720https://files.catbox.moe/3kl1lv.jpgWhen the sequel to New Game was first announced in Feb 2017 the game development community were not as excited for it due to the first season being not as positively received by game developers who arent artists. New Game note the double exclamation mark is quick to realise its mistakes and explores actual game development in both character art and programming teams and tones down the exaggerated cutegirlsdoingcutethings tropes that plagued the previous season in favour of realistic human interaction that will tug at your heartstrings. Minor gripe: they missed the chance to name this New Game+ I am a game developer with focus on game design and programming. This review is written after my second viewing. Unlike its lighthearted predecessor New Game features a prominent plot and gets pretty heavy for a CGDCT anime as early as episode 2. Nevertheless the anime manages to find the perfect balance between playtime and seriousness. This review contains mild spoilers. Explicit spoilers are hidden. One year has passed since Suzukaze Aoba entered Eagle Jump and postrelease busyness for the recently released title Fairies Story 3 is almost over. The executives at Eagle Jump now want to create a new intellectual property IP distinct from the Fairies Story franchise. A character design contest is opened and whoever wins the contest will be the character designer for this IP. Aoba who is a fan of Fairies Story since young has always wanted to design characters due to Yagami Kous captivating character designs for said franchise. To Aoba this is a dream come true. Of course Aoba becomes the lead character designer for the new IP. 500https://files.catbox.moe/ce5e32.pngMeanwhile Sakura Nene is bad at art so she focuses on programming heh same as me. Nene has been developing a game by herself in secret wanting to give her childhood friend Aoba a surprise. However since she is a programming newbie she makes a lot of rookie mistakes and gets disheartened. She turns to Ahagon Umiko her superior during her parttime stint at Eagle Jump for help on her programming issues. After hearing from Umiko that there is no such thing as a bugfree game Nene gets back her confidence and continues developing the game. Not long after Nene decides to join Eagle Jump as a parttime programmer juggling work and university studies at the same time. Apparently she wrote her own game engine in C++ before showing Umiko so she is already way more advanced than me But then again one can always copypasta code from MeTube tutorials without actually understanding anything which was hinted later in the season so meh. There is also some manpower movement prior to the development of the new IP: Tooyama Rin is now producer Yagami Kou replaces Rin as art director Shinoda Hajime becomes one of the game designers for the IP on top of her animation workload Takimoto Hifumi becomes character team leader upon Kous recommendation and encouragement and Umiko is promoted to programming lead. With the exception of Rin we see character development for all the above mentioned characters. Kou learns to accept what happened in the past and become a good senpai for Aoba and the others Hifumi is willing to step out of her comfort zone and tackle her fear of social interaction and Iijima Yun realises that she was unable to grow due to her constant negativity. After the reshuffle and character development the anime continues with a fresh dynamic different from the first season. 500https://files.catbox.moe/7sxqnm.jpgIn the later half of the season office drama is introduced with the entry of Mochizuki Momiji and Narumi Tsubame as interns. Momiji joined Eagle Jump for the same reason that Aoba did Yagami Kou but the difference is Momiji had actual modelling experience from vocational school while Aoba had none when she first joined. Momiji views Aoba as a rival after learning Aoba is the lead character designer at her age and the contrast between the two is purposely made evident with their behaviour as well as in their names Aoba: green leaf Momiji: red leaf. Tsubame started programming at a young age due to Momijis influence and starts looking down on Nene upon learning that she had no aspirations and picked up programming on a whim. The contrasts between the two pairs are purposely made evident highlighting the parallels between Aoba Nene and Momiji Tsubame and also showing the polar opposites that are Aoba Momiji and Nene Tsubame. Even the tensions between the characters are contrasting. Momiji even though seeing a onesided rivalry with Aoba respects Aoba as character designer takes pride in her work and ensures her work is of top quality. On the other hand Tsubame scoffs at Nenes programming bugs and says mean things to Nene such as her getting employed due to her connections to Umiko. Tsubame gets her programming done hastily and doesnt care about the quality of her work as long as it secures her employment at Eagle Jump. The healthy and unhealthy tensions developed feels fresh and is a much needed spice to the story since it was mostly all high jinks prior to the interns debut. It was also necessary to grow the four characters involved. 500https://files.catbox.moe/auik01.pngNew Game addressed most of my complaints in the first season by putting a lot more emphasis on the actual game development this time round mentioning field technicalities and issues that may arise during game development in the characters daily conversations. Game developers often have conversations like that even in our arguments and are definitely not forced into the show just to sound knowledgeable. As a programmer myself I am amused that the anime makes a point to show that even seasoned programmers make the same mistakes beginners do New Game also features the publisher meddling in the affairs of the game development although it is extremely minor in the anime compared to those in the real world. Not only does New Game explore the art and programming aspects of game development the anime presents an actual game idea that works the new IP that Eagle Jump is developing this season could actually sell well in the real world I have praise for the background lore given to the final boss the worldbuilding game mechanics and the creative direction of the game it already has all the details down. If one lifts the idea develops the game and markets it properly I have no doubt that it will be positively received. 500https://files.catbox.moe/8mi4s2.jpgThe season also fixes its storytelling. The growth of Aoba as a character designer is now shown on screen and not told. The anime shows with moderate detail Aobas initial struggle to win the character design contest to her cognisance that being chosen to be lead character designer made her pompous to her realisation that she needed to be more humble around her peers as she only had basic knowledge of 3D modelling. One can empathise with Aobas frustration in her determination to win Kou in another contest started by none other than Aoba herself. We see each bit of growth of Aoba and it makes me attached to Aoba as a character I find myself tearing up along with Aoba even though I am not an artist. The anime manages to find the balance between fun and seriousness whilst not downplaying the negative feelings of Aoba Kou and the other game developers due to highlevel decisions. The cutegirlsdoingcutegirls tropes are played out on an acceptable level and does not cause mood whiplash when alternating between the light and heavy elements. The character interactions feel very real resembling actual game developers brainstorming ideas frolicking in the office and then panicking later on when it doesnt seem like they can meet the deadline. Hikasa Youko did a phenomenal performance in portraying Kou this season. The initial bitterness and jealousy towards Aoba as well as the regret after venting her frustrations out on Aoba stood out in the voice acting remarkably and the feelings of guilt and sadness imbued were so spectacular that they made me feel a lump in my throat even on my second viewing. I could tell Hikasa had a lot of fun voicing Kou even her improvised humming of the bear song turned out to be superbly addictive and her final exclamation of after seeing Hifumi run off made me laugh harder than I should. https://www..com/watch?v=YnQ6G8V1I1Y The only negative that I have for New Game is that it goes over the top with the yuri elements between Kou and Rin and then have Rin try extremely hard to explain that she doesnt have that kind of feelings for Kou only to fail. This recurring gag falls flat from the second time and juts out from the comedic direction of this season and does not fit with the seasons realistic narrative. If this was in the first season instead it would have been perfectly fine. In conclusion New Game is a far superior successor to New Game having more game development elements and issues that often occur. Even though the main focus of the anime is on Aoba the character designer the programmers are given their welldeserved screen time in the last few episodes of the season. If you are a game developer aspiring game developer or just interested in what game development really is New Game is a must watch for you.