Having just watched the pilot episode, World of Swords, I wanted to get my thoughts together before watching any more episodes. I really shouldn't have started a new series at 1 in the morning, because I am going to binge the fuck out of this one.
I am astounded by the level of detail in this show. Not the art, which is pretty good, make no mistake, but the tech. Lots of exposition explaining how things work, but it doesn't feel like a dry data dump, which is a rarity in these situations. Aside from the microwave brain interface (cringe) the user interfaces seem to be exactly what good game designers would come up with to take advantage of the tech. The bit about how the 'calibration' was used to mimic their real bodies was quite clever.
Non-tech stuff. I've always found the vilian who just wants to create chaos to be a weak plot catalyst. It can be done well (Hannibal, the Joker), and it's likely that there's more to it than what I've seen so far. Even though I knew what the upcoming reveal was, it was still chilling when the body count was handed down. The mirrors were a nice touch, playing with the whole 'online, no one can tell you're a dog' thing. The parting of the ways at the end of the episode was well done, and makes you feel a lot of sympathy for the characters, recognizing that being kind, even to someone friendly, can wind up getting you killed.
Again, I'm going to binge the rest of this, then report back. Does my first impression hold up to further developments? Does the villain have hidden depths? Are the characters I've seen secretly bastards? Does the writer get bored and just phone in the second half of the series? Some will be revealed in my next update.
And no, I won't be reviewing every series I watch. I liked Detroit Metal City, for example, but didn't have much to say about it.
