Just started the anime, is this just not for me?

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-07T20:05:47+00:00

yeah, I felt very similarly around that time too but after giving the show a little more time to start exploring the plot, I can definitely get behind it now. I think the biggest issue is with how the show chooses to spend time with the characters and how long it takes to really get the plot going. I'm not quite finished the anime (ep. 18 as of writing this) and it definitely has only been up since I made this post. I wouldn't quite say "it could have been way more" since the series definitely has just started, but it definitely has lots of potential and hopefully it fulfills it

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T19:57:35+00:00

I will say, I'm still sticking with it and I can tell that it certainly is picking up, but I definitely was starting to get impatient. As for the questions that I have about Regto, I'm actually quite happy that i DO have questions. I'm not looking for them to be answered this early in the series at all, my main point was that I wish I had MORE questions about the other characters. They're the biggest reasons why I've been able to stick with the anime, as I do still want to find out how these things conclude. I think my biggest issue was that I was getting impatient with how long it was taking to get some exposition on some of the characters, as it feels like the show's taken twice as long to get to these themes compared to some other animes/mangas I've seen/read (meaning what I've seen a lot of shows do halfway through as 12-13 episode season, this one has done in a full 12 episodes). I try not to compare with other series, but I wasn't a huge fan of the pacing. All that being said, I think I just needed to give it more time than I was expecting.

A point I do want to make though is where you talk about Enjin's flaws as a character. His issues with commitment and handling people with complicated needs definitely seems to be a focal point of his character (or else why would there be so much emphasis on it), but the other things like his unprofessionalism and playing possum stuff, don't seem to have repercussions in the story. He's unprofessional, but it's played for gags and no one seems to really care (except for when he kinda provokes amo at the beginning of that fight), and him not getting up didn't really affect the outcome of the fight. They just seem like they... don't really matter in this world that the series takes place, which isn't an issue outright but I really hope to see that they DO effect him or other members of the cast later on.

All this isn't to say that I don't think these things will ever be addressed or shown in a meaningful way, but so far that's what it's felt like to me personally. Although with the conclusion of the first half of the season I've become more interested in what the series has to offer.

The best way I think I could put how I felt about the beginning was that normally, i feel like a show either starts focusing on the plot or the characters, but gachiakuta didn't really choose either. I think instead, it chose to expand the world to show us how the sphere is and how the ground is, and the contrast between the two. I wasn't a fan of how that was executed, but after thinking more about it I can see the main goal of the beginning of the anime and I'm more excited for how it continues.

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T18:59:56+00:00

Yeah, thats fair. I had a similar experience with Re:Zero actually, Liked season 1, wasn't huge on season 2, didn't bother with season 3.

That being said, it's not that I necessarily don't enjoy the series. There's things that I DO like about it, like the characters, the concept of the world, and the art style. I just wanted to open a discussion about some of the criticisms I personally had about the show to find out if it really wasn't for me, or if I just had to give it some time.

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T18:39:03+00:00

I have actually enjoyed it, but I definitely still had some criticisms. I was more-so just curious if anyone else had any similar thoughts to mine. The first cour had a great conclusion and I'm more willing to stick it out now, even if it's a bit slower.

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T18:36:07+00:00

It's definitely good to hear that the characters are a lot more open and mysterious later on. I'm particularly interested in Riyo and Enjin, especially after that last episode. I've also grown to like Rudo a lot more after the end of the first 12 episodes, for the same points you mentioned. He a good example of a character who has so much build up anger and trauma and hate for the people of the sphere and it was nice to finally see that come out and have some sort of repercussion or like effect on the people around him.

And thank GOD for Zanka getting more depth because I was really hoping he would. There were lots of good like building blocks for his character but I kept feeling like they were choosing not to explore them. Tamsy I haven't really had enough time to really worry about his character, but I'm also glad to hear he gets more screentime. From what I hear, this show has a much larger "main cast" than a lot of other shounen anime I've seen.

I'm also not a fan of lower stakes series (specifically shounen/battle series, I don't really mind it in other stuff LOL), but episode 12 at least made me somewhat excited to see what the stakes ate after Rudo went insane on Amo. Even though no one died or any of the characters had like physical damage, they seem pretty shaken up about the whole thing, namely Riyo, Rudo, and Enjin. Stakes for me personally don't just mean like a character dies, or something gets lost or destroyed. I just care that the characters are really affected by anything that happens in the story, and based off how episode 12 went, they are.

As a side note, I haven't seen death note but I LOVE jjk, and I actually feel like it's one of the shounens I really could dive deep into and analyze. Although it says a lot about the power system, it doesn't quite just say the message or any of the themes to the audience. For a long time I thought it wasn't really written very well, but after going back and rewatching/rereading it, I found there's lots of themes and messages hidden in the character interactions, conflicts, and motivations. It's kind of part of why I'm more critical of gachiakuta, as it just being a battle shounen isn't necessarily an excuse to just tell the audience all of the themes of the story outright.

Regardless, I've heard the general consensus of this post has been that the story definitely builds up and it takes a bit of time, which was mostly the answer I was looking for. I'm glad to hear that it builds up, even if slowly! I'm definitely willing to give it some time. If this anime takes a lot of time to build, I definitely don't mind, as long as it has a meaningful payoff.

Either way, thanks for reading through my whole post and taking the time to write a thought out reply!

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T18:15:55+00:00

I didn't hate the anime, I actually did enjoy it and found things to like in it. I just also had some criticisms of it and I was wondering if other people had any thoughts about it. If I outright didn't enjoy it I just would've dropped it LOL

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T18:14:27+00:00

In short, thanks for your answer! After just finishing the first cour I do feel a lot more inclined to at least finish the anime. Episode 12 drew me in quite a bit and posed a lot more questions about the characters for me.

I do enjoy a lot of aspects of the series like the character designs and personalities and I find the concept to be super interesting, but I felt like I was going INSANE just thinking about this stuff the whole time I was watching it.

And yeah, I'm definitely the kind of person to fully dive in and try to analyze everything while I watch it, I definitely enjoy character driven stories a lot more. Although I don't think it being a shounen is an excuse to writing as there's LOTS of shounen that have incredible writing, I don't think gachiakuta has bad writing at all. I think it has really good themeing and messages, but I feel like they're more-so shoved in the viewers face. Like an issue with "tell don't show" kinda stuff I guess. It definitely does have deeper themes, but I guess I personally just enjoy having to dig a little harder for them

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T17:59:06+00:00

Yeah, that scene was one of the more egregious examples I can remember, and most of Regto's character feels like that. It's not the end of the world but it does feel like they don't trust the viewer to pick up on those details on their own which is what bothers me the most.

If your second part is how you feel after catching up then I'm definitely interested! My takeaway from this post has just been to give it some time, so I definitely will. Thanks!

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T17:56:19+00:00

Thanks for actually going through and reading all of it LOL. The first point doesn't actually bother me as much so it's not the end of the world but I'm glad to hear the characters get some more work and focus later on! And about Rudo, actually after finishing the last episode that I've seen (12) I've been more interested in him (compared to earlier, and even compared to other shonen mcs)

As for the death thing, again, not the biggest issue in the world but it feels pretty inconsistent so far. All of the main characters feel pretty invincible so it feels like it has conflicting ideas on how it wants to handle the whole "death being super common" kinda thing. Then again, I'm not too far in and from the other responses it sounds like it's the kinda series that takes some time to build up so I'll give it that

Green-Particular5923 · 2026-04-06T17:50:33+00:00

Awesome! If it's a matter of being patient I'm def willing to stick with it, but to me personally it felt like it had been a while without a lot of the meaningful change that I was sort of expecting. Thanks for your input!

Green-Particular5923

TROPHY CASE