Rise and Shine...To Violence
It's amazing how quickly things change. One moment there seemed to be no good anime to invest my time and energy into, and the next I found myself spoiled for choice with a list of intriguing titles, waving at me like friendly strangers at a professional meet and greet. Of course, this is most likely due to a new state of affairs that has presented me with more time to enjoy life's little pleasures, and as such it feels good to be excited about anime once more.
High-Rise Invasion immediately spoke to my love of Battle Royalesque type entertainment with its image of two determined-looking looking highschoolers wielding menacing weapons, and it was in this spirit that I jumped headfirst into an anime that kicked off with a young schoolgirl named Honjo awakening dazed and confused on a high-rise having no recollection of how she arrived there. She does, however, come across that all-important and comforting digital extension of ourselves that we call the cellular phone which allows her to call her brother to alert him to her present situation.
As it would turn out, her beloved brother finds himself in the same strange realm as her but appears to have experience on his side when it comes to the present state of affairs and the overall demands of their current reality. Indeed, Honjo soon goes on to be informed and learn for herself that there are a variety of participants inhabiting the various high-rises which are all connected with flimsy wood bridges. Access to the ground floors is closed off, and nothing else provides clues to the origins of this strange landscape aside from a large and mysterious Spire that cuts through the deafening silence and acts as a point of great uncertainty and dread, while simultaneously acting as a source of intrigue and hope.
Honjo soon goes on to discover that the other inhabitants that find themselves in this strange realm also consist of individuals wearing equally strange, yet unsettling white masks. As her brother goes on to explain, the masked individuals are tasked not with killing regular participants outright, but rather driving them to a state of such deep despair that victims decide to jump off designated exit gaps from the high-rise, a practice of separating the wheat from the chaff, if you will. But I get ahead of myself.
Despite these horrific state of affairs that would otherwise render the average school child catatonic, Honjo adapts very quickly to her newfound environment (of course) and commits herself to escape without being pulled into the seductive lure of murder and mayhem, cue the determined and inspiring speech about conquering the high-rises (yawn). An escape route from the realm does also presents itself daily to inhabitants in the form of a helicopter that lands on random rooftops but only takes one passenger at a time, a little rule that ramps up competition amongst the nonmask wearers.
Enter Nise Mayuko, the supporting character of this wonderous romp through the absurd. Nise appears to have found no problem with the killing aspect of her new environment so long as it maximizes her chances of survival. After tentative interactions, she eventually allies herself with the slightly more naive, yet resourceful and courageous Honjo, who believes that faith in the good of (some) people will see them all through. The preceding episodes each inject more complexity into the anime with the introduction of several new characters, both masked and unmasked.
The nature of the masked participants in particular is gradually unpacked as as Honjo and co. explore one High-Rise after the next. The masks are specially programmed to take control of their hosts by injecting a special program straight into their brains. As such, the unfortunate bearers are a slave to the commands of the masks that guide their every action. Each mask, from smiling, frowning, and neutral, seems to possess different directives that continue to become more apparent as progress is made for various survivors working to make it within this strange new world.
However, there also exist special expressionless masks which when adorned, provide the wearer with special innate powers that can only be unlocked with very hard and deliberate efforts. The wearers of these unique and rare masks become God candidates, and they also wield the power to control the other masks, or "angels", in an ongoing attempt to reign supreme as God of the realm.
The Poor Man's Future Diary. Or, How Not To Make Another Alice in Borderland
Perhaps if the reader has gotten this far, you may very well be nodding your head in excitement on adding this title to your Netflix to-watch list, I certainly know I was. But the delivery of High-Rise Invasion left a lot to be desired and stands once more as a title that has the right idea, but the wrong execution. Of course, far be it for a pleb such as myself to assume knowledge of the right execution, but taking an idea with such potential as this particular anime and trying to squeeze it into a 12-episode run time was never going to be an easy ask.
To paint a more vivid picture, the High-Rise Invasion concept could best be described as Mirai Nikki (Future Diary) meets Alice in Borderland, and yet despite this awesome formula, I was left feeling very disappointed at the story, the individual characters, the interaction of these characters within their given environment, and the various action scenes which came off as flat.
While I'm aware of sounding like a broken record, the allowances that are usually given to anime can generally go from relatively endearing to annoying quite quickly, and this was particularly true for particular characters. I didn't like how Honjo adapted so quickly to the uncertainty of her surroundings strewn with the blood and excrement of desperate people trying to make sense of all the killing and chaos. Not to mention how she just became a natural with a gun just because - "Anime, am I right?" While there was understandably no time in said anime for our main heroin to become completely paralyzed by fear, perhaps a primary character was unnecessary for this particular anime, and perhaps the creators should've gone Game of Thrones on this anime until such a hero would present him or herself out of necessaity.
Additionally, the weirdly lesbian vibe that Honjo and Nise give off just felt unnecessary and cringe, and all the other annoying little features so commonplace in anime did nothing to endear this particular title to my particular tastes. The antagonist is unoriginal and uninteresting in both his methods and larger plans, and the violence lacks a particular punch and sharpness that can usually be attained with sharper visuals, greater discernment, and creativity. To be fair, there were some moments of genuine intrigue, and the masked assailants added a degree of mysterious potential about their backstories and their possible relations with other participants, but this was quickly overshadowed by annoying characters with colorful hair and high-pitched voices babbling on about saving this friend, falling in love with that guy or avenging that girl.
I watched High-Rise Invasion with the expectation and desire to like it, but I suppose I deserve a little slap on the wrist for mostly pursuing titles that I believe I would like, tsk tsk. Any critic worth his salt should open him/herself to titles from a broad spectrum of genres, themes, and styles, and yet regardless of this, I feel High-Rise Invasion could have been better than it was, the concept was certainly there, but the delivery suffered from the all too common anime tropes that runs through it's story and characters like a babbling brook through a forest.
One may say that there can be redemption in a second season, and those who say that may very well be right, but success in my estimation will be determined by a commitment to becoming a little more serious with this title and moving away from the fan service and annoying, cutesy and meek rubbish that has been nothing less than toothache inducing. Am I being too hard on this anime...perhaps, for all we know the creators care as much about this title as the world cares for Chinese football, and if that is indeed the case then by all means, viewers can expect a decent enough romp along through a perfectly average anime. However, if there is a shred of serious intent here, then here's hoping that those responsible up their games and blow our minds in the second stanza of this title. With that said, happy viewing, folks.
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