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"I had fun. I got pissed off. I felt like murdering someone. But it was always fun"

One for the cult classic. It almost never happens that I find an anime that vibes with me on a spiritual level. But this one does. This is not only the best depiction of gaming on television screen, this is the best depiction of competitive gaming you will ever see in any media, period.

I was browsing through Crunchyroll new seasonal releases, noticed "fighting games" in the title, and thought to myself "New anime about video games, sounds cool, hopefully another Shangri-la Frontier", not knowing that this one will ... not only blow Shangri-la Frontier out of the water, it will blow myself straight across the Atlantic. My jaw dropped to the floor when what on my screen was literal Street Fighter gameplay, not CGI of some made-up fighting games that look kind of like Street Fighter, but a literal match of Street Fighter. If that was not enough, I noticed something: the gameplay is clearly done by good players, lo and behold, it was done by actual pro players. My jaw now dropped through multiple floors to the ground. Then I saw what Aya is using... Is that Razer??? My jaw now drilled through multiple kilometers of Earth. The game is real. The gameplay is real. The gaming gears are real. The LAN will probably be real too looking at you EVO. This level of dedication and effort going into making the anime authentic is unheard of! Whoever the Producers are, they absolutely know what they are doing!

All of that, is just the surface. What the anime gets the most right, is the answer to this question: "What kind of person is a competitive gamer?". I am not a fighting game player myself, but I was a high-ranked player in another competitive game. Competitive gamers are diverse. Some are childish, instinct-based with crazy mechanics like Mio, some are smart, calculated, enjoy abusing meta like Aya, some are happy-go-lucky who want to have fun, some are real asshats ... But they all have certain things in common: The Ego, The Tilt, The Endless Grinding, and most importantly, the Desire to Play and Win. I have been asked by other people "Why did you play competitive games, what is the point?". Just like Aya and Mio, I don't know, I just wanted to play and win. Yes, there was an endless amount of grinding, yes, it could be tilting at times, but I always had fun playing and winning.

The story itself is peak gaming. The author of source material and the writers of the shows all understand competitive gaming on a psychological level, therefore the story feels so real and authentic. The story itself progresses logically, with the characters acting true to themselves. For example, in a certain conflict in Episode 3, Aya tries to resolve it by logical reasoning, while Mio tries to solve it with the "fite me bitch" attitude and a "you chicken?" final blow to top it off. The humor is fun and it is even more fun if you are in the know (eg "I didn't do that!"). Peak gaming.

The characters are so endearing. If you are into competitive gaming, you will find them to be extremely relatable too. Trashtalking your opponents after they called you free win and still lost? Checked. Tilting due to enemy beating you with cheese, or just due to cheese in general? Checked. Thinking the whole day about how to improve? Checked. Some random noobs calling you out for 1v1? Checked. Grinding into early morning then sleeping for 2 hours before showing up to class? Checked. "I didn't do that!"? Checked. They are just like me, fr.

The direction is great. Pacing is tight, no wasted moment. Especially the matches shown. Every match has a story and character progression, not a single match is wasted or too long.

The art and animation are consistently great. I like both the overall clean art style and the CGDCT art style during a CGDCT moment.

The gameplay is done by actual pro players, who can complain? I noticed some small errors and inconsistencies (example, one time health bar goes from full to zero in one shot), but given the large number of people working in an anime, errors like this are not avoidable.

The music is great. The hard rock OP with cutesy female singing voice is the perfect representation of the contrast between hardcore gaming and the Ojou-sama All-Girls School.

Overall, this anime feels so real and authentic. If you are a gamer, do yourself a favor and just watch it.

To the haters of this anime: "GGEZ. Clearly skill issue, git gud scrub"

"Oda Nobunaga, give me back my legions!"

Drifters is the definition of a cult classic. It isn't popular, it doesn't win awards, but if you are the type that loves it, you freaking love it!

The art is beautiful, gory, and glorious. If you love gore, you will love this.

The characters are both funny and serious at the same time, and somehow the author makes it work. The jokes are even more funny if you know about the historical figures. History buffs, you will love it.

The story is all about warfare and arts of war. This is the best depiction of a fictional war I have ... seen, the moment Oda Nobunaga starts producing gunpowder (which is ... at the very start), it is clear the author knows how to win wars. It has everything needed for an arts of war enthusiast. Guerilla warfare? Checked. Arquebus and gunpowder? Checked. Ditches in defensive positions? Checked. Generals employing actual strategy? Checked. Credible tactics? Checked. Infantry air assault using dragons? Checked. Wait what? Yes, you heard that right. Have you also heard of IJN Hiryū the Dragon Carrier? The manga has done an excellent job of blending fantasy elements with our world's arts of war to make a warfare that is very special but still credible.

The only catch is that the author seems to get bored and the manga has been on hiatus for years. Please Hirano-sensei, I wanna see my idol Scipio Africanus commanding a Legion of Arquebusiers!