Reviewing: Ep. 1
Pros:
- interesting isekai application on a Hunger Games-esque plot
- nice cast of characters to raise the stakes
Cons:
- visuals can be dull due to lack of more dynamic character poses and the use of background characters
- likewise, this makes the initial exposition texts pretty heavy and confusing at times
SPOILER WARNING UNDER THE MORE DETAILED REVIEW!
The plot and dialogue are pretty great so far, especially once the book's machinations kicked in. I do find the idea of voting for only a few team compositions interesting but also frustrating, as I'm the type of VN player who likes having all options available, if possible. It actually didn't occur to me that you would be providing your own team suggestions rather than letting us creating them ourselves. But so far, my biggest gripe is in the art, animation, and lack of sound effects.
The first few scenes actually took me longer than expected because I had to carefully read Aku's exposition of her circumstances. The dream sequence only featured the two Akus in the visuals but the text was mentioning a few more characters and lots and lots of dream-like scenarios. While I'm no stranger to such prose writing, it was hard to visual things because, well, the visuals provided me nothing. There should have at least been shadowy outlines of Ahm-E and Lyrael when they were mentioned if you couldn't show different backgrounds. It would also have been nice to show flashes of objects while they were being narrated, such as the technology in Schoolgirl Aku's world and the destructive fire or magic in Mage Aku's life. Plus, sound effects would have boosted the liveliness of the visuals. I expected background murmuring in crowded scenes. It would also have been a nice touch to show shadowy masked figures for a second when Aku pointed out the elite guards (?) during the name-drawing ceremony.
Basically, I was so confused about which Aku was which at first—whether she got transported or the two Akus' souls had even fused—because the visuals wouldn't provide me with as much details as the text would. Things dragged at the start, unfortunately. There were also various instances in which tidbits about Mage Aku's life were shared but they were presented as an aside that were just casually tossed in. I don't mind that but some of them sounded pretty important, and I worried for a moment that they might be brought up again in later episodes and we wouldn't remember because there wasn't much emphasis placed upon them—in both exposition and visuals. Sure, she isekai-ed into a storybook but you just never know with these fandangled plots, right? lol
Overall, however, the rest of the delivery really hit the nail on the head with how dire things are for Aku. I'm familiar with isekai stories—most notably, those with otome villainesses—and this deviation in plot just because she ranted about cliches was nicely executed, if you'll excuse the pun. I look forward to seeing which team combo wins and how everyone tackles the games. Thanks for your hard work!