What happens when there is no vision for a show
Usually in any anime season, there is one or, if you are lucky, two special shows that are unlike any others. These are the type of shows that challenge the whole idea of what “anime” is really all about. New Game is certainly this show for the summer 2016 season.
New Game has to be the most unoriginal, derivative, show that I have seen in years. I usually attempt to watch every available show in a given season, but New Game highhandedly killed any enthusiasm that I have had for the entire anime spectrum this season in a single 24 minute episode. Like I said, these shows are rare, but they come and need to be warned about so that others may learn to stay away.
Its actually surprising that New Game has done so, but taking a look into the episode reveals one of the most boring shows that has ever had the misfortune of being animated. The show starts off with Aoba Suzukaze, a purple-haired girl who just graduated high school and is about to embark on the next stage in her life as an CG art designer for a video game company called Eagle Jump. Aoba is the typical shy girl whose only purpose in the show is to act cutely dumb and trip and almost fail at everything she does. Characters like these are a dime a dozen, and just throwing them in a new situation does nothing to fix the total amount of bland that Aoba portrays.
Another uninspiring smuck is Ko Yagami, the main boss type character of the show. Her whole character is the smug boss who tries to have it together, but sleeps in the office. There are a number of other characters thrown into the mix in this first episode, but even after forcing myself to watch it twice, I can’t be bothered to try to remember the names or their own brand of boring. There is even a fat lazy cat that seems to be thrown in there because every show of this nature just seems to need a mascot.
The only thing that screamed out at me is the amount of “moe” cuteness that was thrust into every scene of the show. The amount of sweetness made me want to check my blood sugar levels, its that sickening. Besides the hair styles, I could not tell characters apart, besides the tan one, as the faces have the exact same big-eyes, open-mouth look that has been slowly pervading the anime scene as a whole.
Generally “moe” cuteness shows are harmless. Heck, even I have a couple myself that I enjoy from time to time, so its not like I have a hatred for the genre as a whole. But New Game is a special brand of mess. With these types of shows, having more distinct characters is an absolute must, as if they are done in this show, those characters are thrown away, never to be thought of again. The premise of working at a game design company seems unique enough at first, though as time goes on, many better shows have already crowded the “Working moe” scene like, Working!! and those that dive into what the job entails like Shirobako. Even taking away the work environment and adding the source material as a 4-koma manga, there are a multitude of better works such as Azumanga Daioh that can fill the role way better than New Game ever could.
This show has basically nothing to stand out in the crowd of this season’s anime. The colors are pastel and bright, like many others this season, character designs are bland and forgettable, the music is average at best, and the opening and ending songs are so forgettable that I had to look them up to even remember what they looked and sounded like. New Game has nothing of value, and doesn’t even seem to have a vision for future episodes in the series. Its not a horrible show, nor is it a so-bad-its-good type of show. It just exists to do no entertaining and to comfortably sit in the void of quality. Normally I give shows three episodes before I drop it, which seems to be the standard, but New Game doesn’t even give me enough to warrant a second. If you are a masochist for mediocrity, the show is available to stream on Crunchyroll, though there are so many other shows on the site that there should be no reason to click on this shit.
Final Verdict: 1/5
