Neo Yokio

I really enjoyed the campy-Zoolander-style of this show. If you're in the mood for a funny lighthearted show that doesn't take itself too seriously this is a great watch. It has been called pretentious, but the pretentiousness (or lack of true pretentiousness) is the reason it is funny. It doesn't take itself seriously. It knows its characters are ridiculous and that's part of the fun. If you love and prefer violent horror anime like Ajin you're probably not going to like it. A lot of anime lovers complained about it, but I found it refreshingly funny compared to the overly serious and excessively violent anime that I have seen lately. If you liked Zoolander you will probably like this show. I had to give it an 8 out of 10 since the actual animation is not that great, but in a way, the animation reflects its lack of seriousness. I watched it for the comedy and the story. It's not perfect, but it is good. It's something new and original and it made me smile. If you want it to be serious you're missing the fun.

With obvious anime roots, this show is a western version of an eastern style that often tries to emulate western values and iconography. As such you get a uniquely self-referential style of series that simultaneously celebrates western aristocratic capitalism, while at the same time questioning it.

There is a distinct American Psycho vibe, where class, stature and the latest accessories often take precedence over sane character choices and are emphasised throughout as the be-all and end-all of the constructed world of Neo Yokio. While there is often humour derived from these situations the show also seems to be trying to make some real points about materialism and shallow social climbing. The problem is that all these points have been made a thousand times before, and they overshadow any 'demonic' goings-on, which are really just background noise to the social politics of the world created.

Overall Neo Yokio has its own style for a western show, and is a decent watch. It is mostly a shame that it only has a six-episode first series since none of the themes are explored anywhere near enough. With some more time this could have been a cult hit, as it is it requires a lot more expansion since nothing really happens in the six episode span past scratching the surface of the world.

A smart and funny caricatcher of modern life played out with a great voice cast including Jaden Smith who voiced his part of a spoild brat perfectly and The Kid Mero and Desus Nice who's every other line was delivered hilariously. Definitely worth your time if you are either a fan of anime or dry humour.

I have an inherent negative disposition to Jaden Smith, as if you listen to the things that come out of his mouth that aren't scripted, you'll usually end up finding your face in your palm, but fortunately I didn't know that his was the voice that I was listening to until I finished the series and went to rate it. Overall this wasn't anything special as an "anime" if you can call it that (which I think you can), as I view anime as a medium for telling a story, not some specific set of rules that an show must fall into, to meet the spectacular term we call anime.

In regards to the story, I didn't feel like it was a "One Punch Man" ripoff at all, it was most definitely it's own thing! The plot doesn't revolve around the protagonist having too much power, so much so that he's driven to boredom. This show however was definitely very interesting, to see what a fully americanized anime looks like. This is it, and for that reason alone I'd recommend giving it a watch, but if you're a man or woman with very limited time who doesn't get to watch much TV / anime, I'd advise you to probably not put this one at the top of your list. All in all it was a fun and watchable anime, just for the different American feel it gives, and seeing the generation Z slang in an anime. If you have nothing better to do, it's a quick fun watch, by no means is it the best, but definitely watchable.

Only peev with the show is that the girl's voices were almost all, strangely, very deep... Besides this it a very watchable 7/10 full blown "hip" American anime.

edit- Another user put it perfectly: "Western anime that's not actually trying to mimic eastern anime" which is quite a unique thing, that we really don't get to see much of, so that's why I recommend a watch :)

The show has the right idea for a Western Cartoon very obviously inspired by anime.

But for me my main problems with the show stem from the lifeless feel of some of the voice acting and maybe the not so well matched up voice acting with certain characters. Jaden isn't bad but I feel with a little more effort and life added to his acting as his character, would make his character Kaz seem more engaged with the plot that's going on in the cartoon. Also the actress for Helena could use a bit more life to her character's role as well because she just sounded too disinterested most of the time.

Then there's the actors who play Gottlieb and Lexy actually do kind of well with the voice acting, the actress for Aunt Agatha who does well with the voice acting and feels well suited, Charles' actor feels well suited, and even the actor who plays Arcangelo seems well suited for his role.

But even some decent voice acting can only take you so far with your characters. Sometimes they feel a bit 2 dimensional but there's definitely room for development.

That's some of my small gripes with the voice acting and characters now to the plot.

It feels like something I've kind of seen in anime, but just add all these different things about the futuristic city, fashion, and popularity (Hierarchies) that Gen Z kids are really into with it. I mean if the story decided to expand more with the main plot instead of focusing so much on the fashion and popularity stuff maybe it wouldn't feel a bit underwhelming for me.

Don't get me wrong I like the show, but really I can tell there is room for improvement. And because it has only 6 episodes so far, so there's maybe a chance of improvement occurring during the show's future production.

And if you enjoyed the show that's good for you!! I just hope my review was somewhat helpful!! Thanks for reading!! ^_^