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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Unevaluated |
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[series:4293#628] | ||||||
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(Five episodes watched): "It's so realistic that you could easily forget that it's a game!" Hiro exclaims at one point in episode one. This is all taking place within a little known video game rather than some alternate reality, and as of yet nothing has malfunctioned--it's just that this game is so realistic that you can feel pain and it is almost indistinguishable from real life (which Hiro hates). I sort of wondered to what extent it was a comedy and to what it was being serious after Hiro gets beaten up and someone gets killed in virtual reality. In general, it seemed that some thought and cleverness had been invested in the making of this show. Episode one sets up the premise pretty well, but other than that I still had little idea where it would go. Why play this game if it is so unpleasant? I hope he doesn't become entrapped in a broken game, as has happened in numerous other anime, but instead has a plausible reason to try to win this one. Maybe somebody ought to make a completely serious anime about what the effects of finding yourself in a game this realistic might be. The credits suggest that Hiro may form a harem around himself. So, too soon to say exactly where this is going, but it seemed OK so far and I was on board for episode two. Episode two reinforced my feeling that it was unclear whether comedy or drama had priority here. Sometimes there are jokes and sometimes the situation gets so ugly that I'm tempted to go watch something else. Most of the time Hiro can log out whenever he pleases apparently (sometimes he has to stay until a certain 'event' occurs), and it is largely a matter of whether he will have to write off the substantial sum he spent on this game as gone forever or not (Leona doesn't give refunds). It is possible to win this game apparently, just incredibly difficult. It was kind of hard to understand why he keeps trying; maybe his real world life is no better (but that is sort of depressing). What this show needs is for him to find a way to use this game to his advantage. Maybe all the hot girls that will show up eventually will make an ultra realistic game not such a bad idea after all. Better yet would be if instead of just getting repeatedly beaten up he would somehow manage to turn things around and win the game--and the title of episode four suggests that that might just happen. But I don't want to keep watching a show where the protagonist just wanders through virtual hell. It's almost as if we are supposed to laugh at the continual humiliations Hiro suffers, and those are hardly funny at all. In episode four the same even happens in real life. Maybe a masochist would get a kick out of this show, but it seems so grim and ugly and unfunny to me that I think I will quit. There don't seem to be any signs of a happy ending to this. Last updated Saturday, April 09 2022. Created Saturday, April 10 2021. | ||||||||
