New Game!

Since childhood, Aoba Suzukaze has loved the Fairies Story game series, particularly the character designs. So when she graduates from high school, it is no surprise that she applies to work at Eagle Jump, the company responsible for making her favorite video game. On her first day, she is excited to learn that she will be working on a new installment to the series: Fairies Story 3—and even more so under Kou Yagami, the lead character designer.

In their department are people who share the same passion for games. There is Yun Iijima, whose specialty is designing monsters; the shy Hifumi Takimoto, who prefers to communicate through instant messaging; Hajime Shinoda, an animation team member with an impressive figurine collection; Rin Tooyama, the orderly art director; Shizuku Hazuki, the game director who brings her cat to work; and Umiko Ahagon, the short-tempered head programmer.

New Game! follows Aoba and the others on their adventure through the ups and downs of game making, from making the perfect character design to fixing all the errors that will inevitably accumulate in the process.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Suzukaze, Aoba Main

Takada, Yuuki Japanese

Yagami, Kou Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Takimoto, Hifumi Supporting

Yamaguchi, Megumi Japanese

Ahagon, Umiko Supporting

Morinaga, Chitose Japanese

Sakura, Nene Supporting

Asahina, Madoka Japanese

Iijima, Yun Supporting

Takeo, Ayumi Japanese

Shinoda, Hajime Supporting

Toda, Megumi Japanese

Tooyama, Rin Supporting

Kayano, Ai Japanese

Hazuki, Shizuku Supporting

Kitamura, Eri Japanese

Yamada Supporting

Fujita, Saki Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Kananiwa, Kozue Producer

Tanaka, Shou Producer

Kamata, Hajime Producer

Reviews

Jun 2, 2022

BlondeFox

Recommended

I fully enjoyed this. Not only was the art and character design cute, but the subject matter was cool and interesting. I enjoyed seeing the game development progress and the end was a satisfying close to the season.

As a gamer and an office worker, it made me want to work harder too. Aoba was a lovely lead that was earnest and one of the best characters in the show. Some of the work humor moments were relatable, such as with labelling things in the fridge and the different relationships you make with your coworkers.

Definitely part of the moe girls doing things SOL genre, ... but good nonetheless.

Just an overall fun ride and I enjoyed every minute.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jan 2, 2024

TryingT0L1ve

Mixed Feelings

New Game! It delivers exactly what it promises, a cute girl with other cute girls doing... cute things? In general, this anime is like one of those cartoons you watched as a child, where you're not looking for an experience, but just want to see something silly. If you don't want to waste your time watching something complex, this anime is for you.

Story 05/10: The story is that cliché thing, she's just a girl who's fulfilling her dream of working in a games company, other than that there's no big plot or anything like that.

Character 07/10: The characters are very charismatic, despite having no depth, ... they are cute and you can see that they are very different, and that's cool;

Music 08/10: The songs are perfect for the anime, in a cuter style but at the same time with a touch of technology.

Art: Cute, there's not much to say other than that, it wasn't made to have insane graphics.

Entertainment 05/10: It's funny, it's cute to watch, and you can see in a very parody way, the process of creating games

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Aug 30, 2021

RESOLVING_POWER

Not Recommended

I watched New Game (both seasons and OVA). Here are my kinda unrefined thoughts:

Wow this is really similar to a real-life workplace. This is just reminding me of work. I don't know how anyone with an office job IRL would find leisurely watching this enjoyable. With episode titles such as "Salary is Just a Loophole in the Law to Lower Wages", how could I not feel relaxed while watching!
Oh Christ they're going out to lunch together on her first day and stuff like that. Wow this really is anxiety-attack material.
Speaking more broadly, this show incorporates the more unpalatable aspects of Japanese work culture. Foremost, incompetent ... project management and the long work hours. Framed another way, despite the show's typical SoL saccharine atmosphere, it does seem to present a somewhat authentic simulation of Japanese white-collar work, and that could be viewed as a desirable feature. Like a lot of things discussed here, it really does depend on the viewer's expectations and preferences.

Most of the cast ranges from bland to unlikable. Nene is annoying as hell. Hifumi is my favourite character, but the cast as a whole feels shallow and underdeveloped. That said, the content of the show hardly requires well-developed characters. I will also concede that the supporting cast got a bit more character development during season two.

OST and voice acting are unremarkable, although the ambient sound of the office setting is done well. The OST did frequently use '8-bit'-sounding music, like one would associate with retro video games, which did suit the theme of the show. I don't like the 8-bit music style at all (in any context), and due to this bias I felt apathetic about its use; someone else might find it charming though.

Animation quality is okay. Sometimes the character animations are fairly detailed, moreso than I'd expect from the average SoL series. The character designs are typical Doga Kobo SoL characters -- some are pretty cute. Cute outfits too, sometimes. Visually, I like the colour palette. It is filled with bright pastel colours, even moreso than the average Doga Kobo series. Indoor settings like the office or characters' bedrooms look nice with this bright colour palette. Visuals are probably the strongest aspect of this anime, at least from my perspective.

The plot consists mainly of your typical lighthearted episodic SoL stories, but usually with an office work-related spin or context to them. I know I'm bemoaning this point, but the stories are kind of triggering instead of relaxing because they just remind me of past workplace events. Especially when there's a 'light' conflict in the anime, it gets amplified in my mind because I'll randomly just recall a bad somewhat-related event from like literally years ago. Even outside the workplace, for example, there's a scene where the MC has to go get her blood drawn by an inexperienced nurse. WHY ON EARTH WOULD I WANT TO WATCH THAT? STOP REMINDING ME OF UNPLEASANT REAL-LIFE EXPERIENCES.

If I could sum up New Game in one word it would be 'mediocre.' This series doesn't really excel at anything in particular, aside from some visual aspects. Watching New Game felt like I went to a rundown diner and ordered a cheap burger and it arrived cold and soggy, but I still ate it. At the end of the day, I got what I expected. New Game is a typical bread-and-butter SoL show that isn't particularly remarkable aside from the unique premise. Even so, despite the unique premise, New Game felt shallow and formulaic to me. My lack of affection for the cast is also probably a major reason for my lack of enthusiasm for the show.

As you can probably tell already, I am not an impartial judge of this anime, so the reader should pair my opinion with some skepticism. However, I did complete both seasons of New Game (and the OVA), and more generally I am an eager consumer of SoL anime.


My personal rating for New Game: 4/10

I mainly just watched it during meals or immediately before falling asleep.

One outlier was the OVA, which I found fairly comfy. The characters go on a ski trip together. I found it more enjoyable to watch than the office environment, which is probably an indication of my own biases.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: New Game! Episode 9 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Aug 29, 2016	123 replies	by nekopoiapk »» Nov 2, 1:28 AM
	Poll: New Game! Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Jul 4, 2016	183 replies	by Tsukasa_Rio »» Sep 3, 4:04 AM
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	Poll: New Game! Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Aug 22, 2016	102 replies	by kitoha »» Apr 9, 6:32 PM
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