'Darwin's Game' Is Middling yet a Lot of Fun

The debut season of Darwin’s Game ending at episode 11 caught me off guard.  Usually, a one-cour season anime has 12 or more episodes.  Then, I remembered that the pilot ran for almost 50 minutes, which is twice the usual runtime of a typical anime episode.  So, that might be the reason why it only has 11 episodes since its 11-episode season essentially has the same amount of total runtime as the usual 12-episode season.

Anyway, the eponymous Darwin’s Game is an extraordinary augmented reality app game where players engage in life-and-death battles.  Points that are won in the game can be used to buy weapons, equipment, and other advantages.  These points can also be converted into real-world cash, and this function has been the motivation of many in joining this deadly game.  Upon joining the game, a player develops a Sigil, a special ability that’s unique to him or her, and he or she will instinctively know how to use it, almost immediately.

The plot revolves around 17-year-old Kaname Sudō.  He gets roped into Darwin’s Game when a friend, a few moments before he got killed by his in-game opponent, sent him an invitation that he clicks on.  A second friend also gets killed while saving him, still clueless and in shock of what’s going on, from an attacker – who happens to be the same one who killed his first friend.  After vanquishing this foe, Kaname vows to avenge them by surviving and beating the game, and making its creator pay.

Kaname’s Sigil is “The Fire God’s Hammer”, which is the ability to recreate and modify weapons that he touched before.  However, if possible, he prefers to not kill anyone.  Despite being a rookie who lacks physical talents and a killer instinct, Kaname still manages to rake in notable victories due to being a capable and perceptive thinker even when under great pressure.

Moreover, in the course of the series, Kaname has also managed to gain the fascination and admiration of some strong players, who may have started off as his adversaries but then become his allies.  When he created his own clan, Sunset Ravens, several of these allies joined him.

Kaname is an enjoyable character to follow.  But the rest of the Sunset Ravens also have interesting characterizations and abilities.

Kaname’s love interest is the 17-year-old heiress named Shuka Karino.  She’s a ruthless high-ranking player who has earned herself the nickname “Undefeated Queen” prior to registering her first loss to Kaname. Her Sigil “Princess of Thorn” allows her to control wire-like objects, allowing her to use her go-to weapon – a chain with spikes on its tips – with deadly versatility.

13-year-old Rein Kashiwagi is an information broker for players, and functions as the brains of the Sunset Ravens.  Her Sigil “Laplace’s Demon” allows her to accurately predict physical vectors, to the point that it’s like she can look into the future.  She’s also an excellent sniper.

Ryūji Maesaka is the oldest of the group at 21 years old.  His Sigil is “Lie Detector”, which exactly functions as what you expect from such a name.  Due to the non-combat nature of his Sigil, he compensates by wearing bulletproof armor and mask and wielding heavy caliber weapons.

The youngest member of the Sunset Raven is a timid girl named Sui.  She possesses a dual personality, as the spirit of her more violent twin brother Sōta supposedly resides in her.  The former’s Sigil is “Pollux Light”, which allows her to control water; while the latter’s is “Castor Light”, which allows him to freeze objects.  Using their powers in conjunction, the twins are formidable in battle.

In the ninth episode (SPOILER), the number one player in Japan, the assassin Liu Xuelan, with her butler Ximing in tow, also decides to join the Sunset Ravens.  However, she’s not yet part of the inner circle, and the other members don’t trust her at all.

Indeed, the Sunset Ravens are an appealing ensemble.  However, that doesn’t necessarily make Darwin’s Game a fresh, noteworthy anime.  It’s arguably more of like the unessential, “middle of the pack” kind.

With such high-concept premise, you expect it to be smart.  It’s really not.  The writing is ludicrous, the tone is uneven, and its conceits are stupid.  And while depth isn’t completely absent, the attempts for it feel somewhat hokey.

That being said, it really gets entertaining once you roll with its punches.  It has that addicting factor going for it.  Since the characters are likable individually and more so as a group, you get stimulated by whatever storyline they are in, even when it gets pretentious.  And while I won’t exactly call it a sakuga fest, this anime does have many exhilarating action scenes.

All in all, this anime isn’t quite compelling.  Although there are definitely occasions where it’s touching the borders of being one, it just can’t completely cross over.  Still, I really found myself getting entertained to the point that I could overlook its flaws.

Yes, considerably imperfect as it is, Darwin’s Game is somehow a lot of fun.