Arknights: Rise from Ember

Full disclosure, I love Arknights and know basically everything there is to know about the world and lore. Despite that, this season suffers from substantial pacing problems, most notably in the 2nd and final episodes. While it is easy for someone already familiar with all the characters to follow, I think people who know nothing about Arknights would have a hard time keeping up, and some of the most impactful and important scenes would be lost on them as a result. The breakneck speed some scenes are presented at also lessens their impact. Darknights Memoir is one of my personal favorite side stories from the game,and while I agree that its inclusion in the season was a good choice, the speed at which they blast through it is crazy. There are so many things that story does to introduce some of the most foundational conflicts in the Arknights world, but much of that is lost because the studio simply did not have time to communicate all of it. In a perfect world, this season (and the previous seasons if we are dreaming big anyway) would've gotten full 12 episode runs and had the time to portray the world more effectively. Ultimately, though, we are left with a fantastic story told sub-optimally. While I don't think the final product is bad, as there are still some fantastic scenes here, it still makes me sad to think about how much better it could have been if the story had more room to breathe.

Arknights: Rise from Ember has proven the amount of passion that has went into this series since the beginning and manages to offer an explosive, wonderful finale. The writing and characters really shine through in this section of the story, with fantastic emotional beats and a potent message around hope, humanity and wielding hate. The worldbuilding is another strong point, with intricate political webs and systemic struggles that feel all too real in today's environment. The only sizable caveat through this is the overall pacing. Some episodes go at a practically breakneck pace and the fact that a nearly 20-hour story in its original format was compressedinto ten episodes really shows. Still, though, an admirable effort was taken in making that content as concise and readable as possible, given the circumstances. Above all else, however, the visuals and the overall look and feel of the show really kicks it up a notch from the past two seasons and consistently features immaculate drawings, direction and story-boarding to really tie the whole show together. Every shot has a purpose and is filled in with animation that almost feels movie-quality at times. These qualities alongside the coloring with the focus on close-ups and subtle character movements really add to the experience, and gives the show a very striking feel. As a whole, the current climax of the Arknights anime really punches above its weight as a gacha game story adaptation, and delivers its gripping story portrayed in a distinct and visually stunning light.

I really love Arknights, and I'm so glad the anime exists. At the same time, I have to admit that a 9/10 is generous, colored by my own love for the game. My only problem with season 3 is its pacing, but that by itself is devastating; episodes often feel like a non-stop barrage of dialogue and hurried shots with no room to breathe, no room to wallow in a scene's atmosphere or let poignant lines linger before we're moving on to the next moment. It's extremely, exceedingly obvious that there is far too much content packed into a mere 10 episodes, and even still,there are lots of important details from the in-game story that are glossed over or left out in the anime. I'm biased because it's how I did it, but I would suggest reading the story before watching the show. Otherwise, you might be confused in a number of places, and surely you'd be missing out on a lot of nuance. There's also a certain anticipation and dread to knowing when a certain scene is coming up, one that you read but never truly saw. It's like watching a play where you know how it ends, yet you still can't tear your eyes away from the actors on stage. Pacing aside, I really have to praise this adaptation. The art is gorgeous, the cinematography creative, and the animation fluid. It's on par with if not better than some of my very favorite shows, despite having a smaller budget and a pretty niche audience. I love how dramatic and varied the characters get when they're angry, shocked, happy... depressed. It's a gritty story, but the characters are cute and endearing, and I really found myself rooting for them, even the unnamed side characters that aren't part of Rhodes Island. I love how beautiful every magic scene is, especially those featuring Amiya. For a show taking place in the grim, unforgiving landscape of Arknights, it's surprisingly pretty to look at. The show even manages to spice up a long scene that's literally two characters sitting in chairs talking with each other by using a multitude of interesting, meaningful camera angles. Most of all, though, the voice acting really blew me away. Ch'en and Amiya gave incredible emotional performances that reminded me of the best scenes from season 1. Seriously, Ch'en's voice acting is undoubtedly among my favorite ever in any media. You really feel the passion and rage exuding from her character. I would say she alone makes the anime worth watching, but that'd be doing a disservice to the rest of this very high-quality show. Sure, none of this excuses the pacing undeniably being too fast, but hey, that also means a shorter watch. It's well worth your time, and the anime is a completely new experience you'll never get from the game itself.

If you're wondering how Yostar Pictures keeps releasing anime from this mobile video game franchise, increasing the quality and chapters despite the fact that the anime is losing audiences year after year, only those who want to see the end of this story remain, and those who continue to play this mobile game, well, it's simple because 1- the game is still active receiving content, keeping its players with the different characters and abilities they offer, keeping the game system balanced, that's what I've been told, and 2- the sale of any merchandise from this franchise is selling well, nothing out of the ordinary, butyou make a profit, and these two factors give the producers the confidence to give the studio the money. For me, how this anime is going, an anime with a standard plot, the only problem I have with the writers are two things: most of the battles are off camera, you don't see those waves of enemies that the game presents, most are small groups, and when the strong enemies come, it happens very quickly, it's not enjoyable, and why did they put in that character archetype so that the player of the game says, "I'm the Doctor, the worst character in this anime," since he's not He does nothing and contributes nothing, he just babbles, from time to time he has superficial dialogues, he doesn't even fulfill his function as a doctor in battles, healing the girls, that's what he does after the battles, he has no fusion in the political part of the plot