Welcome to this review of the most overlooked anime this season. Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5 continues with our main characters all going their separate ways to face the latest challenge by Mion, the annoying Catgirl. Let’s see how they fared!
Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5 Overview
Battle Game in 5 Seconds is a Death Game style anime produced by Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions in collaboration with Studio A-CAT. Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions is known for producing several well-known anime series of the past, such as Monster and Pokemon, to name a few. On the other hand, Studio A-CAT is mostly an unproven commodity. The series is based upon a web manga written by Saizou Harawata.
The series is known by multiple names, some of them being- Battle in 5 Seconds After Meeting, Dea5, and Deatte 5-byou de Battle in original Japanese. If you want to catch up on our previous reviews of the series, you can do so by clicking here. This episode is thus also known as Deatte 5-byou de Battle Episode 5.
– Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5 review does not contain spoilers –
Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5 Review- Plot and Characters
For the longest time, I’ve been failing to see the point of this show. I felt like this series wasn’t offering anything new or unique to the current anime season and was a rather pointless existence. I can now shamefully admit to being incredibly wrong about my opinions. Battle Game in 5 Seconds does have a purpose and a point to its existence. A perfect one, in fact. Battle Game in 5 Seconds is a throwback anime.
Read More: Sonny Boy Episode 4 Review: Great Monkey Baseball
Take your mind back to the times of Death Note and Code Geass. Remember the drab atmosphere, the cerebral mind games played by the characters, and how the episodes were structured. If you’re one of those who have caught my drift so far and can appreciate how those types of anime were different from the modern output of anime, you and I are kindred souls. While watching Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5, it suddenly clicked in my head. If you were to build a 2007 anime in 2021, Battle Game in 5 Seconds is the anime you would get, plain and simple.
The plot reminds me of Hunter x Hunter and Death Note, there are superpowers, a male protagonist with a very early 2000s animation style. Hell, in Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5, team warfare made a comeback which is a staple of every 2000s shonen anime. Every step this anime has made so far was either allured or tribute to that specific style of anime, and I’m kicking myself for not noticing that earlier.
Coming back to Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5, the episode was fantastic. There wasn’t much character development per se, but the plot developments made up for that and some more. There were enough exciting reveals about the series’s direction that I want to watch the next episode right now. I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, just know that all the characters that we didn’t know about in the opening theme are all here now. From what little we have seen of them so far, they look great. I can’t wait to see where this is going now.
Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5- Art and Music
The indoor setting of the first four episodes of Battle Game in 5 Seconds didn’t favour the animation. Still, once the characters progressed into an open and sunlit area, the animation quality seemed to improve quite a bit. Seeing that animation quality was the first time I was able to put together what the anime was going for, so the show deserves a lot of credit for that.
Read More: The Aquatope on White Sand Episode 5 Review: Mother Arrives
The opening theme has really grown a lot on me since the show started, and now I firmly put it in the “good” category. The lack of Mion also helped this episode a lot, in my opinion. Make of that what you will.
Verdict
Battle Game in 5 Seconds Episode 5 was an excellent throwback to the previous era of anime, and it deserves its due in that regard. The story and characters are picking up, and the show is headed in a fascinating direction. Can’t wait to see what comes next.