When something exists in our lives as raw goated swag peak fiction, all we want to do is talk up and down about why thing good so that everyone else can understand exactly how we feel. Unfortunately, reality is cruel and says that we’re not allowed to do this, because other people have feelings for some reason. We don’t have all day--well, THEY don’t, rather--to hear a 25-hour lecture on why thing good, so you condense and paraphrase it as much as possible to get to the heart of it, but only kind of making your point so that people get it but not really. That’s what The World Ends With You’s anime is like for me.
To say that Twoo-Wee has had a major impact on my life would be like saying the invention of oxygen wasn’t necessary for the survival of humans, cats, and trees alike. Without this game, I may as well have never been born, and I would probably be doing something meaningful with my life instead of writing stupid anime reviews for weirdos on the internet. This is my raw goated swag peak fiction, my ultimate “thing good.” Evidently, the anime has a lot to live up to.
And it doesn’t. Because this isn’t the same thing. A good video game tells its story beyond character dialogue and actions. It immerses you in a setting, a culture, a window into a world. Roaming the streets of Shibuya while listening to SICK JAMS, swapping clothes and buying 300 Big Macs until the girl at the counter has a crush on you, peering into NPCs’ nonsensical thoughts and catching up on all the small talk with your partner. These are just a few examples of how TWEWY functions as a great game, and how it’s sustained a cult following after more than a decade. In other words, it ReALlY mAKeS YoU FEeL liKE YOu’rE iN ShiBUyA\\\\\\
T. UwU E has a great story because it uses every element of the game to tell it. As a result, the anime falls flat even before I could point out the things it changed or outright removed (which I won’t do because we don’t have time). Watching this felt like an adaptation of a Wikipedia article explaining the basic plot of the game. Ultimately, you’ll know the story. You’ll know what you need to know about Nekky Sockramen and the Reapy Creepy; you’ll get the cool plot twists and the character arcs, but you’ll just get the plot.. . . . . of the plot. . . . .. . . does that make sense?
In other words, this anime exists to get newcomers up to speed so they can play the sequel game that comes out in a month. That’s really what this is all about. There’s a new game coming and it could probably be played standalone, but it probably helps to know what happened in the original game, but that costs like $60 because Nintendo sucks and that’s not even talking about the ORIGINAL original game which is a DS game that came out in 2007 or something so have fun trying to get that one because emulating the thing sucks. So they made this as a cheat sheet instead.
Trying to shove twenty hours of content into a five-hour TV series is difficult and generally not recommended, and it shows here. TWEWY’s anime presents the story and pretty much nothing else. All of the dialogue and every small event is tied to the narrative, which is a really dumb and obvious thing to point out without context, but it’s true. When watching TWEWY TA, I can’t help but feel how serious, tense, and, frankly, dull the tone is. It’s like a business being run.
The original game is lively and fun and often witty and charming. Characters small-talk and joke around or argue sarcastically with each other frequently. Their personalities are flashy and over-the-top like another reassurance that you can enjoy yourself and not take everything too seriously while watching dead emos try to reclaim their own existence in the world. Was that a spoiler? Whatever, it’s revealed pretty early on anyway.
The Animation has a muted tone to it, almost outright neutering the game’s own narrative. Neku’s cynical and sarcastic personality was toned down, but as a result he comes off as completely lifeless. . . . Well, I mean he IS lifeless but shut up. His character arc of learning to trust and value others is significantly less earned, to the point where has to practically scream what he learned over the course of the series. The fan-favorited Joshua was also punished here, as his hateably-endearing, charming, smug piece-of-shitness was almost totally removed in favor of someone who. . . isn’t that.
These might seem like gripes, but if something seems off in or about the anime, understand that it’s an anime-exclusive issue. While I don’t think it’s a completely butchered adaptation, the main takeaway is that the game is just a lot better. As an anime, I do still think it has a pretty cool story with the Reaper’s Game and the rules that dictate it. It’s just missing a lot of the bells and whistles that set it further apart.
For what it’s worth, there are some good moments that the adaptation nails. Beat’s character is handled pretty well, Shiki and Neku have some good scenes together, and the best character of all time, motherfucking Sho Minamimoto, was carried over pretty much 1:1 in this, making him as brilliant here as he is in the game. The adaptation is far from perfect, but it does have its high points that can make diehard fans happy.
Even among all of that, the most controversial element of this adaptation was probably the way it was presented visually. 3DCG is that thing that anime fans just won’t get over, and for many, you’re either Berserk 2016 or you’re Studio Orange. Personally, I would say the anime actually looks pretty good, and not just by narrowing the field down to CG anime only. To be more specific, it’s a mix of 2D and 3D, often for the sake of blending the game’s unique artstyle into animation. This is probably the biggest W this adaptation has, as I genuinely love that the anime staff was able to translate the explosive character designs into a movable format. The animation and set pieces generally look good, but the fully 3D Noise (monsters) are where things get a little rough.
Finally, the anime brought back the game’s composer (no pun intended), and he fulfilled his task of bringing in some SICK JAMS to the anime. A few old tracks pop up with some new ones, and it’s all of the fun pop and punk rock and hip-hop from before. It doesn’t disappoint. But a lot of the time, the anime feels eerily quiet, and probably not in a way that was intended. Like there just wasn’t enough of a soundtrack made. It’s very weird. The OP is Twister Remix #210582 and frankly it’s not a very good one, at least compared to others. But this is less of the anime’s fault and more of The Drummer From ALI Who Is A Fucking Moron’s fault for having the OP replaced literally one day before it came out. The ED is a hard rock banger that would fit perfectly with the game’s soundtrack, and it has some cool art by that Russian artist Ilya or whatever his name is. So that’s nice.
All in all, TWEWY TA wasn’t terrible. As a fan, I enjoyed it. But I would also hesitate to recommend it, unless you just REALLY want to know what this is about without playing the game. If you want my recommendation on the game, here’s my list of reasons on why you should get out your old DS and buy this game second-hand off Ebay *unravels a long scroll that rolls out of the room*
Thing good
Story: 6/10
Art: 6/10
Sound: 6/10
Character: 5/10
Enjoyment: 7/10
Speed: Zetta Slow/10
Overall: Low 6, ranging anywhere between a low 5 and a high 6
