PC gaming is evil, but that is a topic for another time, and mostly unrelated to why it took me so long to go through Nyarko-san… again. Sorry, but if I do not remember something very well, except for how I enjoyed it, I watch it again. So without even linking back to my old post, time for my report on why I spent so much time with Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos And its sequel series differentiated by how there is a W at the end for some reason. Although, I don’t have a ton to say about either season of this crazy show.
Nyarko-san: Another Crawling Chaos (W) Review
Studio: Xebec
Length: 24 (12*2) Episodes
Availability: Subbed on Crunchyroll
The Cthulhu mythos is something that is more used for parodies than anything nowadays. With the public domain writings of HP Lovecraft being too new and abstract to be something that would be taught in schools, and the adaptation idea of one of his stories being pulled so the lore will remain in the cracks of mainstream knowledge and a nerdy niche. I bring this up, due to how someone decided to base a bat poop insane show about a silver haired alien who wants to make snoo-snoo with a teenage boy.
Imagine if you will, a world where all of the deities detailed in the work of Lovecraft were real, aliens from another world, and completely vixened by the media of Earth, specifically Japan. Where the idea of alien made independently published fanfiction of the son of a deity hunter is a rare commodity desired by men and women alike. Where sexuality seemingly has no bounds in place, but everyone looks like a color coded high schooler, or at least the main three sexually active cast members who come from 500-ish light years away.
Hyperbole aside, Nyarko-san is a bizarre show that I’m surprised that anyone threw money at. In a more specific chunk of text, it is the story of a boy named Mahiro Yasaka who is “rescued” by a shapeshifting ball of both breeds of insanity known as Nyarko-san. Who more or less brings the boy, who she is naturally infatuated with, around in a world where Cthulhu owns Microsoft because the writer also likes video games and wanted to do a surprisingly accurate take on the Xbox One when the “Xoth 731” was tossed in.
However, things quickly evolve into a love quadrangle involving the three core gender variations of relationships being thrown into a pot with the most blunt spoon possible stirring things up as the show goes on. It is rather delightful to see a show that decides that forks are the best weakness for aliens to possibly have, but the show is smart enough to not let its energetic anarchy come back in on itself. Moderation is the key to a lasting impact, and doing the same thing ad nauseum can get a bit dull, so while the show can be a wad of goo that represents stupid fun, there are little chunks of depth sewn about.
I brushed over how lust is a major theme in the show, but when the subject of Nyarko or the other deities’ craving for a relationship is brought up, there is often fairly sound reasoning behind it. Oh sure, the mother of the main character is a retro game collector because of reasons never told, and there answer to why nobody can see a little demon thing that lives in a Pokeball is a convenience barrier. Yet, that is sort of the charm held by the show. Throwing around references that I’d guess went over my head 60% of the time, and having a storytelling method that all but tells the viewer, “Spot the foreshadowing, it’s the second most obvious thing you’d guess it to be!”
That, along with how I still have no idea what differentiates a deity and alien in this world of the occasionally giant slug-like creature could be legitimate criticisms that I could have with the show, but its narrative faults were things I only noticed when I took notes. It is a unabashedly stupid love letter to what I’d assume to be things the creator just likes, but that doesn’t make it enjoyable by any means. In fact, the only thing that really does nerf the dumb fun that show delivers is how it can feel either anticlimactic or rushed at points.
The show does have a plot, flimsy but still existent. Where Nyarko and her two buddies from space elementary school need to defend the Earth from cartoonishly evil villains of the week, well, more like month given their frequency. All of whom are enjoyable while they cackle about, but seldom feel like a credible threat due to how easy they are dispatched. I’d guess that writing a Space CQC filled fight scene with grenades and vaginal bound swords can be hard to write, but literally erasing a villain away is quite lame.
Also, when the show decided to try and have a general arc based structure for the first season more than the second one, I often felt like the idea had a bit more mileage in it. I mean, I’m writing a novella about being in the body of a demigod who the main character finds kinda sexy, there is more than 1.5 episodes of fun to be had with that idea. I suppose that the looser reigns on storylines allows for more random ideas to be thrown about, but when making a twenty four episode series, though the later two were not likely planned at first, a bit more development would be much appreciated.
After all, I’d guess that most of the excess budget went into the performances and writing rather than the visual stuff. The show certainly doesn’t look bad, nice designs for characters, animation is present when it needs to be, and all the good stuff. Still, it can also look a bit on the bland side, with static colors and the generic enemies being literal silhouettes.
Ultimately, there is not a lot else I have to say about Nyarko-san. It is a downright stupid show, but seldom unenjoyable simultaneously. Minor issues with the general premise possibly being underutilized and the show feeling a bit too smoothed down are existent, but it’s a show about a horny Nyarlathotep, Hastur, and Cthugha farting around with a teenage boy who really just wants some peace and quiet. I don’t think I could ask for more than that.
Great! (16/20)
An impressive product, but won’t always astound due to a fair number of flaws that are difficult to ignore. Still worth your cash and a few hours of your time.