Doreiku Discussion Thread

[Buckeye]

Episode 12 (Finale)

Free at last!

So it ends with Eia mounting a rescue operation with Ryuuou and everybody else who has not been enslaved by the SCM, and they went overboard blowing up the place in order to limit what Takio can do with his Judgment SCM. And because Eia hasn't lost a duel that the Judgment SCM doesn't work on her, so she challenges Takio to a duel where the loser begs for their life. No matter what Takio does to her, she kept her cool, all while Kiyo makes one last appearance to turn the tide. And thus, the slaves are all freed by Eia's orders, and that's the end of the SCM games. Pretty much, it ended the way it had to after spending so much time developing 23 characters, and with the way the buildup went, that led to an underwhelming way to end this. At least it got a proper ending, but it was a bumpy ride getting there given the ambitious story concept.

Overall, this is a show that had a great concept, but terrible execution. The show has some great drama and while the characters are hit-or-miss, the ones that hit really stood out and made the show worthwhile. That said, the show's story is just poorly constructed due to the overly ambitious concept as with 23 characters needing substantial attention, that led to a rushed plot and problems galore with cohesion. Doing all this in just 12 episodes just isn't possible. So in all, it's worthwhile because of the drama, but the way the show was put together definitely leaves something to be desired.

MAL Rating:

[Buckeye]

Episode 11

He'll be the judge.

And Setagaya continues his slave-building conquest through his cheat code known as the Judgment SCM by enslaving others without dueling as the mechanism triggers a sensation to the brain that makes them feel that they lost, and they add Eia's group after they fell into one of his traps, with Eia the only one escaping him. But Takio found a way around it as he enslaved Fujiko and she pretended that she was still Setagaya's slave to get him to spill the beans, and Takio came out with a perfect counterattack. So now that Setagaya has been dealt with and he can't wear the Judgment SCM anymore, it's now Takio in charge. Well, that was a twist that was sloppily executed. One more episode left, and hopefully Eia can set everybody free through all this chaos.

[Buckeye]

Episode 10

One SCM to rule them all.

It's pretty clear now that Setagaya is the big bad in this show as his Judgment SCM is a cheat code that makes him seemingly unbeatable, and he has quite a wicked scheme cooked up to bring in slaves and have them do his bidding. Poor Ryuuou just wanted to help out his mother, and in the end he got caught up in something big, but above all losing Julia hurts the most. Even if Ryuuou was being such a jerk, at least he is doing it all for a noble cause unlike with Setagaya. And then there's Maria finally getting in the game, and right off the bat she loses as her fat ass just didn't stand a chance. Now this game enters the final stages with Eia out to free the slaves, while Setagaya is making them all his own thanks to his overpowered SCM.

[Buckeye]

Episode 9

She won't rest until he's free.

The last two players are introduced as there's Gekkou the chuunibyou, and Maria the internet sensation for which Gekkou is a huge fan of. Just when it looked like Ryuuou made Gekkou his slave through Zero, it turns out that Zero's late mother Kiyo was actually possessing him. As it turns out, becoming a slave allowed Kiyo to possess him and won't rest until Zero is a free man. So Maria is given a SCM to make it happen. Things have gone off the rails there with all new effects of the SCM from that, as well as Setagaya's special SCM that can have someone challenge him to a duel without consenting. Pretty interesting to see where this will all lead to seeing that it has been giving all 24 players some substantial focus.

[Buckeye]

Episode 8

Follow the star.

An unusual kind of SCM user has been spotted as the star-shaped icon happens to belong to Setagaya, who stole Sumida's research to get the credit for creating the SCM, and his SCM is unusual because it's the Judgment SCM. As such, Fujiko and Julia, who have infiltrated the high school Setagaya is teaching at, are now under his control. While that's happening, Eia and Yuuga go after Nerima to get his fortune to help put an end to the SCM. To do that, Eia challenges him to a duel of making the most money in two hours, and then to get him to drop his guard, Yuuga disguises himself as a loan shark to give him 10 million yen that would go up in smoke at just the right time, all while Eia got a huge contribution being a street performer by one of her slaves. Quite a stunt there that burning 10 million yen is a very risky gambit as they would be in financial ruin had they lost.

[Buckeye]

Episode 7

Too smart for a kid.

So Julie was tipped off to Ryuuou, and losing a counting game to Ryuuou where he knew the trick to the game, he wins easily, becoming the first of many slaves. Having built up an army, he challenges the crazy Fujiko to a game of Capture the Flag, and once again Ryuuou's tactics come through, but not without some serious risks as he had Julie shock herself to keep Fujiko's slaves from getting to the flag, all while Ryuuou was one step ahead. Once again, that was some pretty solid drama going to show that Eia has her work cut out as rescuing the slaves means outsmarting Ryuuou, and he looks invincible after that win.

[Buckeye]

Episode 6

In the doghouse.

The dog's story is told, and it turns out that Zushiohmaru ended up chasing love and getting lost because of it, but ended up being found by Professor Sumida. He was loved and cared for, but things fell apart when his college Sanegaya drugged him and discredited Sumida's research to force him into quitting his job, and the dog put on the SCM to get revenge against Sanegaya, though he has yet to meet him since. And then that crazy person shows herself, and forces Yuuga into a duel he can't win, but then Eia comes to the rescue as she's now wearing the device. Just when it looked like Yuuga was about to become just as big a menace as Ryuuou or even Fujiko, he gets humiliated to the point where Eia couldn't just stand idly by to see all this going down. Things sure have taken quite a dramatic turn after that.

[Buckeye]

Episode 5

Let's go crazy.

Just when it looked like Ryuuou was as villainous as it gets, it looks like Yuuga has just surpassed that as he's getting Eia to do all of his dirty work, and Eia wants none of it. But he uses blackmail and does everything short of getting Eia to wear the SCM in order to make it happen. But there looks like a way out of this as Zero managed to disobey an order after becoming Ryuuou's slave. Anyway, while Ryuuou is crazy, Yuuga just outdid him in craziness, and there's still the one who wrote the letter in blood at large. That was quite painful seeing Ayaka eat the utensils for the duel that nobody would ever willingly agree to. Now that Yuuga has established himself as an evil bigger menace, one that Eia will have to work for even though she isn't wearing the SCM, that things have taken a dramatic turn in a big way.

[Buckeye]

Episode 4

Building an army of slaves.

That was quite a twist there, to think that Ryuuou is actually a kid. He has been building up an army of slaves as he has Julia and Chuo, and after that skirmish Adachi and Nakano join him, while Zenichi will after he is discharged from the hospital, but the dog goes with Eia. And now, he adds one more with Zero through a clever misdirection there approaching him as if he wanted revenge against his father, but that turned out to be a lie and he turned Zero into his slave after making it appear that he and Zero were challenging that apparent criminal to a duel when in truth, it was Zero against Ryuuou all along.

So with that, the trial period is over, and I think I am intrigues enough by the premise to stick with it to the end. While far from pretty, I like the way the drama is being handled to want to keep going.

[Buckeye]

Episode 3

Consent isn't always mutual.

Seiya becomes Julia's slave shortly after, whose master happens to be behind the development of the SCMs. And then the next dule is between Adachi and Nakano to see who spends more money on their date. But then comes Zenichi to beat up Adachi, and then he blackmails Adachi into accepting a duel she can't win, becoming her slave. But in the end, the dog saved the day as it's not just humans who can wear that thing and feel its effects. That provides another interesting angle on how this device can be used, and why it's evil seeing that these duels can be accepted through blackmail.

So I'll give it one more episode as I'm still not sure about this show, but at it has some great intrigue to it.

[Buckeye]

Episode 2

Mess with the SCM and the SCM messes with you.

Next duel is between Seiya and Ayaka, and Ayaka wins making him her slave and they get into a relationship after Seiya broke up with his ex-girlfriend Julia. Life was good for Seiya until he put on a SCM, and from there it was all downhill as Julia has found his replacement. At the very least he doesn't have to put up with that bitch Ayaka anymore thanks to Yuuga's creativity with a two-on-two duel, one where Eia wasn't even wearing the device. That was some pretty cringeworthy stuff there, but at the very least Yuuga was awesome in playing those two for fools as they effectively release them from this hellish relationship. Once again, it goes to show just how much of a bad thing it is to be greedy as Seiya's life was ruined when he decided to get involved with the SCMs.

So I'll keep going for another episode before making a decision. While it has been mostly terrible contentwise, the drama has been pretty good, all while I'm interested in the main characters as to how they will approach this contest.

[Buckeye]

Episode 1

Enslave or be enslaved.

Pretty much, this episode explains how the SCM device, as well as use Lucie and Meguro as an example of how it works as Eia is getting into this survival game herself. Lucie sure did play Meguro for a fool as any rational person would not have agreed to a bet that looked too good to be true. The contest is to see who can win more balls in the pachinko parlor, and it was over before it began as she won a ton of them earlier, and she didn't specifically state that only the balls won during the hour count, so it's Lucie's turn to torment that fat guy. That was pretty disturbing, but it does provide some intrigue there, and I'm particularly interested in seeing how Eia approaches this game knowing exactly what those jaw implants will do.

So with that, the usual trial procedures apply, and this show didn't exactly get off to a flying start. But I'll give it some more episodes before making my decision.

[Buckeye]

奴隷区 The Animation

A show about a survival game where the players can make any of the other players their slaves.

Airs: Thursday, April 12, 2018

Studio: TNK, Zero-G

ANN Entry
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Official Site
HIDIVE

What if you could enslave anyone you ever wanted? Well, this comes close. The SCM lets you enslave anyone who is also wearing an SCM, at a price. One must win over the other, at the cost of anything, in order for the other to become their slave.

Notes
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