Ammokkx

Shadowverse(TV) is a shallow 48-episode commercial made to sell a Nintendo Switch game. I feel the need to stress this, because the amount of corporate apathy towards storytelling can be felt at every point while watching this anime. At first it may seem like Shadowverse(TV) isn't too terrible starting out; its first episode is a bit bland, but a poor first episode does not make for a bad anime as a whole. Unfortunately, it showcases a few key problems the anime will have throughout its entire runtime. The first of these problems is with the battles themselves; while they're not too hard to understand, there's amajor flaw in how they're presented. Several turns are often cut out from the middle of the fight. Normally this isn't such a big deal if it only happens once in a while, but having a full-length battle you follow start-to-finish is *not* the rule with this anime. It is the exception. What you are left with, then, is an extremely unsatisfying big picture, as the writers will magically conjure up whatever specific game state they need with no regard for how the characters involved would actually get to this. It feels like they did not care to write around the limitations of Shadowverse as a game and instead opted for the most lazy way out as to save themselves some work. The second problem this anime faces is that of extremely shallow characters. While it attempts to have character arcs for a select few side characters, most of them are either derailed or resolve in ways that don't actually solve their own problems. Further, the main character, Hiiro, is extremely shallow. He has one dominant character trait, that being loving Shadowverse and proceeds to spend the next 48 episodes learning to care about absolutely nothing else. Somehow Hiiro seems to act like a friendship magnet, with everyone around him captivated by his charisma after just one battle... only this does not work, as Hiiro never actually attempts to emphathise with anyone he meets. He talks around people rather than with them and selfishly superimposes his own belief unto others. Somehow the writers let him get away with this each and every time, convincing the other character to see things in Hiiro's way even when this is absolutely not deserved and Hiiro is completely in the wrong. Only one character in this entire show seems to independently fix his own issues with the world, but said characters is not part of the main cast. This makes the seven we are supposed to care about and root for feel extremely underwhelming. The third problem Shadowverse(TV) faces is that it is extremely generic. Everything is resolved through card games. The power of friendship prevails in the face of overwhelming odds. The main character is a prodigy at the game he is playing, the entire works. Just playing it by the book is not an issue by itself, but the problem for Shadowverse(TV) is that it not only plays it extremely safe, but also poorly executes on these elements. Almost every episode there is something that will leave you wondering 'Why did they do it this way? This could've been good if only it had been a little different' and it proceeds to become extremely frustrating to, as a veteran of the genre, watch the producers fail to grasp even the basics of storytelling. The story as a whole is also underwhelming. Without going into spoiler territory, it is split into four roughly 12 episode chunks which I consider to be arcs. The first arc is slow and highly focused on our main character meeting the cast of side characters, while the second arc has them split up to do their own things... only even in the second arc, most episodes are focused on our main character as others barely get the screen time they need. Even keeping this in mind, the second arc's overarching plot will make your head scratch as to why the first needed to happen to begin with. The third and fourth have a more consistent and interesting plot going on with them, but the villain motivations are shallow and predictable. Also, the main characters have almost entirely stopped developing past one extra episode dedicated to each, but half of those episodes don't actually develop the featured character either. You're just being strung along for the ride as you watch these one-note personalities repeat the exact revelations you've heard a million times before and only save the day because of course they would. Even the very climax of the show suffers from poor pacing and character writing as the final villain, while not coming out of nowhere, was barely relevant even when they were hinting at his villainy throughout the show. The only thing Shadowverse(TV) has going for it are some okay visuals, which are serviceable but not spectacular, and some alright soundtracks. Several themes are pretty good and stand out above the rest, but a lot of recycling and having some very generic tracks make the soundtrack as a whole mediocre at best. Shadowverse(TV) does manage to make some hype moments, but this is mostly achieved through a mild uptick in animation budget and by blasting energetic music into your ears. It is an extremely shallow form of hype not backed by any good character payoff, as there is no payoff to be had. Still, credit where it is due, in terms of presentation there is not much to complain about. It is absolutely not worth watching this show for as it's not spectacular and cannot carry its horrible writing, but if you are deadset on watching this, then the animation and soundtrack will not bother you in the least. The animation and sound being what it is makes the show get an overall rating of 2/10 for me, if only because of that slightly redeeming quality. Had this been any worse I would not have hesitated to give it a 1/10 and I do not recommend anyone to watch this. Yu-Gi-Oh has, at the time of writing this, 6 completed shows and even at their worst they are all still much better to watch than Shadowverse(TV) is. With other franchises like Battle Spirits and Vanguard you will no doubt also find everything Shadowverse(TV) has to offer, but better.