"<Infinite Dendrogram> offers a new world and your own possibilities."
What possibilities you may ask of offer in the new world? Generic tropey settings? Generic sterotypical characters? Generic visuals? Generic music? The whole platter of this game is genericness, and the reason why we watch this generic Isekai series is to be offered a new world with DIFFERENT possibilities, not to watch series like this of boredom...who would want that?
The "first" VR MMORPG (with AI) to make waves in the reality world (that isn't the human world), oh how great the world they live in! Oh, did I forget SAO, the "father" of the Isekai game genre re-birth? That has existed since 2022, and this game progressed it 21 years later in 2043? Which one's the more popular one now, EH??? Where's the blurred line between fantasy and realism??? Who started it first???
Right off the bat, we'd think of a sliver of hope that Isekai genericness of games like these could offer something different: it's not being able to die both in-game and real life, it isn't being unable to log off either, and as the opening review says it: offering you your freedom to do whatever you wish of infinite possibilities, essentially roaming around like free men and women. And in retrospect, I honestly bought the idea (as is with many LN readers when they first started this series) and thought it was a good one to settle into...until the novelist went too deep and gave up on ideas thereafter, resorting to generic settings that are none the wiser (oh how we hate you Japan for stuff like these).
Starting out this journey like newbies, MC Ray Starling is the kind of newbie I would expect from being a total beginner, but the problem is that as he progresses he went from a rookie to a full-on retard, as if he's the parrot to everyone around him. Even as Embryo Nemesis (AI program) tracks his progress and becomes his sword (and shield if putting it literally). And everyone, I mean EVERYONE in this game, friends and foes alike, are just copy-paste cut-outs from similar shows we've seen time and time again, and communications with Ray are as simple as molasses (but of course, confusing and questioning to the newbie).
Admit it, the characters here are also one-note purposeful characters, meant to serve their time and duty in their assigned position and rake in the efforts. Take "Brother" Bear Shu for example. Being a veteran of the game, his introduction to Ray is as subtle as possible because he's what known as a Superior Master, people who can engage with their Embryos well enough for their desired power. It's not until late that he shows off that power at the "appropriate" timing when the world is at stake. NPC Marie Adler (also a Superior Killer), also tending to Ray when he was just beginning, same as Shu, is being very cryptic at the start (for Ray to get used to the game), but then also comes at the opportune timing to strike. I'm really guessing that you do not need to see the "accidental" coincidence here. And hello, Dr. "Generic villain" Franklin, to decimate an entire town just for the sake of killing the MC, WOW, just WOW and being OP for cheapo reasons. *clap* As the saying goes: "Every man for himself".
Amazingly, NAZ's visuals are not too bad either, just decent. Even in action there's some CG but it's not horrible to say as a quick mention. Given that we've seen much of ID:Invaded (by the same studio), stereotypical visuals. The same can't be said for the music, ending up at the decent range as far as VA-talented musicians go (for Aoi Yuuki and Aya Uchida).
Overall, this series is just another textbook example of a promised Isekai plot that was never utilized nor planned well, that sums up most LNs and the novelists in this day and age trying to break the SAO mold that sadly cannot be shaken, yet loosely inspired from. It could've been a fine-to-good one had the potential be unlocked (as in diving into a new world and creating infinite choices), but it's clear as day that no amount of Isekai would run series like this rampant on its knees (while still serializing in Japan) and challenge the status quo.
What a total shame, Infinite Dendrogram, giving us limited choices with a contrived plot that's bitter to swallow.
