So, TWEWY is my favorite game of all time, and as many fans, I was super hyped (and worried) to see it animated after over a decade - I guess nobody in the fandom had had many hopes. I would like to review a good adaptation of my favorite game; sadly, I'll end up reviewing a mediocre transmedia attempt.
Keep in mind that my opinions take the game into account, so there might be minor spoilers for anime-only viewers. I'll try my best to refrain from spoilers, though.
The core of the story itself remains unchanged: the protagonist, Neku Sakuraba, suddenly wakes up in the middle of the Scramble Crossing, in Shibuya. He soon found out he is in the middle of a game and has to complete the orders received by an unknown entity in order not to be "erased", while he has also to defeat enemies, especially the ones called "noise". We will get more into it later.
The element they nail the most is the music. There are many songs from the original game, well-adapted versions of them, and new music that fits with the entire vibe of the franchise. Sure, rest in peace ALI's opening, but all in all, this part is well-handled.
All the other factors come with a lot of "buts"; some are nice, some are not, could have been done better, or are simply unnecessary. Let's start with the art and animation: I like most of it. Of course, I won't deny that it took me a bit of time to get used to the new character design, but it was a change for the best, in my opinion. The transition of places and the showing of pins were a tiny gift for an avid fan of the game. However, I completely disliked the CGI noise and it ruined part of the experience to me. The design itself is alright; the problem is the flow. The scenes are not dynamic. It looks as if the noise are moving in so zetta slow motion. Because of that, most - if not all of the fight scenes seemed unexciting. Oh, and talking about fights, the pacing of the show is so ridiculous that some important boss battles ended up less than five minutes (in some cases, taking less time than "minor" battles, which is a serious issue).
Back to the story, in order to complete the "main storyline" in just twelve episodes, they had to both cut some scenes and reorder others. More "fillerish" missions go completely unmentioned and side games do not exist. So, yes, no Tin Pin, no Noodle Shop, no tag, No reaper creeper, no Going-To-Towa-Records-To-Buy-All-The-CDs-With-The-Soundtrack. Actually, you don't even know the shopkeepers which are part of the immersive experience of the game, which I find quite sad.
The scene cutting and reordering also affect the character development. Is it good? Well... it depends on whom you ask. Some characters were benefited, some not. Both major and minor characters. Let's get the protagonist, Neku, which I believed was affected negatively - the game starts with an inner monologue, which, for some reason, was cut off of the anime. I don't understand why, even with the pacing issue, as it was not a long scene. That scene is what leads to his character development throughout the story, so it was a bad move to do this. And the "filler" missions help to slowly see the growth of all characters. Without those, some emotional moments ended up emotionless.
The pacing of the show slowly improves (from drastic to bad) in some moments. The first three episodes are the worst ones in terms of pacing, so no wonder it would leave a bad impression on many viewers. The middle of the show (from around episode 5 to 10) has the best pacing, despite any other problems.
In the end, a game being adapted into a 1-cour anime is the root of most - if not all of these issues. It's obvious that the anime was just done to promote the new sequel. What saddens me is that it could have been done in a better way so that it would please both fans and newcomers, and what was needed was airtime.
And now for the cliche part of the review: if you enjoyed anything about the show, play the game if you have the chance to. If you are not able to, you can watch story-only gameplays online that will give you a much better grasp of the situation. Maybe 5 is too high given my disappointment (IT'S MY FAVORITE GAME!!!!!!!!!!), but I have too much affection for the franchise I couldn't give it anything lower. I've seen worse game adaptations, but it doesn't lower my sadness here.
Repeating once again: sigh.
