Story: 5/10
As I mentioned in my opening, I initially misunderstood what the show was trying to accomplish. Instead of being a show about gamers, it is a show that is fully about the main cast failing at life while also happening to play/talk about games here and there. The show is absolutely a drama and one of the best parts about that is it strays away from being a melodrama. While there are moments you would see in a typical melodrama, the show seems to respect the viewer and not give into easy melodrama tropes.
One of the main reasons why I fell back into the show on the second viewing was the pacing. Plot devices are brought up and are (usually) completed in an interesting way without sticking around too long. If I had to list a nuisance though, it would be that the last episode is really episode 11 and that episode 12 is just there to entice people to buy the eventual blu rays (super fanservicy and a disgrace to the show). In fact it was so bad and such a waste of time that I'm docking an entire point because of it. Have your fanservice moments but if you are going to dedicate an entire episode to it (and mind you the last motherfucking episode), fuck you especially since we still have unanswered/unresolved plot lines after the ending.
Art/Animations: 6/10
The show sports a simple looking art style. The character designs however are really super clever. You can really tell a lot about each of the main characters by the way they are designed. This is amplified in the opening for the show. The layout of the city was also really interesting. I don't know how to fully explain this but this show felt like it really was in a sort of downtown setting unlike a lot of other shows that always seem like they are showing the same buildings in the background over and over again.
What really shined in the art department was the quirky, derpy face moments that occurred during comedic moments. There would usually be a moment when a character misunderstands something or just does something stupid and this pop-out areas with derpy faces would fill the screen. It worked pretty well.
The animation was actually pretty decent. There really isn't that many high-movement shots but what really struck me in a nice way was just the overall quality control of the animation. I couldn't really tell at any point where “yeah they ran out of time here. Looks worse than the rest of the show”. Now I cannot say that is true for some of the art quality (really takes a nose dive in some scenes) but overall the visual presentation was more than good enough for this anime season.
Sound: 6/10
Honestly the background music is pretty decent. Seeing how games are somewhat of a focus in this series, the studio did a pretty good job with finding music that fits within that demographic while also not breaking the tone of the scenes. It's more than just throwing some chiptune into a blender, there was some serious thought put into making the songs. Any sort of misc sound design went over my head. There wasn't a lot of moments for them to shine anyways since this is a pretty low-intensity show.
VAs did an amazing job. Every VA sounds so into their on-screen characters. Really a super smashing job on that front.
Characters: 8.7/10
This is the reason to watch the show. If you don't find yourself liking the main characters after the third episode, jump ship my friend. The whole point of the show is to watch these lovable idiots fucking misunderstand like...every situation thrown their way. The way the cast worked with each other was such a joy to see unfold. It's because of this that it is so painful that some things were left unfulfilled and open-ended after the final episode...
Overall: 6.4/10
You don't even need to say it. Yes that I get that this anime is adapting an on-going series so my points about certain things being left in-the-air is dumb. No, fuck you. I do not care about the source material. The fact that the last episode was wasted (on needless fanservice) and we did not see important things come to a close almost makes me not want to recommend this series to potential watchers. The characters do make the show fun to watch. However, the loose ends will drive you insane. Maybe wait for more to get adapted or immediately switch over to the source material once you finish watching this.
Enjoyment: 6.5/10
Overall: 6.4/10
Thanks for reading my review! If you liked my writing style, would like to see some other reviews, or just want to talk, please stop by my page!
Sincerely,
Awesome Drummer
