Good Night World (グッド・ナイト・ワールド) is a Japanese sci-fi anime series based on the manga of the same name by Uru Okabe (published in MangaONE by Shogakukan). Katsuya Kikuchi directs it and the screenplay is adapted by Michiko Yokote. There are 12 episodes in total with a runtime of about 25-30 minutes.
The cast of voice actors includes Daisuke Hirose as Ichi/Taichiro Arima, Nobunaga Shimazaki as AAAAA/Asuma Arima, Akio Otsuka as Shiro/Kojiro Arima, Aya Endo as May/Miyabi Arima, Aoi Yuki as Pico, Ryohei Kimura as Leon, Hiroki Nanami as Sasumata, Kenjiro Tsuda as Shigatera, Rie Takahashi as Hana Kamuro, and Inori Minase as Aya Arima.
Good Night World Review
The anime opens up inside the world of the game Planet, where two players chasing after a red dragon encounter the infamous Ichi. With his sword, he slays the dragon in a second and wins the game reward. Furious to get their reward stolen by someone else, they follow up to his home and meet the powerful Akabane Family – Shiro, AAAAA, May, and Ichi. These players decided to make a home at Twilight Hill and live like a game family while completing other quests. Their only rule is to never ask about their real-life identities or ever try to meet outside of the game.
Although they aren’t aware of it, these four players are actually a broken dysfunctional family in real life. Ichi/Taichiro is a shut-in older brother, who would rather live and die while playing the game. AAAAA/Asuma is a high-achieving younger brother who wants to connect with his elder brother but rather finds solace in the game. Shiro/Kojiro Arima is a father who is not respected by his own children because of his obsessive and workaholic personality which caused a tragedy that they can’t forget. May/Miyabi is a mother who neglects her own household ever since she lost her daughter in an accident & immerses herself in the game instead.
The Arima family members are unable to communicate with each other honestly and choose to ignore the shitty reality they are living and start afresh in the game. They become the version of themselves that they can’t be in real life and live vicariously through it. Kojiro is like a loving father figure, Miyabi is always doing some housework and caring for Akabane family, Asuma is free to act as he likes without the pressure of being the best or pleasing his family and Taichiro is like the best fighter whom everyone wants. Similar to them, the majority of the players hate their reality but find respite and companionship while playing Planet.
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But being a game, they can’t miss out on battles against monsters, clashes with other guilds, and the machinations surrounding “Black Bird,” the final objective of the game. Everybody wants to catch the ‘blackbird of happiness’ which will get them a reward of 300 million, not as game currency but in the real world. However, nobody knows where to find it, except a group of pirates who believe that the bird could be on Twilight Hill. And the prediction turns out to be true but little did they know that coming across the blackbird might blur the lines between the game & real life, transcending cyberspace.
The story reflects how a simple game becomes a home for so many people who feel astray in real life. It gives them an outlet to express their repressive emotions and become a character that is much truer to their personality or what they aspire to be. Adding on to the emotional aspect of dysfunctional individuals is the science fiction elements, as it’s set against the backdrop of an online game. It cleverly drops in the ongoing debate of AI vs humans by introducing characters that represent it.
If you ever thought about what would happen if man-made technology or the internet completely consumed the humans in its world, then Good Night World brings that imagination onto your screen. While watching, I could only think that it was a matter of time before something similar would fall upon our world. There already has been so much content about evil robots taking over the world, but it goes a step further and adds the nuances of AI & the inconspicuous internet that we don’t completely understand.
Overall, on a personal level, the Netflix anime series thoroughly entertained me and touched on various subjects that were quite relatable to real-life issues. Also, considering that I don’t avidly watch anime. There’s an emotional story, sci-fi/fantasy elements and a fair amount of action as well, for those who enjoy that. I would definitely recommend it as a good binge-watch pick.
Rating: 4/5
Good Night World is available for streaming on Netflix.
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