[Klashikari]

I will sound like the party pooper but I wasn't completely sold by the first episode. It is ironically because it is so faitthful (minus some brutal cuts and I do believe knowing the game plot actually made few transitions less jarring to me) that made me appreciate that first episode a bit less than it would have been otherwise.

Sure, they didn't opt for any deviation in term of plot or characterization which is great, especially when it comes to video game adaptations. But on the flipside, it felt way too "safe" in regard of the screenplay and stuff they could have done (I'd have loved a semi prequel sequence with the bunker crew preparing the assault for instance). While I could appreciate faithful details like certain motions for 2B and 9S, I do believe they didn't completely make use of the anime format in term of presentation, although they made proper changes such as the hacking scene or 2B looking for 9S at the end of the episode. Note that I don't want major changes whatsoever as certain scenes such as 2B crashing her flight unit into the usine while Pod doing the damage report are pretty much a staple, but I do believe replicating the some scenes with different camera work and so on would been much better for the anime to stand out compared to being a replica of the game.

In term of visuals and production, while I understand it would be virtually impossible to have hand drawn cuts for anything related to machines, the texture used for the CGI stand way too much with the characters and the background. Also some 2D cuts were kind of jerky as if a lot of inbetween were skipped (quite noticeable when 2B was slashing through the first scrubs before the miniboss). But overall, they managed to keep the general flair of the game. Of course, I have absolutely no complaints when it comes to Ishikawa and Hanae performance, nor how they used Okabe's scores.

In the end, it was still decent in my books, and it is much better than what it could have been considering how most video games adaptations are generally less than a shallow representation of its source material. But I really can't bring myself to really have enjoyed the 1st episode.