Girls Beyond the WastelandProject No. 9 / Drama, Romance / Visual NovelRating: 8/10Hardly anyone wat

Girls Beyond the Wasteland

Project No. 9 / Drama, Romance / Visual Novel

Rating:8/10

Hardly anyone watched Shokomezadue to its art style and being judged as another “school club” anime, but as the series goes it managed to ward off that impression and offer something surprisingly deep. Good thing I simply thought of the art as being reflective of its VN origins when I signed up.

Buntarou Hojou (a.k.a. Bunta) has a seemingly normal life but doesn’t know what to do in the future as any high school student would. Then came Sayuki Kuroda, a loner who’s deeply engrossed in bishoujo games (partly because her brother creates some) and plans to create one, for some vague reason. With the help of Bunta’s friend, they go on a journey to create a game that will sell and will be talk of the town.

The “vagueness” of Kuroda’s motivations and how it unraveled and was solved as the story ends could only be the big letdown for me. It’s as if the story’s struggling to make a convincing ending. But ignore this and you’ll find Shokomeza refreshing - the focus on the VN-making process and the light moments among the team members; add to that Bunta discovering writing is actually his passion and something he doesn’t just do to earn or due to favors from friends. There’s a sprinkling of quotable moments in each episode, mainly reflections on the joys and the struggles being part of the creative industry.

While it’s originally a VN, there’s little focus on the romance aspect, which makes me torn if it worked to its advantage or not. Maybe they’re trying to avoid the drama or could be reserving it for later, but it’s definitely interesting to see how the Bunta-Kuroda-Yuuka love triangle could have developed if they focused on it more. 

Shokomeza deserves some love, definitely. I’m amazed on how a relatively new studio delivered something decent out of the maligned school club/VN segment. I can’t wait for a second season, if there will be.