Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show

Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show — A balls-out-of-the-wall idea that has potential but gravely missed the mark. Look, I get it; we all do: original anime is pretty much a "high-risk, high reward/return" kind of investment that very few companies today would try to offer something that's different than what the AniManga space has in this day and age, all because of one thing: money. And while some will succeed and some will fail, there's but one entity that pretty much carries this philosophy all around: CyGames, the company behind IPs such as Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, Rage of Bahamut, and Granblue Fantasy, to namea few. In fact, CyGames has been knocking around for the last decade or so making anime adaptations out of their mixed-media IPs and are still proposing ideas left and right for the next big thing. Many will say that this is quite the danger because of the high risk-return methodology, but while there are times we can praise them for originality and ingenuity, as is the case with last season's Apocalypse Hotel, others have failed in pretty much the same regard, as is Necronomico no Cosmic Horror Show here. A VR game project parading around as a survival game of sorts — that's not what the show's MC, Miko "Necronomico" Kurono, is after, and her days of living off her dream as a livestreamer, as much as it is reality, are also the people that she regards as being close to her: the beauty livestreamer influencer Mayu Mayusaka, who ended up being a victim of this game project that involves cosmic beings wanting to take over the world by way of a company promoting VR games at the same time to infiltrate and share the wealth of torturing Earthlings just for their amusement. Alas, as forced as this sounds, it ended up being a trap that would see Miko, alongside other influencers and colourful figures that, like her, have to survive the infamy of the Cosmic Horror Show that's hosted by the Great Old Ones, while putting their own SAN-ity on the line. Lose it completely, and like SAO, they die in real life. Sure, you might be thinking, "Why would I want to watch a show where it's basically seeing people compete in a Fall Guys-like setting, not to mention how the anime was screwed from the get-go, no thanks to Crunchyroll's incompetency experimenting with AI subtitling?" I'm not going to sugarcoat things: it's exactly this double-whammy culmination of things that are, for the most part, foreign towards anime logic, and at least CyGames tried their hands on this idea that just sadly didn't pan out well for the series to come, which is just your stereotypical strategy game in the vein similar to Summer 2023's Liar Liar and Spring 2024's Kami wa Game ni Ueteiru. a.k.a Gods' Game We Play. And as much as the series past its controversies started stabilizing itself to present the pretty-much familiar game survival story, I'm afraid to say that the show's no better than when it started, with strange games and death-defying stakes attached to it for a "winner takes all" survivability rate, alongside characters who are, for the most part, one-dimensional characters so focused on what they do best to help others ascend to finish the race of saving humanity (which spawns some good moments at times) or defecting to the cosmo's side and indoctrinating fellow humans as an egomaniacal, egoistic way for a win-lose outcome. When all is said and done, it's just no different than your below-average psychology-level "war games" that just pit both aliens and Earthlings against each other for world domination, which this simple premise and outcome itself might've been too ambitious from the get-go. Say what you want about the production, it's going to overwhelmingly take the majority out of the experience (especially from the get-go with Episode 1's depiction of Fall Guys) and the usual 2D support from thereafter to keep the survival games going. Studio Gokumi is an alright pick for this one, though it's much in an experimental phase trying to depict Fall Guys-like 4D games that just didn't pan out so well. Even the OST itself feels lacking, while the OP/ED songs themselves, sung by VTubers, are just decent to OK but definitely forgettable. CyGames, it's a good try with what you've created with Necronomico no Cosmic Horror Show, but the anime probably came out way too harsh with the overtaxing and overcomplication of ideas that depict a survival game show. A good effort from everyone involved with this original anime project, but this is just not it.

Necronomico no Cosmic Horror Show: a story with potential that ends up going nowhere I started watching this anime attracted by its curious character design and color palette. And although the story seemed to have potential, I feel that after watching all 12 episodes, it ultimately went nowhere. Don’t get me wrong, this anime has some good aspects, but not solid enough to fully recommend. The good: A unique character design and color palette. A story with potential, trying to show how ancient gods use virtual reality and the internet to conquer and destroy the world.A soundtrack that does its job well. Some interesting characters (mainly Kanna, who basically tries to “carry” the anime on her own). The bad: Despite the interesting character design, the animation quality is not great. Many plot holes in both the story and characters that negatively affect the narrative. While there are some interesting characters, others fall completely flat. Eita, for example, could have been a compelling character with better development, but he ends up wasted. Even Miko, supposedly the protagonist, only starts to get some development in the last two episodes… and it leads absolutely nowhere. The anime is so poorly balanced that Kanna ends up feeling like the real protagonist, and honestly, she’s the only character who had proper development throughout the story.

Necronomico no Cosmic Horror Show This is a streamer / Cthulhu / TV game show / death game hybrid. It throws humans into a spectacle engineered by Lovecraftian deities, framing cosmic horror as entertainment. Episode one carries a faint SAO-like aftertaste, as if it is consciously following the path that once proved commercially successful. But that is only the surface. I will start with what works. Manga style The visuals hit immediately. The character design is not the tight, polished A-1 Pictures template. It is crooked, warped, slightly off. Kanna's oversized off-shoulder jacket and absurdly large twin-tails are jarring at first glance. The hair is huge.Deliberately huge. It leaves an imprint, and that imprint is important. The exaggerated proportions reminded me of stylized manga-era designs rather than contemporary anime refinement. The jacket feels almost hip-hop oversized to the point of parody, cringe, slightly over the top, but that excess becomes identity. Other characters follow this same logic. It is a manga aesthetic transplanted into anime form, and that tension creates texture. Anime tends to pursue polish and consistency. Manga carries quirks, rough edges, even "bad taste" that makes each artist distinct. That tradeoff — quality versus stability — becomes part of this show's visual strength. The color palette reinforces that identity. It is not bright in a cheerful way. It is abrasive. Clashing. Glaring by design. The vibe recalls the digital-native vocaloid producer aesthetic. Internet-born, DAW-driven, Nico Nico lineage, synthetic voice culture sung by vtubers and internet singers. The jagged contrasts feel streamer-coded, chaotic, almost toxic in their saturation. It fits the lords of chaos surprisingly well and elevates the sensory experience. Some characters are likable. Kanna the fashion-focused streamer and her problems. Eita the renegade. The four-eyed math teacher and his quirks, which I will avoid spoiling. On the Chaos side, figures like Cthru, Huster, Gatanospher, Tiktakman, Gua, and especially Tsuar and Roygar carry distinct personalities. Tsuar and Roygar in particular function like assistant TV directors, holding cue cards, giving timing signals, and coordinating the flow of the spectacle for the higher entities. Their presence injects an oddly cute layer into what should be incomprehensible cosmic forces. The comedic tone works more often than not. It is light, sometimes playful. The series attempts to take streamer culture, Cthulhu mythos, game show structure, and death game mechanics, chop them into fragments, toss them into a blender, and serve the result as a neon smoothie. Whether that blend holds itself together is another question. The Bad Where do we even begin? There are eleven characters on the law side. Seven chaos lords. That is eighteen moving pieces in a twelve-episode show. That is too much. On top of that, the series insists on giving many of them real-world drama and personal backstories. Normally, grounding a high-concept story in reality adds depth. It gives contrast. It gives an emotional anchor. Here, it feels like overreach. The show already juggles themes, aesthetics, two worlds, clashing color philosophies, and tonal shifts between absurdity and seriousness. Adding full character drama stretches it thin. In the end, only two or three characters truly matter. The rest become background noise. It might have worked better if it had gone leaner. Game after game, sharper and more shocking, almost Kaiji-style in structure. Strip the real world down to fragments. Stay mostly inside VR. Let the outside world drip in as contrast instead of competing for attention. Trying to aim for gravitas — layered emotional weight — may have been the wrong move. The framework was already unstable. The CGI Debate A lot of people criticize the CGI. I disagree. On the anime scale, it is good. Not revolutionary, but competent. The first episode's Fall Guys-style sequence translated surprisingly well into the show's aesthetic. It did not clash with the character models or break immersion. Instead, it functioned as a visual bridge between absurd game logic and stylized character art. It blended. THAT was not the problem. The Stakes Problem My biggest issue lies with the eldritch beings themselves. They constantly say things like: "Interesting, little one. I will lend you a hand". "I'll help you win, even if it means opposing my own teammate". "I always hated him anyway". "Little sister, I'll give you a boost". They intervene. They soften blows. They pick favorites. Yes, randomness fits a show about insanity and void intelligence. But this is not existential randomness. It feels convenient. It feels protective. The stakes begin to feel unreal. Absurd in the wrong way. Cosmic horror depends on indifference. On scale. On humans being irrelevant. Here, the gods behave like producers managing contestants. That shift damages the tension. The TV Host Framing By turning the Old Ones into TV show hosts on a streaming platform, the series shrinks their scale. It simplifies them. It domesticates them. Watching absurd beings act like eccentric TV stars can be fun. But it erodes their aura. Horror traditionally prioritizes atmosphere and scale. This show sidelines both. And that is ironic for something branding itself as cosmic horror. Streamer Satire or Trend Absorption? Some say the streamer element is satire. Sure, you can read it that way if you want. I do not. To me, it feels less like critique and more like attraction. Like the creators are folding in things they genuinely enjoy, or things they think are hot right now. It has that "super duper fetch" energy — not biting commentary, but cultural enthusiasm. We have seen this pattern elsewhere. P.A.Works has flirted with streamer-style comedy in its own productions with Mayonaka Punch. CITY THE ANIMATION from Kyoto Animation runs a streamer arc, and there is even an official clip pushing that angle, clearly tuned for buzz. And then look at Galactic Princess Kaguya. The current viral queen. The rollout is aggressive, intentional, calibrated. Everything feels optimized for "lit", for "fire", for circulation. They are not characters. They feel like a marketing program. In that broader context, Necronomico's streamer layer feels less like critique and more like participation. The energy is calibrated for circulation, or for moments that can trend, clip, and travel. That is not inherently bad. But it makes the show feel trend-aware rather than thematically centered. The OP and ED are one of the great things about this show. The ending clearly shows Kanna's perspective, and the opening shows Miko's. Both are sung by vtubers, which fits the theme. Frankly, the opening song and its visuals are an overload of distracting colors, chromatic aberrations, and glitches, which reinforces the chaotic aesthetic of the show. I honestly think the opening animation itself is great, perfectly representing the theme, and it is perhaps the best thing about the show. (I also just realized Miko's full name is Miko Nekuro, or KuronoMiko in Japanese style — Ne-kuronomikon, get it?) Final Verdict I want to give it a five. Plus one bonus point for bravery. It tried. It reached beyond safe formulas. It attempted to fuse incompatible genres and aesthetics into something new. Maybe it overreached. Maybe it collapsed under its own ambition. But it was not half-baked laziness. It was an original anime with original writing trying to break pattern. If we only reward safe repetition, we end up with endless isekai clones circling in creative stasis. This round may have been a loss. But stagnation is worse than failure. "Comrades, we lost the round. But the war is not over." Next timeline: Gnosia. See you on the other side.