One day when I was browsing through some games to pick up for my Xbox Series X, I stumbled across an anime game called Scarlet Nexus. I checked out a few promotional videos and it had exactly what I liked… fast-paced hack n’slash style combat. Add in the fact that it mixed in an RPG system with it and I knew that I had to have it. After picking up the game and enjoying it (I am still playing it and am only 11% in as of the time of this writing), I also saw that it was getting a television anime.
I figured that I would go ahead and give the anime a try and, well, here we are! Does the anime do the game any justice or was it even enjoyable as a standalone item?
Let’s Go!
First Episode Synopsis
Yuito Sumeragi (no relation to the Sumeragi group from Azure Striker Gunvolt), is the son of the nation’s founder and the brother of the head of the OSF… a group dedicated to fighting monsters known as Others. Right from the start, because of his family ties, he is quite the celebrity. He doesn’t let any of it go to his head as he mainly wants to join the OSF to repay the debt of an OSF soldier who saved him when he was a child.
Yuito, along with his friend Nagi, passes their initiation and are now cadets of the OSF. They get introduced to their squadmates and are immediately interrupted by an alarm as Others have begun appearing in the city. Since it’s their first day, their squad leader Seto tells them to be the rear guard and remain out of combat. They obey until they hear the cries of a person in need of help. Feeling a sense of duty, Yuito runs off, and Nagi tags along.
When they encounter the Others, they do a handy job of reminding them how inexperienced they are. That is until two girls, Naomi and Kasane Randall show up to save them. Each person has a psionic power. In Nagi’s case, he can control the wind, in Yuito’s childhood friend Hanabi’s case, she can control fire (like… her name is literally firework in Japanese), in Naomi’s case, she has clairvoyance, and in both Kasane and Yuito’s case, they have psychokinesis.
The thing that strikes Yuito rather oddly is that Kasane bears a striking resemblance to the person who saved his life as a child. Let the mystery begin!
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – Don’t get me wrong… this would normally get a YES from me had I not already started the game. I can tell you that if you’ve played the game and are watching the anime second, you will immediately notice that they cut out A LOT from the game’s early missions. Some of the story plots are either fast-forwarded through or they were just mentioned out of thin air where the game does a bit more to explain them. Also, some things are a little out of order but, for the most part, it does follow the game as best as it can to squeeze it intro into a 20-minute episode.
It’s only because I’m aware of the source material that I’m worried that the rest of the anime is going to haphazardly compress the rest of the game’s story. However, if you haven’t played the game, then you should be in for a great experience if you’re into sci-fi-style action.
Either way, I’m going to watch this own with an open mind and, hopefully, finish the game before the anime concludes so I don’t end up spoiling myself.
