If I thought OVERTAKE! worth an AOTY nomination, then I’d prop up 16bit Sensation for the most anime to anime this past year. Akihabara? Check. Video game design? Check. Overworked employees? Check. Time travel? Alternate realities? Aliens? Check, check check. It’s a lot and then we get tossed around and turned upside down. It’s great.
I admit that I actually didn’t pick this show up at the start of the season. I had Draggle to thank, yet again, for steering me towards this particular anime. He was adamant that I was one of his favorites of the season and worth my attention. So it was with trepidation that I started up the first episode, and I was disappointed. It didn’t seem like anything special, just another otaku story about the gaming industry and specifically, even worse, bishoujo titles. The protagonist’s personality also grated with a whiny squeal that had me wanting to exit the video player and move onto something more pleasant.
But, I stuck with it, and we experienced our first time jump. Again, that didn’t seem particularly groundbreaking; we’ve seen plenty of time travel in the past, even within Akihabara. The twist that held my interest was that not only did Konoha Akisato jump back, she ended up right back in her original work building working for yet another video game company. Only, Alcohol Soft is more start-up and less soulless grinding to churn out some faceless title. Overnights to meet deadlines still exist, and Konoha finds her skills mostly useless in a generation sans drawing tablets. This time, though, she’s surrounded by people who actually care about the end product and who seem to enjoy the process. It’s enough to garner her passion and loyalties, and she ends up making promises she spends the rest of the show struggling to keep.
Konoha ends up jumping time almost every episode, moving back and forth from different points in time and her original one, until a divergence plops her in a future that looks nothing like the Akihabara she knows. This reality followed a horrific episode where Alcohol Soft’s primary programmer ended up being the one thrown across space, only, instead of going back or forward, he ends up among literal aliens who, you guessed it, are also in the process of making video games and trying to figure out what makes a particular work better than another. The change in perspective and setting was disorienting but also invaluable in highlighting the importance of real human input.
As wacky as this all sounds, there’s also an obvious look towards the very present discussion around AI learning and the limits we’re willing to place in terms of creativity. At what point do we say, stop here, no more AI assistance, human input only? Machines can do so much, faster and better than humans ever could, yet when asked to create too much, they end up with dissatisfying results that don’t measure up to the giants of industry.
All of this is to say that 16bit is worth your time and attention. It might not be what you’re looking for, but what it does say, it says with feeling. Hopefully, you’ll find yourself laughing just as much as I did as you watch Konoha underestimate, yet again, just how much technology had advanced in the years before her time.
Rating: 2 dango
*Rating system:
- 0 dango – average and forgettable.
- 1 dango – very good in its category.
- 2 dango – excellent show that is worth a try.
- 3 dango – exceptional show one must watch.
Anime B&B 