Not my favorite episode by any means... To be honest I couldn't help but find all the things I DIDN'T like about this episode
First off, I thought the animation quality was sort of crappy compared to all the previous episodes. The face shots were admittedly good still, BUT those pan out shots and far away ones... They were pretty ugly. My major complaint is how distorted the faces got, I mean in one, Kanji's nose looks so sharp it could cut glass... And you'd think this was done by CLAMP, with how lanky they were looking. I just did not really care for the art this episode. It was also too cartoony and once Yosuke looked like he had the face of Sonic. It was terrible. Kanji's design needs more polish than any of them.
One other bone I had to pick with this one is just the dialogue... It's not snappy enough! It is for the most part bland and Naru isn't saying the "right" stuff, of what he could possibly say in the game. Certain parts that were really good in the game were left out, and uneccesary dialogue was crammed in.
Basically how the story differs from the game in this one is probably what bothered me most. What in the hell is up with the whole Rise running away from the paparazzi with Naru(who uncharacteristically snatched her hand, but then again lately he isn't the no non-sense sort of funny, bada$s I came to know and love) like Bonny and Clyde?! UNNECESSARY. Rise's also more of a b*tch in this adaptation from the game, and Naru is really WAY too opinionated and silly for my taste. The only thing he did that I liked and found to be what Yu would do is make origami cranes. But I digress, the show was trouble from the OP onward in my opinion. And the way the stalker Rise fan had teeth that would make EVEN Jimmy Neutron blush... I just didn't like it. The team up montage with the three whose faces come together like a comic strip and they slam the stalker. It just felt like a crammed in head nod to the game that was frivolous and at the best shameless.
Now in the shows defense I've gotten critical being a fan of the game now. The art is still good, and the distortion was passable I'm clearly just nit-picking. Every show has stereotype like the nerdy stalker with teeth of a Beaver. The show also can't be EXACTLY like the game and must slash a path of it's own, and has to shove in as much as possible while being loyal by choosing what to put in from game and what to leave out, which is why, like games, books are better than movies and games(when movie was out first) that come from them. I tend to dislike adaptations, TEND too. Still I really enjoyed watching this, lol! Just, owning the game ruins it a bit for me. Even so I hate how Yu's been acting lately, I want reform!
-Relic P.S. here is the picture with Sonic face and I don't even KNOW the f*ck who...
