Apocalypse Hotel

If anyone asked "What is Japanese culture like?" I think that Apocalypse Hotel would be a great representation to show them. The answers aren't on the surface, but in the very essence of this anime.

Apocalypse Hotel is a mix: somber, comical, fun, beautiful, and exciting in unexpected ways. Some episodes don't move forward with a strong plot, while others do.

This anime is a breath of fresh air. Soo many cliche tropes that have become standard in the industry have been tossed out the window with this one, an anime made by a incredibly dedicated, and talented group with a great instinct for cinema.

I strongly recommend you watching this without spoilers, reading episode synopsis', or obsessively scouring the internet for answers, until you've finished at least.

This anime doesn't beat you over the head with its plot and over-explanations like you're an ADHD-afflicted child, there's even characters who aren't given translations at all (this is a good thing, it challenges you to actually think about whats happening). The story is a heart-rending, unique whirlwind of existential anguish mixed with AI-identity crises, absurdist comedy, and learning to move on after loss.

The animation is superb, every scene+setting is gorgeous, few shortcuts are made anywhere, the MC is an AI-robot girl, and her japanese VA has been incredible. Nothing about this anime is what i normally enjoy, but i've been blown away by this. This is also the first time i ever reviewed an anime i've watched anywhere, as im shocked how little attention it gets.

If you must look for inspiration, its likely loosely inspired by Wall-E, A. I.-Artificial Intelligence (the film), and Toy Story. I can't recommend this enough. An anime for people who want to be treated like an adult, but without the overbearing intensity/seriousness of watching something like GoT or Breaking Bad (not that im criticising those shows, im just painting a picture).

This anime is experienced best as a raw journey, no shortcuts! The creators didnt take any, neither should you! When they release a quality dub, this is the sort of show you could sit your elderly parents down and watch with them, if you wanted to impress them with how far anime as a medium has come. Its a criminal shame how little attention it's gotten thus far.

I hate to criticise Apocalypse Hotel, but in hindsight there has clearly been pacing issues in the direction of the show as time went on. Because of that, there has been multiple occasions where they have skipped significant character development, and even skipped extremely long periods of time entirely, to keep the story restricted to their 12 episode limit. Time and writing constraints have forced them to compromise at times which causes what you would consider 'the natural flow of the story' to feel disjointed and overly short.

If they had allowed for ~three to four more episodes to be made to fill in the gaps they were forced to insert, the show would be perfect, but few things ever are.

Japanese humor often falls flat on me, but this show has had me howling at times. Episode 10 is a real highlight of comedy, but every episode feels distinct and unique, this is one of those rare life-changer animes, don't miss out on this!

That's how I would describe this anime.

It's my favorite I've seen in a long while. The animation and atmosphere are superb, but not at all one-note. At times it's like the most absurd studio trigger show you've ever seen, manic and absurd, grand in scale, at other times it's similar to shows like Girl's Last Tour, reflective and silent, often it reminds me of Space Dandy as well.

It's an experience I would call more than a little bit eclectic, but it works, and every one of the radically diverse angles it takes has maximum charm, and often maximum cuteness.

I would also like to mention, because it bears mentioning whether we like it or not, that it doesn't have a single questionable camera angle, strangely clingy clothing article, magic skirts that just barely don't reveal anything, it's very tasteful. That means you can actually show this one to people! Hooray!

Anyway, characters are charming, cute, funny, and a little bit insane. On the point of comedy, it's hard for me to evaluate whether it would land with an unseasoned anime watcher, as it does play with quite a few tropes for punchlines, but not always, oftentimes the comedy is purely absurd, or has strange characters behaving strangely. For me, the majority of jokes land, but at times jokes encroach on serious moments in a way that feels a bit dissonant, but even that for me became part of the charm.

I'm not going to do a by-the-book review, I don't care to craft a conclusion. Have fun watching :)