At the dawn of the release of the second opus whose demo has just been published on Playstation 4, Square Enix invites us to discover on the service wakanim, the anime based on the first game. Perfect opportunity to see what the service offers...
Present on all current media, Wakanim offers its catalog of titles on demand, including one in simulcast. Wakanim offers classic features in the VOD genre, such as the possibility of creating a viewing list or resuming an episode on another device that you had left running on a first one. Very handy when you can't stand still like me. On the catalog side, that of Wakanim can disappoint according to your tastes. Not that he's skinny. Not that it's bad quality either. The problem is that the vast majority of successful shonens, real call products for a large audience, are not very present. No Naruto or One Piece. Even less Gintama or Fairy Tail. Let's not count on Hunter X Hunter or Dragon Ball Super either. Admittedly, Wakanim offers Dragon Slayer, Attack on Titan, but overall, the service catalog is more mature. Personally, I'm still a little disappointed with the absence of big shonens, being fond of this castagne full of fraternity, youth and vigor, but the presence of titles such as Noragami, Muyo & Roji or Tokyo Ghoul in its ranks makes from Wakanim an option just as acceptable as its competitors.
But is The World Ends With You one of the essential titles in its catalog?
I'm making myself an ice cream and I'll come back to tell you about it.
The World Ends With You
Preamble: I have not played the game, nor even one of its reissues. So don't expect here to find a single line of comparison between the anime's storyline and the game's storyline.
Preamble 2: the captures offered here, for the sake of avoiding spoilers, come only from the first episode of the anime.
Neku wakes up in the middle of Scramble Crossing in Shibuya, with his name as his only memory. Quickly, he understands that he is part of a very mysterious game that is spread over 7 days... the Shinigami game!
I'm not going to go there by 4 paths, the anime is full of scriptwriting and narrative defects starting with the first 3 episodes which scroll without any interest and only the very end of the episode begins to arouse a stammering of interest. I suppose there is a desire to stick to the best of video game history, but what can work in a game does not necessarily work in an anime and that is the case here. The fault with a lack of evolution of power, real stakes and empathy towards the protagonists. This may seem very paradoxical since I have just told you that the first 3 episodes are soporific, but the series would have deserved to afford the luxury of one or two episodes to be able to pose and stage certain things in the direction of whoever is stranger to the game. There, the studio that did the anime adaptation assumes that you've played the game, a very painful presumption, and so anyone like me who hasn't played it will be dumped and will lack motivation to support these first 3 episodes. The 9 episodes that follow have certainly finally established the stakes, but dig even more the gaps in the staging of the beginning. Our protagonists are somehow the toughest, they never really give a shit about the missions, not to mention that the badge system is barely skimmed over and that Neku and his allies are incomprehensibly superior to the other participants. Without any explanation. Without spoiler, a "you are the chosen one" will even be dropped in the penultimate episode, but elected by what... who knows. The anime is very lazy and takes no real script risk so as not to encroach on the interest of playing the game. But doesn't that serve him?
Honestly, the anime did not give me any interest in the game, while the demo of its sequel had aroused curiosity in me.
The chara design is very Kingdom Hearts and Neku gleefully eyeing Sora and Roxas. And for good reason !
No, I'm doing like the anime and don't explain this important point. Frustrating, huh! This is what we feel throughout the 12 episodes of this anime.
The animation is correct, nothing more and the Japanese voices are fortunately of high quality with voices that you will easily recognize if watching anime in their original version is second nature for you as for me.
The soundtrack has its sights set on rock and paces the action well, even if it will be easily forgotten without any title that stands out from the rest. Neither in opening / ending, nor even during the episodes.
In short, The World Ends With You is an anime that will - perhaps - only suit those who have played the original game because it leaves non-aficionados of the license so far from the start without accompanying them if only a little in this new universe for them, that even if they follow the entire anime they will be harmed on many points that the anime does not even address or worse: half.. .
wakanim
