A group of people travels to a hidden village to start life anew. Character introductions start immediately, with the worst possible way, letting each one stand up and talk. They are all eccentric and therefore typical in anime, each you might have seen in any other average show.
The anime relies heavily on the mystery aspect to grab attention. It is all good and nice, but for a mystery to work, one needs to connect with characters. Otherwise, who cares about an uninteresting nobody experiencing problems? Another part of the mystery is the character backgrounds, which for obvious reasons are revealed slowly, and unsurprisingly, we discover that many characters have some tragic past. The creators don’t fail to use the easiest way of characterization. They make them victimized. To create the villains, they make them despicable caricatures.
You can spot the main character the instant you see his ordinariness among others on the bus. He is our hero, weak-looking, a coward now and then, but defending others selflessly, kind, bland, nice, wimp, boring. In short, a face you’re already familiar with. After a person is lost our wise hero asks, “Is it really a good idea to call the police?” If it isn’t, then only in an event of genocide people should call the police. There is an aloof character, a shy one, a cute one, a potential murderer one, a silent one, a tsundere one, a psycho girl, an adventure-seeking one, an aspiring detective, a middle-aged bus driver who acts like a whiny child, a bossing type, a messing-around potential rapist one. The list goes on. They are slightly crazy, illogical and violent. All for the shock factor.
Characters take themselves too seriously. They are like children playing adult. They can make you chuckle and cringe few times with their overacting. The anime tries clumsily to add some plot twists but fails embarrassingly. Great plot twists come with characters we love, they aren’t just unexpected turn of events.
The animation is ordinary, too ordinary. It could be made a decade ago and nobody could tell the difference. The sound is as unimpressive as the animation, with a forgettable opening and ending. There are many anime out there which heavily rely on great visuals and sound, effectively redeeming poor plot. Mayoiga isn’t one of them. Low budget is apparent from the very beginning.
It’s painful to write a negative review of any anime. Long working hours and low wages in the industry make everyone hesitate. Yet, every year watching dozens of generic works that will be soon forgotten isn’t helping. Wishing to see something extraordinary, solid, awesome demands fans to be harsh in their criticism. A genuine art piece is visceral, stays with us, inspires us, and sometimes makes us better or worse persons. Mayoiga, a below mediocre work, delivers not much enjoyment. It isn’t worth it, but you can force yourself to over-think or lower your expectation to get some pleasure. For me, Mayoiga is a passing memory. It will be forgotten and lost in few seasons, thrown into the dustbin of anime history.
