On Game and Media Design Principles

In my previous article about DearS anime, I mentioned a difference between desirability of subject of an animation and a quality of animation. These are not one and the same. There can be a very high quality picture that depicts something subjectively undesirable, like for example a pile of turd. On the other hand there could be the opposite too, a very poor quality picture that depicts something desirable, for example cake. My and other people's biggest issue with modern media is the former problem, they depict the subjects, I find unlikable and unpleasant.

I mentioned this in my articles about World of Warcraft and Heroes of Might and Magic. In case of both of these games I am not alone. Majority of players prefer older 3rd HoMM and Pre-Cata WoW to more modern versions. Sometimes people cite various reasons, like charm of old 2d pictures over the modern 3d models, fondness for disfigured low-poly models or even plain old nostalgia for these player's sentiments. None of these however hit the mark. Problem is not in these things but in the simple fact that subject of the picture does not appeal to public. No matter how much you improve the picture of a turd from HD to UHD and then to 4k and 8k, it will not make it any more likeable. The reason for that is not that public dislikes 8k and prefer good old 320x240, but in the fact that public does not like looking at turd.

Some might argue here that newer versions of the games feature all the same characters, fractions and so on. Its not like the subject have changed. That is far from truth. As games evolve, the way they depict their characters changes too. New design or redesign may not hold the same appeal as the original one. One may say its the same archer or centaur or some famous hero but that misses important small details that make characters what they are. Various features that became associated with the character could be altered and discarded by new art director or designer. Sometimes a simple facial expression change can ruin public perception of a character. Replace an iconic grin or scowl with a "friendly" smile or neutral expression and people no longer like the character. 

Heroes of Might and Magic particularly suffer from this problem. In my article about the game I argued how 3rd game version of towns and creatures particularly appeal to players and why sequels changed to much less likable designs. Its small things like colour of centaurs and shape of their lances, but they do make or break the game. Centaurs in 3rd look like Remy Martin logo, in 4th like a donkey with human face.

There is also an issue of different tastes. No one will argue that turd is not appealing and few will have any issues with cake. However replace these things with say broccoli and beer and you will see public much more divided. Some will argue for broccoli, saying its healthy and should be included, other will feel repealed as broccoli does not taste too good. On the other hand beer will repeal most of the broccoli fans who will argue that alcohol is bad, meanwhile the opponents of broccoli will be a lot more entices with booze. There will also be those who like and hate both in equal or different measures.

World of Warcraft suffers from this problem a lot. Many of the changes and new characters are disliked by old fans. Blizzard went to far into broccoli direction and as a result many fans would rather have their old slightly spoiled, but still sweet cake of the Classic than a new and healthy but bitter and unpleasant broccoli of retail.

However how one can design games that will appeal to more people. What characters, stories and designs capture people's imagination and make them return to them over and over again? What instead make them feel they should be doing something else instead? It is a complex question. Often it was solved not through any knowledge or method but through simple trial and error. However through years of trial and error we now do have knowledge of what works and what does not, there are TV tropes, stereotype like dandere or tsundere and more. One can also trial new ideas in subtle way to see if public is interested or not. A small cameo appearance and a survey of public opinion can tell if people are interested or not. Finally one can employ knowledgeable people like myself to direct the game in the right direction and make sure it depict subjects that people do want to see on screen.

For a long time, the industry has chased the quality of execution while ignoring subjective appeal of the subject. Quality is easy to measure in tangible numbers, like number of polygons or scale of resolution. It is something one can clearly see improving. Subjective appeal of subject is more difficult as one cannot measure it in a simple way. Nonetheless public's outrage over the subject of the matter clearly shows that public is not happy with the subjective appeal of the games. A solution to this problem is needed to keep public interested in the games, movies, anime and other media. Experts such as I can help in this matter and win back the players.

Reflections on DearS Anime

Recently I rewatched DearS again. Back in the days I gave it a rather emotional review. It was alright but it missed on the reasons why Ren is such a good girl. The reason is simple she does care about her master happiness and willing to do anything he tells her to. Nothing more, nothing less. 

While Ren not always gets things right, but she at least tries to, her motivation is on point. She understands the core principles better than other characters.

Compare to her Neneko or Miu for example too much care about broader society. About their and Takeya's obligations to the people around them, to school, to parents, to the community, to whatever. Their commitment to these things essentially makes them act like a ward or a jailer to Takeya. Even if they love or like Takeya, they serve not him but someone else. 

Ren is not like that, she can ignore everyone else for Takeya's sake, a quality very much needed in our modern world. Modern society is full of people who try to tell how one should act. Parents, school, celebrities all seek to control you in one way or another. They say it's for your benefit but it's only a lie. In reality they do not do it for your benefit, but for their own. I frequently white about this issue, just recently I wrote another article about that. In a world like that it's very important that a woman could ignore the noise coming from others and focus on one guy she actually cares for. 

Despite her flaws, or more of because of them, Ren can do just that, ignore everyone and focus on Takeya and his wishes. Miu and Neneko alas could not do the same as they are too concerned what other and community will think of them.

In fact, the show also explores the issue of social rules and how they either shape or clash with personal needs. Guys like to watch porn but its social taboo so they could not discuss it openly. Men do not openly call their women slaves and so on. 

In fact, Takeya himself is divided between his own desires and social expectations, he is bewildered by things people tell him and pushes back but at the same time he cannot just openly ignore school social norms or work. Neither he could call himself a master and order Ren around because that is not how relationships work in society. It the past I was like that too. As I grew older, I could better embrace my own desires while ignoring social conditioning. Nowadays I do not listen to feminists or society and demand female submission to my orders, wishes and desires.

Society suffocates individuality and individual needs for the sake of conformity to rules and "collective objectives". These collective objectives end up being nothing more than whims of those in charge, no matter how much they disguise it as "common benefit". Both human and DearS societies struggle with this issue, a be it in different ways. That gives all the more reasons to fight for one's interests and resist social pressure.

I wish DearS get a remaster one day, something that will make it look cute and shiny. Alas it shows that brainwash people into bending over for society and endure suffering that gets huge budgets for crisp animations and visuals. Through such shows masters in charge of society instruct their slaves on how they want them to behave. Human civilization is not yet advance enough to genetically engineer themselves their own DearS, so they resort to brainwashing instead. Well, actually technology to genetically engineer DearS is actually there, it's just those in charge lack creativity and outside of the box thinking to use it this way. 

Sometime in future we will engineer ourselves our own DearS who will be the ideal lovers we always dreamed off. In the meantime we will have to make do with porn and shows such as DearS that do not preach moral from above but instead cater to wishes and desires of people who watch it rather than those who paid for it. Yes, art and animation are bad, but at least they animate what I want and enjoy seeing, not what some 50–60-year-old want younger people to be.

Why Arthas, Illidan and other Early Expansions Characters of Warcraft Universe are so Compelling

 

In my previous articles about WoW, I mentioned that the key reason why players like early expansions more than those that came after Cataclysm is because they have better story and characters. I decided to elaborate on why characters are particularly so likable.

Arthas and Illidan are some of the most archetypical Millennials out there, they are us and their stories are basically stories of our lives pretty much to the dot.

Arthas

To begin with Arthas. At the beginning of his story, he is a paladin under tutelage of Uther. Uther teaches Arthas not so much how to fight but mostly values of paladin order and expects Arthas to uphold these values. Back then Arthas listed and did as he was told.

That is just like how many boomers spend so much of their time trying to pass their values and principles. They did not teach us how to fight, how to win, how to advance, but how to be a "good person" and doing "right thing". At first, we Millennials also listened and tried to live the "good person" live.

Then came Strathholme. A situation when doing a good thing, just as Uther have taught him, would mean certain defeat and death. Arthas has a choice between what is most practical and what Uther has taught him. Arthas chooses the former, Uther protests, insisting on his "values". Arthas dismisses him, Uther threatens to inform the King as he leaves, Jaina leaves with him.

Sooner or later in our lives, we Millennials too came to the point or realisation where boomer values, our parents have taught us, clearly did not work. A situation where following values would clearly be detrimental to us. Most of us did just like Arthas did and choose what was practical over what our parents have taught us. For some it resulted in a spat with parents or even complete break up of relationships. Some likely lost girlfriends over this too.

After Strathholme Arthas continued on with his mission as he saw it. He still believed in protecting the Kingdom and its people, just in doing it his way. As he went on, he encountered more and more impediments from Uther and people around him. He worked his way around them, gradually becoming more and more ruthless in process.

That was the same for many Millennials, for the time after early disillusionment we still somewhat partially believed in what our parents told us. We thought of finding out way in the world only to face more and more obstacles. We tried to do good but did not received any rewards for our efforts, only more impediments.

Ultimately Arthas won over Mal'Ganis, fulfilling his mission of protecting his kingdom, but by that time he was thoroughly disillusioned with the Kingdom, Uther, paladins and their values. He wandered around in search for answers to his questions and ultimately found them in complete rejection of everything his Kingdom and his mentors have stood for. He gave up on being a paladin and join his former enemy, The Scourge as Death Knight.

After achieving our objectives in life like education (for most Millennials it was education), but not receiving any rewards we were promised, we could not help but wonder if what we did was worth it, why we did nor received the rewards we were promised, we wanted answers. Most of us found these answers in completely rejecting everything our parents have taught us. Life as we experienced it proven our parents and their values to be wrong and it would be stupid to cling to these erroneous values boomers still preach even today. Just like Arthas we rejected these values in favour of something completely or nearly completely opposite. NGTOW, Alt-right, new right, MAGA and such are all movement of disillusioned Millennials who found answer to their problems in being the opposite of what their parents used to be.

Ultimately Arthtas returned back only to kill his father the King, his mentor Uther, destroy paladin order and let Scourge take over the Kingdom.

We too are back and with vengeance. We too seek to destroy all the things that have betrayed us: cultural leftism, feminism, age-care, boomers are among many targets we see in our crosshairs. Just like Arthas we will prevails. Degenerate boomer kingdom shall fall and from its ashes shall arise a new order that will shake the very foundation of the world.

Even later developments somewhat mirror the WoW. For example, extreme woke leftism is just like Scarlet Crusade in WoW. Lefty boomers lost their minds and sold out to Kremlin and Chinese in order to fight against Alt-Right, just like Scarlet Crusade is controlled by Demons of the Burning Legion. Woke, just like Scarlet Crusade is doomed to madness and gradual self-destruction as they are too extreme for any sane person.

Illidan

Another type is the guy who desperately chases after a girl who chose someone else, the Illidan type. Not me but I used to know a guy just like that, he nearly always talked about that girl we were really into. They try all sort of weird things to get her, sometimes goring really great length in attempt to win her over somehow. That mirrors Illidan's long and twisty path where he fought for and against various different people and organisation.

Just like for Illidan, the unrequited love, Illidan types of nurture, will never be answered, no matter the efforts they will put into that. Nonetheless some of them will go great length for her. More prosaic of this type ended up becoming gym junkies, but there are few who really go far beyond gym.

It is always one particular girl that somehow impressed the Illidan type, that they end up chasing her, completely ignoring all other women. 

The rest of Illidan's crew also has its parallels. There are unattractive but shrewd and helpful women like Lady Vashj, not too many of them though. Kael'Thas and Akama types can also be found. Unlike Arthas type, the Illidan types, despite looking like a loner type, are more willing to seek company and sometimes build a small circle of friends.

Unlike Arthas type that is more focused on goal, the Illidan type is more flexible and likely to have many diverse experiences.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock Review

Overall Rating 5.0 out of 10 - Origin story of everything that is wrong with society.

It is useful if not enjoyable to watch.

After watching a few episodes of original Harlock from 70s, I wrote a lengthy article on why I think this show is much worse than its more modern sequel. I even considered dropping it but sticked around. Space was cool, future tech was awesome and Mazone pretty. Thanks to these facts, middle episodes went well.

Closer to the end however show reminded me of why I hated its beginning. Its preachy. Not only its preachy, but it also preaches all the wrong things. Show looks down on futuristic idyllic technogenic civilizations and calls it weak. Instead, it advocates hardship misery and backwardness. Yes, in the end Mazone destroyed the civilization, but Harlock and his crew wholeheartedly approved of the rubble, the earth has become. Technogenic utopia was turned into a slum with makeshift shacks and most of Arcadia crew cheered. They made plans to not rebuild but to continue living like that.

After finishing that last episode and looking back at the whole show, I finally noticed that the whole narrative was leading to this ugly disastrous conclusion. From that planet where a scientist has abandoned science to live like a prehistoric person, while also condemning his children to that fate, to constant bitcing about Earth people being lazy, to how Harlock treats Mayu, to even backstories of each individual crew members. This show consistently tries to sell you the idea that good things are bad and bad things are good. Every pretty woman is a Mazone. 

In this show government and people that enjoy comfort, modernity and other reasonable things are portrayed as weak and useless, meanwhile Harlock that makes all the wrong decisions in pretty much every instance wins in the end. World does not work this way. People, who think it does are dangerous retards the world is better off without. 

Bad decisions will only make you weaker and might even leave you scarred and crippled for life. Only good life, food and creature comforts can keep one strong and healthy Thinking otherwise is a dangerous delusion that unfortunately shared by so many old people in modern society. Its logic like that that destroyed prosperity we enjoyed before Financial Crisis of 2008 and continues to plague this world to this day. This show only further proves that the crisis was not just an unfortunate incident but a deliberate sabotage of society by insane hippy flowers for brains boomers who thought of taking society back to monke. 

All the values washed-up pants Harlock and his crew espouse are wrong and evil. If you think about it, you can clearly see parallels between them and what various Christian and Woke idiots preach on X and reddit. All this whining about more children while completely ignoring every single other problem is like entire Harlock team stopped their war just to see a single woman giving birth. "Life is precious until its born and matures, then it's just a cannon fodder."

If you look at Mayu you can clearly see the rest of washed-up pants Harlock pipeline, children are subjected to completely preventable suffering, hardship and danger. Every time Mayu is kidnapped Harlock risks his life to safe her only to then leave here where she will be abused and mistreated and be vulnerable to another abduction. It's a sign of insanity if a person repeats the same action over and over again, expecting different results. After second kidnapping Mayu herself figured to not go back, but Harlock forced her. How completely retarded, dumber than 4 years old girl or whatever her age is.

I can put effort into listing other things I disagree with washed-up pants Harlock and his crew, but I do not feel like I have to. Every single thing they believe in or do is wrong. They did not a single thing right. One important thing is that they are all simps who let women control them with their little finger, disgusting. They are example of how not to treat women.

It almost a wonder why I liked a modern iteration of Harlock. However, the reason is simple. If you just take Harlock and his charisma, strip him of absolutely every value, idea and principle his washed-up pants iteration advocated in the original, then you can get a decent show. Harlock has charisma, women are demure, Miime is cute and plays harp, it's wonderful. It's the kind of Harlock we need, the black pants Harlock.

Writing my blog and arguing with idiots online, made me think that I am a sort of new Harlock, or anti-Harlock. Someone who fights against the world disciples of the washed-up pants Harlock has created. Its tiring and at times I just want to die, but I do not feel like I can just give up and accept the crap the world has become thanks to those washed-up pants Harlock's ideas. I will fight until I either make world into a leisure and pleasure technogenic utopia it was in the beginning of the original Harlock or die trying. Boomer's back to monke austerity world has no future.

So let us raise a true flag of freedom and fight for the cause that is worthy of it. I wonder if an inverted colour Jolly Roger will make for appropriate symbol: actual flag of freedom:

Ghost in the Shell - Standalone Complex - 2nd Gig Review - Extended

Overall Rating - 6.1 out of 10 - Enjoyable only for fans of Section 9 and more flawed than 1st season 

I recommend watching once

I cannot say I enjoyed watching the 2nd Gig, but I managed to get some answers for a few questions that left unanswered from the original. For example, why I did not like Section 9 or its members. By the end of first season, I could not really pin down, what it is about them that did not sit well with me. In second it became clear what is wrong with them. 

I generally do not like self-righteous people who put some sort of moral or ethics above all else, willing to both die or kill for that. Religious zealots, fanatical ideologists are few examples of such people. Section 9 is also like that. At first glance people like that are all nice and willing to help. However, all that flies out of the window if they start seeing you as someone who does not meet their ethical standards. Suddenly they become ruthless enforcers of moral standards, a moral police.

Signs that Section 9 was like that were already showing in the first season, but it really became apparent only in the second one. From small incidents like Togusa shooting some rapist many more times than needed to the very main plot storyline. Gohda is not the nicest guy out there and his plans are more of a danger than anything else. However, Section 9 opposes him not because of that, but simply because they do not like him. They will smuggle a nuke into a rebel area, fight fellow security personnel from different units and put country and a lot of people in danger just to beat Gohda. Interservice rivalry gone rampart. 

In 22nd something episode Batou wasted nearly entire episode picking at Gohda alleged moral and character flaws. That is ad hominem - a logical fallacy. I hate people picking at morals, being immoral is not a crime and it must not be treated as such.

If after first season I thought Section 9 guys might be suitable for security work, now I seriously doubt that. I would not want to be shot by emotionally triggered people who will decide to shoot me because they do not like my outfit or facial expression or such.

Other characters are like that too; they are all deeply emotional willing to die for their believes or for someone they admire. Togusa went hard on rapist because of his emotions, Makoto helped some crooky kid because she kind of sympathised with him. I might have been more positive if I liked the kid, but I just did not. Kuze sided with refugees because he sympathised with them and they are all willing to die for him and the cause because they are at ave of him for some reason. Even Rangers from Section 4 just dropped their mission the moment they saw that Batou was once one of them. People here seriously lack common sense. They all function on woman's logic or something. 

Plot also took a turn to the worse. Compare to first part it overengineered (or overwritten) to the point of pointlessness. If original managed to pull reasonable enough plot twists that more or less managed to make sense, then 2nd fails in sense department. Why would Kuze need to blow up refugees in order to upload their ghosts to net and turn them into fully bodyless beings. He could just find enough volunteers among general population. That will make Laughing Man stop laughing. 

Overall 2nd gig smells of rather thick anti-American, anti-liberal ideology, something first managed to avoid somehow. I already wrote why Kuze and his refugees are not compelling rebels compare to say Lelouch. Lelouch fought against real oppression, Kuze's refugees are all about struggle for struggle's sake, Bookchinistas. Alas Section 9 is sympathetic to them, or to that ugly Prime Minister woman who is Aramaki's type. 

After all, it's not wrong to live well, it's wrong to not share this wealth with me.

Also, the whole, mental virus thing that infects brains and turns people into revolutionaries. That is so left wing to think one can simply reprogram humans to act like one desire. This abnegation of human will is jarring. People are not robots and have free will, they do as they see fit, not as you tell them to.

Other than that, there is not enough action and exploding helicopters to keep you entertained, they ration helicopters like bread in blockaded Leningrad. 

Overall, there is probably certain value in watching this at least once. One can get ideas about using interservice rivalry to destroy countries from within and maybe even to use emotions against people. Not that you need this show to tell you these things, you can figure them on their own. That said, its rather unpleasant show.

Rebels in Ghost in the Shell Compared to Code Geass

 

I am currently close to completing GitS SAC 2nd Gig. In that show a major antagonist is a sort of "charismatic" revolutionary who wants to liberate refugees. A first I thought they were simply opposed to their government accommodating any refugees at all and want them all forcefully expelled, but later it turned out they wanted to "liberate" refugees by destroying things that support them and starving them all, I guess. 

Somehow GitS fails when it comes to writing compelling rebels. Both rebel plans and actions seem contradictory to me. Rebels in GitS fully ideological and emotional while at the same time completely illogical and irrational: all wiling to die for a cause, even killing themselves on camera to make a statement. 

The only place that resembles it IRL is Palestine, there too rebels fight for a cause that is completely against their best interests. Hamas cannot provide them with anything other than misery and death, yet they still support it, human stupidity is infinite, I guess.

Also in Palestine, just like in GitS, government insiders are the real puppet masters behind the regime. Hamas is a puppet of Iranian regime, who, along with Russia and China are puppets of American neo-Puritans who fight American neo-Chevaliers who support Israel instead. To quote Blood Omen, Legacy of Kain: "With so many puppets, can you find the true player?" 

In fact, the entire world is a but a battleground of a fight between the abovementioned American fractions. 

Neo-Puritans originate from American New England; they hate America and want to re-create puritan like living conditions of early Massachusetts Bay Colony. They created Ayatollah's regime in Iran, they took over early Soviet government from within and turned it into puritan dictatorship under Stalin, purging all diverging Bolsheviks like Bukharin and Trotsky. They also control China, Cuba and most other communist states. Since puritanism is unappealing, they became apt at disguising their ideology and true objectives as something more palatable to fool people into supporting it. They are being Woke movement as well as modern Bookchin Socialism that combines disadvantages of Socialism and Capitalism in one godawful ugly ideology. I once wrote a separate article about them, and some more.

Neo-Chevaliers originate from early American southern colonies and descend from second sons of British nobility. They control the US military and oppose Neo-Puritans for reasons of Neo-Puritans being complete nutcases. Being rather brash, selfish and unlikable, they create themselves more enemies than they need to. Something sly Neo-Puritans use to create themselves unwitting allies, who do not fully understand just who they are siding with?

World is caught in a secret struggle between these two, like in a fight between assassins and templars in late Assassin's Creed games, with only European Union could possibly hold them both at certain distance from itself.

Back to the original topic: why Black Knights and Zero are compelling rebels that make sense and Kuzo and his refugees are not.

To begin with Code Geass. HBE functions as a sort of 3 class society. On top of the pecking order are native Britannians, followed by Honoured Britannian and the then the Numbers. Britannians are the privileged class for whom state cares. Honoured Britannians are these to serve the native Britannians and are clearly treated as second class citizens by the latter, like during that incident with hod dog vendor or with camera students in ghetto. Finally, Numbers are seen as completely worthless and undeserving. That is the official policy of the empire, not a sort of private discrimination. Unless you are born native Britannian, your life is a complete shit.

One can see an example of that in Japan itself, Zero points to that in conversation with Oghi and his crew on a train, but more scenes here and there show the same picture. After HBE conquered it, they build there 22 century futuristic cities, but these cities were for native Britannians who came from the mainland only. Locals were left behind in crumbling and dilapidated remnants of what was built under native Japanese government, as HBE does not want to spend a single penny on the Numbers. Nunnally once tried to do that as Viceroy, but the rest of the government was against it. Vae Victus - Woe to the vanquished.

If that sounds somewhat far-fetched and removed from reality, then here is video of a Korean guy who explains how that functions in very real contemporary North Korea. The difference is that they are doing it to their own people and no to the conquered foreigners. I can pretty much say it's the same in modern Russia, as someone who was purged from Russian upper class after Putin took over from Yeltsin, I know what I am talking about. The only difference is that in Russia the classes are disguised better so lower classes do not envy the upper class. One cannot envy them if one does not know what they really have. The privileged elites have everything, while common Russians are told country is poor because Americans steal all the money. As much as Western developed countries like to present themselves as different, it increasingly becomes the same here as well. Hell even on Titanic there were the same three classes. Indians like to spice it up more with 4 castes plus an outcast, a 5 in total.

Thus, rebels who fight against HBE rule fight not because they believe in some lofty cause or ideal and willing to die for it, or even because they are war-like people. They just do not like being in the underclass and want to change the system, that keeps them down or change their class. Tamaki even honestly put it that he wants to be a government official: essentially someone with a good status, fat paycheck, job perks and cozy not too hard work. It's the fact that the system will not give such an upper-class work for someone from a lower class like Tamaki is the reason for him to fight against the system. Others do not say it, but they likely have similar enough aspirations. Of all Black Knights, only Kallen was there purely for ideological identity reason and could easily have an upper class Britannian lifestyle if she so wished.

One can say that Lelouch could just go back to being prince, but that is not that simple. Lelouch was effectively purged from royal family due to court intrigue. Sure, he might say something that might have looked like it was his choice, but it was more of a shutting the door loudly when you were told to get out. There was no guarantee that Charles would not have sent him in exile if he said something else instead. Without his mother there was no one to protect him from other royals who see him as potentially dangerous rival and would rather eliminate him. Emperor's unwillingness to do anything about her death only further indicated that Lelouch was effectively marked for death, just like the court was whispered while he was walking towards the emperor. 

I wrote a few articles back then, analysing Lelouch so I will not go further here. Suffice to say here is that Lelouch does it not out of idealism or sympathy for Japanese but out of personal grunge and revenge for how he was treated by Charles and the royals.

One can say that Suzaku is prospering within the system despite his Japanese background, but his situation is more of luck than clearly defined path, open for everyone and he has to put up with a lot of discrimination and hate, as people around him do not see him as equal.

None of these things are present in GitS. Refugees there are all enamoured with Kuze and many are inclined towards crime and gang live. They are not fighting to make their lives better, but to saw chaos and destruction driven purely by their emotions.

Because of that, unlike Black Knights in Code Geass. one can hardly support Kuze or his cause. At least I would not support Kuze even though I support Lelouch and Black Knights.

Asobi ni Iku yo! Review

Overall Rating 7.2 out of 10 - Solid anime that, does not fail like many others and gets things done

I recommend watching

Among the large number of disappointing shows that I am dealing with recently, it's good that at least one show gets things right. Cat Cuties is not the most original show out there, it does things mostly by the book, but it gets them done right. Thus, it is enjoyable to watch. Asobi ni Iku yo! proves that if you just put all the working ingredients together and stir them a little bit, it will make for a decent show.

To begin with, girls with cat or rabbit ears were always go to solution to make women more appealing to male audience. Here we have cat girls in tight body suits that wonderfully highlight their body curves. They have cute bells on their neck bands too and generally rather moe.

One guy and three main heroines: the usual selection of Tsundere, Dandere and Deredere. I do not like tsunderes but the other two make up for that, its two good girls and only one not. Futaba and Eris against only Manami. 

Then there are fights, they are somewhat too chaotic so it's sometimes hard to follow what is going on. It's not tactical like in Code Geass or Naruto, but still enjoyable to watch.

Finally, the setting is a win, the summer resort-like vibe of Okinawa is certainly a place where I want my shows to be set.

And there is also space technology, customisable assistroids and more.

A few minor flaws are somewhat flawed design of certain Catian crew members, that could have been curvier and girly rather than somewhat boy like.

Overall, I do recommend it. It's fun and worth your time.

OVA had a promising premise, but they missed the opportunity to make girls act all insecure in a cute way about being exposed in front of Kio.