the show to be bent too much on emotion and ideals, and less on pragmatism or reality in general. In order for someone to enjoy the anime, he or she must not try to rationalize too much whatever is going on in the story but rather take it easy and just enjoy the ride. Which is something I can say about all BONES anime; they always have great production values and premises and always mess up on the story department.

The setting of the show is an alternative world, pretty close to our own but with its own history and countries. Although the thieves are travelling all over the globe, based on clothes and building architecture it feels like it takes place somewhere between late 19th and middle 20th century central Europe. This rather exotic and uncommon setting helps the audience to emerge better in the feeling of adventure it emits. I personally found it to be something between Sherlock Holmes and Oliver Twist. The overall production values are also very good, with consistency throughout the show, usually lively motions, basic choreographies in battle, and far more than a change of clothes to depict when the characters are growing older. Even the CGI feels like it fits perfectly with the 2D animation. As for the soundtrack, it is full of fitting easy going tunes and not extremely emotional J-pop or rock. They also fit with the overall feeling of the series, which is not aiming to make your heart go wild but to subtly portrait the characters and the setting.

Although the band or romantic thieves is big, only the main two members matter in the longrun. One is their leader, the Man of Twenty Faces, and the other is the girl he took under his wings in one of his missions, Chiko or the Daughter of Twenty faces. Their nicknames are based on the fact nobody outside the team knows how they look like. They keep disguising themselves in each mission to make it even harder to have a helpful photo on their wanted poster. Truth is, Chiko is the only one who becomes memorable for her radical change from a weak girl to a dynamic woman (plus because she is voiced by Hirano, the voice actress of Haruhi). Other than that, they are both depicted as highly intelligent, extremely cunning, amazing at disguises and acrobatics. They give off an aura of security and superiority for acting and feeling completely above anyone else.

The truth is, though, that they are just a bit smarter than the rest. The entire world of the series appears to be run by idiots. Although we can excuse it somehow by thinking this is happening in a previous century where most people were ignorant and gullible, you are still made to think everybody can be fooled with tricks which are child’s play or completely see-through. You just have to accept the fact the heroes can put on a wig and a mask and become completely identical to the friends and allies of their opponents. And no, they don’t even do it in a fancy hi-tech way like in the Mission Impossible series. They also have access to super powerful technology, super awesome spy gadgets, super cool disguise kits, and can move around the world in fancy cars or cool zeppelins completely unnoticed. Hell, they can easily destroy everything and buy new ones if they are ever discovered, so it’s like they have endless money and can easily replace anything they waste. So in a way they win most of the times because their opponents are idiots or don’t have equipment from the future. Makes it kinda cheap and anti-climactic to see them constantly winning with childish tricks, full of immature bravado and impractical uses of technology. It is even dumber when the villains constantly make the ridiculous James Bond mistake of trying to imprison the heroes just to explain their plan to them before killing them... instead of just killing them. Or they leave the room and assume they will be killed by someone else, something which of course never happens. But as I said you are supposed to like the atmosphere and the characters and not the story and its plausibility.

Speaking of the story, it never manages to be exciting or memorable. The first part is episodic missions where Chiko slowly learns various tricks to use in their adventures. The second part is about an opposing team of also skilled villains trying to accomplish some devious scheme regarding the war that ended some years ago. Progressively the series becomes less mysterious (because Chiko is learning fast the basics of thievery) and far more action (because she now knows lots of tricks and so do the new enemies). In this regard, the initial feeling of excitement and adventure gives its place to something close to a dull fighting shounen. Although the story becomes more on-going, at the same time it becomes generic. Especially the finale which is pretty much a snorefest.

Although this anime is in overall uncommon in its setting, down to it lacks the most vital element of any series: Excitement! It doesn’t have much of it and when it attempts to do so all you get is dumb villains, shallow ideology, and dull fighting shounen. Chiko and Man are cool but they are simply not enough to keep you interested in watching for more than a few episodes without something great to look forward to. So nice try but not great in overall.

bytclvr4791 on2008-11-21 08:00

After watching the 1st episode, I was convinced that 20 Faces was the most annoying male character ever to exist. I hated him for acting smart, always smiling and his huge eyebrows. I swore that I would never ever come to like him or this anime. Well, I take that all back now. Don't be scared off by the 1st episode. I recommend this to all seinen fans who like a solid, intelligent plot alongside the action and adventure. And who doesn't want to see a 13-year-old girl (literally) kick ass?

Story
It seemed pretty ordinary and bland at first. Just another silly phantom thief story, how good can it get? Well, pretty good. Although I often feel that the story doesn't develop well enough (probably because this is an adaptation of the manga), it has its high points. It's creative with a good helping of twists and surprises that adventure stories have. I like how it managed to incorporate fantasy into more realistic situations.

One of the flaws of this anime is that the story takes a totally different direction after the beginning. For the first 7 or so episodes, the story doesn't really go anywhere. Then all of a sudden, something HUGE (yes, very HUGE) comes up and much of what has been built up on before just collapses. I found it sort of weird, but the story after that really begins to develop. The second flaw is that somtimes the action stops when you most want it to keep building up, another symptom of anime adapted from manga. But for me, the good stuff just shines through all the flaws. Except maybe for the epilogue. That was like a total waste of one episode.

Characters
Chiko, the main character is awesome. She's very inspiring, and I really like her personality. I especially liked how she bonds with her friend Shunka, and her housekeeper Tome. It's the little things that matter to me when it comes to characters, and it was really nice to see that everyone, even the minor characters had a unique personality and background. 20 Faces seems ok afterwards too.

Even the villains are likeable, because either they have perfectly acceptable reasons to be evil, or they're just plain cool. The 'white hair demon' is the best! And there's no 'I want to take over the world!' type of rubbish.

This could be a 10 if there was more development of the relationships between Chiko and the people close to her, but this is an adventure story, so it's all about the heroes and heroines, and not anyone else. Overall, there's a nice mix of interesting characters, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses which makes them human.

Animation
I'm not picky about this, so I gave it a pretty high score. I liked how a dark feeling is created by the shadows when images of war are animated. Overall, it's not really unique because there isn't anything unique to animate.

Sound
A strong cast of voice actors, a couple of them are my favourites. There is Aya Hirano (we all know about her), Rina Satou (Negi Springfield in Negima and Haruka in Minami-ke), Atsuko Tanaka (Motoko from GitS, she is my absolute fav), Miyuki Sawashiro (Shinku in Rozen Maiden). I think everyone did a great job.

I don't remember much from the background music, what I do remember is I especially liked one of the piano soundtracks. The opening song by Miroku 369 (I've never heard of them before this) is addictive, and sad.

Value
I'll definitely rewatch this sometime during the holidays. And I would buy it if I was twice as rich as I am now.

Enjoyment
I totally enjoyed watching this! Exactly the kind of thing that would make me relax after a long day of school.