That's was my exact reaction after watching the first episode of Evil or Live. A show that was misunderstood at first, as the tag of horror confused a lot of people, me included. But in reality, it doesn't really matter. Evil or Live is a shitshow no matter from which angle you look.
Suprisingly enough, the overall story isn't really that bad, atleast in comparison to other aspects of the show. We are introduced into a world, where internet addiction became a common disease for the young population. Hence, a new "treatment" school is founded, and nerds with the mentioned addiction are sent there. Sadly enough, the school doesn't turn out the way people imagined. Excersicing under tough circumstances several hours a day, receiving food that tastes like shit, being scolded by the instructors. You name it! The school is as fucked up as it could possibly be, but even then, everyone would like to rule it. If it's either the students or the instructors, everybody is in need of power. And that is the main premise of the story.
Now actually the story might sound not appealing from my description of it, however it still is the best part this anime has. It has it's decent moments, but overall still has many plotholes as well as pacing problems. And even writing problems, but more about that in the character department. The whole premise of a fucked up school system doesn't sound that bad and some of the characters actually have decent back-stories around themselves. As you come along, you'll learn that not just this school, but the whole world is a little off. Maybe getting a little edgy at times, I certainly call this darker side of this show a good thing. It has it's own share ammount of problems, but the main ones lie outside of the story itself, hence in the end this is the one category I can call (atleast) decent.
So you wanna know something about these other categories, you say? Well then wait no more, because up from this moment my ultimate shit fest has begun. And I mean it. I won't hold myself back.
Characters.... Oh god, this could be a review all for itself. Let's start with a little banter. "And the award for the worst MC in the history of anime goes to.." yes, you guessed it. It goes to Hibiki, the main character of Evil or Live. I actually wonder how did anybody write such a terrible character. No honestly, like how? He starts off as the biggest freak ever, thinking the school is only a videogame. Fair enough. Then he proceeds to act like a hero and starts protecting everyone. Great. Then he gets beaten up, so his personality makes a 180 turn around and he is suddenly the strongest, smartest and most-athletic guy on the campus, despite sitting behind his PC 24/7 before he got there. Spectacular. Now honestly, does that sound appealing? Nah? I don't blame you. Even at the start when you think he can't get more annoying, with every one of his personality changes, it gets ever worse. That guy seriously won a battle against 20 guys all on his own, even though he got beaten up by just one fellow an hour earlier. As I was watching, I was constantly asking myself: What the heck? Did anyone even read the freaking script?... Just for the record,after his change Hibiki goes back into his I'll protect everyone kind of thing, then he get's beaten up again and then he becomes badass again..... Do I fucking need to say more??
I would like to cool my head a little, but there are some other characters too, so I better forget about that. Anyway, despite the rest of the cast being atleast better than Hibiki, it's nothing to write home about. Everybody, even the instructors, is dumb, almost every character is written horribly and there are even some who seem like they were supposed to be in a different anime. They look dumb, they act dumb, they believe everything some random guy says and most of them are just straight up annoying. And those who are not aren't helping the story in any way. Nobody has an IQ of more than 80 and they fall even for the most obvious baits. There is one exception tho, and that is Shin. Once and for all a decently made dude with an actual brain to support his head. Just one isn't enough to save this however and the overall grade won't increase even though I can call him a good one. #freeShin
The art is... shit? Yeah, that's the right word. Lackluster in every single way, from unapealing and forgettable character desings to bad looking backgrounds to absolutely hilarous overall animation, especially when it came down to action moments. Voice acting and sound-effects are just horrible and the OST has like what, one decent track?
I just feel like somebody is joking with me, what am I supposed to say about enjoyment? The whole thing just sucks. It was the first time in my history of watching anime that I was purposelly skipping certain scenes, purely because I just couldn't control my anger anymore. That's how bad this thing was. That's how bad Hibiki was. And that's how bad the studio that made this is. Now for the sake of it, yes, the whole idea of Evil or Live isn't that bad. But what about it? When a show does absolutelly nothing to support that idea, what do you expect? At the start, I expected something, but I got absolutelly nothing...
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If you're coming into Evil or Live with a mindset of "I might like this", please face the reality straight away. It's greatest case of the decent idea, terrible execution kind of thing. And I'm begging you, the decent idea isn't worth the pain you have to go through. Honestly, if you have eyes and a bit of critisism in yourself, you know this show is as shit as it could possibly be. End of story.
