©Masami Sato/Kodansha/”This World Is Too Perfect” Production Committee
man last episode Quality assurance from another world So close to being truly “good” that by the end of season one I was frustrated by the show’s various failings. Like the series as a whole, there are a lot of elements at play here that are perfect components of a video game isekai fantasy mystery comedy, but they simply don’t come together into a completely satisfying whole.
For example, let’s take a look at Amano’s high-stakes poker game. Never mind that Akira’s puppy friend is a character I don’t care about at all, because the concept of a climactic poker game in an anime like this is pretty interesting! If nothing else, it’s a bit of fiction for a show that doesn’t explicitly build its story around something like a card game. However, the whole thing feels like the creative team was genuinely inspired after watching casino royale But not sure how to execute a sequence like this with any degree of tension or excitement. It’s as exciting to watch as it is to put on a podcast and play a few rounds of blackjack in a game. like a dragon Earn those sweet completion achievements.
Also, it really doesn’t help that Haga solves the whole problem by stepping in at the last minute and saving the group, which completely removes any bit of excitement from Amano trying to capitalize on a bug in the poker game. This is actually a double groping Quality assurance Partly, because it kind of ruins Amano’s plot and Haga and Kinoshita’s mission to thwart the giant goat monster that trapped them in the library is snuffed out. I almost never like it when anime cuts away from tense situations, only to be resolved off-screen and explained via intrusive flashbacks. Sometimes it can be done well, but Quality assurance Not that occasion.
It’s a shame, too, because the creepy goat-monster conflict was my favorite part of the episode. Using a leather book with a sound-tapping device to thwart the creature’s senses is a creative solution, and seeing Kinoshita kick ass with a katana as she is an adorable little disembodied rhombus is both endearing and exciting. It’s also the first time the show has had a truly bizarre and compelling monster since that awesome premiere. I mean, when was the last time you said a humanoid goat corpse had an evil squid Leviathan growing out of its dick?
Alas, even this cool, unexpected development came with the sting of cheap suspense, because despite the effort, the season finale didn’t feel like a finale at all. this closest The episode hints at any kind of narrative or emotional payoff as a frustrated Nicola regains her confidence and resolves to reunite with her still-missing friends. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing automatically exciting about pressing the theme song button when the climax of the season finale is “a kid gets yelled at, walks some distance from town, and then turns around and walks away.” . Maybe a second season will improve the series’ fundamental flaws, but somehow I doubt it Quality assurance is destined to be a show that’s forever stuck in the realm of “okay, but mostly disappointing and ultimately forgettable anime” Can There are already many.
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Quality assurance from another world Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which can also be found in twitterhis blog and his podcast.
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