Review of Darwin's Game
Story: It's a relatively basic supernatural battle royale setup, with a little bit of RPG and a little bit of ARG using the character's phone cameras and map apps. What elevates this above the general seasonal fodder from 'offensively okay' to 'hey, that's pretty good' is the shadowy cabaret of affluent gamblers and socialites watching the bloodsport like a flock of wealthy romans watching arena gladiators, and betting on the outcomes. Also, as is becoming fairly rote in the genre, every player gets their own Jojo-stand-like unique ability (called a sigil), whose finer details I won't spoil here, but if you start the show andgo 'these are NOTHING like stands!'... give it a bit.
Art: The relatively new Studio Nexus makes their 5th major showing with this anime since their founding just this past decade, and while it's still clear they're getting their feet under them, the show doesn't look bad by ANY stretch, and you can even wring some sakuga out of a few of the episodes if you've a keen eye for animation. It's not amazing, but it has my hopes up for what Nexus may publish in the future
Sound: Good stuff here - the environmental sound design was really immersive when chains were taking chunks out of concrete while bullets pinged off of psychic forcefields and all that jazz. No slouches in the seiyuu department either - the character of Wang in particular is a standout performance by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka of recent Inosuke (Kimetsu no Yaiba) fame.
Characters: I'm gonna put this up on something of a pedestal it may not deserve, here, specifically because of how much I see people ragging on this show's characters - specifically, its MC, Sudo Kaname. Let me tell you folks, I have SEEN bland protagonists. I have seen cardboard and mayonnaise sandwich characters on the middle of an anime's launch poster. Even when the show STARTS, Sudo has at least enough personality to be something a little more flavorful than that - call him, Idunno... miracle whip, or something. Either you embryos have never seen some of the crap that we had to deal with back before anime went mainstream, or my fellow old fogies are starting to show their failing memories regarding all of the wallpaper-flavored dross that 80's and 90's anime could come up with.
Moreover, that's just Sudo at the -start- of the show. This character undergoes something over the course of the story that's practically unheard of in niche anime like this... an arc. Like... an actual character arc. He changes, as a person, due to the events of the show. I know the absolute deluge of good anime in recent years has made that seem less special, with all your Re: Creators and your Tokyo Ghouls - but take a helpful eyeful of perspective-bleach by looking at something ACTUALLY bad, like Masters of Ragnarok, and you'll quickly remember that decent writing is not the universal feature it might seem in these enlightened times.
Beyond that, here are a few brief descriptions of the supporting cast- A CS:GO character. A future-predicting computer. The anime Wondertwins, if both of their powers were water. Goth-loli Kratos. Yeah it's not the MOST original scooby gang I've seen in one of these, but it's damn well up there - it sure as hell couldn't see the worst ones through a glass-bottomed boat, if you catch my meaning.
Overall: This was fun. It was a fun ride, through an interesting setting, following cool people through a well-told story. Will it blow your socks off? No. That's why this is an 8 from me and not a 9. But it does enough well, and consistently, that just giving it a 'good' seemed downright unfair to it.
If semi-cerebral unique-power smash ups with a dollop of edge are your thing, Darwin's Game should not disappoint. If that's not your bag... that's fine too - it's not a show for everyone.
Now, all that said... if I have to see one more innane comment about how this show relates to some kind of 'evolution' of its characters, or is the 'survival of the fittest', I swear I am getting loli Kratos to carve them up like rare Who roast beast. Pay more attention in high school. Be better.