First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

「恥ずかしいところを見られてしまいました……」 (Hazukashii Tokoro o Mirarete Shimaimashita…)
“Of All The Embarrassing Things To Be Caught Doing…”

NEW GAME! is back, and nothing’s changed. That’s a good thing.

The first episode of NEW GAME!! (note the crucial second exclamation point, since punctuation is how we do these things nowadays) could be accurately divided into two different parts: the recap, and getting on with it. The first part, the recap, was honestly rather boring—though part of that could be that I only recently watched the OVA, so already memorable characters were fresh in my mind, and thus the recap felt like a waste of time. The nice thing is that it didn’t waste much time, if that was your feeling, and by the time we were learning that Nenecchi has developed a serious interest in programming, we were off to the races. That’s where everything really got going—got going back to where it always was.

Look. I’m not one who rails against change. Viva la change, I always say! (I said that once.) But when it comes to moe as fuck slice-of-life, change should be gradual if it’s present at all. That wonderful sense of warm continuity is what makes them so inviting, so it’s exactly right and proper that it doesn’t feel like much has changed. Aoba is still childish, Hifumi is still shy (best girl), Hajime is still energetic, Yun is still unsure, Kou-chan still doesn’t wear pants, Rin is still super gay, Umiko is still scary serious, Hazuki is still irresponsible (best woman), and Mozuku still has the most wagamama body. The latter half of this episode was like slipping on an old pair of slippers. It’s warm, comfy, and pleasant to the core. Good stuff.

What it isn’t good at is all the things it doesn’t try. Ain’t no drama here, dear readers, nor any epic battles aside from Umiko’s airsoft survival games. About the most notable events were Nene’s aforementioned interest in programming and the character design contest; even all the promotions are expected, and thus don’t rock the boat. (Well, aside from Hifumi’s boat.) This is turbo moe slice-of-life. What else do you want me to say? Aside from an awkwardly long male gaze camera pan on Kou-chan’s butt—we get it, we get it, she doesn’t like to wear pants, what is this, a Fast and the Furious movie?—everything was exactly as a good moe slice-of-life would have it be. It’s firmly ensconced in its genre, but it’s doing its genre well, and none of that has changed. I see no reason not to watch if you enjoyed the first season, and plenty of reason to watch it if you missed it the first time around.

I don’t know if we’ll be blogging this—though it’s unlikely, due to our oft-stated reminder that blogging pure slice-of-life shows is super hard—but I’ll damn sure be watching every episode of it, because Stilts-oniichan has a stressful life, and there ain’t nothing for relaxing after a long day like some moe. Well, that and beer. Hifumi gets me. So does Hazuki-san. That’s but one reason why they’re best girl/woman!

Random thoughts:

  • “When anything’s on the table, it can be hard to decide.” Swiftly seconded. Nothing is more intimidating than a blank sheet of paper. I mean, other’n like a gun pointed at your forehead, but you know what I mean. Having too many options can be paralyzing.
  • To summarize why the cast is all female: Because the author wanted it that way. That’s what I drew from Aoba’s question and Hazuki/Rin’s answers. Don’t think about it past that, it’s not supposed to make sense, but it also doesn’t matter. Just enjoy the moe!

My SECOND novel, Freelance Heroics, is available now! (Now in print!) (Also available: Firesign #1 Wage Slave Rebellion.) Sign up for my email list for exclusive content. At stephenwgee.com, the last four posts: I get it now!; Guardians of the Galaxy, Glee, & Firesign; That’s not supposed to go there . . .; and The Carcer Principle.

Full-length images: 02.

 

OP Sequence

OP: 「STEP by STEP UP↑↑↑↑」 by fourfolium (Takada Yuuki, Yamaguchi Megumi, Toda Megumi, Takeo Ayumi)

18 Comments

  3. “Aside from an awkwardly long male gaze camera pan on Kou-chan’s butt…”
    You mean aside from a standard, run of the mill anime scene? No need to bring in accusations…

    seltzermx
    Reply

      1. As Aex said, it was atypical for this show. NEW GAME! isn’t above some fanservice, which is fine, but that was notably longer than usual, and thus deserved noting. How they treated it immediately afterward was more standard. Probably they were trying to remind the viewers that Kou sleeping in the office without pants on is unusual (for a normal person), but they went so overboard that it distracted from the joke, when treating it like normal would have worked MUCH better.

        Stilts
        Reply

      2. Oh no, I agree that the frame held longer than it usually does for this specific show. But it’s still pretty standard by anime standards. And accusing it of the whole “male gaze” things has more negative connotations than simply saying “and yeah, they held that a few seconds longer than they normally do”.

        seltzermx
        Reply

  6. The girls are back in town! Dang, Hifumi is getting cuter by the minute. Rin’s crush on Kou is going into overdrive and Hazuki’s lechery is becoming even more blatant. Sure, the all girl team is an accident, sure. 😛

    I’ve read the manga but this is cake with frosting and whipped cream! Or maybe a growler of IPA for you Stilts.

    Bear
    Reply

  7. Excited for this second season! This time the anime will be going past where the scanlations are and I want to see what the new girls shown in the ending are all about.

    Regarding the lack of men, Show Spoiler ▼

    Arche
    Reply

  9. It is more of the same, but as noted, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. For example, KonaSuba S2 which was very much a lot of the same thing as S1. Of course everything can’t be static, but there is some progression with New Game (I read the manga so spoiled with this season).

    I thought the recap was handled just fine. Granted some (such as myself) may not need it, but some may need/want a quick refresher, and the show did that while importantly not taking too long. That’s key. There wasn’t really much to this episode, but things do pick up (should starting next episode) with the new game to be developed and related character growth as a good chunk of the girls take on new responsibilities. Don’t want to spoil, but will say that the new game is pretty good/funny in terms of the character concept. Liked that part in the manga and hope the anime will do it justice (It should. This is a pretty good adaptation).

    One thing I did notice is that compared to Season 1, there definitely was more fanservice in the form of Kou-chan butt shots. Not necessarily complaining, but it was to the point where it felt unusually drawn out.

    Bottom line = what Stilts wrote. This was an easy “get right back into Season 1 flow” first episode. If you liked the first season, you should like the second. I’m definitely in for S2.

    — “what is this, a Fast and the Furious movie?”

    If that was the case, there would be a lot more T&A to go with ever increasing over-the-top stunts.

    P.S. Kou-chan is best girl. 😛 though frankly I like all the cast to some degree.

    daikama
    Reply

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