Shiboyugi: A Spoiler Induced Rant.

[00:02] Shibo Yugi had one of, if not, I would say the best intro of any anime from this past season. Its first episode was and is spectacular. So, of course, I watched it, all of it. And now it's done. And so, I can

[00:17] And now it's done. And so, I can describe it very simply as a beautiful, wonderful, intriguing mess. I love it so I love it so much

[00:29] that I can't help but think about all of its flaws. It has been uh a while since I have had to think and become this obsessed about a show. A series that presents so many different things going on at once. Sometimes you have to pay

[00:43] It's something that gets you thinking, gets you invested more than a lot of other things have. And then it ends. And that's the problem. So, the subtitle of this series is playing death games to put food on the table. What this means

[00:58] is that the show is about a young girl named Yugi. She lives in a terribly horrifying world where death games exist for people's entertainment. Young girls for people's entertainment. Young girls are somewhat voluntarily put into these

[01:12] death games where they have to play and do a variety of different things in order to win, and some of them are going to die. But it's okay because if you happen to make it out, you're going to win a lot of money. We don't know how

[01:27] much. We just kind of assume it's a lot. And so, that naturally leads to players like Yugi who play a lot of these games, get a lot of money, and basically do it professionally. The first episode shows Yugi in her 29th game, placed into a

[01:42] building with a bunch of other girls who are all dressed as maids, and they must basically survive and then escape everything. This is an escape room type game. It is kind of the only real one that they show, at least. And that's why

[01:57] I feel like this first episode was so fascinating. It is like removing the rest of the show. Let's just remove all of that for a moment. Just this one episode, this double-length 40-some-odd minute episode. This could be enough for

[02:12] a lot of people. On its own, it follows a complete arc. It shows uh Yugi and the characters of this arc that she meets and how they traverse through the series of escape rooms to escape this place and end the game. And [music]

[02:26] it's perfect. You don't really need to go beyond this. Of course, if you want to, you can cuz there's more episodes and more volumes of the light novel. I'm probably a better idea. The entertainment that you get out of this

[02:39] show is uh uh multi-tiered. You can get entertainment out of these situations that the characters are put in. They are put into dangerous ones. There is a statistical probability that most of them are going

[02:51] to die. How are they going to die, however? Is it going to be because of traps? Is it going to be because of a puzzle that has a timer on it and they don't solve it in time? Is it going to be because other members of their party

[03:05] see an advantage in them being dead? You don't know. Trust is not really a thing that's put on high priority here, and it kind of makes sense. When it is virtually impossible for any of these games to end without at least one person

[03:18] dying, yeah, someone who's completed a whole lot of these games has probably seen a lot of death. How many of those deaths were on purpose? Ooh, that's the fun thing. That's the entertaining bit. The not-so-entertaining bit is how some

[03:32] of this is portrayed. So, the two sides that you will see a lot if you look into discussions about this series, both its light novel and mostly its anime. Its into its light novel, chances are you're just going to love the series entirely

[03:45] [music] if you can get past the first volume, and that's fine. But the two reactions that I've seen most often to people who have watched this show is one, "Yeah, this is very pretty, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. I don't get

[03:58] it." And the other one is, "Wow, media literacy is very low in our culture these things?" And I'm kind of stuck in the middle because on the one hand, it is very beautiful, and there are some things that don't make sense narratively

[04:11] things that don't make sense narratively just from a this is a 11-episode series that is based off of a light novel that goes far beyond this so that there are things here that are setting up for plots that were never going to see, and

[04:24] that's confusing. But on the other hand, yes, there is a lot of things that aren't spelled out to you. There are things that I am making assumptions on as far as this narrative goes that I may be incorrect, but I will just say that

[04:36] it is true in my head until the show shows me something that proves otherwise. And I think that's a fine way to go. But the show does not make things easy for you. Let me explain why. So, in the light

[04:49] novel, this narrative is told out of order. Not so out of order that we're like jumping between death games or anything, but no, we are shown a series of death games that Yugi participates in, but those are not shown to us in

[05:03] chronological order. So, in the light novel, yes, we do start on her 29th game. That is her introduction. But then the light novel moves to her ninth game, jumping way back in time to essentially a completely different character who

[05:18] hasn't been through a lot of things. And that on its own is fine. That's actually that on its own is fine. That's actually great because Yugi is shown to us [music] in this first episode, in this first arc as a very competent

[05:31] player of these games. She's done 28 of them. This is her 29th. She knows what she's doing to a point. She's not extremely overconfident, but her through a lot, and she puts a lot of trust onto them. Cut to the second light

[05:47] novel arc where she's only in her ninth. She doesn't really know as much. She doesn't have the same a level of experience. She's not uh as weathered, per se. And that's very much the case because her ninth game is the one that

[06:02] kind of fundamentally changes her character for better or worse. The problem, doesn't go to her ninth game. The anime instead jumps straight to her 10th game after she's already dealt with some

[06:17] trauma and then took some time off of death games And they don't really explain this. They don't really show this. And also, the anime doesn't necessarily make it extremely obvious on the outset

[06:33] problem with having these games, especially the first game that we saw where trust is not guaranteed between all of the players, so then [music] having arc two start off with one of the characters asking, "Hey, how many games

[06:47] have you played?" And Yugi responds with, "Oh, this is my 10th game." We as viewers think, "Wait, is this her 10th game? Have we gone into the past, or is she lying?" Because we've seen her with her experience and how good she is,

[07:03] she might not feel safe explaining how many games she has played depending on everybody around her. But no, it actually is her 10th game, and she's really start to get a sense of that until she starts making decisions and

[07:17] she starts doing actions that that don't really line up with her extremely competent personality that we're introduced to. It's one of those once you grab a hold of it and once you understand what's going on, things are

[07:30] fine. But until then, the narrative is a little rocky as you're trying to figure it out. And at least from my perspective, I'm not sure why they did lie. They did that because they put focus on a completely different side

[07:42] character and built her up through two of the arcs so that she she was a through-line for the anime watchers and didn't give us a little bit of confusion by trying to do the backstory of Yugi until the very end. But I mean, when

[07:54] you're telling a narrative out of order, which is what the light novel does, the order, even if it's not chronological, has a purpose. [music] Like in the light novel, I can assume we start off at game 29 because, hey, we want to introduce

[08:07] the audience to a experienced Yugi, and that's great. And then, the next arc, we see her backstory. But the anime decides not to give us that backstory until the final arc of the anime. And even then, it's not really presented to us as

[08:22] something that's happening. It's instead presented to us as an episode that Yugi herself is like watching in her mind, credits and all. It's one of the reasons this show uh to an extent because of like the very

[08:38] art tour elements of it. Oh, she's not just having a memory of a flashback, she's like in a dark room watching the episode along with us. I mean, that's cool, but it gives off a certain vibe. Anyway, so we go through arc two, and um

[08:52] everything kind of changes a bit. Yugi is not as confident because again, this she we've jumped way back in time to her 10th game. The the game takes longer despite not having as much going on. Like the first game, we had a handful of

[09:06] different and interesting escape rooms that the and puzzles that the players had to solve. The second arc is, "Okay, well, we're just going to slowly descend from this apartment building that may or may not have landmines." The second game

[09:19] may not have landmines." The second game is extremely PvP, except we don't really realize it yet. The whole gist of the game is for these girls to make it to the bottom and then vote out, survivor style, the one who did the less amount

[09:32] of work, the one who was just kind of along for the ride. But they don't them don't figure that out till near the end. The second arc is very much just a clash of personalities uh between this normally like

[09:45] experienced but somewhat socially timid Yugi and a uh much more verbose and loud Ojo-sama-like character. This is the character that gets uh quite a bit of focus throughout the anime cuz not only does she get a lot of prominence here in

[09:59] >> [music] >> game nine and explaining Yuki's backstory, we instead jump to game 30 where character takes place. And that's where I think I kind of wish that the

[10:15] adaptation followed what I understand from the light novel. Because one of the things that really got me interested in that first episode in that first arc characters, which is very important because no one can trust anyone, but

[10:28] it's also the environment that they have to go through. The second arc didn't environment. And that's fine, but we're still trying to understand what these death games are. We're wanting to see what they're like

[10:40] and I don't really feel like this was the best example to show us as the second possible game. Candle Woods makes a much more interesting game as we find it's essentially just a Battle Royale. And that I think works a lot better

[10:54] because it showcases, yes, there are different types of games. And for experienced players, you can basically start a game by asking out loud, "So what kind of game is this?" And you might be able to get some more

[11:07] experience on your side. But I spent so much time in those three episodes of arc two trying to figure out, "Well, what type of game is this even?" And then it's not really shown to us in any way until the end. It's just, "Oh, well,

[11:20] survive." It's like, "Okay, well, that was like the last game just without the that was challenging our characters throughout the arc. And that's fine. There is a wolf. That's pretty cool. This adaptation very

[11:35] much tries to focus more on the characters and on the interpersonal relationships and the conflict that the characters have and the death games themselves just seem a little bit secondary. It leans into probably what

[11:48] because there are certain things about the overarching world that like the big picture world that doesn't really matter. Again, the subtitle of the show is playing death games to put food on the table, but then pretty

[12:03] quickly it's shown that you only need a handful of games until you have a lot of money because while you're risking your life every single time you play, so yes, you are going to get a lot of money. And when you start meeting people that have

[12:17] played 50, 60, 90 games, they're basically million, potentially billionaires. And yet, they're still playing. And it's some of like those motivations that we don't really see in this anime adaptation. Yuki

[12:32] herself seems to only be playing because she has [music] uh set for herself a she has [music] uh set for herself a goal of winning 99 of these games because apparently that was like the limit at the time. Nobody had done that

[12:44] or more than that. [music] And so it just became her raison d'être essentially. But if that's her raison d'être, there comes a point where she's food on the table anymore unless all of

[12:56] or for some reason. There's another thing that this anime doesn't really thing that this anime doesn't really explain at all is that every player has like an agent with them that takes care of them after these games. But we don't

[13:08] really know the relationship that these agents have with the players. We kind of have to assume that they are either dear friends or family as we see some agents are quite attached to the characters who they're the agent of. But like we see

[13:24] Yuki's agent who seems to be a family member. I'm only basing that because they have the same hair color. So could it be mom, older sister, cousin? Maybe they're not related. We don't find out. It's one of those things that just burns

[13:39] go read the light novel." And I'm like, "Yeah, why didn't I do that from the get-go? Why am I bothering with this anime? Why do you exist?" And I don't like that. I hate that. This anime is beautiful. It is [music] gorgeous. The

[13:54] music is great. The sound design, oh my god, is so atmospheric and creepy. And so all of that, like I want it to be a good adaptation. So the fact that in some ways it isn't, [music] that it decides to do its own thing, that it

[14:08] sets up plot lines that aren't going to go anywhere in the adaptation cuz we're not extending that far, like why? I want to see more of Yuki. I want to see her overcome the issues that she's had playing these death games. I want to see

[14:22] her at least try to get as close as to 99 wins as we can. I don't want to see all of those games cuz I feel like that'll just take far too long. We don't experiences. We just need to see the interesting ones. So in short, why is

[14:37] this adaptation a mess from someone who has not read the original material? It's a mess because it very clearly is making changes and alterations changes and alterations of the light novel for its own narrative

[14:50] benefit, which is fine except then it includes other things that only make sense if the adaptation were to continue. And we don't know if that's going to be a thing. This very easily could have been

[15:05] thing. This very easily could have been tied up in a way that, yes, this is just series of arcs. We only need to see the four death games that this show has to world and Yuki as a character. That would have been fine. It could have been

[15:21] wrapped up in a nice bow that, "Can we continue?" Yes, absolutely. She has a goal to get to 99 wins and we can see more of that. There is more light novel to be adapted. But the fact that it is adapted in such a way so as to kind of

[15:35] hint at more, like why they're doing it? Cuz they want you to go and read the light novel. They want you to feel as I am feeling and then go and pick up a book. And I'm probably going to. Let's Let's be fair.

[15:47] I'm probably going to, but I don't like that because then it's like, "Well, why did I waste all of that time? Why didn't I just watch the first episode and then You could have just released the first episode as a special OVA or something

[16:02] might have been better even. But no, we need to do that. Then there's another 10 episodes that do nothing except make you want to go and read the damn book. What is wrong with desiring an adaptation that can be complete on its own but with

[16:18] the hint and knowledge that there is more for if you get really into it? Because this anime just makes me feel pissed off if anything. It makes me feel like it's ending on a cliffhanger when it's not really. It could have been

[16:31] rounded out nicely. Maybe I'm missing something, but I feel like that could have been a thing and they just chose not to. All that to say, favorite shows from this season. [laughter]

[16:43] Because I went from week to week. Well, not always week to week. I I batched season and I was watching it and I enjoyed putting these mystery boxes together. I enjoyed seeing little glimpses of this terrible and horrible

[16:58] glimpses of this terrible and horrible world and trying to see this fragmented personality of Yuki as a character and how things are affecting her, how she is slipping up, how she is dominating, all of these things. I enjoy. I just wish I

[17:11] didn't get that feeling that I am being looked down upon. Like I couldn't possibly understand what was going on if we were to adapt everything the way the like, "Yeah, well, go read the light novel anyway." Because

[17:28] wasted, which makes it very hard to recommend this show to anybody despite I've enjoyed it. I've enjoyed the process and then it ends and I'm like, getting a second season." If we get a second season, I would love to recommend

[17:44] recommend episode one. I can recommend episode one extremely highly. My god, go my overall recommendation is watch episode one. And if you like it, just go read the light novel. Just go read the light

[17:58] novel cuz the rest of the anime to me is only worth recommending if we get more. Or, I mean, if you then read the light novel, run out, and then want to watch the anime adaptation of things that you've already read, sure. Because I'm

[18:11] almost positively certain that there are holes or things not explained in the anime adaptation that can be filled in by just having read the light novel. I do not doubt that you would get more out

[18:24] of this adaptation if you've already read the light novel. So do that. That recommend for you. Don't take the path that I did. It's a terrible path. It led me frustrated and pissed off. And that's where I'm sitting right freaking now. So

[18:39] where I'm sitting right freaking now. So do that. Watch Shibuya episode one. Just one. Then go read the light novel. And then come back if you want. And then come back if you want. God damn it.

[18:53] So thank you for watching this deranged rant. Thank you to my patrons who allow me to go down these rabbit holes of beautiful despair. My god, does this freaking depressing. Thank you to my patrons who allow me to do this on a

[19:08] regular basis, especially to patrons like CD Yamako and Ryfen [music] Bonaparte and Omar Showman, Ross Anderson, Heck de Montemayor, and Aiden. I cannot thank you guys enough for

[19:20] allowing me to go through this on a regular basis. And for that, I'm eternally grateful. But that's it for our show this week. Tune in next time that I enjoy far more.

[19:33] far more. >> [laughter] >> Uh go watch Shibuya and stay frosty.