Review of Darwin's Game

We’re only 3 months into the new decade and already, there’s an anime about survival games. For context, Darwin’s Game is a shounen manga adaptation directed by Yoshinobu Tokumoto. I remember reading about this manga some years ago and tried to be less critical about it. But years later, I find myself looking back at the series and knowing that it has no redeemable traits. Of course, that’s the manga I’m talking about. The anime isn’t any miles better either. First, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Looking at the episode count, you’re probably asking yourself how on Earth this show could cover themanga in just 11 episodes? The simple answer is impossible because the manga contains well over ongoing 80+ chapters. Even with an hour special, Darwin’s Game falters on its strange pacing. We’ll get to that later but for storytelling purposes, Darwin’s Game does try to connect itself with the genres it has to work with. Specially, the first hour special throws main protagonist Kaname Sudo into a survival game from his phone. In the digital age today, everyone has a phone so the author wanted the audience to be familiarized with the elements. That’s fine and dandy until you realize how that phone throws Kaname into a labyrinth of his worst nightmares. Now as a contestant of a dangerous survival game, Kaname must not only battle but survive with each episode raising its stakes. For its very purpose, Darwin’s Game takes on the survival game genre perhaps influenced by similar franchise such as Battle Royale or Mirai Nikki. I don’t blame the author for having upcoming with such an unoriginal idea but for good sakes, this type of recycled plot is anything but unique.

However, I may have misspoke on the actual reason why this show is called “Darwin’s Game”. Based on the Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, it would seem the author has decided to apply some of the same principles into the storytelling and characters. For that reason, this anime is more about surviving than discovering the truth of the Darwin’s Game. Getting back into the main story, Kaname is initially clueless about his position until he realizes that lives are at stake including his own. The first episode bounds him into a chaotic fight that puts him into near death positions. If that wasn’t enough, he also learns that in order to survive, he must rely on special abilities while competing against others. The objective of the game is to kill others to collect their points and in return, they can cash into those points for money. In the beginning, Kaname’s lack of allies puts him into a compromising position as he is alone with no one to trust. It isn’t until he defeats other competitors and begins to build his own clan of allies. Among the first of these allies is a girl named Shuka Karino. Coming from a rich family and dressed in a lavish way, Shuka becomes his most trusted friend and perhaps a romantic interest. Their relationship is built on reliance at first but later flourishes into trust. The anime doesn’t explore much of their romantic side, however. If you’re looking for that, don’t bother because Darwin’s Game at its core is about survival. The Darwin’s Theory of Evolution deems those who are worthy to be competitors in this game and Shuka is one of them.

And as the story progresses, we are introduced to other formidable players such as the 13 year old prodigy Rein Kashiwagi, Ruji Masesaka, and even Sui, a character with a dual personality. These characters all possesses special abilities in the form of “Sigils”. In fact, Sigils play an imperative role in the overall Darwin’s Game world for each one has a different ability. For instance, Kaname’s Sigil allows him to recreate items and use them in battle. Shuka has the ability to use wires as weapons and thanks to her agility, she can utilize these wires as a killing tool. Rein’s “Laplace” sigil allows her to analyze vectors and use that information to her advantage. The idea the creators wanted to enforce into these character abilities is that each of them has potential to change the outcome of the game. But the bottom line is that despite having all these creative ideas, the main characters suffers from general characterization. It’s very difficult to get invested into any one of them besides Kaname. The show pushes him as the main guy who is protected by plot armor and his allies. Kaname himself is designed as a generic teenager that you can find in just about any similar gimmicky shows. His relationship with the main cast is untimely written and lacks commitment. I can honestly say that there’s no character pair in this show that has emotional appeal. It’s also hard to root for anyone in this show because by the end of the day, we all know who’s going to be alive.

Despite not facing production issues, Darwin’s Game animation quality lacks any distinctive qualities and relies far too much into its action elements. Character designs looks uninspiring with almost every character having the same face. Main protagonist Kaname adapts a high school student look that can easily turn heads away. On the other hand, I do applaud the character designs for the female cast such as Shuka. That dark scarlet dress she has on is something most viewers will have a hard time taking eyes off of. And if you’re looking for some fan service, you’ll be pleased to know that the anime loves to occasionally have the characters ends up in erotic-like positions or camera angles. Beyond that, Darwin’s Game visual appeal is mediocre at best and insufferable at worst.

Honestly, I think I’ve given up on the whole idea about survival games being translated into anime form. Too many times, this type of show aims at a niche audience and reuses the same ideas over and over. Plus, it seems this adaptation’s goal was to advertise the manga because there’s much more content out there in storytelling. However, take my advice and don’t throw your money at this franchise. It’s not worth it and this decade is just getting started.