YEAR END LIST: ANIME (Winter)

Yes, it's time for those year-end lists that no one actually reads!

My first four will cover anime, split into seasons. Instead of rating them up to a top pick, I'll merely post the ones I enjoyed and provide some commentary. I watched a fair few series this year...

WINTER 2017

SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL

This comes as no surprise to those who know me, but putting Aoi Yuuki into anything as a VA is a quick way to ensure I'll watch it. A lot of people describe this series as 'Magical Loli Hitler' and they're not wrong. You can argue it as a deconstruction of the Magical Girl archetype, but taken to a different place than something like Madoka Magica. There's a strong existentialist theme as Tanya conducts her one-loli war against God, revelling in every cruelty she can inflict upon the way.

SCUM'S WISH

A romance with a dark twist. There's a strong psychological element to this show, whose premise revolves around the two primary characters engaging in a relationship to fill the void left by those they desire being unattainable. The characters make a lot of morally questionable decisions on the whole, and often revel in the hurt and anguish they cause. But there's a strong undercurrent of personal growth for the main character as well, which I enjoyed.

GABRIEL DROPOUT

The meme anime of Winter 2017. I enjoy wacky comedies, and this one was pretty crazy. The premise of angels and devils coexisting with humanity isn't really new, but the reversal of roles for the characters was quite fun and interesting. And of course, Satania. That character made the show greater than maybe it had a right to. Of course, Gabriel herself paints an accurate picture of a lazy gamer... Gotta bust that butt for microtransactions.

KONOSUBA SEASON 2

Gabriel DropOut may have been funny, but KonoSuba was legitimately side-splitting. Unfortunately as is often the case, Season 2 wasn't as good as Season 1, but it was still a very high-tier romp, with gag after gag being thrown at the viewer and nary a moment of let-up. The animation itself is famously awful and gimpy, but that's part of the appeal. It's absolutely silly and knows it. And that's why we love it. Fun fact: spamming Turn Undead is love, spamming Turn Undead is life.

MISS KOBAYASHI'S DRAGON MAID

The other meme anime of the season. It's much more slice-of-life than it is comedy, but the fish-out-of-water vibe for the dragons, as well as the ensuing hijinks that they get into made it a fun watch. Fafnir's dour, hostile view towards humans on that first phonecall was what sold me. There was also a strong theme of personal development among the cast, which is always welcome.

GAME REVIEW - Doki Doki Literature Club

I have SEVERELY neglected this blog over the last year. Whoops. There's, as always, a year-end list coming shortly, but for now, let's kick off the review foray with the current hot-ticket game, Doki Doki Literature Club. Please note that this review will contain UNMARKED SPOILERS so don't come bitching to me if you read this and then ruin the game for yourself.

First thing to address: this game comes with a LOT of health warnings. Like, a freaking shit-ton of them. And considering how cutesy the visuals are, how absolutely moe it presents itself, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's another dating sim visual novel among a heavily saturated genre. On boot, it categorically tells you not to play the game if you suffer severe depression or have any one of several mental health triggers. Somewhat concerning, but OK, sure.

One thing you immediately notice is how good this game looks. Yeah, the characters are sprite-based and the backgrounds static (there are only a very few instances of any tangible animation in this game at all), but everything is so well-drawn, so clean, that it adds together to a very visually appealing game. The characters are expressive, having a large number of reactions programmed in that means you're never left wondering what they think about a given scenario.

So why all the health warnings?

Well, to the initial part of a run through, it doesn't really seem like there's a reason. The story is relatively basic, where your childhood best friend who has a crush on you invites you to join their club which just so happens to be full of cute girls and not bespectacled D&D nerds. Somehow. And situations are created whereby you attempt to woo one of the girls. So far, so predictable. But then just before the second act drops, said best friend reveals they have crippling depression, and shortly thereafter hangs themselves. Oh, and you find their body. And it comes from so far out of nowhere that it's akin to standing next to Iron Tager when he has fifty meter and you're in a grabbable state.

From there, the fuckery begins. And fuckery is very much the right word. The game resets, except in the very early scenes it glitches heavily to the point that it erases your childhood best friend entirely. Not only from the game, but from the game's character folder. The game actively adds and deletes elements from the folder you run it from. And the way it's done is creepy as fuck, as though the game itself is toying with you. The constant tearing down of the fourth wall makes the game very unsettling to play in Act 2, especially when the big reveal happens and the reason for all the fuckery is revealed.

Considering that, per the Fan Pack (I completed the game via free to play and enjoyed it so much I bought the fan pack to support the developers) it's a parody of the genre, it comes over more as an existential horror with elements borrowed from Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. The content warnings are VERY well deserved. And in terms of how the game pans out, it's incredibly well-written.

For the fact that it's four to five hours long at most (a few more more if you want all three endings), can be acquired through a legitimate free download, and is an active parody of a genre rather than a love letter to said genre, it's probably the best game released this year that I've played. And I'd thoroughly recommend that everyone write their way into Monika's heart at least once. Just Monika. Just Monika...

10/10