超次元ゲイムネプテューヌ THE ANIMATION

CHOUJIGEN GAME NEPTUNE THE ANIMATION

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
12
RELEASE
September 27, 2013
LENGTH
24 min

DESCRIPTION

Welcome to Gamindustri, a fantastical world where all your favorite video game consoles come to life! Neptune and her fellow Goddesses rule the four kingdoms of Lastation, Leanbox, Lowee, and Planeptune – but their royal duties often take a backseat to their obsession with gaming. When their button-mashing shenanigans are interrupted by rampaging monsters, hacker attacks, and killer eggplants, the goddesses must transform into stronger, sexier versions of themselves and fight for their right to game! The bosses get tougher as the game goes on, and the girls will have to work together in order to defeat a bewitching goddess of piracy, an anonymous master hacker, and an evil CPU hell-bent on destroying everything in her path – using any cheat code necessary!

(Source: Funimation)

CAST

Neptune
Rie Tanaka
Noire
Asami Imai
Blanc
Kana Asumi
Vert
Rina Satou
Nepgear
Yui Horie
Pururut
Kana Hanazawa
Uni
Eri Kitamura
IF
Kana Ueda
Compa
Kanako Sakai
Rom
Yui Ogura
Ram
Kaori Ishihara
Peashy
Aoi Yuuki
Histoire
Mika Kanai
5pb
nao
Chika Hakozaki
Yuka Komatsu
Magiquone
Chiaki Takahashi
Abnes
Yui Shouji
Rei Kiseijou
Yuu Kobayashi
Linda
Junko Minagawa
Anonydeath
Yuuki Fujiwara
Warechu
Neeko
CFW Trick
Yuuji Ueda
Tsuige
Aya Endou
MAGES.
Mina Nishizawa

EPISODES

Dubbed

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REVIEWS

KumaYuna
90/100
Here we go! Good to go! Neptune~☆
Disclaimer: This is a SPOILER-FREE review of [Hyperdimension Neptunia](https://anilist.co/anime/16157/Hyperdimension-Neptunia/)'s 2013 anime adaptation.. Rather than a review, this is meant to serve as an elongated personal impression. I bring up very subjective points, however, I hope you enjoy reading this nonetheless. ***
Hyperdimension Neptunia’s anime adaptation is generally regarded as a "for the fans" anime. While this may be true, the anime adaptation can bring a decent amount of enjoyment for newcomers. Its story isn't complex by any means; however, that does not hinder its enjoyment factor. Hyperdimension Neptunia's anime may not fare well with the big shots of anime, but it truly is a gem for those who enjoy its niche. It may not be the best game-to-anime adaptation, but it most certainly is not the worst. The Neptunia games are known for having a digestible plot, and the anime adaptation is no different. Its story is easy enough to grasp without prior knowledge of the series. Albeit so, the show may still require information from its source material. In terms of being a standalone product, Neptunia's anime adaptation provides a minuscule amount of knowledge. The exposition is just enough for viewers to infer how the world of Gamindustri operates. Even with this small amount of knowledge, the show manages to stand on its own. Rather than directly adapting the source material, Hyperdimension Neptunia's anime adaptation adapts concepts. It would seem absurd to adapt three video games into one twelve-episode anime, and, to a degree, that is true. As it only adapts major elements from the trilogy, it surprisingly works. Sure, some parts of the show were weaker than others; but, it still manages to stay entertaining through and through. Though, for the sole reason of seeing their beloved characters, fans of the original series may enjoy this over newcomers. Speaking of characters, Hyperdimension Neptunia's characters are mostly pleasant. In the same manner as the original games, Neptunia's characters are easily distinguishable and unique to each other. Personally, I find the character designs charming. In the anime adaptation, these characters do not have much of an introduction. Even so, the audience will easily be able to differentiate and understand their charms. Most of these characters fall under a certain character archetype. As Neptunia is a meta series, there is a plethora of popular video game and animanga references. Throughout the series, I constantly found myself finding a massive amount of references to other works. Actively watching the show and understanding the many hidden references is rewarding. Considering the primary cast are personifications of major video game consoles, it was bound to have "easter eggs." Some of these references are glaringly obvious, while others are subtle. By 2013 standards, Hyperdimension Neptunia's animation is just decent. However, I can't say the same about today's standards. For today's standards, its animation is evidently subpar. Throughout the entirety of the show, there are rarely any moments that stand out as good animation. Furthermore, the repetition of scenes for evidence gets bothersome at some moments. For instance, if something dramatic happens, the scene will repeat itself three times or so. While it may be on occasion, the fact that it happens throughout the series more than once can be seen as irritating. In some scenes, the animation can be similar to the studio [Shaft](https://anilist.co/studio/44/Shaft)'s signature style. While the Neptunia series is known for having bits of lewd fanservice, the adaptation steps it up. It's not as lewd as ecchi series such as [High School DxD](https://anilist.co/anime/11617/High-School-DxD/) or [To LOVE-Ru](https://anilist.co/anime/3455/To-Love-Ru/), but it is lewder than the source material. By no means is this entirely bad; however, it does feel strange and out of place coming from the original games. Hyperdimension Neptunia's anime adaptation's soundtrack is cheerful and welcoming. Some of these tracks emphasized the playfulness of the series and brought life to anime Gaminudstri. On occasion, the anime would play songs from the games. For anime-only viewers, these songs most likely will not stand out. However, the inclusion of those songs can be interpreted as fanservice for players. The opening sequence is wonderful; it was memorable and catchy. For me, it had a strange hint of nostalgia. As for the ending sequence, it is my favorite anime ending sequence of all time. Personally, it always puts me in a good mood. As someone who watches anime almost exclusively in Japanese audio, the English dub is spectacular. No characters lose their charm, and the voice actors' performances are massively entertaining. Personally, I'd say that the English dub is on par with the original. To sum it up, Hyperdimension Neptunia's 2013 anime adaptation can provide a decent amount of enjoyment to newcomers. While it may only be decent for newcomers, it is a welcomed treat for fans of the source material. It has a digestible and straightforward plot, delightful characters, video game and anime references, and charming music. Although it may contain some negative aspects, the adaptation still provides entertainment. As a massive fan of the series, I give it a: 9/10, kuma! ***
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KySupaFly
90/100
Enjoyable, but with a slow start. Definitely for any Neptunia fans old and new though!
Hyperdimension Neptunia: The Animation:

WARNING: Mild Spoilers

What do you get when you blend Kill La Kill, Kantai Collection, and Sailor Moon together? This! Hyperdimension Neptunia is already a very popular franchise and it's anime is...pretty good, actually. The show is about a war between 4 different goddesses from 4 different countries; Planeptune, Leanbox, Lowee, and Lastation, in Gamindustri (yes, that's a pun). The characters sign a peace treaty though, and put their ways behind them to become friends. The animation is decent at best. For a David Productions animated series, it sure does look like it was made by SHAFT instead. The fights are well choreographed and the character animation and fight animation did get better slowly over the series, but this is definitely the weakest David Productions has gone with any of their series. (Compared to Jojo's Bizarre Adventure or Fire Force, it makes the animation on it look like a PowerPoint Slideshow. Lmao). It's like Kill La Kill, they save the huge budget stuff for the transformations and battles than the character animation (despite that, the character animation is actually pretty damn good by itself). The writing is pretty slow at the start at the least, as they are trying to find a specific plot point to start on. Which took them about 6 episodes (don't worry, those past episodes are also good as well and entertaining). For the most part it's mostly just them fooling around, Until Peashy and Plutia enter the scene. The characters are very loveable and fun, my personal favorite character is (even though it's pretty cliché) Neptune/Purple Heart, she seems like a very fun person to hang out with. But all of them are excellent and unique, I like them.
The 1st intro was just edited in scenes from the series itself (with the exception of the near end of it.) and was a pretty meh intro. Luckily, the second one fixes this, adds original scenes, and overall fits the tone of the anime better.
There are specific outros depending on the episodes (one for 2 parters, and the other for the usual episodes) and both are pretty good. There's also one exclusive for episode 10, which was pretty heartfelt. The fanservice is pretty mild, but sometimes it can get pretty Kill La Kill-sy. The furthest they've ever gone was on episode 8, and it's not that far compared to fanservice heavy shows like Konosuba or KLK either. I'd still say it has a lot though. Also there are tons of references to real video games, jabs at common tropes in anime, and 4th wall breaks (Neptunia is well known for doing stuff like this). Overall a very fun experience, but with a pretty slow start. But if you like Nep, then it's worth it!

Animation: 8/10

Writing: 8/10

Characters: 10/10

Intro: 1st = 7/10---2nd = 9.5/10

Outro: 1st = 8/10---2nd = 8/10---Exclusive = 9/10

Overall: 10/10

Rating: 90/100
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Ciaora39
57/100
Cute console girls deserved a better adaptation than this.
It’s one thing when you are a fan of a video game that all of a sudden has been confirmed to have an anime adaptation and feel nothing but contempt and frustration in the reasoning why they would bother. However, when your game is already one that acts like an anime, you think to yourself that this will already be a slam dunk based on how it was born to become an anime show in the first place. So likewise, I was in the same mindset going into this. What I got in the end for Neptunia the Animation was nothing but partial disappointment that can only be described as a wasted potential for a series that had a lot going for it in terms of comedy and parody.

Neptunia plays off as your typical moe show with cute girls in suggestive positions. I can understand people passing it off as another generic moe show—not knowing that the Neptunia games themselves are parodying those types of moe tropes. The parody included in this adaptation is just as charming and lovable in portraying the girls as consoles of past generations. However, given how the Neptunia games have endless hours of non-stop comedy in their fun dialogue, understandably, the show is limited due to its 13-episode running time. This points to the show’s main problem: It doesn’t go as far as the games in terms of quality comedy.

It is nice to see the girls in full animation instead of just slightly animated portraits on-screen in your typical Visual Novel fashion. Still, sadly it doesn’t come off as underwhelming and average at best. When you compare the art to the show and the original game’s art done masterfully and beautifully by Tsunako, it’s not what you would call a great transition. The show's art can almost compare to Saturday morning cartoons where the colors look too bright and hardly have any excellent lush drawings like in the games. Calling the art to be “horrendous” or “terrible,” on the other hand, would be a stretch because, for what they’re worth, the fighting scenes are done relatively decent, and there are some moments where the art indeed does add to the humor.

As any fan of Neptunia can all agree, every single character is funny and charming to look at and listen to their witty dialogues with one another. Neptune is an absolute joy to listen to, as always, with her hilarious and sarcastic personality that initially annoyed me. Eventually, I grew fond of it after a while. The tsundere princess herself, Noire, has some great laughs in her hilarious attempts to hide her side. One scene involving her stalker and showing many pictures of her alone was enough to send me howling on the ground and laughing. Our other main CPU, Goddesses Blanc and Vert are great together in how they always argue over such silly things. The side characters, which are the CPU candidates, have equal enough screen time to bolster some memorable scenes together, though really, could they have at least given us more of Rom and Ram? And finally, Plutia and her rather exciting alter-ego once again never fails to be as sadistically hilarious as usual with her perverted antics. You can’t go wrong with Hanazawa mixed with sadomasochism.

This department has one crucial problem with the gushing about the characters themselves. There are hardly any other characters in the Neptunia universe that either don’t appear or aren’t shown very often. One of the best characters in the 2nd Neptunia game was NISA. Unfortunately, she is nowhere to be found, not even in a cameo appearance which is quite unfair considering that at least 5pb is shown only twice. The only reason for this is that they wanted to hold them off for a sequel because they haven’t appeared chronologically where the show is adapting, right?

The plot for the show follows nearly every single game that has come out. The writers honestly try to put different spins on it by placing characters in various roles that they were initially suited for another one, i.e., Neptune doesn’t get transported to an extra dimension like in Victory. Yet, she still falls on Noire amusingly enough, and this time Plutia gets transported into their world instead of the other way around. At this point, it’s clear that the writers didn’t want to put their time and effort into fitting all 300+ hours combined of all three of the games and wanted to make one show that isn’t trying to be a point to point adaptation but instead represents the entire series as a whole in spirit. So with this in mind, many plot points in previous games aren’t shown or bothered with, which isn’t bothersome considering how some aren’t needed. Unfortunately, there are some points in the show where the rushed plots could’ve worked for the better.

What makes the Neptunia series addictive and fun to play and experience? If you ask any fans, including me, it isn’t for drama or profound moments in any of the games. Not only did they have the will and power to make a show into anything they wanted based on the core concept, but they decided to put in their effort in putting two or three episodes devoted to those two aspects I mentioned before. First off, the drama wasn’t very well-handled anyway in the previous games before Victory, which is by far the least serious of the bunch. Second, if you want to put drama into your moe comedy show, at least try to put more effort into making it believable and somewhat endearing. Granted, the episodes devoted to this aren’t that many, but it can leave a sour taste in your mouth regardless of the quantity of uninvolved drama thrown into you and expects us to be invested in it. Hell, there aren’t that many newly added comedic scenes that have not been seen before in any games, with only a select few that are somewhat amusing.

Thankfully, all original voice actresses from the games are here and fill in their respective roles with the same amount of chemistry as in fun. Amai Isumi, once again, never fails to embark into dangerous territory in becoming the next queen of Tsundere voice acting. Rie Tanaka has perfect charisma whenever she works as Neptune and successfully fulfills Neptune as a larger-than-life character. With our two leading ladies getting out of the way, our supporting cast consists of Yui Horie, Kana Asumi, Rina Satou, Yui Ogura, Kaori Ishihara, Kana Hanazawa, and Eri Kitamura. All of them make for a terrific ensemble cast. You couldn’t have asked for better casting than all of them combined.

To conclude my thoughts, Neptunia the Animation isn’t a terrible show to sit through. It’s one of the better video game adaptations out there, whether or not how much you care a lot for the medium in general. It is not something you would recommend to your friend if he wanted to get into the Neptunia universe firsthand. They’ll most likely think of it as nothing but pure moe pandering at its purest if they aren’t into that whole thing already. It is nothing more than pure fan service to the people who play the games to see the static portraits come to life before their eyes, even if the result isn’t as mind-blowing as previously expected. If you are a fan like me by chance, you could probably try to see what is in store and how it is taken in animation. You’re better off just firing off another new game plus my fellow Neptunia brethren.

Grade: C
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