Streaming: Funimation
Episodes: 12
Source: Multimedia Project
Episode Summary: A mysterious ailment called “Randolph Syndrome” has started to affect the people of Earth. The suspected source is thought to be a recently-uncovered underground world in Antarctica, named the “Asylum,” populated by strange, mutated creatures and immense stores of natural resources. The brave souls who choose to explore this wilderness are there both to find a way to exploit these resources and the genetic material of the mutants, but also to find a cure for Randolph Syndrome.
Lured by a recruiting commercial and his desire to be a hero, Shigure joins the few, the proud (and the short-lived) “Sleepers” who explore this underground world. It’s not long before he’s sent, mostly unprepared, on his first mission. As his party encounters some of the horrors to be found below, he learns quickly that survival is the rule above all, and that accepting fear of death is the only way to survive.
Impressions: Five or so years ago when I was sampling the series New Game, which tells the story of a new employee at a video game development studio, one critique I remember having was that the protagonist seemed to be able to get a job at the game studio while knowing almost nothing about how games are made. This was probably purposeful for a couple of reasons. The first is that her ignorance helped to provide a way for the audience of the show to learn alongside her, ensuring that no baseline knowledge of the process was required to enjoy the series. The second is that expectations in Japan regarding on-the-job training are simply different, and that being able to teach someone and instill a certain company culture in them at the same time is easier when they don’t already have their own ideas about how to do things.
Game development is no life-or-death industry, though, and being thrown into the thick of a project delivery deadline, though stressful, probably won’t kill a person. On the other hand, tossing someone into a situation where they’re face-to-face with hostile (and very strong) creatures and mutated human zombies seems like a situation much more likely to cause harm to someone unprepared. And that’s my primary critique of this episode – its protagonist, the very inexperienced newbie sleeper Shigure, is hazed, faints from it, and is then sent to the infirmary, where he misses his initial training. He receives incomplete advice from his superior officer. The other members of his group are unhelpful in various ways. Then they’re upset when they’re put into a situation where they’re required to fight and he doesn’t know how to use his equipment to help them out. Whose fault is that?
I think the premise of this series is actually pretty intriguing; as much as we’ve explored many of the world’s most dangerous places, because of its harsh climate Antarctica is still sort of a mystery to us. Revealing that, in this incarnation of Earth at least, that the continent contains a wealth of intrigue and danger, lends it a sort of Made in Abyss quality that I really like. But it’s really difficult for me to reconcile that with the extreme amount of irresponsibility the characters show throughout the episode. I’m pretty willing to suspend my disbelief when it comes to magic and sci-fi nonsense; I think being able to hand-wave a a few questionable things in service of a good story is just a necessary skill when dealing with fiction. But when it comes to basic, universal common sense stuff, I have a much more difficult time ignoring weird transgressions. I understand that Shigure is meant to be our POV character, but that doesn’t mean he needs to lack basic survival skills.
Pros: I think what I liked the most about this episode is simply its speculative nature. Setting it in Antarctica allows it to feel real in some ways (because it’s set in a real place) and mysterious in others (we still don’t know everything about the continent for obvious reasons). I feel like there’s only so much you can study using ice core samples and seismic analysis – maybe we don’t know everything that’s buried beneath the surface there (or maybe we do – I’m no expert).
This might also sound kind of strange and I know it’s a “your mileage may vary” situation, but there are a few scenes at the beginning of the series that take place in a city, and many of the background characters are wearing masks due to the Randolph Syndrome virus. Some shop signs also list that they reserve the right to deny entry to people exhibiting symptoms of the illness. I knew that at some point we’d see our current reality visually reflected in our fiction, and perhaps it was just a coincidence that the world of this series so closely mirrors our world dealing with the current pandemic, but for whatever reason I took some comfort in it.
Cons: The production values of this episode aren’t great. I think the biggest issue I had was with the giant salamander creature that the group encounters. It’s depicted using CG that just makes it appear plasticky and strangely-shiny rather than realistic and threatening. It just doesn’t have the effect that I believe was probably intended.
The action in the series also feels very game-like. While this is likely in part by design due to the fact that the multimedia project also involves a game, it just doesn’t feel well-incorporated.
Content Warnings: Violence, including blood/gore. Body horror. Pandemic-related setting.
Would I Watch More? – I’m leaning toward no, unfortunately. I was kind of interested in it having just read the short plot synopsis, but I ended up feeling generally unimpressed by the execution.