Good Night World

Surprisingly good Netflix anime addition. I had no expectations outside of a very short description going into the first episode. To respect that experience, I fully recommend watching all twelve episodes, and consider Good Night World a very good anime.

The brief premise going in revolves around members of a family who spend a great deal of their lives playing a fully comprehensive, virtual video game called Planet. Their lives in the real world are at one extreme, their time in Planet is at another. A lot of this anime is spent showing the differences between the real world and the virtual realm.

As the show develops, we learn that the members of this family are all deeply connected to the game Planet. This includes development of sophisticated artificial intelligence which explodes into a variety of problems, first in the game, then in the real world.

I'm a big fan of any story that really takes a big swing with interesting ideas, and Good Night World's story goes completely off the deep end! While completely different, this anime unfolds like some sort of technological X-File. I also like how all the huge ideas are tied directly to individual characters, their experiences/motivations.

I'd say this comes at a bit of an entertainment price, because when Good Night World is in the game Planet, it's a lot like many anime; fun and full of action. But in the real world the characters and scenes can be abrasive and a rough watch. I fully approve, because there is a purpose to all of it within the context of the story, and how things play out.

I felt this anime really stressed one aspect of humanity, specifically our lack of perfection. Maybe Good Night World spends too much time on each character's flaws to allow them to be likable? Perhaps, and I do think this effects dramatic moments where it can be difficult to pull for any character.

I'd say Good Night World has a little inspiration from the movie Paprika (2006), and like that movie its pretty impressive how much content is delivered in a relatively short amount of time. Definitely a journey told and an interesting watch.

The first two episodes of this series seemed like maybe it would have something to say about family dynamics, internet addiction, online vs. Offline personas and personalities, or something else. By the third episode, though, it becomes increasingly clear that it's not really interested in having fun with the premise, leaving the tone in the unfortunate position of being too absurd to be serious but too serious to be fun. Unfortunately this means too that, although this is a show about a "NEET" main character, it doesn't really have anything interesting to say about that social group... the show clearly WANTS to say something, it just doesn't know what it wants to say or how to say it.

The first episode or two was pretty neat! A good intro to the world and what's possibly going on, it sets up the characters and their in-game challenges to overcome, what the room for growth is etc. And it does this for their out-of-game characters as well! I thought "gee that's nice, sort of like another Sword Art Online, or No Game No Life. This could be interesting, I'll give it a shot".

But then it starts to introduce things that don't make sense, given the above-mentioned initial setup. So you think, "ok that's that's fine, it's not a complete bait and switch, there's just something deeper going on, I'll stay invested in the series to give it a chance".

But then it does it more. And more.

It shifts completely away from the vibe, setting, and challenges of the first episode(s), and even episodes immediately preceding the current. It also makes the mistake of setting things up and indicating that there's a high level of importance attached to them, but then they're completely dismissed in the next episode.

There's so much whiplash that I genuinely cannot help but wonder if this series was written by AI (or a child with a great imagination); it's just a mish-mash of ideas that don't connect or flow, over and over again. It's either that, or it was rushed. I.e., perhaps the writer(s) were only given 12 episodes to condense what should have been at least a few seasons.

A good solid Netflix Anime Production which has enough in its story to draw you and keep you there. It wasn't until episode 4 and 5 that I saw its potential. Its story line stepped up a gear and the characters developed in such a way you feel intrigued to find out more. The same applies to the story line.

It's by no means a Demon Slayer, or Attack on Titan. However it sits on Par with other Netflix original anime's. So if you've enjoyed other Netflix Anime's give this a go.

One this I was surprised at was how it turned from "slice of life" anime to horror anime! And the fact it doesn't start as a horror, is a nice surprise when it does, if you're into horror (which I am) so give it a go and stick with it.

"Good night, world", was a delightful discovery for me. From the first episode, the storyline captured my interest, and I found myself fond of the characters. Each character is unique and intriguing in their own way. This anime will especially resonate with fans of online MMORPGs, especially those familiar with Lineage 2.

"Good night, world" portrays intriguing family relationships and how people escape from the harsh reality of our world into the realm of an online game. It clearly shows that in the game, everyone finds something for themselves. Some grow flowers, some help others, some eliminate other players, while others form a guild of pirates and gather like-minded individuals. Anyone who watches this anime will find their own prototype.

I highly recommend it for viewing. 10/10!