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• Studios: Sunrise
• Source: Game
• Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Super Power
• Synopsis: “Solar calendar year 2020: grotesque organisms called Others have begun eating people. To take down this new enemy, the Other Suppression Force is formed. Saved by this elite team as a child, psychokinetic Yuito withstands the training to enlist. On the other hand, prodigy Kasane was scouted for her abilities. But Kasane’s dreams tell her strange things, dragging the two into an unavoidable fate.” -Official Website

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First Impression:

There is only one thing that will make me hesitant about watching an anime…and it’s knowing that the source material is a game. Don’t get me wrong, not all game to anime adaptations are bad but…90% of them are and they are BAD. It’s like hearing about a live action of your favorite animated show, not a great feeling. Scarlet Nexus’ anime was pretty abrupt as the game released alongside the anime so it’s not clear on strange timing other than some rumor that there’s a mission in the game that require some knowledge of the anime (I have the game so I guess I’ll find out eventually!). Let’s dive in!

Right off the bat, it’s clear that the anime will be taking the Yuito route and focusing the story around him. And while many of the main points are straight from the game, this seems to be an “alternate” route if you will. For example, in this scene where Yuito is interviewed by the press he’s already been inducted as a Scarlet Guardians whereas in the game itself this event occurs while they’re on their way to the induction ceremony. While this does spice things up for the anime it still more or less follows the same structure as the game. For those that are playing the game, this will feel pretty repetitive, for those only watching the anime it’ll feel like the story has a lot of gaps (which can be filled with the game).

The character designs for the anime are consistent with the opening of the game, not that the 2D art is that great. For a game that’s as polished as Scarlet Nexus it should have an anime adaptation with the same quality and I don’t think it’s at that level. For one, the character designs seem to wide, the 3D gives us a better perception of the characters and the 2D designs feels like it was rolled out like some dough! When the Scarlet Guardians switch over to their battle uniforms, the CGI does help and make it look drastically better.

One thing that the anime does do right is the background art. The futuristic world is brought to life with some really fantastic perspectives and architecture. I’m not a fan of dreary colors in the city when there’s nothing happening, but I do love the striking red emergency signs when disaster strikes!

The monsters that threaten humanity, or Others as they are called, are really interesting and dynamic. They do suffer from inconsistent art, some creates are model via CGI while some are 2D. I can understand why they used the CGI as it allows for more detail and helps bring forth the “other worldly” aesthetic.

The anime attempts to bring some of the aesthetics of the game into the show. The red strings in the game create borders for different scenes throughout, the ending of the anime brings that concept in though it’s quite limited. Maybe there’ll be more as the show progresses.

Recommendation:

NO

With the game out…it’s probably better to spend your time with that. If you don’t intend to play the game this is a good substitute but if you’re not interested in the story or concept, then you can give this one a pass!

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