Apocalypse Hotel

I watched ep 1 and then let a few more come out, today I caught up to the latest ep released (ep 4).
This is the first time I'm writing a review for any show on MAL, but after watching ep 2 I just had to come here and glaze over this show.

Ep 1 does a fantastic job as an introduction to the world and characters, it's extremely well directed and the potential is obviously there - but the fact that potential would begin to unravel the very next episode honestly blew my mind. The way they captured the hope the new guest represented for Yachiyo ... and the rest of the hotel staff, as well as how they got the interaction between two people from entirely different cultures who have pretty much no safe way of communicating their needs and intentions was so good... And the way they showed the guest going about their business, what is the guest doing? Is it harmful? Did the guest connect with Yachiyo and the Earth, did it affect in any way what they were out to do on Earth? It's a masterclass in show, don't tell, and in setting events in motion for what's left to come. Episode 2 remained in the back of my mind during eps 3 and 4, how much of what's going on are the effects of what the guest was doing back then - what else might they have done that wasn't shown?

Episodes 3 and 4 are excellent as well, but ep 2 is honestly some of the best writing and planning I've seen in any form of media in a very long time. I'd be shocked if this doesn't end up being the best show of the season and a solid contender for best of the year, it absolutely feels like I'm watching a classic. I feel lucky I get to watch this as it airs.

I think the last notable anime with sci-fi, post-apocalypse and slice-of-life genre combined was Girls' Last Tour? It's been 7 years since. If you're a fan of these genres, I highly recommend you jump right into watching the first few episodes before being semi-spoiled by this review. It's not particularly revolutionary or unique, but it is a rare mix that appears once in a blue moon, and you may find it refreshing.

Despite the title of Apocalypse Hotel, the hotel that the story takes place, is actually named Galaxy Tower Hotel, situated in a city ruins very like the one from Nier: Automata. Damn, it's ... been 7 years with no sequel since Nier: Automata too. In the first episode, after explaining how the apocalypse came to, the anime impresses you with the soothing greenery of its setting, at the same time denoting that nature has taken over the remnants of human civilization. Then it walks back to the hotel, showing the mundane and repetitive routine that has maintained the building despite the apocalypse. Not only this achieves the dull relaxing vibe that is a staple in post-apocalypse stories, the lack of regard to the apocalypse in the hotel's unending operation created a vague sense of disconnection. Then a twist happened, switching the tone and pacing to a more upbeat one.

In the wonderful OP, spotlight shines on the star of the show, Yachiyo. Yachiyo has a strict attitude on work which is fitting for a robot manager, but very often she is shown to be a wildly emotional person enhanced with her explosive expressions and funny features. Fortunately, Yachiyo won't be alone to play the comedic skits. More new characters are introduced right from the get go, each with their unique personalities and backgrounds, making the hotel livelier.

Watching Apocalypse Hotel made me feel somewhat nostalgic. The characters are so tropey and simple, loud and funny, there is an innocence in it, like a children show, but sprinkled a few dark scenes in between to make it feel grounded. There are a lot of great anime this season, so the competition is fierce. Still, I hope Apocalypse Hotel continues to flourish.

Have you ever seen one of those "nature takes over" illustrations? The kind that paints a world quietly crumbling after humanity's exit—abandoned cities swallowed by ivy, rusting cars buried under moss, silence so loud it almost hums. It's eerie, beautiful, and oddly soothing. You might look at one and ask, "Are there any humans left? Is anything still alive? Is there a story hiding in the ashes of the epilogue?"

This anime explores that exact question—and its answer isn't what you'd expect. Humanity’s long gone, or at least absent, and the story is carried by a cast of robots. Simple-minded machines with simpler tasks. They run ... a hotel built for human guests, a pristine monument to civilization surrounded by wilderness that refuses to care. The robots don’t ask questions. They just... keep going. Not because they dream, or hope, or rebel, but because "that’s what they do."

The central character is Yachiyo, the head of hotel operations. She’s a robot, but you could mistake her for a tired middle manager who's been on the job for a few hundred years too long. One by one, the staff around her powers down, breaks down, or disappears. And still, Yachiyo logs maintenance, dusts the counters, and waits for a guest that doesn’t come. The hotel is spotless. The world is not.

And that’s the charm of it, if you can call it that. The anime leans hard into a kind of melancholic absurdism—robots programmed to fulfill a role long after that role has lost meaning. There’s no rebellion, no climax, no philosophical breakthrough. It’s a slow spiral of rote action performed by beings that are arguably sentient but lack the capacity to wonder why they’re doing what they do. In any other context, that’d be tragic. Here, it’s hauntingly peaceful.

Eventually, a visitor does arrive—not human, but alien. It doesn’t speak, doesn’t share the robots’ code or logic. And yet, it is served. Room prepared, welcome offered, systems engaged. The staff do what they’ve always done: provide hospitality, even if the guest doesn’t understand it. The alien leaves. The routine resumes. No climax. Just another tick on the eternal time clock,and they will wait for another guest to come.

Yes, you might be thinking of Pixar’s WALL-E, and the comparison is fair—lonely robot, derelict Earth, bittersweet tone. But this anime offers a different flavor. It’s less about rediscovering love or saving the planet, and more about staring into the abyss of routine. It’s about what remains when the world forgets you existed but you don’t know how to stop functioning. Less Pixar, more Kafka—if Kafka had a soft spot for room service.

The characters are flat—by design. They aren’t people in robot suits. They are machines, and their one-track minds stay that way. No arcs, no deep revelations, just a consistent hum of action. Some viewers will find that refreshing, others mind-numbing. It depends on whether you enjoy watching a metaphor play out over 12 episodes.

The music? Weird. It sounds like an AI fed a database of ambient tunes and spat out something halfway between flat vocal and digital noise. Is it good? Not really. But it fits. The off-putting soundscape reinforces the mood: lifeless, uncanny, quietly unsettling. It's the kind of soundtrack that makes you question whether music needs to be "enjoyable" to be effective.

Animation-wise, it's Cygames: nothing jaw-dropping(well sometimes), but never sloppy. Backgrounds are lush and overgrown, a visual contradiction to the untouched hotel interior. The robots are cleanly rendered, their movements stiff but deliberate. You won’t be blown away, but you won’t be distracted either. It’s functional, which, ironically, mirrors the story’s theme perfectly.

So, what’s the catch? It’s slow. Painfully so at times. If your attention span is more bird than bookworm like me, this might not be your jam. There are long stretches where nothing happens—just robots doing what they always do. And while that’s kind of the point, it can feel like watching someone fold towels in real time.

But if you stick with it, you might find something unexpected. Not entertainment, exactly, but reflection. It’s a quiet meditation on persistence, on meaning without reward, on the dignity (and absurdity) of duty for duty’s sake. It asks uncomfortable questions in a very calm voice: If no one’s around to need you, do you still matter? If your job becomes your identity, what happens when the job becomes pointless?

In the end, this anime doesn’t scream its message. It just plays it on loop, waiting for someone to listen and laugh about it. And maybe, just maybe, that’s enough.