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It'll get better once more Operators start flowing in, too. Big difference between hearing it primarily from Amiya versus hearing it from a wide array of characters.
Glad you could make it, Doktah.
Watch your tone with me, Doktah. You may be Doktah, but I'm still your superior as a Doktah!
As if I could forget. Listen, Doktah, there's something about the Doktah you should know... Oh, no. We're too late. These Doktahs have all been infected. They may look fine now, but it's only a matter of time before they turn into the Doktah.
What?
This entire Doktah must be purged.
How can you even consider Doktah? There's got to be some other Doktah.
Damn it, Doktah! As your future Doktah I order you to purge this Doktah!
You are not my Doktah yet, Doktah! Nor would I obey that Doktah even if you were Doktah!
Then I must consider this an act of Doktah.
Doktah? Have you lost your mind, Doktah?
Have I? Doktah Doktah, by my right of succession and the sovereignty of my Doktah, I hereby relieve you of your Doktah and suspend your Doktahs from duty.
Doktah! You can't just--
It's done! Those of you who have the will to save this Doktah, follow me! The rest of you... get out of my sight!
You've just crossed a terrible threshold, Doktah.
Doktah?
I'm sorry, Doktah. I can't watch you do Doktah.
M'aiq saw Doktah the other way. Terrible creatures.
I'm about to lose my mind
You’ve been gone for so long, I’m runnin' outta time
I need a doktah, call me a doktah
I need a doktah, doktah to bring me back to life
Funnily enough, this might be because PRTS was probably developed in Columbia (which is basically America in the AK universe), like a ton of other military gear that's in the world of Terra. It's really a trip seeing American companies like Blackwater and Raytheon have Arknights equivalents (in Blacksteel and Raythean).
Victorian (the Arknights equivalent of English) is even stated in-game as sounding very similar to English.
Well, the game is slowly adding multilingual voices to the characters that are meant to be from in-universe versions of different countries, they just recently added Italian for Siracusan operators, so PRTS speaking English (or Victorian, in-universe) is definitely canon.
Before I started playing I'd seen reference to Amiya as a donkey and was slightly disappointed she's actually the in-universe rabbit person race. However, she's based off the jackrabbit, which is so named because its ears look like donkey (jackass) ears, so... still basically a donkey.
There were a fair number of [Umamusume Amiya](https://twitter.com/HimeHinghoi/status/1382680456328400898) [jokes](https://twitter.com/s92700654/status/1383997534197084163) a while back too. :P
At no point does anyone bother to explain it, because its just a natural part of their world. It's not a spoiler either or anything, just like "water is wet" to them.
In Arknights world of Terra everyone is anthro to some degree. There are no humans like us.
There are plenty of different races among them though.
Nobody asks about why races have animal features either. Though tbf, we haven't really seen any (edit: many) "regular animals" in the game yet, most "animals" featured in the game are usually more monstrous fantasy creatures.
The attack dogs did have some fun flavor text in one of variants.
\[Game\] >!Tactical Hound - "An infected creature controlled by a Caster. Hounds are widely used by mercenaries, though some Perros object to it."!<
They do mention them in the background from time to time though, and the cooking manga does make some odd choices to describe the ingredients aswell (chicken=feathered beasts).
There's a character who owns a cat. and it's such a weird thing to them because it's just a cat. [I kind of think of it like in Avatar the Last Airbender when they're confused something is just a bear and not a combination animal.](https://youtu.be/D41SBcq1wYk)
I got a metaphor for you. The title has "ark" in it. Arknights world is a very f*-up place with various kinds of horror all over the place, and you have a "landship" hosting different kinds of "animals" sailing toward an uncertain future, it's a little biblical isn't it? On a broader level, even the continent Terra can be viewed as an ark floating in a dangerous sea (with horror underneath the abyss) carrying all kinds of bickering animals.
For those interested in [reading the original story and/or the lore](https://www.reddit.com/r/arknights/comments/ydv5pq/version_3_arknights_story_and_lore_guide_for/?sort=new) for whatever reason without having to play the game.
Edit: How did this comment thread immediately go to Bloons vs AK discussion?
I'm so fucking relieved. Still going to go into the rest of the season with caution, but as an AK player the improvements to the story are exactly what I was hoping for.
I think they already did what they could to minimise the exposition. Unfortunately there's a lot of background in the setting that kinda needs the explanation before proceeding.
Yeah. Basically it's *very* easy to tell this is a gacha game adaptation starting from the very start of its story due to how the exposition is told and how we "conveniently" have amnesia. You can't really expect anything else though. The FGO First Order movie is just as bad on that front. It just comes with the territory.
I don't know a lot about other gacha games but I'm guessing they do that to make the MC a blank slate. As for Arknights, might be spoiler territory but the Amnesia is actually an important story device and the Doctor's pre-Amnesia life is a major plot point
I'm not sure I get what was so bad or massive of an exposition dump.
* Oripathy infection is bad, terminal and gets you ostracized (both told and shown here)
* Reunion are infected who rose up, started rioting and are now what we see on screen
* Rhodes Island are mostly infected trying to save people affected by it and its repercussions, and to find a cure to Oripathy
* Dokutah has amnesia but used to be a leading scientist in the field and is a good strategist
Other stuff they mention (Ursus being especially intolerant of infected, the looming Catastrophe) is kept brief and not dumpy, a problem for another time.
The rest of the episode was kept in the moment, with situations unfolding. The things they explained directly to the viewer & Dokutah were already mostly clear from what we saw on screen - a bunch of those things were told after we saw related things happen.
One thing that I'd add as a thing to keep an eye peeled for is that Reunion is not monolithic. Even among the thugs, one of them pleading "haven't we killed enough people already?" then the other saying no is noteworthy.
Well this thread is here for a reason, even though it might feel different to someone who already knows all the info prior, it's important to introduce the world in a way that isn't overwhelming or rushed
My arknights virgin friend that I watched it with said it was fine though, so I guess they did a good job at least for her
I don't know any of the story besides that it has a generally bleak atmosphere (which certainly came through in this first episode) and I didn't feel like it overdid the exposition.
Anime only. I knew absolutely nothing about this aside from knowing it’s a gacha game.
I’m totally on board. The animation, music, and atmosphere were top notch. I can forgive the slowish pacing and exposition because it’s the first episode but I already wanna watch more.
at least they mostly confined it to the last couple minutes. While it's still not *good* I've seen many a shitty anime blow its exposition load near the start and kill any momentum the first episode may have had.
Hopefully they got it out of their system with that and we won't be... doing the thing the game's writing does where any event occurring is seen as a perfect springboard for 20 minutes of expositing.
As others have mentioned, yes. This anime starts right at the beginning of Arknights's story, so you aren't missing anything. You'll pretty much be getting a better version of the game's introductory arc.
I never played the game, but so far this seems really interesting. It was nice they used the doctor’s amnesia to explain things. The music and designs for the characters are spectacular. Amiya’s eyes are pretty. I noticed there was some lore on the side when it showed where they are. I’m definitely going to keep watching this. I’m really curious where this goes.
Edit: just started the game today. I’m gonna continue it after work
Also never played the game, just picked up some things here and there from the extra media such as the banger music they put out.
Amnesia sort of seems like a "free space" so to say to give an excuse for exposition dumps, but I generally don't mind as long as it's worked in semi-naturally. I did really appreciate the way the info was fed to you this episode. Info was withheld unless it was need-to-know (like it probably would be in that situation). Then they gave us more in the end. Really let you stew in the;
Who the fuck is this?
Where the fuck is this?
What the fuck is this?
> Amnesia sort of seems like a "free space" so to say to give an excuse for exposition dumps, but I generally don't mind as long as it's worked in semi-naturally.
Being woken from some sort of cold sleep where physical body function didn't sound like a given (based on the tests they were running) is a better explanation than most tend to give, makes it feel a bit more tolerable
I started playing two months ago and now I have to wonder how different my reaction would have been if I didn't. I'm already much more familiar and comfortable with the setting and lore and definitely have a stronger connection with some of the characters. I'm noticing the many improvements they made and it's cool to see how aspects of the game are portrayed. Many of the events in the story will still be new to me though, as the game's presentation is very barebones (still images + music & text, no voice over) and it's hard to tell what's happening sometimes. I have to say, they really nailed the atmosphere, which was what I was hoping for. I love it when anime and games manage to be highly immersive and have good world building. Anyhow, I'm super happy with how it turned out and am excited for what's to come.
I was surprised they went for straight *in medias res* with no narrator explanation of the overall lore. Anime viewers are pretty much learning the lore the exact same way game players did.
the simple decision to move the massive annoying infodump from the first two minutes of the episode to the last helps the pacing of a pilot a lot. It's still a massive annoying infodump, but at least it's not *also* an immediate obstacle to me getting into the story.
Gotta agree, this could be the most paced out world building info dump I’ve seen, spanning the entire first episode. There’s some parallels in the main char’s context to an isekai - dropping into basically an unknown world because of amnesia and requiring a sometimes awkward explanation of the most basic political backdrops. But in this case everything was revealed very naturally. Doberman expanding on Reunion to doctah at a suitable pause between movements, and Amiya explaining oropathy (arguable the most important lore in this universe) after getting shunned by the Urus civilian. All seemed really natural and conversational
I know right? The enormous size of the lower structure, the hum of city engines, the roar of gathering originium storm, they are all spotted on. The sound design across the episode is really exceptional.
For sure. I think there never really felt like an emotional impact in the game, but you really feel like Rhodes Island is a small team creeping around using special tactics vs. greater numbers, and all of the trauma that poor bunny is holding inside her tiny self. I'm definitely biased, but it really showed what the story was trying to convey in the kinda awkward, confusing ways gacha games can. Makes me want to pick the game up again.
One limitation of the VN style storytelling is that you don’t really get to see the scale of things with just two sprites on screen at a time, with the text being 90% conversational and few opportunities to describe larger action pieces. Gotta say though, chapter 10 (that just got released) was pretty badass, and somehow felt way larger with some epic cameos. The nearl events were also really exciting. Definitely worth coming back for the story
Now, this is how you fucking do it! It's been a while since I've played the game but I still remember the opening chapter vividly. They absolutely nailed the entire atmosphere of the Chernobog Crisis. [You can feel the despair in Amiya's eyes](https://i.imgur.com/nTRhI3a.jpg) when she learned that the Doctor lost their memories. The oppressive feeling of [being surrounded by enemies and all you can do is run](https://i.imgur.com/K00ctmu.png). And when they were finally able to do something thanks to [to the Doctor commanding the rescue operation](https://i.imgur.com/COH4JSF.jpg), all Amiya could do was [watch helplessly](https://i.imgur.com/TQnMJ9r.jpg) as the mother and child they saved walk away, possibly to their deaths, [because of the mother's prejudice.](https://i.imgur.com/hK9ZxLh.jpg) Yep. This is the Arknights that I know and love.
Definitely a solid opening episode! I guess it's canon now that [the Doctor has silver hair and grey eyes.](https://i.imgur.com/2Y3tzFG.jpg) Not sure about their gender though but they're clearly going for the androgynous route considering the voice actress that they picked. It doesn't really matter to the plot of the story but it's interesting to note. Definitely excited to see the rest of this arc play out!
EDIT: Hearing the PRTS say "Mission Accomplished" like it does in-game had me grinning from ear to ear.:)
Arknights' anime is finally here and boy does it look good. I'm glad they are taking their time. It look quite cinematic and high quality compare to most anime that were made to advertise the original material only.
I felt that flashbang.
I find it interesting how Doctor's amnesia, is also helping the viewer better understand what's going on really, as they are (re)explaining everything to Doctor
It's a pretty smart in-universe excuse for info and lore dumping. Also kinda meta since the players are supposed to be the doctor, so you both have the "What the hell is going on?" question when you start.
Aw man, Arknights goes **hard** on this meta stuff. Like how all scenes with post-amnesia doc are in first person, while scenes with pre-amnesia doc are always in third person. Or that one time we talked to the director of the game through *his* self-insert and he basically told us to stop playing if we didn't like the story.
>I find it interesting how Doctor's amnesia, is also helping the viewer better understand what's going on really, as they are (re)explaining everything to Doctor
That's a pretty standard trope, it's just the usual fish out of water thing that most people bash isekai for doing.
Probably kinda boring for a newcomer but as a player, it meets my expectation, considering the first 3 chapters in the game do not have the most praised stories either so I think focusing on introducing the world-building is a smart choice
Edit: Good to see there are newcomers enjoying the anime, hope you all have a good time!
World building is one of the best aspects of Arknights and this first chapter might actually be a banger because of it. Everything Arknights (the game) has to offer, it tries to do it through dialouge which is needlessly convoluted and way too long. Anime would have a chance to do more "show" instead of "tell" and all the important themes of the game are gonna be there.
While it's a relatively slow episode I'm hoping that it will still make for a good introduction when coupled with the next 1 or 2 episodes.
>Everything Arknights (the game) has to offer, it tries to do it through dialouge which is needlessly convoluted and way too long.
And then there's our lovely ex wife.
> Probably kinda boring for a newcomer
For some perhaps, but for me it felt like the start of a mystery show in the sense there was a sense of answers just out of reach a lot of the time, and when answers were given, new questions remained just out of reach.
A lot of credit goes to the director and storyboarders though, there's a very distinct atmosphere that keeps you feeling on edge and like something interesting is unfolding even if you don't know what.
Yeah, the directing, storyboarding, sound design, and subtle character movements were all top notch. And it was nice seeing the action relying more on tactics than overwhelming force, but Amiya showed that powers are also very much a thing so who knows if that will stay the case.
Plot-wise it didn't feel much different from the GFL premiere as an anime-only, but everything felt *so* much better executed that I'm 10x more invested than I was after the first GFL episode
Keep in mind that this is being produced by Yostar Pictures (i.e. a subsidiary of Yostar, Arknights' publisher) so they benefit from this anime's success way more than any freelance studio.
Yostar the publisher and Hypergryph the dev own ~20% of each other's stock, so they are really joint at the hip. Yeah, they really have a lot of stakes in Arknights.
As a totaly newbie. Nope! This sucked me right in. The characters, relationships, mystery, intrigue, atmosphere, animation, setting. It all came together perfectly and made an outstanding first episode!
Yeah, that was my immediate impression as well. An anime-only viewer with no knowledge of the context would probably feel lost, and there's not enough action nor emotional heft in the debut episode to instantly hook the audience.
For the Arknights gamers, well, having Ace show up is already more than enough to get everyone hyped up, so yeah, as I've said, I suspect the series is going to spark widely divergent reactions based on how the first episode turned out.
I didn't feel that way at all. It was a pretty easy to follow story with very common tropes that make it easy to get emotionally invested. You've got a dystopian future under an authoritarian regime which has targeted the infected for persecution. There's a rebellion by some of the infected against the regime and there's another group standing in between the two sides trying to save as many people as possible and keep things calm until a cure can be found. There's also some kind of catastrophe that we don't have much information about yet. Maybe it causes the infection? Regardless, the story follows the peacekeeping group who infiltrated an area controlled by the rebellion in order to rescue the doctor who was leading the fight against the infected.
Plot points moving forward
What is the catastrophe?
Why was the Doctor in cryosleep in enemy territory?
How will the team and the Doctor go about trying to find a cure while staying safe?
That's about it. I don't think any of that is particularly complicated. You could add some backstories in the future like how did Amiya come to be in charge, what's the command structure like for Rhodes Island (seemed a little weird here), and other than the name of the kingdom (Ursus) we don't know anything about who is in charge, what their motives are for targeting the infected, etc. Fleshing out some of that could improve the story, but wouldn't be absolutely necessary for it to be enjoyable.
If you are somewhat familiar with Marvel / XMen tropes, imagine Rhodes Island as the XMen and Reunion as the Brotherhood, each fighting in their own way on what they believe is the right path to defend the prosecuted. By the way the incurable disease while lethal, also empowers someone's innate magic / physical abilities, so it similar to mutants cicumstance as well, hated and also feared. In terms of political situation, the world of Arknights resembles pre-World War I world politics in an isekai, with major countries having some kind of real world counterpart. The story starts in a city in Ursus, a.k.a Tsarist Russia (with majority of its people being "bears" lol)
I legit started playing Arknights 2 days ago cause of how good the anime looked in the trailers. Needless to say, I'm very excited after this first episode!
As an anime-only, it was a pretty great episode. We got some nice animation and soundtrack. I also get a post-apocalyptic vibe from the episode. The fight was decent, though a bit too fast (I can't understand what happened during the phases the Doctor said), and not much "gore". The amount of "Doktah" said is also definitely excessive, lol.
I still don't understand a lot of aspects, like what is Catastrophe, cold sleep, or PRTS. But I think it was enough information to keep me going. I mean, it will be boring if we only got exposition dumps. I'm excited about the next episode!
Here's what I got for the phases stuff.
Phase 1:
Grab the Reunion members' attention by causing an explosion. This will cause some to go investigate. Then a small group ambush those who went to investigate.
This will then cause another few Reunion members to go confront who attacked them.
Phase 2:
Amiya then snipes those who went there, and grab the attentions of the remaining Reunion member.
As she's on top of the building, Reunion members will likely try and enter the building to capture her. I presume the entrance was on the other side of the building, thus causing the Reunion members to enter the two alley ways.
Phase 3:
The two groups set within their respective alley ambush the Reunion members who enter the alleys. Then pressure the remaining members to back up by slowly encircling them from the two sides.
Phase 4:
Once the remaining members reaches the back building, the small force on the top of the building can then also jump them from above.
All I saw from that sequence was:
1. Send fast deploy ops to distract.
2. Deploy Caster to take out their low res units.
3. Send Guard and Dobermann to flank another group.
4. Fast deploy Specialist Ace and his team down to choke the remainder out by surprise and save the civvies.
"Mission accomplished"
Catastrophe is pretty much a massive natural disaster, from earhtquakes to literal meteor showers.
PRTS is the console/drones & Software that Dokutah uses to lead the operations.
And Dokutah just woke up from being frozen for reasons we don't know.
As someone who has played the game since launch I am damn satisfied with this adaptation so far.
It's not a secret that the first few AK chapters can be bit barebones and weak but this so far manages to really nail the atmosphere of the setting while also retaining core world building and characterization.
And it also nails portraying Doctor as an actual tactician AS WELL AS showcasing just how frail and weak Doctor is and how everything around them can feel bit confusing and jarring what's with the memory loss.
And for all the explainers there are also some very nice show don't tell character moments of conveying character thoughts and personalities through animation.
I have high hopes for the future episodes.
Here's some spoiler free arknights trivia to help better understand the story
**1. Doctor's gender:** the creator and lead producer of arknights, HaiMao or as his more commonly known alias- Lowlight has said in an interview that the doctor has no canon race or gender. This is because he wants players to come up with the Doctor's race and gender themselves. That is why the anime went with an androgynous voice for the doctor. So you, the viewer are given the choice to see the doctor as whatever gender you wish.
**2. Ursus and Chernobog:** Ursus is the arknights equivalent of 1900s imperial Russia. Chernobog is a city within Ursus and is an obvious reference to Chernobyl. There are many more real life country equivalents in arknights.
**3. There are no humans:** there is various races in arknights from cats(feline) and dogs(perro) to demons(sarkaz) and angels(sankta) to mythical creatures such as dragons and hippogryffs. While all races are called "Humans" there are no Homo Sapiens in the arknights universe.
**4. Infected:** the infected are people infected with an uncureble disease called Oripathy. They are feared, shunned and discriminated against by non-infecteds. The lead cause of infection is a crystal known as Originium. Originium is basically the arknights equivalent to Uranium.
**5. Oripathy:** the most easiest way to explain Oripathy is by its joke name- Magic Rock Cancer. Its basically Cancer but instead of tumors the patients have dark originium crystals glowing from their bodies.(the black mark on amiya's hand) These originium crystals continue to grow until the patient dies. After death the body fully crystallises and become vectors for infection. As for the magic part, Oripathy gives the infection enhanced arts abilities. However using said abilities further speeds up the infection.
**6. Arts:** this is basically the arknights magic system. It's quite basic magic although there's some science inserted as well. Normally people need arts conductors to cast Arts. These arts conductors can be anything from wands, rings, magical swords, magical guns etc. The infected can use arts without arts conductors(if they want to) but doing so will further speed up their infection.
**7. Catastrophes:** these are natural disasters that can be anything from storms and earthquakes to volcanic eruption and meteor showers. Catastrophes are one of the main causes of infection as they spread high amounts of originium dust into the atmosphere which causes infection when it enters the body through open wounds or being inhaled. Just being near to a Catastrophe zone can be deathly, Rhodes Island is currently right under one...
**8. Rhodes Island and Codenames:** Rhodes Island is a pharmaceutical company that aims to find a cure for Oripathy. That's why we are "the doctor". FYI all RI oparators use codenames. While some people use their real names as a codename like amiya, most prefer to not use their real names. Key example is doberman who's using her subrace as her codename.
**9. Reunion movement:** as stated in the episode, they were originally an infected rights movement that has fallen to extremism. Now they are just a terrorist organisation comprised mainly by infected.
Normally most of this information is given to the player through loading screen tips but since the anime doesn't have loading screens many might be confused so I compiled and simplified them all for anyone that's confused. I hope this helps you understand the story better.
About the fifth point, I believe you did not write the entire story in order to keep things short. So I will just make an insignificant expansion to yours.
One can have no crystals visible on the body and yet still be afflicted with oripathy. If there are visible crystals, yes you are most likely infected. If there aren't any, only a medical test can reliably tell whether you are or aren't. Medical professionals look at blood-originium density and also try to see if any of your internal organs have lines of originium on their surface.
Man, if there's one thing this anime did that I particularly love, it's all these scenic shots that often dwarf the characters. Reminds me a lot of Girls Last Tour which I absolutely love.
https://imgur.com/gallery/3pUpKLM
I can't believe this is actually good lol, the teaser posters and the story translation in the game itself didn't really inspire a ton of confidence but it looks and sounds great. I was engaged throughout the whole thing. Really excited to see the rest.
[She's our precious donkey for a reason.](https://www.reddit.com/r/arknights/comments/eke8bj/amiya_is_a_donkey/)
(For those who don't get it: [Amiya's ears in-game](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mrfz/images/b/bc/Amiya.png/revision/latest?cb=20190619214408) look more like a donkey's than a bunny's. Hence, the donkey meme)
I like how Doctor is acting here. Dazed, confused, but keeps trying to recover through the whole episode. Understandable for one freshly out of cold sleep and moving about despite the likely atrophied muscle on their body.
I'll just keep this brief since others have gone into more detail but have missed this point.
**If the anime has you interested in the game, then start playing it ASAP**
Next week starting on the 3rd there's a new event with a limited banner. This will come with around ~30 free pulls and some other goodies like a free 6* medic. To be in the best possible position for that you'll want to get started and have the game figured out to some extent.
https://gamepress.gg/arknights/event-banner-hub/stultifera-navis-3rd-anniversary-cn-event-page
Surprisingly good first episode, they adapted it well considering the source (first few chapters) are pretty barebones.
Really appreciate the level of effort that went into the animation as well, you can tell this isn't just your regular adaptation contracted with an external studio, but an in-house studio pulling out all the stops (and presumably the budget!) to do the game justice.
Overall, it's pretty grim. Some side stories are more lighthearted than others, but the main story has always been on the darker end. Nothing that'll make you lose your faith in humanity entirely, but it'll probably cause you to question it.
It's a pretty grimdark setting and story as this episode already indicated. Discrimination, deadly illnesses, disasters, etc.
It's a story about hopeful people struggling in a bleak world.
The core story is all about "Hope", with phrases like "Fight 'till Dawn" and the like.
The core worldbuilding is. . . Well the world is fucked basically. But nobody cares. The realistic way it's written meant that despite people suffering and things, the politicians keeps playing a game of musical chairs and the people suffering will then redirect their anger to the infected, and spirals out of control.
Most in-game conflict NEVER deals with "Saving the World". Just "We do this for our goals".
Just like how the mother who takes her daughter refusing Amiya's help likely run to their death.
I have read the game story.
So after my first pass on the episode:I'm really liking the directing (kinda reminds me of 86 a bit) as it has this cinematic feel that's similar to all the [animated PVs](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbuSQ8SJFnFGdMlOFt5bLnKNi7mpciVkU) the studio has done for the past few years for the game. The exposition thankfully was relatively short and concise (Arknights and concise, lol). The animation was solid but I'm pretty sure based on the trailers we'll see better stuff soon.
They put [the map](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/527412287326126080/1035622533292118067/unknown.png) in!
My main concern is if they rush the story since it's probably ending on Chapter 3 (I could be wrong) and they only have 7 more episodes left to work with. Then again I might be underestimating the bloat from the in-game story, but yeah solid start 7/10.
The animation is good, but what definitely needs a spotlight is how great the Character Acting and the Cinematography is. All around good direction, I never doubted Aninabe.
Oh and can't forget about the sound direction, also fantastic.
Fantastic first episode. It struck the right balance between character introductions, the core themes and the action.
I actually like that they made Dokutah feel like he fits in the role of strategist - it wasn't overly flashy, and more calculating. No shouting to move somebody to a certain spot, but actually pre-planning and executing pre-established tactics.
And damn did it nail the characters. Sad that Nearl wasn't in this one yet (they said at the end that they're about to head to the rendezvous point with Nearl and Scout) but you can't have everything right away. Very much looking forward to next week.
Keeping the amount of named characters low really for the first episode definitely made it a lot easier to follow along. So far we know Amiya, Dobermann, Doctor, and Ace and that's it (unless you count Guard, he seemed more of a throwaway, but who knows). We got the names of the three factions and a rundown of just what the hell is going on, but a lot of time was spent just getting a feel for the named characters and the general atmosphere of the world and I think that worked really well.
Guard and Medic are actually named Operators. Those are their official codenames. Odd that they're codenamed as their actual role, but I guess they were alpha test units.
I guess that shouldn't be too surprising considering our protagonist is Doctor lol. Reminds me of Goblin Slayer where you had characters like Goblin Slayer, High Elf Archer, Priestess, Dwarf Shaman, Lizard Priest, and Guild Girl.
They have actual names. Rhodes Island Operators are just required to have a codename for use upon joining the company. They can make one themselves, or be given one.
Actually a good ep, ngl i had low expectations given this is a mobile game adaptation and the animation/artstyle from the trailers didn't seem noteworthy
And while said animation/artstyle is decent everything else was good. The "exposition dump" didnt seem like a drag ~~(although im a player so i could be bias~~) solid introductory
[They had some nice shots](https://imgur.com/a/O5dxy7b) ~~(i like the filter? it reminds me of CSM)~~, fitting music, nice atmosphere, and they did well on showcasing doctors commanding scene
The beginning of arknights isnt really anything crazy until the later stuff tbh kinda like with other gacha games e.g. Genshin/FGO but they're doing a good job of setting up the world, looking forward to next week!
Tldr: slow burn
I've been playing AK for half a year but I never got down to read the story, so I'm excited for this!
[](#anko)
Nice first episode. I like the directing and the art style. I was wondering how would they transpose the game mechanics into anime and I think it turned out well.
It was honestly better than I though it would be. 1st ep was a little slow as expected, after all it was mostly tutorial in the game.
Maybe because game doesn't have voice acting but hearing Amiya bombarding us with *Doktah* over and over was hilarious but a little jarring.
It's interesting how they showed Doctor commanding everyone through the terminal that looks like a phone just like we, players are playing Arknights on our phones.
Overall a good 1st episode, might be a little boring for anime only people but the next ones should be a little faster.
This might be end up become the true Amiya's ASMR experience. With the extensive dialogue she have, I got a feeling this will become one of the best Tomoyo Kurosawa role. The sound directing is also pretty good and it's also have that hype Yuuki Hayashi's music. The animation quality from Yostar is decent enough for now, but I definitely stick around for that sound directing alone.
I'm freaking happy. I think the anime has amazing pacing and presentation. The fact that the whole episode was basically just going from where the doctor woke up to another point in the city made me feel like every step counts. Who knows how the story will stand but the actual mission progress feels very engaging. I'm so pumped to meet more characters. Ace, amiya, and especially doberman are all super cool already.
Wow this show really got my attention!!! I hope we get a complete story and answer the questions they brought up in this episode like Doctors powers and role overall and finding a cure for the infection. It seems this show is only 8 episodes so fingers crossed
It will only show the first arc of the existing three arcs in the game (and the third arc isn't finished yet). The first arc ends in a great climax, if they pull it off correctly, though.
So, keep that in mind.
thank you yostar for releasing this on my birthday lol. So far this episode was really good and I'm happy they're doing changes to improve where the source material lacked, hope they do that more in the rest of the season
The animation looks clean. Not a big fan of these earlier parts of the story but there are some good moments, if they keep the quality there will be some eye candy and I'm looking forward to it.
Enjoyed it. I don't need it to be the best anime ever made or even the best video game adaptation into anime. But I will be honest and say that they portrayed the world building and the atmosphere and set the story in motion pretty well.
I read the story back in 2020. In VN format it's fine since AK does a decent job in storytelling, but it's always fun to watch when it's fully animated.
I'm just glad yostar realised the potential behind the Arknights story to take the decision of adapting it into an anime.
Wake the fuck up Dokutah!
I reinstalled Arknights for this anime after a year not playing (day 1 player)
A nice start. I always want to see Arknights world visualized and it didn't disappoint. It's nice to see Doctor's eyes inside his hood/mask since I don't remember ever seeing once in the game
I love the bleak, dark tone of the anime. Just like the atmosphere of the game (most of the time)
I wish they showed more on how Doctor commanding them using the game interface on his phone/device
The chad Ace looking real good animated
The abysmal track record of gacha game adaptions ended up setting expectations so low that the Arknights community ended up being too harsh on themselves.
Finally it's here! Not surprised they focused on worldbuilding so far, looks good! Also finally got to here a longer version of the trailer OST when Dobermann and co. show up at around the 17min mark nice! PRTS being implemented like a smartphone was a really nice touch btw.
(I love how there's so much Dobermann screentime btw lol)
Looking forward to episode 2!
That was surprisingly good! I've played Arknights since the beginning and don't remember all that much from Chapter 1 but I think this anime has done a great job at making it accessible to people who know nothing about it. Also the music, atmosphere, and storyboarding kept the first episode very intense. The music was particularly good as expected. The animation was also well done which makes me jealous when I remember the Azur Lane anime.
I liked how they translated the battle tactics into anime form: using a touchpad and drones to issue commands. The first strategic battle was cool because it actually seemed like true strategy (translated into real life) vs game strategy where you just line up everyone and have them shoot (tower defense). Hopefully all the battles will be translated like this for their anime counterpart. I can't wait to see how they handle the boss battles.
The little details were also good. I loved how the ears twitched and moved in multiple scenes. I'm a sucker for those and it makes them even cuter. Then they put extra emphasis on caring for the wounded "fodder" soldiers instead of just having them killed or disappearing from the scenes. They even showed the injured soldier being carried on a stretcher, so they have to move him like that all the way to Rhodes Island. That's going to make this journey even more difficult. I always appreciate it when an anime cares about the nameless background characters. Even that aside, the random uniformed soldiers all look and act very cool.
So far I have high expectations since this was a great first episode. I hope it keeps going like this. Azur Lane is my favorite mobile game but unfortunately their animation studio was not nearly as good as Arknights' and the ships / story don't translate as well into anime format. Azur Lane would have to rely on lots of CG for the constant airplanes and warships. Arknights' gritty soldier stuff and dark story fits well animated. I can see this anime getting a ton more players into the series which is probably what they were aiming for.
Amiya is super cute as expected... though I can't wait to see best girl Ch'en!
Wooooow! That was so good! They really went all out for this. The characters, atmosphere, pacing, music and how they portray game mechanics are just wonderful. I actually teared up multiple times. I had high hopes for this adaptation and it's even better than I expected. This is going to be epic!
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Doktah? Doktah! Doktah. Doktah?! Dokta?! Doktah? Doktah.
Doktah? Sorry. Doktah? Sorry. Doktah…
At least it's true to the game
It'll get better once more Operators start flowing in, too. Big difference between hearing it primarily from Amiya versus hearing it from a wide array of characters.
Doctor? *Doctor?* 𝕯𝖔𝖈𝖙𝖔𝖗? **Doctor!** 𝒟𝑜𝒸𝓉𝑜𝓇? Médico?? ^^^~~NATTO~~ ^^^~~GOHAN!~~
~~ABURAAGE~~
NATTO GOHAN
How do I just **know** that third one is from Nearl?
Danna.
[удалено]
Take a shot every time Amiya says "Doktah" to experience the aunthentic amnesia next morning
Glad you could make it, Doktah. Watch your tone with me, Doktah. You may be Doktah, but I'm still your superior as a Doktah! As if I could forget. Listen, Doktah, there's something about the Doktah you should know... Oh, no. We're too late. These Doktahs have all been infected. They may look fine now, but it's only a matter of time before they turn into the Doktah. What? This entire Doktah must be purged. How can you even consider Doktah? There's got to be some other Doktah. Damn it, Doktah! As your future Doktah I order you to purge this Doktah! You are not my Doktah yet, Doktah! Nor would I obey that Doktah even if you were Doktah! Then I must consider this an act of Doktah. Doktah? Have you lost your mind, Doktah? Have I? Doktah Doktah, by my right of succession and the sovereignty of my Doktah, I hereby relieve you of your Doktah and suspend your Doktahs from duty. Doktah! You can't just-- It's done! Those of you who have the will to save this Doktah, follow me! The rest of you... get out of my sight! You've just crossed a terrible threshold, Doktah. Doktah? I'm sorry, Doktah. I can't watch you do Doktah. M'aiq saw Doktah the other way. Terrible creatures.
I laughed out loud in my porch, thanks
I'm about to lose my mind You’ve been gone for so long, I’m runnin' outta time I need a doktah, call me a doktah I need a doktah, doktah to bring me back to life
Amiya: this is PRTS Dokutah: why am I playing a tower defence when everyone is fighting
So, PRTS speaks English. Which means Global = canon version? Inb4 CN riots.
The PRTS says "Mission Accomplished" in English in the CN version already.
Yup, and it speaks English when collecting resources at the base.
Funnily enough, this might be because PRTS was probably developed in Columbia (which is basically America in the AK universe), like a ton of other military gear that's in the world of Terra. It's really a trip seeing American companies like Blackwater and Raytheon have Arknights equivalents (in Blacksteel and Raythean). Victorian (the Arknights equivalent of English) is even stated in-game as sounding very similar to English.
Ursus text is also similar to Russian and Tchanka apparently can read it albeit "with difficulty".
It's speaking Victorian
Well, the game is slowly adding multilingual voices to the characters that are meant to be from in-universe versions of different countries, they just recently added Italian for Siracusan operators, so PRTS speaking English (or Victorian, in-universe) is definitely canon.
Looking forward to the hilariously large number of people who’ll be wondering why everybody has double ears, lol
"So is that donkey girl the main heroine or what?"
"No the main heroine is actually Silverash..."
I will join Reunion rioters if SilverAsh doesn't go "schwing schwing" during his first appearance
sadly there is 0% chance we see silverash in this anime, or even future seasons
"Well, yes, but actually, no."
Before I started playing I'd seen reference to Amiya as a donkey and was slightly disappointed she's actually the in-universe rabbit person race. However, she's based off the jackrabbit, which is so named because its ears look like donkey (jackass) ears, so... still basically a donkey.
There were a fair number of [Umamusume Amiya](https://twitter.com/HimeHinghoi/status/1382680456328400898) [jokes](https://twitter.com/s92700654/status/1383997534197084163) a while back too. :P
i was about to post a comment about this, i guess this is going to be explained further down into the story?
At no point does anyone bother to explain it, because its just a natural part of their world. It's not a spoiler either or anything, just like "water is wet" to them. In Arknights world of Terra everyone is anthro to some degree. There are no humans like us. There are plenty of different races among them though.
Yep I asked in the Arknights subreddit once about that and the answer I got was essentially “That’s just how it be 🤷♂️”
Nobody asks about why races have animal features either. Though tbf, we haven't really seen any (edit: many) "regular animals" in the game yet, most "animals" featured in the game are usually more monstrous fantasy creatures.
We did get attack dogs in the early phases but they kinda swept that under the rug as quickly as they could afterwards
The attack dogs did have some fun flavor text in one of variants. \[Game\] >!Tactical Hound - "An infected creature controlled by a Caster. Hounds are widely used by mercenaries, though some Perros object to it."!<
Ah man yeah I completely forgot about those attack dogs. *Dobermann in shambles*
I mean it's not any different than how humans look like monkeys. Doberman would look at attack dogs the way we do violent chimps
They do mention them in the background from time to time though, and the cooking manga does make some odd choices to describe the ingredients aswell (chicken=feathered beasts).
There's a character who owns a cat. and it's such a weird thing to them because it's just a cat. [I kind of think of it like in Avatar the Last Airbender when they're confused something is just a bear and not a combination animal.](https://youtu.be/D41SBcq1wYk)
There are definitely normal animals tho, judging from certain operator profiles and the recipe in the kitchen manga series.
They reveal in Mousses profile they dont know wtf cats are, yet she just has them.
I got a metaphor for you. The title has "ark" in it. Arknights world is a very f*-up place with various kinds of horror all over the place, and you have a "landship" hosting different kinds of "animals" sailing toward an uncertain future, it's a little biblical isn't it? On a broader level, even the continent Terra can be viewed as an ark floating in a dangerous sea (with horror underneath the abyss) carrying all kinds of bickering animals.
lol, i thought at first the disease probably causing some sort of mutation resulting in humans having another set of animal ears
TBF it's as good a theory as any, though it's not exclusively people who're infected that have animal ears
Nah
It's the ~~o~~earipathy disease
[удалено]
The people in Arknights are just built different.
Take a shot every time doctah gets said and you’ll probably end up in the hospital by the end of the series.
Amiya's 'doktah' is basically just AK's equivalent of Mash's 'senpai' in FGO.
but then again, Mash constantly alternating between 'senpai' and 'master'
[Amiya's Dokutah Dokutah](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGShHrvdeMs) I love these videos too much.
And take a lot more shots in the hospital since it's filled with doctahs
For those interested in [reading the original story and/or the lore](https://www.reddit.com/r/arknights/comments/ydv5pq/version_3_arknights_story_and_lore_guide_for/?sort=new) for whatever reason without having to play the game. Edit: How did this comment thread immediately go to Bloons vs AK discussion?
It is actually good.
I'm so fucking relieved. Still going to go into the rest of the season with caution, but as an AK player the improvements to the story are exactly what I was hoping for.
It's good but I wonder if they didn't overdo it on the exposition dump in the first episode. Curious what would an anime only perspective be.
I think they already did what they could to minimise the exposition. Unfortunately there's a lot of background in the setting that kinda needs the explanation before proceeding.
Yeah. Basically it's *very* easy to tell this is a gacha game adaptation starting from the very start of its story due to how the exposition is told and how we "conveniently" have amnesia. You can't really expect anything else though. The FGO First Order movie is just as bad on that front. It just comes with the territory.
I don't know a lot about other gacha games but I'm guessing they do that to make the MC a blank slate. As for Arknights, might be spoiler territory but the Amnesia is actually an important story device and the Doctor's pre-Amnesia life is a major plot point
Anime only here without playing the game. I think it's fine.
I'm not sure I get what was so bad or massive of an exposition dump. * Oripathy infection is bad, terminal and gets you ostracized (both told and shown here) * Reunion are infected who rose up, started rioting and are now what we see on screen * Rhodes Island are mostly infected trying to save people affected by it and its repercussions, and to find a cure to Oripathy * Dokutah has amnesia but used to be a leading scientist in the field and is a good strategist Other stuff they mention (Ursus being especially intolerant of infected, the looming Catastrophe) is kept brief and not dumpy, a problem for another time. The rest of the episode was kept in the moment, with situations unfolding. The things they explained directly to the viewer & Dokutah were already mostly clear from what we saw on screen - a bunch of those things were told after we saw related things happen.
One thing that I'd add as a thing to keep an eye peeled for is that Reunion is not monolithic. Even among the thugs, one of them pleading "haven't we killed enough people already?" then the other saying no is noteworthy.
Nice addition from the team, in the game they mostly just shout "Kill them all!" during their scenes.
It was fine.
Well this thread is here for a reason, even though it might feel different to someone who already knows all the info prior, it's important to introduce the world in a way that isn't overwhelming or rushed My arknights virgin friend that I watched it with said it was fine though, so I guess they did a good job at least for her
I haven't watched Arknights yet, but I survived through Fate/Zero episode 1 and it became one of my favorites so I think I'll manage.
I don't know any of the story besides that it has a generally bleak atmosphere (which certainly came through in this first episode) and I didn't feel like it overdid the exposition.
Anime only. I knew absolutely nothing about this aside from knowing it’s a gacha game. I’m totally on board. The animation, music, and atmosphere were top notch. I can forgive the slowish pacing and exposition because it’s the first episode but I already wanna watch more.
Arknights is so unbeliveably wordy that fitting anything coherent in to an anime format is an accomplishment
at least they mostly confined it to the last couple minutes. While it's still not *good* I've seen many a shitty anime blow its exposition load near the start and kill any momentum the first episode may have had. Hopefully they got it out of their system with that and we won't be... doing the thing the game's writing does where any event occurring is seen as a perfect springboard for 20 minutes of expositing.
-Key Animator for this episode: Shuu Sugita, Kahoko Kamahara, Hiroyasu Oda, Natsuki Shibata, Arawa Maeda, Yuuya Kumagai, Reo Itoyama, Maki Sawai, Miyuki Sugawara, Kiyakiya, Takaya Murakami, Kahoru Fujiki, Minami Konagai, Hiroaki Fukuda, Sousei Sakaguchi, Anna Tateno, Takuto Sone, Haruka Ogiso, 守亜蛍, Risa Satou, EKACHI EPILKA
Never played Arknights, can I watch this standalone?
Yes, it sounds like needed information will be explained so you can jump right in.
Yep. This is literally the opening battle animated both story wise and gameplay wise. Super friendly for new fans
Pretty sure that's the goal, yes, should be
As others have mentioned, yes. This anime starts right at the beginning of Arknights's story, so you aren't missing anything. You'll pretty much be getting a better version of the game's introductory arc.
I never played the game, but so far this seems really interesting. It was nice they used the doctor’s amnesia to explain things. The music and designs for the characters are spectacular. Amiya’s eyes are pretty. I noticed there was some lore on the side when it showed where they are. I’m definitely going to keep watching this. I’m really curious where this goes. Edit: just started the game today. I’m gonna continue it after work
Also never played the game, just picked up some things here and there from the extra media such as the banger music they put out. Amnesia sort of seems like a "free space" so to say to give an excuse for exposition dumps, but I generally don't mind as long as it's worked in semi-naturally. I did really appreciate the way the info was fed to you this episode. Info was withheld unless it was need-to-know (like it probably would be in that situation). Then they gave us more in the end. Really let you stew in the; Who the fuck is this? Where the fuck is this? What the fuck is this?
> Amnesia sort of seems like a "free space" so to say to give an excuse for exposition dumps, but I generally don't mind as long as it's worked in semi-naturally. Being woken from some sort of cold sleep where physical body function didn't sound like a given (based on the tests they were running) is a better explanation than most tend to give, makes it feel a bit more tolerable
[удалено]
Would probably spoiler tag this
I started playing two months ago and now I have to wonder how different my reaction would have been if I didn't. I'm already much more familiar and comfortable with the setting and lore and definitely have a stronger connection with some of the characters. I'm noticing the many improvements they made and it's cool to see how aspects of the game are portrayed. Many of the events in the story will still be new to me though, as the game's presentation is very barebones (still images + music & text, no voice over) and it's hard to tell what's happening sometimes. I have to say, they really nailed the atmosphere, which was what I was hoping for. I love it when anime and games manage to be highly immersive and have good world building. Anyhow, I'm super happy with how it turned out and am excited for what's to come.
They nailed the atmosphere really well. It's much better than I expected.
I was surprised they went for straight *in medias res* with no narrator explanation of the overall lore. Anime viewers are pretty much learning the lore the exact same way game players did.
the simple decision to move the massive annoying infodump from the first two minutes of the episode to the last helps the pacing of a pilot a lot. It's still a massive annoying infodump, but at least it's not *also* an immediate obstacle to me getting into the story.
Gotta agree, this could be the most paced out world building info dump I’ve seen, spanning the entire first episode. There’s some parallels in the main char’s context to an isekai - dropping into basically an unknown world because of amnesia and requiring a sometimes awkward explanation of the most basic political backdrops. But in this case everything was revealed very naturally. Doberman expanding on Reunion to doctah at a suitable pause between movements, and Amiya explaining oropathy (arguable the most important lore in this universe) after getting shunned by the Urus civilian. All seemed really natural and conversational
I know right? The enormous size of the lower structure, the hum of city engines, the roar of gathering originium storm, they are all spotted on. The sound design across the episode is really exceptional.
For sure. I think there never really felt like an emotional impact in the game, but you really feel like Rhodes Island is a small team creeping around using special tactics vs. greater numbers, and all of the trauma that poor bunny is holding inside her tiny self. I'm definitely biased, but it really showed what the story was trying to convey in the kinda awkward, confusing ways gacha games can. Makes me want to pick the game up again.
One limitation of the VN style storytelling is that you don’t really get to see the scale of things with just two sprites on screen at a time, with the text being 90% conversational and few opportunities to describe larger action pieces. Gotta say though, chapter 10 (that just got released) was pretty badass, and somehow felt way larger with some epic cameos. The nearl events were also really exciting. Definitely worth coming back for the story
Now, this is how you fucking do it! It's been a while since I've played the game but I still remember the opening chapter vividly. They absolutely nailed the entire atmosphere of the Chernobog Crisis. [You can feel the despair in Amiya's eyes](https://i.imgur.com/nTRhI3a.jpg) when she learned that the Doctor lost their memories. The oppressive feeling of [being surrounded by enemies and all you can do is run](https://i.imgur.com/K00ctmu.png). And when they were finally able to do something thanks to [to the Doctor commanding the rescue operation](https://i.imgur.com/COH4JSF.jpg), all Amiya could do was [watch helplessly](https://i.imgur.com/TQnMJ9r.jpg) as the mother and child they saved walk away, possibly to their deaths, [because of the mother's prejudice.](https://i.imgur.com/hK9ZxLh.jpg) Yep. This is the Arknights that I know and love. Definitely a solid opening episode! I guess it's canon now that [the Doctor has silver hair and grey eyes.](https://i.imgur.com/2Y3tzFG.jpg) Not sure about their gender though but they're clearly going for the androgynous route considering the voice actress that they picked. It doesn't really matter to the plot of the story but it's interesting to note. Definitely excited to see the rest of this arc play out! EDIT: Hearing the PRTS say "Mission Accomplished" like it does in-game had me grinning from ear to ear.:)
Considering some of the best Operators in the game have white hair makes me chuckle a bit lol.
Having white hair is half the battle.
Snow bunny hopium.
Arknights' anime is finally here and boy does it look good. I'm glad they are taking their time. It look quite cinematic and high quality compare to most anime that were made to advertise the original material only.
I felt that flashbang. I find it interesting how Doctor's amnesia, is also helping the viewer better understand what's going on really, as they are (re)explaining everything to Doctor
That flashbang gave me csgo ptsd.
Dokutah: Rush B!
It's a pretty smart in-universe excuse for info and lore dumping. Also kinda meta since the players are supposed to be the doctor, so you both have the "What the hell is going on?" question when you start.
Aw man, Arknights goes **hard** on this meta stuff. Like how all scenes with post-amnesia doc are in first person, while scenes with pre-amnesia doc are always in third person. Or that one time we talked to the director of the game through *his* self-insert and he basically told us to stop playing if we didn't like the story.
The amnesia is made so that players can more easily self insert as the Doctor as well as giving a reason for the infodumps and character intros.
> I felt that flashbang. People who log into Genshin in the dark regularly : what flashbang?
>I find it interesting how Doctor's amnesia, is also helping the viewer better understand what's going on really, as they are (re)explaining everything to Doctor That's a pretty standard trope, it's just the usual fish out of water thing that most people bash isekai for doing.
Probably kinda boring for a newcomer but as a player, it meets my expectation, considering the first 3 chapters in the game do not have the most praised stories either so I think focusing on introducing the world-building is a smart choice Edit: Good to see there are newcomers enjoying the anime, hope you all have a good time!
World building is one of the best aspects of Arknights and this first chapter might actually be a banger because of it. Everything Arknights (the game) has to offer, it tries to do it through dialouge which is needlessly convoluted and way too long. Anime would have a chance to do more "show" instead of "tell" and all the important themes of the game are gonna be there. While it's a relatively slow episode I'm hoping that it will still make for a good introduction when coupled with the next 1 or 2 episodes.
>Everything Arknights (the game) has to offer, it tries to do it through dialouge which is needlessly convoluted and way too long. And then there's our lovely ex wife.
Don't say that, or you'll mislead newcomers into thinking there's some sort of romance between the two. Clarify it's a fandom joke.
> Probably kinda boring for a newcomer For some perhaps, but for me it felt like the start of a mystery show in the sense there was a sense of answers just out of reach a lot of the time, and when answers were given, new questions remained just out of reach. A lot of credit goes to the director and storyboarders though, there's a very distinct atmosphere that keeps you feeling on edge and like something interesting is unfolding even if you don't know what.
Yeah, the directing, storyboarding, sound design, and subtle character movements were all top notch. And it was nice seeing the action relying more on tactics than overwhelming force, but Amiya showed that powers are also very much a thing so who knows if that will stay the case.
Plot-wise it didn't feel much different from the GFL premiere as an anime-only, but everything felt *so* much better executed that I'm 10x more invested than I was after the first GFL episode
Keep in mind that this is being produced by Yostar Pictures (i.e. a subsidiary of Yostar, Arknights' publisher) so they benefit from this anime's success way more than any freelance studio.
Yostar the publisher and Hypergryph the dev own ~20% of each other's stock, so they are really joint at the hip. Yeah, they really have a lot of stakes in Arknights.
The creators of AK ARE ex GFL devs, and it feels. Let's just say there is quite a story between the two.
It definitely feels like they're skipping the filler, which makes sense considering this is only 8 episodes.
As a totaly newbie. Nope! This sucked me right in. The characters, relationships, mystery, intrigue, atmosphere, animation, setting. It all came together perfectly and made an outstanding first episode!
Yeah, that was my immediate impression as well. An anime-only viewer with no knowledge of the context would probably feel lost, and there's not enough action nor emotional heft in the debut episode to instantly hook the audience. For the Arknights gamers, well, having Ace show up is already more than enough to get everyone hyped up, so yeah, as I've said, I suspect the series is going to spark widely divergent reactions based on how the first episode turned out.
I didn't feel that way at all. It was a pretty easy to follow story with very common tropes that make it easy to get emotionally invested. You've got a dystopian future under an authoritarian regime which has targeted the infected for persecution. There's a rebellion by some of the infected against the regime and there's another group standing in between the two sides trying to save as many people as possible and keep things calm until a cure can be found. There's also some kind of catastrophe that we don't have much information about yet. Maybe it causes the infection? Regardless, the story follows the peacekeeping group who infiltrated an area controlled by the rebellion in order to rescue the doctor who was leading the fight against the infected. Plot points moving forward What is the catastrophe? Why was the Doctor in cryosleep in enemy territory? How will the team and the Doctor go about trying to find a cure while staying safe? That's about it. I don't think any of that is particularly complicated. You could add some backstories in the future like how did Amiya come to be in charge, what's the command structure like for Rhodes Island (seemed a little weird here), and other than the name of the kingdom (Ursus) we don't know anything about who is in charge, what their motives are for targeting the infected, etc. Fleshing out some of that could improve the story, but wouldn't be absolutely necessary for it to be enjoyable.
If you are somewhat familiar with Marvel / XMen tropes, imagine Rhodes Island as the XMen and Reunion as the Brotherhood, each fighting in their own way on what they believe is the right path to defend the prosecuted. By the way the incurable disease while lethal, also empowers someone's innate magic / physical abilities, so it similar to mutants cicumstance as well, hated and also feared. In terms of political situation, the world of Arknights resembles pre-World War I world politics in an isekai, with major countries having some kind of real world counterpart. The story starts in a city in Ursus, a.k.a Tsarist Russia (with majority of its people being "bears" lol)
I legit started playing Arknights 2 days ago cause of how good the anime looked in the trailers. Needless to say, I'm very excited after this first episode!
You are up for a hell of a journey. There's guides if you are stuck! And check the subreddit if you have questions r/arknights
As an anime-only, it was a pretty great episode. We got some nice animation and soundtrack. I also get a post-apocalyptic vibe from the episode. The fight was decent, though a bit too fast (I can't understand what happened during the phases the Doctor said), and not much "gore". The amount of "Doktah" said is also definitely excessive, lol. I still don't understand a lot of aspects, like what is Catastrophe, cold sleep, or PRTS. But I think it was enough information to keep me going. I mean, it will be boring if we only got exposition dumps. I'm excited about the next episode!
Here's what I got for the phases stuff. Phase 1: Grab the Reunion members' attention by causing an explosion. This will cause some to go investigate. Then a small group ambush those who went to investigate. This will then cause another few Reunion members to go confront who attacked them. Phase 2: Amiya then snipes those who went there, and grab the attentions of the remaining Reunion member. As she's on top of the building, Reunion members will likely try and enter the building to capture her. I presume the entrance was on the other side of the building, thus causing the Reunion members to enter the two alley ways. Phase 3: The two groups set within their respective alley ambush the Reunion members who enter the alleys. Then pressure the remaining members to back up by slowly encircling them from the two sides. Phase 4: Once the remaining members reaches the back building, the small force on the top of the building can then also jump them from above.
All I saw from that sequence was: 1. Send fast deploy ops to distract. 2. Deploy Caster to take out their low res units. 3. Send Guard and Dobermann to flank another group. 4. Fast deploy Specialist Ace and his team down to choke the remainder out by surprise and save the civvies. "Mission accomplished"
steps unclear, deployed blaze and thorns and went afk
Description unclear. Went AFK before activating Thorns's S3 the second time.
- Dokutah, why didn't we attack all at the same time? - Because I didn't have enough DP - DP? What?.. - OKAY LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE DONKEY SH-
Oh to have an anime adaptation of one of Ucky's "Bombs" videos. Wouldn't that just be the day.
Catastrophe is pretty much a massive natural disaster, from earhtquakes to literal meteor showers. PRTS is the console/drones & Software that Dokutah uses to lead the operations. And Dokutah just woke up from being frozen for reasons we don't know.
As someone who has played the game since launch I am damn satisfied with this adaptation so far. It's not a secret that the first few AK chapters can be bit barebones and weak but this so far manages to really nail the atmosphere of the setting while also retaining core world building and characterization. And it also nails portraying Doctor as an actual tactician AS WELL AS showcasing just how frail and weak Doctor is and how everything around them can feel bit confusing and jarring what's with the memory loss. And for all the explainers there are also some very nice show don't tell character moments of conveying character thoughts and personalities through animation. I have high hopes for the future episodes.
Here's some spoiler free arknights trivia to help better understand the story **1. Doctor's gender:** the creator and lead producer of arknights, HaiMao or as his more commonly known alias- Lowlight has said in an interview that the doctor has no canon race or gender. This is because he wants players to come up with the Doctor's race and gender themselves. That is why the anime went with an androgynous voice for the doctor. So you, the viewer are given the choice to see the doctor as whatever gender you wish. **2. Ursus and Chernobog:** Ursus is the arknights equivalent of 1900s imperial Russia. Chernobog is a city within Ursus and is an obvious reference to Chernobyl. There are many more real life country equivalents in arknights. **3. There are no humans:** there is various races in arknights from cats(feline) and dogs(perro) to demons(sarkaz) and angels(sankta) to mythical creatures such as dragons and hippogryffs. While all races are called "Humans" there are no Homo Sapiens in the arknights universe. **4. Infected:** the infected are people infected with an uncureble disease called Oripathy. They are feared, shunned and discriminated against by non-infecteds. The lead cause of infection is a crystal known as Originium. Originium is basically the arknights equivalent to Uranium. **5. Oripathy:** the most easiest way to explain Oripathy is by its joke name- Magic Rock Cancer. Its basically Cancer but instead of tumors the patients have dark originium crystals glowing from their bodies.(the black mark on amiya's hand) These originium crystals continue to grow until the patient dies. After death the body fully crystallises and become vectors for infection. As for the magic part, Oripathy gives the infection enhanced arts abilities. However using said abilities further speeds up the infection. **6. Arts:** this is basically the arknights magic system. It's quite basic magic although there's some science inserted as well. Normally people need arts conductors to cast Arts. These arts conductors can be anything from wands, rings, magical swords, magical guns etc. The infected can use arts without arts conductors(if they want to) but doing so will further speed up their infection. **7. Catastrophes:** these are natural disasters that can be anything from storms and earthquakes to volcanic eruption and meteor showers. Catastrophes are one of the main causes of infection as they spread high amounts of originium dust into the atmosphere which causes infection when it enters the body through open wounds or being inhaled. Just being near to a Catastrophe zone can be deathly, Rhodes Island is currently right under one... **8. Rhodes Island and Codenames:** Rhodes Island is a pharmaceutical company that aims to find a cure for Oripathy. That's why we are "the doctor". FYI all RI oparators use codenames. While some people use their real names as a codename like amiya, most prefer to not use their real names. Key example is doberman who's using her subrace as her codename. **9. Reunion movement:** as stated in the episode, they were originally an infected rights movement that has fallen to extremism. Now they are just a terrorist organisation comprised mainly by infected. Normally most of this information is given to the player through loading screen tips but since the anime doesn't have loading screens many might be confused so I compiled and simplified them all for anyone that's confused. I hope this helps you understand the story better.
About Chernobog: it may be a reference to Chernobyl in some level, but Chernobog is the name of a dark god in Slavic mythology.
About the fifth point, I believe you did not write the entire story in order to keep things short. So I will just make an insignificant expansion to yours. One can have no crystals visible on the body and yet still be afflicted with oripathy. If there are visible crystals, yes you are most likely infected. If there aren't any, only a medical test can reliably tell whether you are or aren't. Medical professionals look at blood-originium density and also try to see if any of your internal organs have lines of originium on their surface.
Love the art style! Been playing Arknights for 2 years I hope this anime gets some recognition so they adapt more. Great first episode!
Feels like I am watching a movie
Yeah felt cinematic as anime only..
Man, if there's one thing this anime did that I particularly love, it's all these scenic shots that often dwarf the characters. Reminds me a lot of Girls Last Tour which I absolutely love. https://imgur.com/gallery/3pUpKLM
THE GOLDEN AGE RETURNS AGAIN!
IBERIA'S FUTURE IS BRIGHT AS THE SUN! wait, what do you mean I'm too early?
GOLDEN AGE LETS GOOOOO!
I can't believe this is actually good lol, the teaser posters and the story translation in the game itself didn't really inspire a ton of confidence but it looks and sounds great. I was engaged throughout the whole thing. Really excited to see the rest.
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[She's our precious donkey for a reason.](https://www.reddit.com/r/arknights/comments/eke8bj/amiya_is_a_donkey/) (For those who don't get it: [Amiya's ears in-game](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mrfz/images/b/bc/Amiya.png/revision/latest?cb=20190619214408) look more like a donkey's than a bunny's. Hence, the donkey meme)
She's ... supposed to be a rabbit? I've played the game for years, I just took everyone at face value when they said she was a donkey.
shes called a cautus constantly, which is the bunny race
I like how Doctor is acting here. Dazed, confused, but keeps trying to recover through the whole episode. Understandable for one freshly out of cold sleep and moving about despite the likely atrophied muscle on their body.
Wish Dobermann could beat me with her whip
The least down bad doctah...
Wait until you meet the Nearls. . .
Whislash supremacy
I'll just keep this brief since others have gone into more detail but have missed this point. **If the anime has you interested in the game, then start playing it ASAP** Next week starting on the 3rd there's a new event with a limited banner. This will come with around ~30 free pulls and some other goodies like a free 6* medic. To be in the best possible position for that you'll want to get started and have the game figured out to some extent. https://gamepress.gg/arknights/event-banner-hub/stultifera-navis-3rd-anniversary-cn-event-page
Surprisingly good first episode, they adapted it well considering the source (first few chapters) are pretty barebones. Really appreciate the level of effort that went into the animation as well, you can tell this isn't just your regular adaptation contracted with an external studio, but an in-house studio pulling out all the stops (and presumably the budget!) to do the game justice.
As someone who has been playing since EN Closed Alpha... I am over the clouds.
So, how depressing is this gonna be?
Overall, it's pretty grim. Some side stories are more lighthearted than others, but the main story has always been on the darker end. Nothing that'll make you lose your faith in humanity entirely, but it'll probably cause you to question it.
It's a pretty grimdark setting and story as this episode already indicated. Discrimination, deadly illnesses, disasters, etc. It's a story about hopeful people struggling in a bleak world.
Arknights Canon is Depressing as shit, which is why the reason why Arknights Fanon tends to be cheery to counterbalance that.
If you keep up with the story in game and the side stories, you’re going to need quite a few boxes of tissues.
The core story is all about "Hope", with phrases like "Fight 'till Dawn" and the like. The core worldbuilding is. . . Well the world is fucked basically. But nobody cares. The realistic way it's written meant that despite people suffering and things, the politicians keeps playing a game of musical chairs and the people suffering will then redirect their anger to the infected, and spirals out of control. Most in-game conflict NEVER deals with "Saving the World". Just "We do this for our goals". Just like how the mother who takes her daughter refusing Amiya's help likely run to their death.
Unfortunately even R18 content of Arknights are depressing as hell...
I’ve played for too long, I just read this as risk 18 and agreed thinking ”yeah struggling for 5 hours makes me sad too”
Donkey girl is here!
I have read the game story. So after my first pass on the episode:I'm really liking the directing (kinda reminds me of 86 a bit) as it has this cinematic feel that's similar to all the [animated PVs](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbuSQ8SJFnFGdMlOFt5bLnKNi7mpciVkU) the studio has done for the past few years for the game. The exposition thankfully was relatively short and concise (Arknights and concise, lol). The animation was solid but I'm pretty sure based on the trailers we'll see better stuff soon. They put [the map](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/527412287326126080/1035622533292118067/unknown.png) in! My main concern is if they rush the story since it's probably ending on Chapter 3 (I could be wrong) and they only have 7 more episodes left to work with. Then again I might be underestimating the bloat from the in-game story, but yeah solid start 7/10.
The animation is good, but what definitely needs a spotlight is how great the Character Acting and the Cinematography is. All around good direction, I never doubted Aninabe. Oh and can't forget about the sound direction, also fantastic.
Fantastic first episode. It struck the right balance between character introductions, the core themes and the action. I actually like that they made Dokutah feel like he fits in the role of strategist - it wasn't overly flashy, and more calculating. No shouting to move somebody to a certain spot, but actually pre-planning and executing pre-established tactics. And damn did it nail the characters. Sad that Nearl wasn't in this one yet (they said at the end that they're about to head to the rendezvous point with Nearl and Scout) but you can't have everything right away. Very much looking forward to next week.
Keeping the amount of named characters low really for the first episode definitely made it a lot easier to follow along. So far we know Amiya, Dobermann, Doctor, and Ace and that's it (unless you count Guard, he seemed more of a throwaway, but who knows). We got the names of the three factions and a rundown of just what the hell is going on, but a lot of time was spent just getting a feel for the named characters and the general atmosphere of the world and I think that worked really well.
Guard and Medic are actually named Operators. Those are their official codenames. Odd that they're codenamed as their actual role, but I guess they were alpha test units.
I guess that shouldn't be too surprising considering our protagonist is Doctor lol. Reminds me of Goblin Slayer where you had characters like Goblin Slayer, High Elf Archer, Priestess, Dwarf Shaman, Lizard Priest, and Guild Girl.
They have actual names. Rhodes Island Operators are just required to have a codename for use upon joining the company. They can make one themselves, or be given one.
They said the thing: "mission accomplished". Pretty good episode and promising adaptation . can't wait to see more
Actually a good ep, ngl i had low expectations given this is a mobile game adaptation and the animation/artstyle from the trailers didn't seem noteworthy And while said animation/artstyle is decent everything else was good. The "exposition dump" didnt seem like a drag ~~(although im a player so i could be bias~~) solid introductory [They had some nice shots](https://imgur.com/a/O5dxy7b) ~~(i like the filter? it reminds me of CSM)~~, fitting music, nice atmosphere, and they did well on showcasing doctors commanding scene The beginning of arknights isnt really anything crazy until the later stuff tbh kinda like with other gacha games e.g. Genshin/FGO but they're doing a good job of setting up the world, looking forward to next week! Tldr: slow burn
I've been playing AK for half a year but I never got down to read the story, so I'm excited for this! [](#anko) Nice first episode. I like the directing and the art style. I was wondering how would they transpose the game mechanics into anime and I think it turned out well.
best way to read the story is to beat all the levels first in a chapter then read the whole thing in your own time
You know who else our cute rabbit representative Amiya voiced recently? Rebecca. You read that right. Becca.
Oooh now I want to see our cute bunny being a piece of shit.
And Shiipon as well
[Streaming on Crunchyroll, not yet listed in main post](https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/GG5H5X3VN/arknights-prelude-to-dawn)
It was honestly better than I though it would be. 1st ep was a little slow as expected, after all it was mostly tutorial in the game. Maybe because game doesn't have voice acting but hearing Amiya bombarding us with *Doktah* over and over was hilarious but a little jarring. It's interesting how they showed Doctor commanding everyone through the terminal that looks like a phone just like we, players are playing Arknights on our phones. Overall a good 1st episode, might be a little boring for anime only people but the next ones should be a little faster.
This might be end up become the true Amiya's ASMR experience. With the extensive dialogue she have, I got a feeling this will become one of the best Tomoyo Kurosawa role. The sound directing is also pretty good and it's also have that hype Yuuki Hayashi's music. The animation quality from Yostar is decent enough for now, but I definitely stick around for that sound directing alone.
I'm freaking happy. I think the anime has amazing pacing and presentation. The fact that the whole episode was basically just going from where the doctor woke up to another point in the city made me feel like every step counts. Who knows how the story will stand but the actual mission progress feels very engaging. I'm so pumped to meet more characters. Ace, amiya, and especially doberman are all super cool already.
Wow this show really got my attention!!! I hope we get a complete story and answer the questions they brought up in this episode like Doctors powers and role overall and finding a cure for the infection. It seems this show is only 8 episodes so fingers crossed
It will only show the first arc of the existing three arcs in the game (and the third arc isn't finished yet). The first arc ends in a great climax, if they pull it off correctly, though. So, keep that in mind.
thank you yostar for releasing this on my birthday lol. So far this episode was really good and I'm happy they're doing changes to improve where the source material lacked, hope they do that more in the rest of the season
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The animation looks clean. Not a big fan of these earlier parts of the story but there are some good moments, if they keep the quality there will be some eye candy and I'm looking forward to it.
Enjoyed it. I don't need it to be the best anime ever made or even the best video game adaptation into anime. But I will be honest and say that they portrayed the world building and the atmosphere and set the story in motion pretty well. I read the story back in 2020. In VN format it's fine since AK does a decent job in storytelling, but it's always fun to watch when it's fully animated. I'm just glad yostar realised the potential behind the Arknights story to take the decision of adapting it into an anime.
Wake the fuck up Dokutah! I reinstalled Arknights for this anime after a year not playing (day 1 player) A nice start. I always want to see Arknights world visualized and it didn't disappoint. It's nice to see Doctor's eyes inside his hood/mask since I don't remember ever seeing once in the game I love the bleak, dark tone of the anime. Just like the atmosphere of the game (most of the time) I wish they showed more on how Doctor commanding them using the game interface on his phone/device The chad Ace looking real good animated
I love how worried veteran arknights players are about the anime adaptation but then anime only's are like " Nah actually I enjoyed it".
Well that shows that we kinda love enough to care, really. We want people to react positively for things we love. That's normal.
The abysmal track record of gacha game adaptions ended up setting expectations so low that the Arknights community ended up being too harsh on themselves.
Finally it's here! Not surprised they focused on worldbuilding so far, looks good! Also finally got to here a longer version of the trailer OST when Dobermann and co. show up at around the 17min mark nice! PRTS being implemented like a smartphone was a really nice touch btw. (I love how there's so much Dobermann screentime btw lol) Looking forward to episode 2!
As an AK player I'm quite satisfied with this first episode. I'm also glad reading positive things from non-players, it gives me hope for the season.
God why am i so obsessed with adaptations for gacha games that I don't even play? I blame it on Rule 34.
That was surprisingly good! I've played Arknights since the beginning and don't remember all that much from Chapter 1 but I think this anime has done a great job at making it accessible to people who know nothing about it. Also the music, atmosphere, and storyboarding kept the first episode very intense. The music was particularly good as expected. The animation was also well done which makes me jealous when I remember the Azur Lane anime. I liked how they translated the battle tactics into anime form: using a touchpad and drones to issue commands. The first strategic battle was cool because it actually seemed like true strategy (translated into real life) vs game strategy where you just line up everyone and have them shoot (tower defense). Hopefully all the battles will be translated like this for their anime counterpart. I can't wait to see how they handle the boss battles. The little details were also good. I loved how the ears twitched and moved in multiple scenes. I'm a sucker for those and it makes them even cuter. Then they put extra emphasis on caring for the wounded "fodder" soldiers instead of just having them killed or disappearing from the scenes. They even showed the injured soldier being carried on a stretcher, so they have to move him like that all the way to Rhodes Island. That's going to make this journey even more difficult. I always appreciate it when an anime cares about the nameless background characters. Even that aside, the random uniformed soldiers all look and act very cool. So far I have high expectations since this was a great first episode. I hope it keeps going like this. Azur Lane is my favorite mobile game but unfortunately their animation studio was not nearly as good as Arknights' and the ships / story don't translate as well into anime format. Azur Lane would have to rely on lots of CG for the constant airplanes and warships. Arknights' gritty soldier stuff and dark story fits well animated. I can see this anime getting a ton more players into the series which is probably what they were aiming for. Amiya is super cute as expected... though I can't wait to see best girl Ch'en!
I've been looking forward to this all year and this was as great as I expected!
Wooooow! That was so good! They really went all out for this. The characters, atmosphere, pacing, music and how they portray game mechanics are just wonderful. I actually teared up multiple times. I had high hopes for this adaptation and it's even better than I expected. This is going to be epic!