YMMV / Swarm

• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Dre is a psychopathic Complete Monster Villain Protagonist fangirl whose odyssey to gain acceptance from her idol is the core narrative of the series. Unfortunately the Gainax Ending refuses to make up its mind about whether it was All Just a Dream, Or Was It a Dream? The ending turns Dre's arc into a meta-commentary on the nature of rabid fandom as a manufactured replacement for genuine emotional connection, reducing Dre to a mere cipher rather than a fully realized character. There is nothing strictly wrong with this, and some television shows and movies have done it well, but they worked best because the audience could still root for their protagonists; this gave the viewers a desire and a reason to think deeply about the message the shows were trying to convey. With Dre there is nothing to admire or root for, and the show's final detachment from reality blocks her from receiving any kind of comeuppance for her actions. The end result is a story that delivers a message too weak and impotent to resonate deeply with the audience.
  • On the other hand, the previous episode ends with Detective Loretta Greene getting a report of Dre storming the stage at a Ni’Jah concert, implying that the events of the finale have already happened at this point and Dre will soon be arrested.