Finally got around to typing up my reactions and thoughts to the first and second episodes! I’m hoping to do these every other week as the series develops.
Episode 1
Overall I was absolutely thrilled with it. I mean it’s finally a TWEWY anime, I’ve waited so long for this game to get the attention that it deserves, and that happiness is going to color everything else that I say about it. I will say though that it seems like the production team is being careful and doing this adaptation with love, and that really comes through and makes me happy.
First I’ll just go over the similarities and differences between this and the game. It starts off the same, the opening animation is incredibly similar to what you see when you power up the game for the first time. Neku wakes up in the middle of an intersection with no memory of who he is. He meets Shiki, pairs up with her, and learns that he’s in the middle of the Reaper’s Game, where if he doesn’t survive 7 days he will be erased.
The first day is pretty short, but it’s very similar to the game. I had to rewatch to catch the Joshua cameo in the shot where the first person is erased, but it’s wonderful that it’s there. I also adore the way that they’re showing pins visually, how they flash on the screen right before Neku uses them. And how Neku can use the uppercut to jump onto buildings and the flames to propel himself. It’s really cool what they did with the battle mechanics!
Second day is also pretty truncated, but this is where it gets interesting. We meet Beat and Rhyme (whose characters are perfect omg) and learn that today the Players must set the cursed statue free. So Neku dives in and destroys the Noise around Hachiko. Interesting thing about the anime is that Neku can attack on his own, which is important since it demonstrates that he isn’t a team player. In the game, it’s literally impossible to attack without your partner.
Also there’s the Noise possessing Neku in the choking scene. I’ll be honest, this is the one change I didn’t like, and I’ve read some opinions for and against it. He’s possessed by Noise before choking Shiki, and it just makes it seem like he had no autonomy or control over the situation while in the game he makes the conscious choice to try and kill Shiki. This is especially evident in how in the anime he says “I will” in response to being told to kill Shiki, while in the game he says “I have to.” Completely different connotation there. In the game he thinks about it, considers his options, and decides to kill her. In the anime, he obeys as if he’s taking orders.
What’s also interesting is I don’t think in the game there are any instances of Noise possessing Players or Reapers, and in episode 1 we see both things happen. Food for thought.
Hanekoma’s role is massively truncated as well, we barely get to talk to him at all. I don’t think viewers even learn his name! I hope that there’s more of him in the future, because he’s an incredible character.
Day 3 also gets changed up a bit. Now the tech guy at O-East is a Reaper and can interact with the Players. I suspect this is because they took out BJ and Tenho, the other members of 777′s band, so they upgraded the techie. 777 also just hands over a keypin to them, which seems like an incredibly easy way to get something that the Players fight for in the game. Possibly the writers are just shortening up and condensing the story with that, but something to keep in mind for later. Also the boss fight is supposed to be Shiki/Neku take out the big bat, while Beat/Rhyme realize that the real boss is the little bat. So in that sense they literally couldn’t have completed it without Beat and Rhyme. Here it’s just Neku/Shiki kicking butt. I suppose that they’re emphasizing more the teamwork between Neku and Shiki rather than between the pairs, but it’s a detail that I liked better in the game.
RIP the “what’s a meme” scene, it’s iconic but I do see how it wouldn’t fit into the anime haha.
Episode 2
Episode 2 I think was a great improvement over the first episode! There's the improved opening animation and theme where they're using "Twister" instead of "Calling" and it's only 2 days so they can take their time with it more. As the opening should be, honestly. "Twister" is so ingrained in my head with the game that nothing else really makes sense. (I did like "Teenage City Riot" but it's just not the same.)
So the episode opens with Shiki, Neku, Beat, and Rhyme talking about Shibuya, from there we are introduced to Eji Oji, the Prince. Then it looks like the writers changed up the order of the missions, skipping Day 4 in the game for now. This is probably because they're saving Rhyme's sacrifice for later, so that she can be the emotional center of an episode. It's a little strange though since the last episode ended with the four players teaming up and now they are immediately separating again.
Shiki is now the center of the episode with her figuring out how to make Mina and Ai make up for the first mission, and seeing Eri again. It's handled really well in my opinion, you super feel for her as she sees Eri talking about how Shiki died. It's the second day, Day 5, where the mission is the red skull pins that we get a pretty big departure from the game. After the ad is shown at the Scramble Crossing, Kitoniji's noise sigil is shown in the sky and Players are blasted. Neku and Shiki dodge it, and then it looks like Joshua snaps his fingers and it stops.
My primary issue is that Reapers can't directly attack Players, and this seems to be in direct violation of that. I guess they want to emphasize that there's barely any Players left, in the game, Day 4 where Rhyme is erased is what seriously narrows down the numbers and I guess they needed an equivalent. It's still strange to see though, no explanation for any of that has been given yet. And the episode ends with Neku learning that he's dead.
Other change that they make is that there's barely any Reapers in this episode, just one by a wall at Center St. In the game, the Game Master tries to use Shiki and her envy of Eri to bring her downfall before Neku talks her out of it. But here we don't see that at all, we've really only had one scene in the first episode with the Game Master. So next episode probably will have a lot of him since it'll be the end of Week 1.
Other thing I forgot to mention is that it's really cool how whenever they move to a new section of the town there's an image from the game that would pop up to indicate that you moved to a new place. It's a nice bit of continuity.
Anyways, I was super impressed with the improvement from Episode 1 to Episode 2, and I'm really excited (and scared) for next week's episode. End of the first week, here we come!
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