For someone who haven't played the games, watching Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation is nearly impossible. It obviously can be watched by a non-player if he's stubborn enough but otherwise there will be very little to offer to people who is outside its demographic target.
I decided to watch it because my pals were talking about a WHAM Episode in Episode 10. It was so "whammy" that it let them really distraught with the outcome to the point of an error in my communication created a certain conflict. People watch Neon Genesis Evangelion only to see certain scenes, so I decided to investigate it.
And that's where I learned of why it wasn't a very good idea.
See, in order to a WHAM Episode to be effective, the viewer has to feel a connection to the characters in order to be effective, and that's where I decided it had problems. The first scene of the prologue of the anime shows a celebration for the resolution after years of conflict, meaning it caught up from an event from the games. All the Character Development, struggles, all stuff already happened and watching further it shows this; the setting seems to be a Slice of Life-oriented one, mostly to give them a time to breath after the conflicts, even though it did show the antagonists in the end and Noire almost died. And I must reinterate this is not a problem, on the contrary.
And this take me to the fanservice and I'm not talking about the sexual fanservice (and I guess it would be pointless because it's everywhere - the first scene shows Physics-defyingbreastsin a dress that makes me wonder "How does that even work?" and the characters are so Moe it hurts). The entire anime is about fanservice because it's an animated adaption of a game, it's like a fan's dream becoming true. "The Animation" is even part of the title. The series know its demographics and it only exist to please it. And it shows, the visuals are pretty good.
For that reason, this series has nothing to offer to someone who hasn't played the games, like me, making it neither good nor bad, only evoking the feeling that I'd be better watching something else, unless I decided to play the game. I don't know how big the HDN fandom is, but it seems big enough to guarantee an animation, so I let them judge whether it's good or bad.
Anime Fanservice, nothing more
For someone who haven't played the games, watching Hyperdimension Neptunia The Animation is nearly impossible. It obviously can be watched by a non-player if he's stubborn enough but otherwise there will be very little to offer to people who is outside its demographic target.
I decided to watch it because my pals were talking about a WHAM Episode in Episode 10. It was so "whammy" that it let them really distraught with the outcome to the point of an error in my communication created a certain conflict. People watch Neon Genesis Evangelion only to see certain scenes, so I decided to investigate it.
And that's where I learned of why it wasn't a very good idea.
See, in order to a WHAM Episode to be effective, the viewer has to feel a connection to the characters in order to be effective, and that's where I decided it had problems. The first scene of the prologue of the anime shows a celebration for the resolution after years of conflict, meaning it caught up from an event from the games. All the Character Development, struggles, all stuff already happened and watching further it shows this; the setting seems to be a Slice of Life-oriented one, mostly to give them a time to breath after the conflicts, even though it did show the antagonists in the end and Noire almost died. And I must reinterate this is not a problem, on the contrary.
And this take me to the fanservice and I'm not talking about the sexual fanservice (and I guess it would be pointless because it's everywhere - the first scene shows Physics-defying breasts in a dress that makes me wonder "How does that even work?" and the characters are so Moe it hurts). The entire anime is about fanservice because it's an animated adaption of a game, it's like a fan's dream becoming true. "The Animation" is even part of the title. The series know its demographics and it only exist to please it. And it shows, the visuals are pretty good.
For that reason, this series has nothing to offer to someone who hasn't played the games, like me, making it neither good nor bad, only evoking the feeling that I'd be better watching something else, unless I decided to play the game. I don't know how big the HDN fandom is, but it seems big enough to guarantee an animation, so I let them judge whether it's good or bad.