In GOOD NIGHT WORLD, Taichiro leaves the real world and his family behind to immerse himself in an online game, unaware that his family is part of it and with him in it. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
Taichiro has abandoned the real world and his family. He hates this world immensely and has found comfort in PLANET, an immersive role-playing online video game.
In the game, as Ichi, Taichiro has a family of his own, the Akabane Family. The members of the Akabane Family are the strongest players in the entire game.
Taichiro has grown to love this world and this online family of his. What he doesn’t know is that, coincidentally, the players posing as the Akabane family are indeed his real family.
When the game’s ultimate end-game content starts acting strangely and threatening the lives of the players, Kojiro, Taichiro’s father, begins taking measures to protect his family.
Will Taichiro’s family, which has fallen apart in real life, stick together to face this threat just like they do as the Akabane family?
Positives
GOOD NIGHT WORLD brings quite an interesting plot and completely squeezes out the number of storylines and messages one can get from it. The series shows both the positive and negative sides of the online world and the balance that is required.
The several thoughts one can have while playing such games and the relationships they can form all feel relatable and hit the right emotions when characters in that world have to say goodbye.
The real world and the gaming world look strikingly different. The world of PLANET is colorful, action-packed, adventurous, and hilarious, whereas the real world is kept dull to show how Taichiro looks at his life.
Negatives
GOOD NIGHT WORLD starts falling apart just when the main conflict kicks off. Although it keeps the mystery element intact, there are lots of hints and minor details that viewers are fed, and they are left waiting for a long time for the answers to come.
The protagonist, Taichiro, is hardly likable. He is stubborn, like most anime lead characters, but negative to the point where he is annoying. Taichiro cries more than he helps.
The series, at times, overexplains lots of its concepts. The technical language jumbles up the concept rather than laying it out simply. Then there is overtly sad and dull writing that heavily affects the action part of the anime too, killing all the excitement in the process.
Verdict
GOOD NIGHT WORLD kills a very interesting premise that would have been full of surprises. It’s too depressing to begin with and spends most of the time explaining its concepts, which end up becoming uninteresting by the end.
GOOD NIGHT WORLD
Director: Katsuya Kikuchi
Date Created: 2023-10-12 12:30
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