"Silica City... that sounds... familiar..."
Tari wakes up in Silica City and discovers what it's like to be in a world obsessed with video games...
Welcome to the world of Meta Runner, where video games are a way of life, and Meta Runners, professional gamers with performance enhancing cyborg arms, are adored by the public. Here we meet our protagonist, an amnesic girl named Tari, as she wakes up in a lab with a Meta Runner arm on her, and stumbles out into the streets of Silica City, the video game capital of the world. As Tari explores the city, hoping to find something to trigger her memories, she's about to find that a visit to a store owned by the biggest corporation in the city will change everything...
Episode 1 provides examples of:
- Amnesiac Hero: Tari wakes up with no recollection of who she was or let alone how she ended up in Silica City.
- The Cameo: James Rallison aka TheOdd1sOut voices one of the people who mistake Tari for a legitimate Meta Runner.
- Cliffhanger: Tari suddenly finds herself in the world of Ultra Jump Mania, while Lucks orders all his scientists to come down and investigate this sudden event.
- Establishing Character Moment: Lucks and Belle's first conversation sets them up. We get a full display of Belle's arrogance and discrimination against non-pro gamers, as well as Lucks's controlled yet cruel nature.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: You may not notice at first, but Tari's flashbacks look like they came from a camera. They did.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Due to her lack of memories, Tari's rather easily amazed upon her first time playing a video game (Ultra Jump Mania!), as she's easily fascinated by seeing how to jump, and overjoyed upon making it past the first jump.
- Opening Monologue: Dr. Sheridan gives a starting narration, explaining the premise of the world, with how video games are the center of everything and Meta Runners have a heavy impact on the gaming world.
- Pull the I.V.: Tari does this when she wakes up in the lab.
- Rage Quit: Belle throws her controller down furiously after missing the landing.
- Shout-Out:
- A robot bends a chair it's in as a nod to PewDiePie
- Axol and SMG4!Tari briefly pop up as Easter eggs.
