I have a lowkey like of Kizuna AI-- like I didn't keep up with her or anything, but I did mostly like the content that was posted with her if I happened to stumble upon it. So much so that when I come across kinda more amateur Vtubers/Virtual people (man idk terms, that's usually not my thing) I can't quite do it. Like, Kizuna AI was so professional as an entertainer in a way that helped build upon her character or what type of world they were trying to shape around her. Meanwhile, someone just using an a virtual avatar to play some games I honestly could just be playing myself or something just became bland. At that point, I would have just rather seen the actual person playing. I feel bad because so many of my friends do Vtubing, but I'm just like not interested because I'd rather just... play games with those friends and I'd be a lot more entertained.;; Like they usually don't do it to entertain, and that's fine, but also because of that I'd really rather just do something else. As someone who's generally really supportive of my friends, it really makes me feel bad that I can't quite connect enough to get onboard.
All that being said (I swear I didn't ramble for nothing), this anime has taken all of that and turned it into something actually meant to entertain (much like many of Kizuna AI's videos), so it's a whole different perspective of Vtubing for me. Suddenly, you have a Vtuber who isn't just playing games looking cute or something but now we've put them into a plot that one might want to follow while still acknowledging that they're Vtubers. We perhaps get to see these Vtubers grow or go through... well, whatever it is they'll be going through. Just the idea of using these Vtubers to tell a story instead of having them just go about whatever thing they're streaming makes a big difference for me. It also gives me a better glimpse of what Vtubers are capable of. I know there are Vtuber idols who sing and dance, but I was always a lot more into real idols and respected what they could do offline with their human limitations. Yet the idea of Vtubers as actors is somehow something I can get behind. It's voice acting and using a virtual body at the same time, which doesn't actually seem like an easy task when it comes to making something actually look good with mocap. The added challenge is actually something I can respect out of them rather than just watching someone make faces and talk while playing a game or something.
So this is pretty welcome for me. I've seen anime that have done this before, but usually they're either pretty comedic, tongue-in-cheek (they'll break the 4th wall), or just... not all that great when it comes to looks. This anime actually looks pretty good. I don't see a whole bunch of clipped arms or hair all the time like in the other anime that do this type of thing. As for the plot, so far this has been pretty standard for an anime (pretty much like an idol anime). Not groundbreaking, but it seems like they're trying to play with technology a bit so I understand wanting to keep things a little more simple. I feel the shift from Vtuber mode to our typical anime style all makes sense for what the anime is about.
BUT I do feel like we got two OP songs. Perhaps they could have just kept Kizuna's song at the beginning and save the actual OP for another time, because back to back songs like that felt really weird. At first I thought the whole anime was just music videos until it really started. The main character is okay I guess. I oddly liked the small interactions the characters had with each other. I also enjoyed that Noelle rejected her. Had she accepted, I would have been really annoyed because wow that performance was boring. I feel like maybe part of that is because of the limitations of this technology. Perhaps she wasn't supposed to move much or else there actually WOULD have been a bunch of clipping, but in every way, that performance was a flop. I furrowed my brow when the other students were praising her saying it was so good. Hopefully they eventually address that. If it was actually supposed to be good then oof. I'm hoping a part of the plot is that there will be better performances than that.
Also, the episode kinda ended abruptly-- it was just a weird place to end an episode on. Maybe if they didn't have two OPs then it would have had more time to deal with that. >>;; Oh right, I also liked the soundtrack oddly enough (like the background music). Like it all felt pretty fitting and sounded okay.
I do like the idea of a Vtuber school in general though. This is something schools/agencies actually are starting to train people on. It's usually not a whole institution like this, but it's not too far off. I think most of the training happens at people's homes, but I guess a brick and mortar institute could work in the sense that they would have all the equipment and such their students need to work on their craft instead of requiring their students to buy such expensive equipment (much like if you're taking classes in something like video production-- you can just use the school cameras and high tech software on school computers). Not a bad idea and not completely far fetched in a futuristic sense I guess.
Overall, I think it's a decent start. We'll see if it irons out some of those weird parts as it goes on, but even those weird parts aren't that bad I guess. |