New Game! – 12 [END]
Four of my favorite charcters…
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The release of Fairie’s Story 3 brings both the material goods and the emotional impact… |
A new beginning’s end…
…it’s time for another trilogy…
I have to admit, I’m totally the wrong person to offer an opinion about the opening segment of this episode, as I cannot enthuse about the exclusive merch that comes with games, nor about waiting in line for the games themselves. My line, for both, would be, “don’t need the stuff, the game’ll keep” in that order. It’s well established that I hardly touch the vidya any more these days anyway, so any opinion I could offer on this segment would be strained at the least, and incredulous at the most. So I’ll use the zipper on my lip, and remind everyone that comments are open with no diatribes from me…
…or you can stay in line for this game.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t fine a place to queue. I did very much enjoy the bit with the Karen-chan store cosplayer and Yun giving with the criticism. I notice that Hifujmi didn’t seem that critical, but then speaking about it then and there is hardly her vibe. But I do like how she and Hajime dug the costume for it’s own right. She did a fine job, the player is engaging, which keeps the line occupied, and it’s fun. Yun might be the perfectionist, but the other two know how to fit the situation. Which was the emotional queue of that bit, right down to Nene and Hajime doing their parts in maybe spilling the beans; I love how the hardcore fans beat even the pros to spoiling their own game? So, in fitting the situation. It’s OK to cosplay “wrong“. It’s OK to get merch, just like it’s OK not to...just like it’s ok to love games, or to not love them. Just like it’s OK to find yourself a second chance…
…just when you hear the right words?
“I never thought I’d hear the words, thank you, come from Yagami’s mouth. That never would have happened seven years ago.” is one heck of a way for your boss to roast you – Good job, Shizuku! Now she has been a very goofy presence from the get go. She seems aloof, and honestly more eccentric than productive, but isn’t that everyone’s view on the higher-ups? She knows how to get people to work hard and have a chance to enjoy themselves while doing it, that’s for sure, and that is a rare boss. It seems she also has the knack for not only finding talent, but in fostering it. Seven years really is quite a long time in the development of just about anything, and it’s probably just the right amount of time to learn a new game. Yagami’s fear and concern were unseen yet potent forces from the first episode, and the show even managed to obscure how she felt with alllll those fanservice shots.
It’s like they’re meeting for the first time…
But as those went away we started to get the larger picture. She stays late at work and stays over on weekends come push-time cause she has to make up for the lack of workforce under her, a workforce she constantly feels she drives away. That’s a strong sense of responsibility, as Aoba points out, going with her specific lack of self-evaluation. She’s a complex character, our Yagami Kou. Did anyone notice the mild frown on her face the very beginning of this episode? Once FS3 is done, she looks and maybe feels sad, unsure of what is supposed to come next. Now yeah, the end of something can do that, but the frown spoke other volumes to me. So what is for that? Stepping up to AD is just the thing for her. It’s not like Rin is going far away stepping up to co-producer anyway. I’m sure they’ll be able to pester/love each other enough. And besides, she has her Aoba now! It’s a match made in heaven! Seriously, it’s what she needed though, a sense of support that came from that direction. It can work wonders for a creative person…
Bits and Pieces
You mean there’s more to see?
…and it looks like Nene might get to keep her job as buggy debugger bug bug? Who knows what the future will bring. I hope they get around to more of New Game! that’s for sure! I know I enthused about Doga Kobo during this show’s FI, three months ago, and I’m going to do it again. This was a one of the best shows this season, and it came along at just the right time. It was a great blend of the typical goofy antics that these sorts of shows get up to, but it also carried with it some surprising depth of character. Aoba was a remarkable lead, and Jun, Hajime, Hifumi et.al. did fine jobs fleshing out the cast and providing support. They could have easily went overboard with any of the facets :the moe, over-emphasising on game details when they weren’t really needed, or they could have flanderized the characters. But this is where the studio’s expertise really shines, they know a sense of restraint, they have skill in timing, and they know to let a good story tell itself.
New Game! was also a surprise coverage of mine. As the team was arriving into the Summer season I knew I had Re: Zero and Prisma✫Illya 3rei locked in, and didn’t know I was going to cover this one. I didn’t even think I wanted to cover a third show. But this one just popped! It was so much fun to anticipate and work on week in and week out. I’m hoping I can keep up that stroke of luck going into the Fall season. Thanks for reading everyone.
⊙﹏⊙
Thanks for Watching!!!
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Easily one of the best shows of the summer season!
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
We need a spinoff
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
That was really a volume-long flashback to Aoba and Nene’s highschool days. A prequel, if you will. Show ▼
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Sounds great, I’ll take it any time now, please!!!!
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
Yes indeed.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
This show really did a great job all through. The characters were fun and relatable. The show lightly sugar-coated things without making them sappy or too fake. A lot of the interactions were unexpected, but fun, like Nene and Umiko (I’m totally on board for that age gap yuri doujin with those two). Those two in particular was a great relating of workplace dynamics, with Nene wanting to hang out with her friend and the “cool people”, but it is work, it’s not social time. But Umiko also really didn’t want to be the heavy. She wants to be friendly as well, but realizes work comes first when you’re at work. And I could totally see Nene ending up working at Eagle Jump. There are plenty of non-creative jobs at a company like that, and like we saw Aoi Miyamori be able to find a home in an anime company, Nene could definitely find a place to thrive at a game company.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Thank you for putting some kinds words in for Nene and Umiko. I kinda got carried away with Kou, didn’t I? But in going back to them, don’t you think the doujin you mention would be little more than Nene making goofy noises?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I thought that Aoba and Kou had a nice dynamic going on, but it was definitely a much more standard story kind of dynamic, going to work with a person you look up to and earning their approval. One thing that maybe gets lost in the show is the relatively small part of Fairies Story 3 that the group we were looking at represents. The art department is important to the game, but ultimately is more inside baseball as far as the customers are concerned. And I think this was a good strategy for the show, and it gave them the due they should have: it didn’t set them up as saviors of the game or anything, just as an important part. And it did well with Shizuku showing up infrequently, implying that she had other places to be.
As far as Nene and Umiko, it would depend on what kind of doujin they’re going for. If it’s like Akiko Morishima, then it would be cute and generally happy and they’d get together early and be a couple and have a lot of cute sex. But if it was Milk Morinaga, they’d dance around it for the whole run, finally getting together in the last chapter.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…so the questions hangs in the air, when will Highway start penning doujin scenarios…
POWUH: 400-499 with 462 comments
Now that I’ve finished my own blog post about this episode…
This has been anime of the season for me. I started out watching several things this season and then faded out on most of them, but this one has always kept me interested. Cute women making cute video games cutely, with just enough industry realism to make you understand that yeah, they’re working at a job that’s actually pretty hardcore, but not enough to make it lose its CGDCT feel.
BTW, on the shipping front I support Ko-Rin, Aoba-Hifumi, Nene-Umiko, and Hajime-Yun.
Please direct all sequel requests to the author, to Doga Kobo, and to any other companies that might have rights tied up in this. …I mean it. Please do. I want another one of these.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
Yep, I got the manga volumes in the “when I wrangle the money” queue and it’s not likely to get weeded out of that list any time soon.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Ko-Rin is the only ship I see as being ready to set sail. The others still need to be launched. Not that I’m against any of them. I’m always ready for a yuri ship to set sail.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
If Ko-Rin is the thing, then do they share custody of Aoba?
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Good question! I don’t know what the answer is, but I’d say ‘Yes!’
POWUH: Lovely-pyon~ with 261 comments
Well, I guess that it for them, and it’s really great,
I got nothing to say for this but, that spoiled little debugger try to spit about the games plot and…yup, they spread like wild fire! so yeah never try to spoil anything on it, cuz the company reputation is at stake…OK enough scolding!
The Last part of this Episode is Priceless, People watching this will get shocked or even fainted…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…that was such a great way to end the episode. Rather than some “heart-felt” gooey sort of thing, it basically says, “life goes on, and even gets a bit odd, don’t it?”…