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Mar 28, 2019
A lot of people would probably be put off before they’ve even started watching this, after all, half of it is live action. My first impression of this show from the first episode was honestly really good. Such is the privilege of a really quirky (and frankly ridiculous) premise and all the unique jokes you can come up with in said setting. I came away from that first episode thinking that that was the high point and there could be nothing more the show could provide. I’m glad to say that I was proven wrong, in fact multiple times.
So in case the synopsis is still
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the shoddy one ripped from MAL news:
On the way to remedial classes, Shiroyama Junpei finds and picks up a strange rock. Thinking nothing of it, he carries on with his day. Imagine his surprise when the rock begins talking to him in the middle of class! Introducing itself as Spudio the 22nd, he, his 3 classmates and homeroom teacher are whisked away to a 2D classroom. Join them in their mind bending battles to save the world from the Sphinx, a 2D being bent on taking over the 3D world and overwriting the world as they know it forever. What are the stakes involved in saving the world? And will they be able to return to their normal lives?
So, I’ll come clean with the fact that this is not a series for everyone. From over the top acting in live action portions and “anime” sections which are actually just… VR chat. Just don’t come here for art because: 1) You won’t find it here, 2) Excuse me but where were you looking to think you might find it here? However, please don’t take this on face value because under the surface, there is a compelling tale of… 5 dudes trying to save the world by solving puzzles? Okay, just hear me out for a sec.
The show eases you into its plot as smoothly as it can (by uproarious entertainment), establishing the characters: who have very distinctive personalities and the premise: which is ridiculous but simple. The story is structured on a solid template, every episode always consists of some sort of real life conflict or mystery, a Sphinx showdown accompanied by notorious puzzles and then either a conflict resolution or an introduction to a new issue. So you generally know what to expect, or do you…?
Each episode does a good job of either building on our understanding of the characters or results in some sort of character development. The way it’s done is endearing and really cheesy and you just can’t help but root for before you even realised you started caring for them. I usually don’t elicit much of an physical reaction to what I’m watching on my own… but I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve made weird sounds and shouted in the living room while my parents were watching the news or something. Not a good look xD
They capitalised on the fact that people wouldn’t take this seriously and jam packed this show full of gimmicks, surprisingly most of them are well executed, I’ll just let you be the judge of that and experience it for yourself. I suppose the show’s weakest point is its puzzles which are… not suitable for the western audience and that’s putting it lightly. Solely dependent on Japanese puns, other wordplay of which there are kanji involved and far reaching leaps of logic, perhaps the only puzzle which can be managed is the very first one in the entire show (Hint: it’s the only one in English).
I’m not gonna lie, there are lows, you’re not always going to be looking forward to the next episode with bated breath. But, I assure you that you will be doing so more often than you thought you would and perhaps you might, like me, be sad to see this end...
Upon finishing the series I have an irrational dislike for the narrator, if only for the fact that his script destroys my headcanon.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 8, 2017
So in my blurry semi-wakefulness I accidentally wrote what I thought was the perfect review for this anime after watching the latest episode! *clears throat*
"GYAHAHA!!! Gamers! never ceases to make me repeatedly hit the surface of something in gleeful amusement. It's turned into something entirely different to what seemed to be the original premise and I just can't wait to see just how far the author can take this BS!"
And trust me, there is a lot of BS.
Let me explain with a little more depth (or go watch it before I spoil you with pure reasoning):
So we start the anime with a certain Amano Keita
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who seems to basically be the relatable facade of our own gaming selves personified. At this point, everyone (who hasn't read the synopsis) will assume this anime will be a lovely ball of relatableness for us gamers. And then they introduce more characters who are themselves other types of gamers. The title is perfect, this will be an anime about different types of gamers and how they get along! All hopefully, without the stereotypical 12 year old who screams murder at everyone else when the team loses except perhaps, as a fleeting cameo and a joke in the backdrop. Perfect, riiiight?
Indeed, the first misunderstanding the creator of this work made was the one with the viewers, while he brazenly sets up the real show in broad daylight.
So... this is a good time for you to go watch it, rather than reading the rest of the review. And I can't decide whether you're lucky buggers or unfortunate bastards, because by now, you probably don't have to wait a week for every episode! I'll leave you to interpret that statement by yourself.
When the snowball started rolling, most of us probably didn't catch on immediately... because who actually writes a story like that?! When misunderstandings are usually either solved quickly which furthers character development or dragged on into excruciating eternity. I'm too amused at the entire situation to be ashamed that I didn't catch on quickly enough. One of the many misunderstandings in a complex web gets dissolved and many more take its place, piggybacking on the different social awkwardnesses of each unique gamer (oh, the title didn't lie, it's just misunderstood). Although the characters that were introduced in the first episode... they're just... kind of not really there, since they're not the focus of the anime.
I just love it. It's brilliant, bombastic, lighthearted fun, all at the expense of the characters. An anime Midsummer Night's Dream turned up to eleven if you will.
If you're an Amano, you'll just enjoy it for what it is.
If you're a Tendou, you'll get serious and then don't understand what the fuss is about.
If you're an Uehara, you would probably get salty over stuff out of your control.
A Hoshinomori is going to get absolutely annoyed over all the trickery this anime has thrown at you (I think there's probably a lot of these)
And an Aguri... might just stay blissfully unaware.
Did I get the characters right? I hope I did xD
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 18, 2017
(Kind of) Disclaimer: Less of a review, more like first impressions... and me trying to convince people to give this a chance, I wouldn't have written this if I didn't see the current 6.15 rating. This review will be VERY general; so general you'll start the anime and not have any idea what to expect from the story ^^'
I honestly think this series is quite a nice surprise. I usually wouldn't check this out just because of how it looks but I just happened to be checking out the beginning of all the shows this season since I have the time. It gave me
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the same kinda vibe as Moretsu Pirates but in my opinion, does it better.
Maybe anime in general has gotten better at CGI or I've gotten used to it over time but it's really not that bad. (I did also watch Kemono Friends to be fair.) I noticed the slightly robotic motions, yes, but I was never explicitly put off by it either. It was quite appropriate during the mecha (I-machine) sections anyway.
There's quite the range with the voice actors. They know what they're doing. Maya is very... anime-y, which is to be expected, voices like her's tend to annoy me at the beginning as I'm getting used to them so nothing new there.
At the moment, ID-0 is shaping up to be promising. It's still in the stages of being half-episodic, half-storyline-oriented. But they've alluded to a lot of mysteries to the character backgrounds so hopefully, there'll be more character development. The immediate setting has also been introduced briefly and it seems that that'll get expanded more as the series progresses as well. It's got mystery, action and characters which seem like they will shape up to be likable.
I've gone on too long already. I hope people don't get too put off by the CGI and the seemingly simplistic premise.
Reading back on this, it's so general I could probably apply most of this to Kemono Friends as well xD
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 29, 2017
I'm really disappointed in this anime, expectation-wise. I mean, it's not like I should've expected it to be good considering the premise. But I did hope that there would be a serious political plot with an idol spin to it. Instead, it's inexperienced or flippant girls dancing to solve what should be much trickier problems. The villain characters (because they exist for some reason) are about as one dimensional and childishly petty as you can get. "Opposing parties", which manifest either as villains, other meh idols either hardly exist or seem like they were put there as an afterthought.
For what it actually is though,
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it still does it badly. Annoying characters and same-y looking character designs (as any other anime) who I don't even want to call cute. Of the main trio, the MC is mega annoying as it goes but the party leader (I think), she tries to sound clever but you don't have to even listen to know she's just spouting a load of BS. The more stoic (and "traumatized") member just seems like a token character archetype they just wanted to fill in.
The mayor in episode 3 was actually just plain stupid. And a quick dance at the end of the episode can surely sway the hearts of men and women alike and completely change their opinion, OF COURSE. The story can't decide whether it wants to be idol based or political based and therefore ended up being neither, or at best a horrible bastardization of them.
The art is meh. It's certainly very shiny. But it's much of what you'd except from an an anime of this caliber. I want to like the art and it IS likable as far as the idol diet-women groups go... but when you put flat personalities to go with them, even the best drawings and a childish, fanservice-y swimsuit episode can't save 'em. Oh right, "animation" or still cut-outs sliding across the screen *sarcastic thumbs up*
Music was okay, most of it forgettable. But somehow the OP is stuck in my head... and I don't even like it that much.
Perhaps this an elaborate tongue-in-cheek joke about how politics everywhere has recently gone to even more s*** than ever and therefore the politicians who run the show should never be taken seriously anymore. But the irony of the joke is that you have to suffer to get through it either way. This anime appears to be in an "issue per episode" format which basically means it won't get any better. My advice to you will be to not waste any of your time on it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Nov 9, 2012
As pretty much everything on this page says, the story is pretty much a story of friendship between a sheep and a wolf. Before you decide to leave this anime without any intention to watch it, consider this... (aka my opinion):
Note: This is probably for people who like VERY long reviews.
Story: 8/10
To be honest, having watched it, I find it a somewhat odd but clever movie. As an older person watching it, I find myself thinking of the philosophical implications of the relationship sometimes yet if I was a child, this would simply be a cute cartoon about the trials and tribulations of star-crossed... friends,
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I suppose. The pacing is what makes me feel odd however. Sometimes, it's feels a little too slow and at others, much too rushed. The timescale of their friendship have also been relatively warped as understandably, the movie can't possibly cram in so much material in less than 2 hours but it does somewhat rely on imagination at times. However, it has a tendency to focus on the emotion rather than a practicality for structuring (still there, just odd and not really a bad thing most of the time).
Art: 8/10
The art is rather simple and the lines are usually not so solid. While it stereotypes the characters somewhat (sheep are gentle and wolves are ferocious), it isn't particularly a bad thing as it reinforces the value of Mei and Gabu's friendship. I don't particularly mind CG effects and I wouldn't for this either if it wasn't for the physics. The huge rock that comes falling down had weird physics and made it slightly jarring to watch. Overall though, the art gave a rather mellow feel and Mei is really cute.
Sound: 7/10
It's not bad per se. It just sometimes doesn't give me (personally) the right sort of feeling. In some scenes where I might have preferred something with a little more suspense, it's gives whimsical music. Actually, there is quite an element of opinion with the music. It does fit, just not in the way I'd expect it to. As a result, I felt slightly spoiled by the music itself. However, I like that they used all classical instruments. It kept the naturalness of the movie and made you feel content. The voice acting is well done. Sometimes though, the background noise was rather more overwhelming than it should have been. Probably should've messed around with the volume mixer or something.
Character: 8/10
The main characters are pretty much perfect. Why they do specific actions can be made sense of especially when the movie will sometimes delve briefly into their past. Even though they are best friends, they have kept true to their basic nature although Gabu doesn't eat goats anymore but there is (not on a practical level,) a compromise from Mei, who accepts Gabu for who he is and I find this relationship really sweet. The side characters don't really get much screen time let alone development. Although they are at the simplest levels, just tools to move the plot, they are given believable emotions. Honestly though, it's not that hard.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I liked the intense focus on the relationship and the way it is like a fairy tale. I loved the really sweet moments and the characters.. I would've liked to see more from the actual process of the development in the movie though. There were also some really touching scenes which I loved being swept along with.
Overall: 9/10
All the elements added together mix into a wonderful movie. Having watched the TV series prior, some scenes were not much of a surprise. It's slightly weird to have a male version of Mei after watching a female version for 26 episodes but that one... is sweeter than this (candy floss?). The result in the anime version is that everyone gets more screen time and they are made more loveable; even the antagonists (or the stubborn old men). I still feel that the movie was better though, the focus on the characters' development was better even though it's assumed they spent less time together. Although it's probably simply easier for the movie that the characters are more clear cut, I prefer it for its realism. The timescale does make the TV series characters much more physically capable. There are pro and cons to both but I'll say this: the TV series is a lot lot more of a children's anime than the movie. It's probably not good to judge this with that, they have a completely different agenda to each other as the anime focuses on the development itself (without all the aspects that the movie explores).
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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