Darwin's Game is basically when you have a death game anime and you just make it boring which is pretty impressive, I must say. I honestly didn't have high expectations for it. I expected some fun action, quippy lines, some romance thrown in and an ending that left on a cliffhanger or some shit. Sadly, that is not the case. What we got was a death game anime that was basically begging itself to be taken super seriously with generic characters, a super straightforward plot that doesn't even try to throw out a plot twist or reveal and is just straight-up boring.
Let's talk about those characters for a second because I hate all of them and it's not because of their personalities but the lack thereof. I mean, I wished any of these NPCs were likable or hell, hatable because at least there would be something to latch onto but instead all of the characters come off as Tofu mixed with cinderblocks. They are all basic canvases to throw ourselves at them but it just doesn't work like that. There's nothing to latch onto with these characters and even when they try, it isn't told in an interesting way or creatively.
Let's take Kaname for example. He is obviously the audience stand-in. I mean, the guy wears a white jacket most of the time and has the fact that you forgot looking at 5 seconds after staring at him. He's your average high schooler and yet, every single person after the first episode calls him special because of his sigil or whatever. The problem becomes while people see him as special but he's just an average so we don't see him as anything special. It works in Isekai because that's a VR game and you gain powers there. With an AR game, he's still just the same guy that's as blank as paper.
The same goes for the other characters too. Shuka could've been interesting if she was more of a wildcard or didn't trust any of the others but Kaname or even is she was jealous of Rein or something but nope, she's totally fine with all of them and is just horny for Kaname. She starts interesting but just never gets any development because of getting stupid fanservice. Rein is a boring analyst/mary sue who's also a blank sheet. Ryuuji who's nothing and Sui/Souta is also a wasted opportunity because you have twins within one body and you don't even have one of them go crazy and try to betray the team! Wasted! It also doesn't help that she/he only interact with Kaname...once? Twice? It's weird.
And if even if we get rid of this shit as a game, the anime still isn't very good. The plot has no forward momentum. There are no big twists to keep the viewer on its toes, there's no reveal to make you surprised and there are no interesting angles this anime brings to the death game genre. It's straightforward as if we following a line and we just want to get it over with. You're probably saying "but you don't need that to keep the story interesting, you need good writing" and you're right so that's why the writing for this isn't very good either. There will be so much voiceover that it feels like you're reading an audiobook. The exposition is obnoxious, there's no real fun to the show or any humor to bring some levity to situations. Yeah, it's a death game but there's so little fun to watch any of this show.
In terms of production, it's pretty weak. the music is pretty forgettable, with the only exception(s) being the OP which sounds like something out of SAO and there's also this random track that had death metal in the back which I thought was hilarious. The direction lifeless, the editing is horrendous with some awful cuts and just random moments where the show skips a beat at some points especially towards the end. The animation is alright but it does feel too glossy at points and inconsistent especially with the character's noses.
The only real thing that kept me going and I would even consider it a positive is the fight scenes which are animated pretty well and it's got some good locations use out of the places they are in. Besides that nothing else.
Darwin's Game is like an edgy but instead of making the whole thing edgy, it just makes the concept edgy. Sounds weird but when you make any show and you want it to be an edgy hardcore gruesome anime, you have to make everything around that edgy concept on the same level. That is not what happens here. The show ends up feeling like an edgeless slog that keeps testing your patience for you to pause and stop watching. This show felt like an endurance test. Besides some good fights, there is really nothing to show even worth remembering which is impressive.
Story: 2/10
Art:3/10
Sound:3/10
Character: 1/10
Enjoyment: 2/10
Overall: 2/10
