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Year: 2019
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Episodes: 12
Rating: 3 out of 5
Who is your favorite Let’s Play person? Many out there have the YouTube or Twitch market on lockdown. Even though he is not a Let’s Player, I enjoy watching Sean “Jacksepticeye” McLoughlin and even his girlfriend Evelien “Gab” Smolders. They are fantastic to watch. I also love watching Kelsey Impicciche! She is fantastic and funny at the same time. It’s an interesting concept watching someone else play a game. What would happen if your favorite let’s player is transported to a world where you watch them and others do challenges. Many of the challenges, they could get hurt. Would you watch? The Ones Within is an anime that takes popular Let’s Players and puts them in a world where they must complete challenges and reach 100 million views on a live stream.
Overview
Japan has been going through a series of strange disappearances. All the disappearances have been youth victims. The police are stumped with no leads to finding out why this has been happening. Akatsuki Iride is an extremely friendly teenage boy who loves pandas and will do anything for anyone. He is a popular uploader of “Let’s Play” videos. One day, he unlocks hidden content in the game called “The Ones Within – Genome.” Many have claimed that the game causes anyone who clears it to disappear. When Akatsuki clears the level, he soon wakes up and realizes that he is in a different world and meets other teenagers. Each specializes in a specific sort of “Let’s Play” games from fighting, puzzles, horror, etc.
As the eight teenagers try to figure out what is going on, they are welcomed to the 13th Avenue. They are introduced to a strange game master who wears an alpaca mask and calls himself “Paca.” He informs them that their task is to work together in clearing game stages and retrieving the “chromosome,” a keycard-like token of completion. Their main goal is to reach 100 million viewers in the live stream world, and that death and injury are very real. As the eight play the game, they soon realize and come to terms with their past and dark secrets that they hide from the world.
Review:
The story of this anime really connected with me as I watch quite of few Let’s Play uploaders. The anime reminded me of a TV show or movie, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. This anime is fun and entertaining because the characters have specific tasks or missions to accomplish. Their main goal is to get up to 100 million viewers in this livestream. Honestly, now that I think about it, the anime had that Sword Art Online vibe. During many of the missions, it is stated that death and injury can all occur.
Each episode is designed to represent a certain level or mission. The first mission dealt with completing an Ouija board game by fulfilling its three wishes for the second stage. The next stage is a nurturing-dating simulation game to raise an attractive girl from an egg to be with the flawless Lady Murasaki with the primary goal of capturing the heart of the school’s prince Hikaru Genji. This is the setup for the whole show. Each episode brings the group closer together while completing tasks to escape the world.
One of the major highlights of this anime is the animation. I really like when an anime series uses different colors to show the differentiation in the characters. This differentiation shows the characters’ different attitudes, personalities, and thoughts. Each character has its own specific color and vibe to them. Let’s take Akira, for example. He is drawn with bright colors because his personality is always happy and warm. Yet, Makino has two color schemes always around him. The first is when everyone has this dream-like effect with a light pink background and bubbles around him because he is so dreamy. After the dream-like stuff, his colors are pretty dull to signify that he is always asleep. The anime also has a way of drawing the atmosphere of people’s feelings. When Paka is angry, everything around turns black, and you see his red eyes. When someone is depressed or having evil thoughts, the animation changes to grayscale with their eyes glowing.
There are many characters in this anime, and you are bound to find one that you like. First, is the protagonist, Akatsuki Iride. You will love Akira as he is friendly, always has a smile on his face, and is willing to help out anyone. He is usually the first one to volunteer for a “game.” You should see his love for pandas; it is straight-up cute and hilarious. The other main characters are Karin Sarayashiki. Karin is a beautiful and popular horror-game streamer hailed as the #1 Female Game Streamer People Want to be Stepped on by online. Quite strange, but hey, everyone has their fetish. She is known as the Cursed Princess. Even though she is an avid horror game player, she has an aggressive demeanor only to show she cares for her friends. Kaikoku Onigasaki is a Sengoku-period and Japanese-style game uploader. He is laid-back and calm. You might not see it at first, but dude has high responsive abilities when the situation arises.
Anya Kudō is a fighter-game uploader. His personality somewhat suits his style and gameplay as he is often angry, distrustful, and violent attitude. Zakuro Oshigiri is a stealth-type game uploader. He is noticeable with his mouth being masked and the ability to conceal his presence in real life. Dude looks like a Mortal Kombat character. He is often stoic and is extremely shy around girls. Himiko Inaba is the timid and kind, nurturing-simulation game streamer. She often helps out with domestic chores during emergencies. Even with her kind personality, she carries around flash grenades for self-defense. Next, there is Yuzu Roromori. Yuzu is a puzzle-and-maze-game streamer that enjoys teasing her teammates, especially Karin. She is the genius of the group as her intellect is far above anyone. The strangest thing about her is her unhealthy obsession with Akatsuki. Makino Aikawa is the one everyone rages over. He doesn’t say a single word and is the most handsome of everyone as he is a love-game streamer. He usually sleeps almost all the time during the series. Finally, there is the mysterious Paka. Paka is the game master of The Ones Within – Genome. Dude hides his face behind an alpaca mask. A perfect animal to pick. Even though he seems friendly and light-hearted, the dude does have a darker and serious side whenever he is questioned.
Overall, The Ones Within is an interesting anime with another SAO vibe. The anime will remind you of any other anime where characters get trapped in a game, and then they need to find a way to escape, or they will die. Like Squid Games all over again. Many of the episodes are good, but the series ended rather quickly, leaving you wanting more. Many of the characters are interesting and unique in their own way, which really makes this anime. Give this short anime a try and hope that 100 million views can be reached.
