Neo Yokio Review, Netflix’s Anime Original

Note: Before you read the stuff I rant, please be advised that everything I said down below were purely my opinion. I just want my thoughts to get out of my head. So please forgive me if you were offended by my words. Its totally not my intention.

Synopsis: Netflix’s press release describes Neo Yokio as the greatest city in the world. The series revolves around Kaz Kaan (Jaden Smith), a wealthy “magistocrat” who lives with his Aunt Agatha (Susan Sarandon) and tries to live a normal life away distanced from his demon-slaying past. (Wiki)

Review:

Why did I watch this? Why?

Neo Yokio. Wow. This “anime” pretty much changed my outlook about Netflix. I dunno what, but it seems I can’t trust Netflix anymore when it comes to anime-related content. You guys saw Death note live-adaptation right?!?! Was that even an adaptation?!?! It was a mess. Now this?!?! Wtf Netflix?!?

Lel.

Don’t mind my rant, I’m just disappointed. Maybe my outlook about Netflix shows have changed…a little, I will still watch their shows. Even the upcoming animes that they will be adapting. I hope they don’t screw it up.

Now. About Neo Yokio. How to describe this show? Hhhmmm…

It was bad.

It sucks.

Ha! Those words pretty much sums up everything about Neo Yokio.

Yeah.

But on serious note, after wasting 137 minutes of my life just to watch this “anime”, I realized how this series was a totally wasted potential. If only the animation was great. If only the dubbing was fantastic. If only the series was written well. Those thoughts keeps on going around and around my head while watching. Why!?!? This was supposed to be Netflix funded anime. Why did it sucked?!?

If only the animation was great.

From what I read somewhere, both Production I.G. and Studio Deen from Japan helped in the process of animating this series. Wut? Production I.G was known for Haikyuu and the recent Ballroom e Yokosou, while Studio Deen was known for the first Fate/stay night anime, and the famous, KonoSuba. In my opinion, I think the japanese studios who handled this anime, didn’t put much effort into making this. Well, you can see the laziness in the animation. You can also see that they made the animation closer to a Western look rather than the typical japanese animation. Still, It was bad.

There were random good shots, but most of them were still shots. Most of the normal shots looked weird. Though the action scenes were at least good to watch. Emphasize the word “at least”. I really don’t like when the characters were talking with each other and they freezes. It’s like the only thing that was moving was the mouth. It was hard to watch. The character designs were mediocre at best. I think most of their designs were made in parallel to the person dubbing the character (I still don’t understand why Kaz aka Jaden Smith has a pink hair). This could be done better if animated well. What a shame.

If only the dubbing was fantastic.

Dub. The quality of a dub is quite important in an anime. It helps the viewers would be able to understand and like the characters. In Neo Yokio, the dub was horrendous. When the voice actors speak, it wasn’t in sync with the movement of the mouth. What the hell!!?!? There were times the dub doesn’t fit well to the situation or the character and the voice was a mismatch made in heaven. Worse, most of the voice actors were notable actors and actresses; Jude Law, Jaden Smith, Susan Sarandon, Jason Schwartzman, etc.

Out of all the actors & actresses who did the dub, only Jude Law’s performance was phenomenal. It was pleasant to hear him speak as a butler, his british accent was so so good. On the other hand, Jaden Smith. He sucks.

Jaden Smith. He did the voice for the main character. To be honest, when I first heard of this anime, I was kinda hyped. But when I learned the main character will be voiced by Jaden Smith, I was preparing for the worse. Lel. It’s not like he is a bad actor or anything, but there is something in his voice that I don’t think would fit in dubbing. And I was right. His performance was bad. Beyond saving. But I do admit there were times he got the acting right. It’s just that his voice irks me. Most of the time his voice sounds too monotone, even though the character he supposed to be playing was depressed. Depressed is not equal to monotonous dubbing.

If only they use proper or trained voice actors, then maybe, just maybe, this anime might survived. Sigh. Even the dub couldn’t save this anime.

If only the series was written well.

Who wrote this anime?!?! The script was really bad. Like REALLY REALLY BAD. The lines delivered by the characters were either too cringey or too lame. Uuuugggggghhhhh. This totally destroyed the foundation of the series.

The premise was promising, I do admit that. But if the writing and the direction of the story leads to nowhere then what was the point in making this series?!? With the bad delivery, bad animation, and now, bad writing, no wonder this anime sucked so hard. Having only 6 episodes is not a good excuse. If it had a solid writing, having a bad animation and dub would all be bearable. It’s that simple. Sigh.

Good Points?!?!

It does have funny moments, I did chuckle on some scenes. It was too cringey and full of cheese for my being, I just have to laugh its absurdity. I also liked the scenes were they gave a nod to some notable anime cliches and tropes. It was a nice touch.

Overall, this anime was a wasted potential, watching this might give the viewer a headache, especially if the viewer was expecting this to be good anime. But if you want to try and watch this anime, maybe try to lower your expectations. It does have its good moment, but there only very few. Still, you can “enjoy” this series, in your own way.

That is all.

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