As much as I want to hate this series I just can't do it.
Despite the countless info dumps, despite the mostly generic cast, despite the extremely poor and badly directed visuals, despite the forgettable music....
I still thought it was damn entertaining.
To it's credit some of the mind games were genuinely smart.
The first game and the rock paper fingers were pretty ok segments, and the second game actually impressed me with it's ending.
And even the weaker segments while not being great, were certainly not bad.
But you know what is bad?
EVERYTHING ELSE!
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The entire show looks dead, there is never anything interesting to look at. The art is weak, the backgrounds are dull and boring, and the animation is laughable. Last time I was this not impressed by the production of a POPULAR show, was hige hiro, but I think this is even worse.
At the very least hige hiro had a handful decent looking shots.
This show is consistent with it's garbage visuals if nothing else.... Actually that's a lie. There are scenes that are even worse looking than normal, but I can assure you that, that's a one way highway.
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The music leaves a lot to be desired. The opening and ending are pretty good, but the soundtrack itself is so forgettable I don't even remember it. And I finished the show 20 minutes ago.
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The characters are not the worst, but certainly not the best either...
Half of them are one dimensional plot devices, and the other half are somewhat interesting edge lords.
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In a perfect world this would have been directed by Tetsurou Akari and it would have been the edgier, less profound second coming of death note....
kind of like what we thought platinum end was going to be....
Here's the deal, other than the few decent-good mind games the story has NOTHING of value to offer, the production is shit, and the pacing while not being the worst thing ever is certainly not good either.
the show is in the low 4 high 3/10 category, but If like me, you enjoy these edgy death game types of shows, I say this is one of the more enjoyable ones.
it's not nearly as fun as mirrai nikki, or as stupid as gelipnir, but it is still enjoyable, and it would have been one of, if not the most fun to watch shows this year if it had good production.
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If I had to say what would make this show the perfect death game, these would be it:
1. Get better production: a competent director, a talented composer, and a bigger budget.
2. Change some of the character designs. the main characters have ok designs, but some of the side characters look stupid. you don't have to give a character a pink bowl cut to make them stand out. There are better ways of doing it. look at sonny boy, look at steins;gate, or vinland saga, or kaguya sama, or attack on titan.
3. Get a better script writer.
4. Add blood and gore. don't pretend like you're above it, with or without mind games, you're still an edgy death or I guess in this case "friend" game.
5. Make it an ecchi. now this may be the one thing people disagree with, but I firmly believe that in a show like this, tities are an improvement. there are rarely death games that are more than just mindless entertainment. and fanservice is always a plus in these kinds of shows.
This show is not deep, nor does it have a ground breaking story. the mind games are there purely for entertainment, there is no philosophy or social commentary, and if there is, it isn't good.
So just embrace it. be the generic death game but to perfection. Mirrai Nikki had this perfected years ago, if only it didn't mess it up with a shitty ending.
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Anyways this went for longer than it should have.
Do I think the show is worth watching?
Honestly, just read the manga if you're interested. the anime adds nothing to the experience. and I heard the manga has way better art and pacing.
I hope you have a wonderful day and, thank you for reading :D