Initial Impressions: Devil Survivor 2 The Animation

Methinks it's time to dig my DS out of whatever pit of hell it's in.

It's been a while since I've watched an anime adaptation of a game that isn't a visual novel. More relevantly, it's been ages since I've seen one based on a game I've actually played before (the last one was probably Tales of the Abyss), so while it's true that I've been looking forward to Devil Survivor 2: The Animation, I've also been slightly apprehensive about how good a job it could do. I've always felt that something essential is lost when a game is adapted into a viewing experience, and perhaps that something is the naturalness of player control over gameplay. It just feels rather strange to watch something passively when you previously had influence over the way things occurred, and it's even weirder when the adaptation tries to make it still feel like a game. In other words, it becomes a strange gray area between game and show, one that can be less fun to interact with than the actual game itself.

So where exactly does Devil Survivor 2 stand? I'd say somewhere in the middle, which isn't a bad thing in the least. For the most part this was a solid premiere that encapsulated the game intro quite well, though I did have some issues with the casting choices. Kuze Hibiki (Kamiya Hiroshi) was originally a voiceless character as the protagonist/avatar of the game, and hearing Kamiya's voice out of his mouth is just a bit jarring for me. Even less pleasant is Nitta Io (Uchida Aya), whom sounds way too cutesy for the mostly serious atmosphere of the series. Of less note was the third protagonist, Shijima Daichi (Okamoto Nobuhiko) though I still felt that the general atmosphere created by their acting was fairly generic. This and the fact that the anime actually did attempt to keep it's game feel through the Nicaea interface really contributed to that gray area feel.

However, in general I think most of it was pulled off pretty well. The Summoning System allows for some pretty nice action, and unlike the actual game, it doesn't really feel like an RPG of the Pokemon denomination. The depiction of post-disaster Tokyo reminds me of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, though far more fantastic and with all sorts of mysterious going ons in the background. The characters are alright, about as fleshed out as they were in the game (for some reason Hibiki always came off as a jerk to me in the game, dunno why), though I'm worried about the size of the cast and the fact that this is only a thirteen episode series. However, I don't think I'll continue to blog this for a couple of reasons; firstly, I've yet to finish the game and don't want too many spoilers, and secondly, it's straightforward enough (not in plot, necessarily) that there's not too much to talk about in the way of analysis. I'll definitely keep it bookmarked for later viewing, however, or at least try to get through the game simultaneously.

OP "Take Your Way" by livetune adding Fukase (from SEKAI NO OWARI)
Episode 1 Screencaps: "Melancholy Sunday"
ED "Be" by Song Riders