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First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2019 First Impressions – The Ones Within

Akatsuki Iride and seven other charismatic game streamers wake up in the world of a mysterious free-to-play game called Naka no Hito Genome. Now they are competing in real-life games with life-or-death stakes, but clearing several game tasks could earn them 100 million lives.  – ANN

Streaming: Funimation and Hulu

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: One fateful night, several “Let’s Play” video game streamers are offered the opportunity to participate in a special top-secret gaming session. Streamer Akatsuki awakens in a forest soon afterward, and he and a fellow streamer are soon pursued by a giant panda. Akatsuki’s thoughtfulness wins out when he identifies that the panda isn’t hostile. After clearing the obstacle, they’re approached by Mr. Paka, and alpaca-headed individual who fills them in about their special status.

Akatsuki and seven others were chosen to participate in this real-life streaming event, the goal being to grow a viewership of 100,000,000 individuals. They’ll be completing tasks in small groups to obtain genomic objects for some unspecified purpose. The first goal is to complete the 3 requests of “Kokkuri-san” (the Japanese equivalent of using a Ouija board to summon a spirit). While the others in the group are rightfully spooked when the spirit appears, Akatsuki’s kindness and offer of friendship allows them to fulfill the ghost’s desires.