Protocol: Rain

It Was good. It Wasn't all that interesting or captivating I guess, but it was a good show that I enjoyed watching in 2-3 hours while chilling. The overall theme about the esports and gaming was uninteresting and boring and I didn't really pay attention to most of it, but luckily, the actual underlying story which the show is really about and is more focused on made it a really good watch, mainly the stuff about Mio, and her wholesome relationship with Shun, as well as the side story of Yu.

The other characters were basic and forgettable but i guess that should be expected for a 12 episode show about an esports team. I do feel it ended very abruptly (the kind where you look and see there's only two minutes despite no closure at all and many loose ends, just for the show to skip to end and skip to a montage in the future).

The writing and pacing was definitely flawed, and the show wasn't very memorable, but it was actually much much better than I expected it to be. It was heartwarming and enjoyable, and made me laugh a few times as well. Not every show has to be a show where you're invested to the show and attached to the characters, it can just like a short mini series you can enjoy while chilling, and this was definitely that.

You'll sense something is wrong as soon as you begin viewing this anime. It's difficult to believe that the in-game scenes are from 2023 because of how antiquated the computer visuals appear. You get the impression that time has moved back 20 years.

Not only that, but the tale is uninteresting and the characters are so uninteresting that it is hard to empathize with them. Because of the weak storyline, there is little excitement for the upcoming episode.

Given how little the anime appears to grasp about the subject matter, one wonders if the writer has ever watched an esports match. It is little different from other anime if the esports concept is taken away.

You would be far better off watching actual esports matches if you have some spare time to watch something other than garbage about esports.