Sep 23, 2013
Devil Survivor 2 The Animation is an adaptation of a well received game from Atlus's famous franchise Shin Megami Tensei. The game is one of my favourites and I enjoyed it thoroughly. But this anime adapatation is a downer, to say the least.
The story is quite simple, the world will end in seven days, demons have appeared in Tokyo, there is a website that tells you when your friends will die, each day there is a boss. Now, that premise works well on a videogame, since everyday there are lots of optional events you can do, like a free battle, talking to a party member,
...
training, etc.
The one thing that they handled horribly was the pacing. The game isn't long, but not short either, but there was no possible way 7 days of gameplay could fit into 13 chapters. As a result, the pacing was too rushed, with boss battles every two chapters or so and little time to develop the characters and story. And since they couldn't spend too long on anything, most of the battles are won by asspulls, like stronger demons out of nowhere or the power of friendship. The moral dispute between the characters is handled poorly because there is no development.
Since it also strayed from the original source, many important characters were reduced to mere fodder. The 13 summoners are your party members, each with interesting personalities, roles and skills. But only a few are explored and the rest, well...don't expect more than 10 minutes of screen time. One of the problems when adapting rpgs with silent heros is giving them personality. In game, they are a reflection of what you think, YOU decide what to do. The game gives you the fun of choice, but in the anime, the hero is given a personality and a name. Hibiki Kuze is the name given to the silent bunny hero from the game. To be straight, he is the epitome of a generic, boring shonen hero. That, and he is insanely OP, him being the biggest plot device from the anime.
The soundtrack is good and the art and animation are bearable. The opening was nothing too special but I enjoyed the ending. Being a fangirl of the game I set my expectations too high only to be disappointed by a rushed mess of an adaptation.
The main reason my score is relatively high is because my husbando Yamato appears and was developed more than the others at least. And also because I'm biased.
So, if you aren't already a fan of the game, this anime isn't for you. But if you watched it and thought it was bearable, you should play the game.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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