Apr 18, 2018 11:23 PM

Last Period is the Dark Horse Pick of 2018

I have no idea how these blog posts publish or who seems them when, but if this gets any response I might do more.



Last Period is a relatively humble mobile game adaptation from J.C. Staff--a studio you can count on for consistently okay art, but mild highs and rare mastery. All of the characters in this show have relatively complex designs thanks to their outfits, and there are often a lot of them on-screen not really moving all that much, but it's fine cause at least they look good and they're drawn right and whatever they actually are doing is probably funny and/or cute on some level.



Point being, you don't watch this show for the visuals per say--but you also do, because some of the character designs are absolutely fantastic, and the monster designs are nearly Pokemon-grade (if a tad derivative). It's obviously leaning on the fact that the original mobile game probably had some really phenomenal artists on it, but they've been translated to animation beautifully, and animation is doled out in many sweet little touches that whet the appetite for movement even if the show can't really deliver it freely.



But really you watch this show for the meta. Anime and meta are part and parcel of one-another, and while anime may have gotten lazy with its meta, a good meta anime is always cause for celebration. In 2016 and 2017 we had seasons of Konosuba, which pulled apart a lot of the cliches of the isekai genre and light novel adaptations in genera,l and ended up being the best in both genres for years straight.



Last Period has a totally different comedic voice from Konosuba, but only because its aim is instead to lampoon random, pointless anime tie-ins. One of the main characters (the cutest one) is aware of her placement in a late-night anime, and mutters under her breath cynical takes on each scenario--but other characters are more hopeful. The villains, after an episode of totally pointless mishaps, expresses "that was totally pointless! But oh well, I had fun."



And you will have fun, because the villain trio is an absolute blast, the voice acting is rock solid with a kind of eclectic cast, and aside from the kinda generic backgrounds it miraculously doesn't feel exactly the same as any other fantasy anime parody I've only just watched. Check this show out if you like deep-lore meta otaku shit and making fun of mobage adaptations, and also legitimate lessons about marketing that I will definitely incorporate into my upcoming series on the subject!

Posted by Digi-nee | Apr 18, 2018 11:23 PM | 12 comments