What do you guys think of New Game! ?
I'm enjoying it. It's definitely some major wish fulfillment (A good and fulfilling job where you're respected, straight out of high school?) but it's well executed and the interactions feel real while also instilling a feeling of contented happiness. I do think they over Aoba's naivety, and the "Nene acts like a kid!" isn't a punchline that, for me, is amusing near as many times as they've used it. But that detracts only a little from the overall experience.
I've heard New Game! cited as evidence that Doga Kobo is edging into KyoAni's tier of consistent quality, along with speculation that if current trends continue, they'll usurp that mantle. Personally, I think that with new avenues for monetization opening up, there's room for more than one at the top.
Kyoto Animation and Doga Kobo are both really small companies, so they each only make 1 show or movie per season. People must quickly forget all the shit shows that Kyoto spend entire seasons producing and only remember when they have hits. Selective memory. I'd argue Doga Kobo might already be ahead.
This is the last three years of Kyoani shows:
- Beyond the Boundary
- Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions! (season 2)
- Free! Eternal Summer (season 2)
- Amagi Brilliant Park
- Sound! Euphonium
- Myriad Colors Phantom World
Chuni and Free were safe bets as sequels to hit shows, and neither added any new worthwhile things to their franchises. Beyond the Boundary, Amagi Brilliant Park, and Phantom World were all forgettable crap. Only Sound Euphonium was any good, and that's basically banking on their success with shows like K-On and the general popularity of music shows. Meanwhile Doga Kobo had Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Plastic Memories, Himōto! Umaru-chan. Sure they had some forgettable stuff, too, but they have more interesting good stuff than I think Kyoto makes.