220https://i.ur.com/8ZIGa8o.png Saying this show subverted my expectations is an understatement. Then why is it so middle of your list then? Because I wish it had gotten more episodes but we will be forever stuck with 12. Its a shame that this series is largely ignored due to a variety of reasons that almost turned me off from watching it. For starters the show is CG yikes. But after watching the first episode I was surprised how decent it looked and how natural it felt. It wasnt anything bad like Berserk or ExArm nor was it on a level like HnK or Beastars. Its CG worked very well for the show it was it did not detract my enjoyment of the show like I thought it would. Secondly its a Gacha advert. Many anime adaptations of preexisting or soon to be made gacha games are usually pretty forgettable. Takt.OP from a while ago comes to mind. But once again I didnt get any impression of an epic secret cameo being shoved in my face for the sake of commercializing the upcoming EstabLife game. And lastly theres a furry in the main cast. With all those strikes going against it why do I like it so much? Simply put its fun. Yeah I know its rare to hear someone say that as a legitimate reason for enjoying a show or any form of media these days without forced nuances or a deeper analysis. But truly I was engaged with the silly action character interactions the world and the clusters were introduced to. Also the story as well since were given very little to work with in terms of story at the start and it doesnt start elaborating on the story until much later into the series. But firstly a brief synopsis. We follow Equa Martes Felles Alga and Ulula who are extractors. The mission of an extractor is simple someone does a silly dance as a code for wanting to escape their current life uploads it to the internet and from then on its up to the extractors to give them an escape into another clusterworld where they can enjoy life again. 220https://i.ur.com/GfKVssY.gif A simple concept set in an odd world or several should I say. Clusters are these areas contained in their own bubble/ecosystem each have their own unique set of rules population and ways of living. Though once youve been born into one cluster its impossible to leave yoursprison cluster exempt thats where the extractors come in and do just that. Long story short clusters exist because there came a point where humans could no longer survive and prosper. So they created an AI that birthed a new era of humanity that spliced human living attributes to animals robots and everything else in between each given their own cluster to flourish in. Weird concept but trust me it works somehow. What makes this show for me is the main trio we follow and how they tackle each situation theyre in. In fact a good bunch of the issues they run into arent a fault of the clusters resistance towards extractors but turmoil they have with each other or something personal going ary within themselves. Equa is a kind and compassionate leader. Too kind in fact the creators made her so kind to make it off putting. I think they failed in that regard since I dont think she was as scary as she was fake. Feles is the straight man usually the one whod rather be at home then putting her life on the line extracting others. Its probably due to her down to earth nature but she was my favorite. Finally theres Martes a slime who takes on the form of a cute girl. She is obsessed with Equa and will lash out at anyone getting too close with her namely Feles. Her character grew on me at first she was annoying but after seeing her actually care for Felessan I too started caring for her as well. Oh and theres Alga and Ulala a robot and a furry respectively. They dont add too much to the story but round out the cast. I preferred Alga since his inclusion felt more warranted than Ulalas being a robot of course. 220https://i.ur.com/zPwHZmL.gif The show tricked me not only in managing to be rather enjoyable but also because of the twists the story takes. I started this series thinking itd be no more than a cluster/weirdo they have to extract of the week but about halfway through it shows its true colors. After an episode where they have to extract a preacher from a cluster where youre not allowed to wear underwear we see Equas emotion dimmer than her usual upbeat self. Odd we then get an episode of the team handling a situation without Equa due to an illness that came over her and another one about her cafe that she runs aka their HQ. But then we reach the best and most emotionally heavy episode where they have to extract a butler who loathes serving this bratty young girl. And with that episode Ill just say that I was not expecting these kind of feels from this kind of show. Its a great episode because we really come across some spectacular character development for the character the episode focuses on. I got into detail about that episode because it exemplifies everything I love about the show. The characters the world the unpredictability and the drama of it all. As for what I didnt like about the show well although the CG didnt bother me personally I could imagine it being much more successful had it gone 2D. There are moments where we see clones twins and reskins. Even the final episode has the master Manager taking on the form of the rich girl Cindrillion despite not being her. I chalk this up to artistic merit and dont knock it for this reason shes rather cute anyways. 220https://i.ur.com/1osbZey.gif As I mentioned earlier I felt that Alga and especially Ulala were unnecessary. It doesnt help that we learn hardly anything about either of them aside from what Ive already mentioned about them. At least Alga can talk and provide interesting banter with the main trio on occasion Ulala just grunts and barks. Very forgettable and Im sure a furry also detracted some viewers from picking it up. The score is nothing to write home about either and everything else from a presentation standpoint is just serviceable. Though some of the backgrounds and locations are nice to look at such as the prison or panda clusters. So in short what makes this series so good is how much it does right despite having so many strikes going against it. I found the characters situations designs story dialogue and voice acting all fun to invest my time into. I might just say this is my AOTS and if this anime has taught me anything its that you should not judge a book by its cover. 220https://i.ur.com/N8GHpWc.gif