I'm sure many of us were expecting Mayoiga to be similar to a show such as Battle Royale. It's setting is creepy and mysterious. A group of people are being sent there to survive. This sounds like a solid premise for some epic bloody violence, but entertainment has conditioned us to think and expect in that certain manner. Is that an issue on our part or theirs? Is it their fault for setting up the story in such a way that we tunnel our vision into a certain plot? Either way, Mayoiga surprised me for how it turned out, especially near its end.
I respect Mayoiga for what it did. The anime dared to be different and I think it's great that we continue to have risky projects such as Mayoiga. They tend to be a lot more compelling and intriguing to add to every season, which has given this show plenty of hype coming into the season. The only problem with this pre-airing hype is its execution and this is where Mayoiga falls off.
Although Mayoiga is very entertaining, something just feels off. The characters are sometimes so stupid that it hurts and there are so many WTF moments that are taken the wrong way. Good shows create moments of "WOW I didn't expect that!", while Mayoiga has reactions of "I don't even know what's happening, this is some acid trip level train wreckage". Mayoiga has plot twists that feel so out of place and out of proportion that it just seems really messy and distorted. They also feel out of place because especially near the end, this anime just lacks an identity. The viewer anticipates plenty of buildup near its beginning episodes for an epic finale. However, its last 3-4 episodes take a completely different path to break the cohesion and the flow of its premise and foundation. This creates the huge trainwreck that Mayoiga becomes. It was like a high school student taking 5 AP classes and joining 5 sport teams. With the extensive workload on either side, the schedule is too difficult to balance accordingly.
On a positive note, Mayoiga's art generally looks kinda good? The characters are very pretty and stand out easily from the plain backgrounds. After the characters, everything else looks mediocre. Some of the enemies look atrocious and out of place because of the contrasting visual style. This is only an issue near the end, where a certain obstacle appears that is so ugly and gross in the wrong ways.
Sound was alright. I really like the opening. It is one of the top 3 this season and brings a lot of hype into the episode. The ending is decent, but there are better out there. When it comes to the actual soundtrack, I didn't really notice anything, so I guess the OST is mediocre.
The characters were very mixed. The cast is huge, so at the beginning, the viewer won't know the names of anyone except maybe five characters? Even near the end, I barely know half of the cast's names. The half I do notice receive some very interesting backstories. They were actually very entertaining to my surprise. Even though the backstories were very compelling, the actual characters were so annoying for a majority of the anime. I can see why they act in certain ways, but their reasoning does not impact the likability of a character. The protagonist is a huge wuss. Some side characters end up being alright, such as Speedstar and Jack. Overall, the characters are annoying, but decently written.
Mayoiga's main selling point is its enjoyment factor which was pretty high for me. I did find a few episodes boring, but the abnormal pace didn't stop me from continually watching episodes. The character interactions are both mindnumbingly stupid and entertaining. Also, the way the drama unfolds is such a gorgeous trainwreck that you just want to keep watching.
In conclusion, even with all of the problems like the unlikable characters, inconsistent art, and god awful story, I would still recommend Mayoiga. It's so good at getting out weird reactions at its awfulness and there are even some comedic moments where you may not expect it. There is also an ending that really sums up this anime very well.
It's garbage.
