Spring 2021 First Impressions – The World Ends With You

Streaming: Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Video Game

Story Summary: Neku wakes up disoriented in the middle of the Shibuya scramble crossing, only to quickly discover that no one can see him and he can’t be physically affected by other humans or moving objects. However, he’s not alone; after watching a human being literally erased from existence, he meets Shiki, a fellow player in the Reaper’s Game in which he’s been forced to participate. The players must survive 7 days fulfilling missions at the Reaper’s whim, and the only way they can achieve this is to work together and defeat creatures called “noise.” Neku is initially wary of trusting anyone else, but he’s also the only player with amnesia; after a couple of especially dangerous situations, his bond with Shiki proves to be invaluable and he chooses, against his cautious nature, to become a member of a team hoping to win their way out of the situation.

Impressions: I was once very heavily into JRPG’s and other Japanese video games, and The World Ends With You was one I always wanted to play but never had the chance to buy when it was available on the DS. It always seemed to have a strong sense of style and I thought the modern-day setting felt unique when most of what I was playing at that time were fantasy-type games. Years passed, the game’s re-release on the Switch came and went, and now somehow in 2021 the story is receiving an anime adaptation. I guess this reminds us never to lose hope, and that the world of media is always full of surprises.

This episode has a very strong sense of visual style, much like its game counterpart. The character designs feature thick lines that set them apart from the otherwise mostly realistic setting. The character designs also bridge the transition between 2D and 3D very well, as the thick linework tends to hide the obvious weird joints and puppet-like that a lot of 3D character models have. I noticed during the action scenes there was a lot of 3D movement that also featured character close-ups, and it was difficult to tell in many cases where the rendering differed. It’s a very cool, funky look that serves the music-based action well.

This episode is, however, fast-paced – to its detriment. Having never played the game I can’t say how precisely its story maps to what happened during this first episode or how much has actually been condensed, but I feel like a lot of information was crammed into a relatively short time frame, leaving little opportunity for me to absorb what was occurring before the characters were thrust into the next set piece. We’re presented with a protagonist who’s participating in a literal death game, yet he manages to dispatch enemies readily from the get-go. Add to that the fact that his history is essentially unknown and all we can really glean from his actions is that he has a bad attitude, and we’re left struggling with a distinct lack of tension. It would be one thing if we were provided some deeper information on the stakes the characters were dealing with (I know more from reading up on the game’s story but there’s no elaboration during this episode), but besides that right now this just seems like a series of cool-looking battles with some catchy music.

And maybe that’s okay for a start; style on its own can carry some series farther than expected and be satisfying in its own simple way. But I guess for me if a series is going to go that route it needs to be top-tier brainless action-oriented fun, with stunning animation or other factors that distract from its shallowness, and this episode didn’t manage to achieve that.

Pros: I briefly mentioned it above, but I like the soundtrack to this episode. I’m not sure if the insert songs are taken from the game or are original to the anime, but they’re upbeat and fun and provide a nice atmosphere for the Noise battles.

Neku might have an adversarial attitude, but even in this episode one can already see that beginning to break down. I like that this story emphasizes the need for the characters to work together toward a common goal; so many “death game” type anime series seem more focused on giddily presenting the extremes of human evil and selfishness, and while those topics can be interesting to examine I find very few of those anime to be equipped to do so in an interesting or responsible way. While I might sound corny in saying so, I’m just happy that this story doesn’t seem to be going that route.

Cons: As I said, the biggest con is the pacing; there’s very little time to catch one’s breath between each new challenge for Neku, Shiki, and the team.

The villains are also cartoonishly obvious sorts, dressed in goth clothing with spiky devil wings. This series doesn’t seem to have much interest in subtlety, but still.

Content Warnings: Physical violence. People being permanently dispatched through magical means.

Would I Watch More? – I’m curious about this one; I feel like this must be an enduring story if we’re still talking about it 14-some years later. For right now, though, I’ve got it on hold.