A video game adaptation that maintains its visual essence but lacks depth in its script, feeling rushed and forced at many moments.
"The World Ends with You: The Animation" is a super short and fast-paced anime that presents a group of young people fighting for survival and seeking alternatives to win a game, which can be entertaining for those who have played this video game, and for another segment of consumers quite simple. "The Animation" is a super short and quick anime to watch that presents a group of young people fighting for survival and seeking alternatives to win a game, which can be entertaining for those who have played this video game, and for another sector of consumers quite simple. From a neutral standpoint, the adaptation is decent, coherent, but not remarkable; it can even be mentioned that it has gone unnoticed by a large part of the anime community.
In this sense, it can be a proposal that has its standout points within some episodes; for example, the first one is convincing and, despite the little information it conveys, it is entertaining. However, as the episodes progress, it loses much of its strength and interest begins to wane, whether due to the plot, the characters, or even the anime itself. All of this stems from the lack of sustainable narrative arguments, a more solid context, the lack of information, character development, or moments that have a memorable impact. Without these elements, this adaptation does not stand out as it should. It is clear that it is not entirely bad; it just needed better execution.
On the other hand, everything related to the animation is fine, at least in its first episodes, it is striking for its particularity of maintaining the essence of the game and an energetic style with the strong colors, but then it becomes very simple and lacks fluidity, adding very mediocre action sequences that have no relevance whatsoever. Scottish I think it's an anime that starts off decent and then goes downhill.
The protagonist is not the best, at least not in this adaptation. He doesn't have a solid goal, he doesn't convey anything, and he's just another one in the crowd. From my perspective, the character with the best moments on screen, the best dialogues, and development is Shiki Misaki, who at times conveys that reflection on friendship and the search for solutions to problems.
"The World Ends with You: The Animation" undoubtedly could have been better and offered some surprises, but its execution was not adequate and it quickly becomes forgettable. It's a shame because it does have the potential to deliver good adventures. It should be noted that this works more as a promotion for the video game's sequel than as an exploration of what has been developed here.