Ok the start of this anime is pretty wack, imagine this, you get kidnapped and put in a strange place with your pals and a creepy-looking doll says “play the game and I'll reduce your debt”, would you trust the doll? OFC NOT ANY DUMB APE HUMAN WOULD REALIZE THEIR NUMERIC AVANTAGE AND BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THE DOLL and make a run for it, all the debt reduction bs is just his word, why would you TRUST YOUR KIDNAPPER to keep his word xD.
This is the first time I ever saw Blue balling in a thriller anime xD.
I will admit I was initially, quite hyped for this anime. For the first few episodes, there are a lot of convenient events and borderline unrealistic shit that favors the MC that occurs making this anime seem like a typical edgelord death game kind of anime. That changed in the third game (about episode 9 or 10), and the anime started to get really interesting and is probably going to join the thriller greats like Kaiji and death note., what we were seeing so far was only a setup phase.
Well, why not a perfect score then?
At every possible moment, the Mods? Owners? Creators? The game starts with big exposition dumps. Anyway, the pink-haired twin-tails and Kuro Onnaa, start overhyping Yuichi to kingdom come! And when the big reveal shows up one can't help but feel let down (the third game-ending was pretty worth it tho). Don't get me wrong Yuichi is a fantastic character (as I figured out later), however, they keep pumping us up to a degree that we start expecting Lelouch but what get is probably a semi-decent inferior version of light Yagami (it's still high praise these guys are legends).
Another trife I have is the absolutely dog shit way they explain the games and the strategy of Yuichi sometimes, it took them two tries to actually explain the third game properly, in the first try no images no explanation no audio-visual cues were present. the first two games were also rather poorly explained but the strategy of Yuichi was also horribly explained to the point that people could actually nitpick and pick out flaws. I can't say much about the manga, but from what I have heard, they also universally agree that the manga gets good from game three and onwards.
Episode 10 and above are all great episodes each deserving a score of 9 or above , but the anime as a whole is what we are reviewing so ill jump straight in and try to be as unbiased as possible.
Story (6/10)
Okay with the start being as it is if you still manage to look past that you'd see a nicely written character drama with a bit of complex relationship between the characters being the main focus. The main motivation is money, not life and it is actually quite clever (People value money over life, many people willingly get into accidents to get insurance money). The plot is slow, and the explanation while not great, does provide just enough to help the viewer solve the mystery with the MC which is a very important aspect of mystery thrillers.
Characters (7/10)
Quite a mixed bag honestly, the mods are just annoying cheerleaders at one point, Yuichi and his friend circle are rather interesting, they have a very not wholesome yet stable friendship, which gradually but realistically breaks apart due to the sheer depth and fragility of their past selves. Yuichi is forced to play the masterminds for his own reason, and that reason while quite straightforward is pretty interesting.
Art and animation (8/10)
Done rather competently, the art style of Manabu and the games themselves are quite unique and nice, animation-wise there is a small amount of still frames used at places, and the animation isn't the focus, though I am rather happy that the most important and powerful scenes do have really good animation or art that does mean that there is a bit of inconsistency.
Sound and VA (10/10)
I have to give it to them for not messing this up at all the VA is top-notch, the tension or euphoria of the characters is very well reflected giving us some epic scenes just like kakegurui.
The OP is the most fantastic one of this entire season IMO! It is artistically awesome, has great music, and beyond all else doesn't reveal or spoil anything in the anime but still remains quite the spectacle, the music is also awesome and I have it saved in my playlist!ED is also a really clever glimpse that we are provided into each of the characters' lives with only just enough being revealed to leave us wondering and in awe once we know what it signifies!
If there is a season 2, this anime would have been an easy must-watch, but since it leaves us only just when it was getting good, I feel that the three-episode rule is a safer bet so that you do not end up disappointed later!
If there is a season 2 announcement by the time you read this, watch it without hesitation! I have high hopes for this series and I am sure many others will too when they reach the end of it!
