- Last Online5 hours ago
- GenderMale
- BirthdayNov 28, 2001
- JoinedJan 24, 2019
Fantasy Anime League A Bookworm's Haven Fantasy Anime League Easter Egg Hunt (Easy) My MALentine Story Unusual Pets Easter Egg Hunt (Easy) Sweet Treats RSS Feeds
|
![]()
Jan 9, 2025
I feel like I should preface this by saying that this is the first work by Hiroya Oku that I've experienced. I'm vaguely familiar with him and his other stories, but from what I've seen online, he's a controversial figure, to say the least. I tend to enjoy eccentric stories made by eccentric people, so while I went into Inuyashiki not knowing what to expect, I wanted to like it. So, do I like it? I'm not really sure.
First of all, I think what I enjoyed the most about the show was its treatment of its protagonist and namesake, old man Inuyashiki himself. Something all
...
too common in these types of edgy and so-called "mature" shows is over-indulgence in doomer nihilism that only narcissistic teenagers think is deep. Basically what I'm saying is, in a lesser story, Shishigami would have been our protagonist. However, Inuyashiki is never treated by the narrative as naive or foolish for wanting to help others and make the world a better place. Conversely, Shishigami is constantly denied his wishes and only ever faces hardship for his actions and his disregard for others. It's a nice change of pace to see a cerebral story meant for mature audiences that considers selflessness and optimism to be virtues, rather than naive ideals to be squashed by the "real world."
I also quite like the animation and voice acting. The CGI doesn't look bad at all, and the intricate designs of Inuyashiki and Shishigami's robot bodies are really cool. I like how they both sound completely different from everyone else in the show; they have an amateurish quality to their voices that serves to further distance them from those around them. It makes them completely stand out in every scene they're in. It's a very interesting directorial decision I don't think I've ever seen done intentionally before.
As for something I didn't really like; the entire setup of the show is weird, and contrived, and isn't explained or elaborated upon at all. The entire show, I was waiting for some sort of explanation of these alien powers, and it's just never given. What exactly are they shooting? How can it be transferred through screens? Why in the hell did these aliens feel it was necessary to replace these people with machines that can destroy entire planets? I can make assumptions and educated guesses all day, but in the end, the fact is that it's all just a plot device, and isn't meant to be thought of deeply at all, which is disappointing to me. I understand that it's not a part of the story that Oku wanted to tell, and that's perfectly fine. That still doesn't stop it from being a plot hole from my perspective.
The ending was completely horrible. Sorry, but it was. It's painfully obvious that Oku had no idea how to end it in a satisfying way, so in the very last episode, he just decides to throw a big rock at Earth that requires Inuyashiki and Shishigami to sacrifice themselves to stop it. Everything is wrapped up in a neat little bow, the end. Yeah... nah. I can appreciate the character writing in that moment, the culmination of both of their arcs that led them to make that ultimate decision, but beyond that, it's just a total wet fart of an ending. Nothing about the primary philosophical conflict of the show is resolved. All of the drama and tension being built up felt as though it culminated into nothing at all.
I can't help but feel that this story would have benefitted greatly from a longer runtime. I haven't read the manga, so I don't know if this adaptation cut any content, but the ending felt so abrupt that it almost feels like there's a big gap where more story should be. All in all, I enjoyed some aspects of Inuyashiki, but some pretty major hangups with its execution prevent me from fully recommending it. I guess I would say I liked it more than I disliked it at the end of the day.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
 0
Love it
 0
Funny
 0
Confusing
 0
Well-written
 0
Creative
 0Show all
![]()
Aug 28, 2024
has a lot of good action, but doesn't offer much else. nobody except the main character has much characterization at all and are mostly one-note background characters, which is also the role they fill in combat since for the majority of the show nobody but the MC does much on-screen fighting. there isn't really a story, mostly just a framework through which the conflict in the game can happen, and there really is only one conflict; MC was supposed to retire, but didn't, and now he's breaking a bunch of game records which is making the top guilds look bad. 95% of the fights that
...
happens in the show are because of this. the animation during any scene where a fight isn't happening isn't great, lots of ugly CG people and static movements.
you could ignore all of these issues if you were just there for the action, though, which is clearly the only thing this show is interested in. i was willing to ignore it as well, maybe it's because of my rotted gamer brain, but i just couldn't get past the presentation of the game of "glory" itself. i just couldn't wrap my head around any of its mechanics. it really just seems like a very poorly designed game, and one that i have a hard time believing is sweeping the nation to the extent that its pro players are basically celebrities. on one hand, maybe that shouldn't matter and i should just turn my brain off and watch the pretty colors. on the other hand, the entire show is about this one game, so is it really too much to ask that it makes sense?
first of all, what is going on with the MC's weapon? how is it fair? judging by the fact that literally no other player has seen it before, and nobody knows what it can do, that leads me to believe it actually is some sort of cheat item, but we're clearly meant to believe that the MC is just better at the game, and that's why he wins. people also constantly say that being "unspecialized" is worse than just choosing a class (yeah right), but it really seems like being unspecialized actually means you have access to tons of different moves, can wield a broken weapon, and its only weakness is that it lacks an "ultimate attack" which doesn't seem to matter at all, people just say that it does.
second of all, if you're going to go for the angle that this game isn't any sort of VR game or isekai or any of that nonsense, then it must be believable that they're playing a real computer game. it is not. the characters in the game move like completely autonomous people, from tripping over themselves to falling through some brittle bricks to getting hit and flying through layers of rock. anyone who has ever played a game before, and ESPECIALLY an MMO, knows that things like that are completely unrealistic. it completely breaks the immersion for me. i'm trying to wrap my head around what sequence of keyboard inputs allows someone in an MMO to do half of what the MC does in the show, and i'm immediately taken out of the action because of it. if there were any sort of rules or mechanics established to anchor to, maybe it would make it easier to handwave, but we are told next to nothing about how the game works at all, so i'm just left scratching my head.
at the end of the day, it's schlocky action with decent-to-good animation, and it's not endeavoring to be anything more than that. there were definitely some action scenes that were entertaining, and even though most characters were one-note and there was WAY too many of them, some of them were entertaining too. so i can't say it's unwatchable, but it's certainly not anything special.
oh also, mcdonald's advertisements. lots of mcdonald's advertisements.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
