shii410
Emba
★★★★★
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2020
- Posts
- 11,142
- Online
- 217d 1h 15m
it has very mixed reviews and people have very contentious opinions of it so im writing my review here
first of all what I really liked right from the start is the concept/setting/aesthetics. basically the protagonist wakes up stuck in an alternate realm of endless skyscrapers (connected by drawbridges with no way down) which are inhabited by masked, soulless psychopaths whose aim is to drive you to suicide (or kill you if you show no intentions of killing yourself). there are also other human survivors but most of them are batshit crazy.
I just really like the concept of endless, soulless urban sprawl coated with clear blue skies and mindless psychopaths wandering about. it contrasts a lot with the usual horror setting of a remote, "away from society" atmosphere
(the masked people were formerly humans but as soon as you look at the back of the mask it sucks out your soul and removes all your free will and you can't take it off, disturbing shit ngl)
the most common criticism I hear is that the plot progression is "boring" or predictable. predictable makes sense I guess, it didn't massively subvert my expectations or anything. you can generally tell what direction things are going to go in whenever a new concept is introduced to the plot. in spite of that though I actually found it really engaging and suspenseful most of the time, there were plenty of of intense scenes that I found really captivating. I suppose it could have been more gruesome and thrilling in its execution but its good enough that, in conjunction with the premise and atmosphere, I still found it enjoyable
the second main critique I hear is the characters are bland or unmemorable (with a couple notable exceptions). admittedly most of them don't stand out very much. I was expecting the central protagonist to spiral in to unhinged insanity or crippling trauma as a result of their nightmarish situation a la Kaneki, and they hint at that a bit but it's really just not a theme in the story. generally speaking their most notable trait is their good heartedness and desire to save people (which isn't particularly interesting). I did find this one dynamic/relationship kind of sweet though
very nice and cute (though on a more analytical level I feel like the plot could have been executed better if the plot didn't primarily revolve around high school girls)
the rest of the criticisms I hear are miscellaneous stuff about the action or fanservice or whatever. there's a lot of mild sexual content (mostly just panties) which turns some people off. for me it makes it a little harder to take seriously yeah but I don't see it as an issue. about halfway through the characters start to get shonen superpowers and shit which overshadows the horror aspect a bit (a lot of horror mangas do this including some of my favorites like parasyte). I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing but I do feel like the premise works uniquely well for a survival horror setting and could have been utillized more in that direction
anyway I say its worth watching to form your own opinions on it if nothing else. I recommend it
first of all what I really liked right from the start is the concept/setting/aesthetics. basically the protagonist wakes up stuck in an alternate realm of endless skyscrapers (connected by drawbridges with no way down) which are inhabited by masked, soulless psychopaths whose aim is to drive you to suicide (or kill you if you show no intentions of killing yourself). there are also other human survivors but most of them are batshit crazy.
I just really like the concept of endless, soulless urban sprawl coated with clear blue skies and mindless psychopaths wandering about. it contrasts a lot with the usual horror setting of a remote, "away from society" atmosphere
(the masked people were formerly humans but as soon as you look at the back of the mask it sucks out your soul and removes all your free will and you can't take it off, disturbing shit ngl)
the most common criticism I hear is that the plot progression is "boring" or predictable. predictable makes sense I guess, it didn't massively subvert my expectations or anything. you can generally tell what direction things are going to go in whenever a new concept is introduced to the plot. in spite of that though I actually found it really engaging and suspenseful most of the time, there were plenty of of intense scenes that I found really captivating. I suppose it could have been more gruesome and thrilling in its execution but its good enough that, in conjunction with the premise and atmosphere, I still found it enjoyable
the second main critique I hear is the characters are bland or unmemorable (with a couple notable exceptions). admittedly most of them don't stand out very much. I was expecting the central protagonist to spiral in to unhinged insanity or crippling trauma as a result of their nightmarish situation a la Kaneki, and they hint at that a bit but it's really just not a theme in the story. generally speaking their most notable trait is their good heartedness and desire to save people (which isn't particularly interesting). I did find this one dynamic/relationship kind of sweet though
very nice and cute (though on a more analytical level I feel like the plot could have been executed better if the plot didn't primarily revolve around high school girls)
the rest of the criticisms I hear are miscellaneous stuff about the action or fanservice or whatever. there's a lot of mild sexual content (mostly just panties) which turns some people off. for me it makes it a little harder to take seriously yeah but I don't see it as an issue. about halfway through the characters start to get shonen superpowers and shit which overshadows the horror aspect a bit (a lot of horror mangas do this including some of my favorites like parasyte). I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing but I do feel like the premise works uniquely well for a survival horror setting and could have been utillized more in that direction
anyway I say its worth watching to form your own opinions on it if nothing else. I recommend it
