Infinite Dendrogram

"It would leave a bad taste in my mouth."
‒ Ray Starling

You know what, Ray? This anime leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and you are one of the chief culprits. Infinite Dendrogram promises infinite possibilities, but instead we get Ray Starling, a piece of cardboard masquerading as a human being, a robot that gazes upon the world with an empty light in his eyes, an empty husk of a man who delivers the most generic lines imaginable.

"My battle's far from over. You can't stop my pace, my sword-wielding arm ‒ not yet. Not as long as I see tragedy before me ‒ tragedy and ... you!"
‒ Ray Starling

What next? He might as well say "Halt, you fiend! My blade shall thwart your evil plans!" because it would not surprise me anymore.

Ray is a typical hero to the extreme. He is so selfless and altruistic that he makes angels blush. He is a white knight who swoops in to rescue people in obvious distress, often random children kidnapped by heinous villains. He never has to make any difficult decisions because the villains are always obvious. Ray also likes to deliver simple, cheesy rants about justice and helping people, completely unironically, of course. This includes his catchphrase "It would leave a bad taste in my mouth." What would leave a bad taste, you ask? Not saving people in need; what else?

Ray goes further than that though. He refuses to grab the valuables of a villain he defeated, considering it blood money. He is even reluctant to accept a cash reward for his actions and tries to convince his party members to take his share as well. And this happens not just once but twice. That's ridiculous. You fought hard for the money; it is alright to accept it sometimes. Not to mention that he could always use it to improve his equipment, which would help his altruistic efforts in the future, so his refusal doesn't even make sense from a purely altruistic viewpoint.

That is not all. Many characters find Ray interesting simply because he sees the world of Infinite Dendrogram as real, which isn't even unique to him. Several other characters feel the same way, yet they are not treated with the same level of interest. Ray is also one of the most promising new players in the game, though still underpowered compared to the more experienced players. That doesn't stop him from saving the day though. As a side note, the game is also ridiculously imbalanced. Even though it is not particularly rigged in Ray's favor, the fact that it is rigged in general should result in endless complaints from the player base. Oh, and one more thing. Ray happens to get a girl as his Embryo, Nemesis (his unique special weapon that evolves over time). That's right; his weapon can transform into a girl because we had to use that trope as well. Maiden Embryos are not unique to Ray in-universe by any means, but it is still convenient.

Ray was generic in the light novel already (yes, I have been reading it), but in the anime most of Ray's internal monologue and backstory have been cut, along with general narration. So we lose all the context and he becomes even more of a generic hero. So generic, in fact, that he has no personality left. I would excuse you if you thought he was secretly a robot all along. Many of the other characters have also taken a hit in the adaptation, and their personalities have taken a turn for the bland. Near the end, they try to deliver backstories for some of the characters in the form of short flashbacks. Not the most subtle form of infodumping, but it is better than nothing. These flashbacks outline the original motivations of the characters in entering Infinite Dendrogram in the first place. Usually this involves various ways of escapism, but it is not enough to salvage their characters. The flashbacks are mostly loyal to the novel, but it doesn't really help when the original backstories were almost as short. Rook's backstory seems particularly implausible and makes me wonder why any of it was necessary.

This is the result if you take source material that already has problems and then rush the adaptation and butcher whatever was there. The source material already had many of the same issues, but it turns out that trying to squeeze 5 volumes of an infodump-heavy light novel into 13 episodes is a bad idea. Who would have thought? The script went from long-winded explanations in the novel to explaining pretty much nothing in the anime. Most of the info-dumps related to the world are cut, leaving only the bare essentials. You won't understand how some abilities work. You won't properly know the side characters or even the main characters. You won't even know the names of some of the countries. It is that bad. Good luck understanding what is going on, why it is happening, and what the context for any of it is. If the main point of your novel is world-building, having an anime adaptation without it simply means that you are airing an empty shell. They might as well just put "Read the novel, idiot!" on-screen.

Or take the comedy. The novel already has the tendency to make jokes that are too obvious. For instance, encountering a bunch of thugs in a back alley while they are trying to kidnap a child and then pointing out that the encounter is clichéd. It is better to be aware of the cliché than not, but an even better idea would be to write something else entirely. In the anime, the scene loses every last bit of nuance and self-awareness. In the novel, the jokes have the subtlety of a brick to the face. Now replace the brick with a pile of bricks and maybe a sledgehammer, and you have the anime. We have slapstick comedy like Ray catching fire or enveloped in a cloud of toxic gas. We have his brother wearing a bear costume and ending almost every line with "kuma" (or "grizz" in English), which is bear-ly ever funny. (Yeah, that was a bad one too.) We have Nemesis eating too much. We have people over-reacting to every single thing. We have Ray finding or purchasing too many of the same now-useless item several times, which is a bit funnier in a kind of blunt way (maybe?) but can't exactly carry the show either. There is a character who literally says "xD" and "lol" on-screen, which may produce a quick cheap laugh out of sheer surprise. We are hip on the interwebs.

More generally, the show over-explains what is obvious while simultaneously leaving many important points unexplained. (The latter parts were probably in the novel.) Sometimes the characters are having awkward and unnatural conversations about information they should already know and have no in-universe reason to repeat.

"There certainly was a lot of bickering yesterday."
"Everyone kept trying to..."

These conversations take place purely for the sake of the audience. It is a lazy and poorly conceived method of delivering exposition. Sometimes characters even explain what they are obviously visibly doing at the moment for no reason. This includes pointless villain speeches in which the bad guys explain their current plans, and people talking to themselves out loud.

Franklin tries to provide more of a central antagonist to the show. The problem is that he ends up looking like a cartoon villain who acts evil for the sake of evil itself. You know, the wacky evil mad scientist. His motives are poorly developed too, both in-game and in real life. Even with the short flashback of his background, it is hard to see why exactly he'd end up with goals like that. Furthermore, the inner workings of Dryfe (a country) are barely addressed in the anime, just like the inner workings of just about anything, really. Franklin also likes to deliver lengthy villain speeches to explain his current plans, to show off to everyone that he is evil and strong, and to scare the good guys into giving up, as if the latter has any chance of working.

The show also tries to focus on whether the world of Infinite Dendrogram is real or not, including whether the tians (NPCs) are living, sentient beings. While this is generally a good idea, not much comes out of it and it is too little too late. As a moral aesop, it is also a bit on the obvious side, though better than simply the power of friendship in its most generic form. I kind of wonder though. It seems implausible that so many people would not consider the tians sentient when they so obviously are.

I don't want to dwell too long on the visuals, but let's note that they are not great. The animation quality isn't the best, and it looks lazy sometimes, with unnatural movements. But what struck out to me even more were the designs. So many places, characters, and creatures look so generic. These are some of the most generic goblins I have ever seen. The boss monsters look generic as well. Plains, roads, the crypt: they all look generic. The common criminals look so clichéd that they might as well be wearing shirts with "thug," "ruffian," or "scoundrel" printed on them. The evil wizard looks comically evil and not in a good sense. His scenes, which were already generic in the source material, become a laughingstock in the anime. The mecha looks fairly generic too, but at least it is on the realistic side, at least by mecha standards. The bigger mecha looks less realistic but still fairly generic. Ray's red-black coat is a fashion disaster and not in a funny way. They point out that it looks too edgy for him, but a bigger problem is its sheer ugliness. This is your fancy new coat, Ray? Really?

We get to very briefly see a few of the capitals of the other countries, which was nice. If only we could see them more. The opening song is alright, but the opening visuals reuse animation and awkwardly try to hide it with the excessive use of flashy effects all over the screen. Hey, at least they managed to draw my attention with the visual onslaught.

Thankfully, there is a silver lining. Because the show is so rushed, at least it will only take 13 episodes to finish, so it is faster than a more decent adaptation would have been. Always look on the bright side, right? You could watch it out of curiosity to see just how generic a protagonist can be and maybe scratch your head at some of the visual designs and adaptation decisions.

“The possibilities are endless.” - Infinite Dendrogram’s slogan

This review contains mild spoilers.

🙅‍♂️ 4/10
Welcome to Infinite Dendrogram, the world's first successful full-dive VRMMORPG, where the possibilities are endless. Infinite Dendrogram is a show about the game of the same name. Infinite Dendrogram shows potential, but sadly it was wasted in almost every way. If Infinite Dendrogram was food, it would probably be the one that looks good but tastes bad.

🎬 Story - 2/10
At first glance, Infinite Dendrogram might look like Sword Art Online, but it is not. According to the slogan of Infinite Dendrogram, this is where anything can happen. The overall story is not ... predictable, due to the unique abilities each character has, which seems to be a fairly nice idea, but at the same time, it is also due to having improper world settings and a messy storyline.

First of all, Infinite Dendrogram is much like any MMORPG as we know, but with no limitations, rather close to the fantasy world than a game, resulting in a mess, nothing is balanced. Upon the registration, players will receive a power unique to their own, called “embryos”. However, while they are having a huge role in the game, players are not able to choose it, similar to not being able to choose a class in an MMORPG. The concept of MMORPG is broken here.

Second, Infinite Dendrogram allows player-killing, even right in the city, which is supposed to be a safe zone in many MMORPGs. Crimes, terrorisms, and wars are also being allowed. The concept of MMORPG wrecked again. Getting killed also results in a 24-hour log-in restriction into the game. Infinite Dendrogram made me wondered if there is the point of making a game like this.

Third, Infinite Dendrogram contains a contradiction. While the game is where you should be having fun, Infinite Dendrogram is having several serious moments. Unlike Sword Art Online which real death is involved, Infinite Dendrogram has no real threat, even with anywhere player-killing is involved, players can always escape from the game. Infinite Dendrogram confused me if I should feel relaxed or get serious when watching the show.

Fourth, a few plot armors are detected. I personally prefer the hardworking or smart protagonist than the one that usually gets protected by plot armors.

Lastly, the storyline is messy, going from one place to another quickly. It is more like a couple of events packed into a single anime than a well-written continuous story. This is one of the possibilities that could happen when the story has no actual objective.

In conclusion, the main problem of the story is about the settings of the world which is at risk of not fitting well the story, and yes, it did not fit. Making a world where “anything can happen” is like saying “I have no idea how should I write a proper story, so I will use random ideas that popped up in my head along the way of writing”.

🎨 Animation - 6/10
Overall pretty standard art quality, nothing has bugged me. However, the animation of the action scenes seems a bit stiff, almost no tension, not so many action moves are being shown.

🔈 Sound - 7/10
Standard theme songs and soundtracks. I am not a sound expert, so I would say that I find nothing outstanding and nothing bugged me.

🕶 Characters - 3/10
Character is an important factor in impressing audiences and keeping them from dropping the show. While Infinite Dendrogram seems to noticed mistakes that happened in other shows and did try to prevent them, but ended with a failure.

First, despite the show is giving off a serious vibe, characters have no real objectives, not making me having any interest in them at all. They just do whatever they want.

Second, the characters’ background is not being told properly. While the main character’s background is not being told, several supporting characters’ are being told instead. However, I find them to be not convincing and meaningless, not really related to their actions or motivation.

Third, character design and looks are important. According to the anime poster, the protagonist, Ray, is wearing a good-looking white knight-like costume. However, at a point in the show, he comes to wear a totally different style of costume instead, which is not a matching appearance at all. Even this is intentional, I find tainting to characters.

Lastly, the protagonist character development is not very promising. Through the 13 episodes of Infinite Dendrogram, the protagonist gains some upgrades, but what I saw was the same move is being used repeatedly, basically a one-trick pony.

🎉 Enjoyment - 4/10
I used to play an MMORPG and find them interesting. I enjoy seeing how different MMORPGs could become, like Sword Art Online, Elder Tale from Log Horizon, or NewWorld Online from Bofuri.

However, I came to disappointment. I have never seen such a chaotic, messy, and unbalanced MMORPG before, as well as how the story and characters correspond to it, which is just did not work out, seeming like the settings of the world just do not work out from the beginning. It does not mean that I hated this show, I just do not like it and a bit disappointed.

📌 Recommendations
If you are still new to anime, Infinite Dendrogram might be fine for you. Infinite Dendrogram is probably an anime for a group of people who usually overlook flaws and illogical things. In conclusion, if you are looking for an anime about games, action anime, and you can overlook flaws and illogical things, then I recommend this anime. Enjoy!

I enjoyed Infinite Dendogram. Yes the main character is badly written, but the others make up for it. I didn't care what happened to Ray Starling, but I found all the other characters compelling, from Marie the alleged journalist to Hugo and Franklin to even Nemesis.

It's an enjoyable and light-hearted show, especially if you pretend that someone other than Ray is the main character. Unlike many shonen shows Dendogram doesn't surround Ray with people who worship him--Ray is treated as either a friend or a lovable little brother, a welcome break from "the sun" trope that's been done to death in shonen. ... This is what makes the other characters so compelling and is why they're able to compensate for the shallow tropeyness of Ray.

I dropped it after 5 episodes.

The series have a very interesting premise with amazing potential, and occasionally there's a moment of decent comedy.

The problem is the potential isn't realized, and the decent comedy is padded with dreadful shounen. With all the shounen stereotypes - like the protagonist being as pure as a saint, clenching teeth dramatically, talking about moral values mid fight (extra fun if there's some sort of time limit, but the hero keeps chatting), villains being too obvious, and the protagonist feeling rightful fury....

This doesn't work for me and induces cringe at best. It is a pity.

Details:
Story 3/10.
Nice potentital and idea, but the ... potential is not realized due to overreliance on shounen tropes and stereotypes.

Art: 5/10.
Art is okay, but there's occasional noticeable CG. Noticable doesn't mean it is horrible, but it does mean you see that this is a CG.

Sound: 5/10.
Decent sound music, and I think there were some high caliber actors.

Character: 2/10.
Highly stereotypical and absolutely non-human like.

Enjoyment: 3/10:
Feels like wasted potential.

Overall: 3/10:
Not recommended for watching.

I'm not really sure what to say about this anime. While there is a level of interest within it's story, and the characters it presents. But for me so far, it's just another one of those shows of going to a fantasy land, which I've seen a dozen times at this point. But that doesn't do this show justice of course, as it's not all bad.

The art style is really neat and pleasing to look at. Along with the movements of everything, it really went together well. Along with the sound really matched well scene by scene, two things that are very important to make ... an anime go well.

As for the characters themselves, they're cool, like who would've thought we'd see a mini gun using bear in anime lmao. But besdies them, they really went all in making these characters different the game's embryo system. With each one being different to it's user, and them also having their own personality, it's almost as if they're real, a nice touch.

All in all Infinite Dendrogram is nice game based anime, but overall it's just that for me. It's not bad, but not certainly amazing either. So I feel a 6 or a 7 out of ten is fitting for this show. But who knows, it can get better as it goes along. So give a chance for now!

July 15, 2043. On that day, a Full-Dive VRMMO was released, with its unique system called "Embryo" allowing each player to follow an extremely varied—or rather, an "infinitely" varied pattern of evolution. The game's name and slogan?

"<Infinite Dendrogram> offers a new world and your own possibilities."

What possibilities you may ask of offer in the new world? Generic tropey settings? Generic sterotypical characters? Generic visuals? Generic music? The whole platter of this game is genericness, and the reason why we watch this generic Isekai series is to be offered a new world with DIFFERENT possibilities, not to watch series like this of boredom...who would want ... that?

The "first" VR MMORPG (with AI) to make waves in the reality world (that isn't the human world), oh how great the world they live in! Oh, did I forget SAO, the "father" of the Isekai game genre re-birth? That has existed since 2022, and this game progressed it 21 years later in 2043? Which one's the more popular one now, EH??? Where's the blurred line between fantasy and realism??? Who started it first???

Right off the bat, we'd think of a sliver of hope that Isekai genericness of games like these could offer something different: it's not being able to die both in-game and real life, it isn't being unable to log off either, and as the opening review says it: offering you your freedom to do whatever you wish of infinite possibilities, essentially roaming around like free men and women. And in retrospect, I honestly bought the idea (as is with many LN readers when they first started this series) and thought it was a good one to settle into...until the novelist went too deep and gave up on ideas thereafter, resorting to generic settings that are none the wiser (oh how we hate you Japan for stuff like these).

Starting out this journey like newbies, MC Ray Starling is the kind of newbie I would expect from being a total beginner, but the problem is that as he progresses he went from a rookie to a full-on retard, as if he's the parrot to everyone around him. Even as Embryo Nemesis (AI program) tracks his progress and becomes his sword (and shield if putting it literally). And everyone, I mean EVERYONE in this game, friends and foes alike, are just copy-paste cut-outs from similar shows we've seen time and time again, and communications with Ray are as simple as molasses (but of course, confusing and questioning to the newbie).

Admit it, the characters here are also one-note purposeful characters, meant to serve their time and duty in their assigned position and rake in the efforts. Take "Brother" Bear Shu for example. Being a veteran of the game, his introduction to Ray is as subtle as possible because he's what known as a Superior Master, people who can engage with their Embryos well enough for their desired power. It's not until late that he shows off that power at the "appropriate" timing when the world is at stake. NPC Marie Adler (also a Superior Killer), also tending to Ray when he was just beginning, same as Shu, is being very cryptic at the start (for Ray to get used to the game), but then also comes at the opportune timing to strike. I'm really guessing that you do not need to see the "accidental" coincidence here. And hello, Dr. "Generic villain" Franklin, to decimate an entire town just for the sake of killing the MC, WOW, just WOW and being OP for cheapo reasons. *clap* As the saying goes: "Every man for himself".

Amazingly, NAZ's visuals are not too bad either, just decent. Even in action there's some CG but it's not horrible to say as a quick mention. Given that we've seen much of ID:Invaded (by the same studio), stereotypical visuals. The same can't be said for the music, ending up at the decent range as far as VA-talented musicians go (for Aoi Yuuki and Aya Uchida).

Overall, this series is just another textbook example of a promised Isekai plot that was never utilized nor planned well, that sums up most LNs and the novelists in this day and age trying to break the SAO mold that sadly cannot be shaken, yet loosely inspired from. It could've been a fine-to-good one had the potential be unlocked (as in diving into a new world and creating infinite choices), but it's clear as day that no amount of Isekai would run series like this rampant on its knees (while still serializing in Japan) and challenge the status quo.

What a total shame, Infinite Dendrogram, giving us limited choices with a contrived plot that's bitter to swallow.

I don't know why this anime has so many negative reviews and why this is less than 7 stars , but in my opinion it is one of the best anime I've seen, although SAO and LOG horizon would still be better than this , but this anime is actually better than lots of trash vrmmorpg type anime, the protagonist isn't super powerful here , there are no cheat skills or anything, most of the settings seem normal, it's actually better than Is it wrong trying to pickup girls in a dungeon, i wish this anime had more episodes and more seasons, whoever reading my ... review i would humbly ask you to not be bothered by negative reviews and go ahead and give it a try , thanks.

Dendrogram is a show that had potential, but failed to ever really live up to it.

More often than not with anime adaptations of isekai and VRMMORPG Light Novels, we see that they’ve only reacted acted as promotional material for the LN. Dendrogram doesn’t break that mould at all and while a fun watch for me personally, fell flat for long stretches.

The world and characters that the show introduces are interesting, however rarely are fleshed out and rarely are we actually made to care about them or their struggles. The notable exception to this is Nemesis who I personally really liked.

Even without having read ... the LN(will do later), I can tell large amounts of the story were condensed and omitted for the sake of an enjoyable anime experience. When making these adaptations it’s always a gamble as to what parts should or shouldn’t be omitted, but it feels like in this case NAZ did not get it right and that we were missing things .

I quite enjoyed the art of the show and thought the character designs(done by White Fox) were all really nice. Animation wise, the show is quite weak. At times I felt like I was looking at a PowerPoint presentation. This is consistent throughout the show and even the final fight felt that way. There’s not a huge amount of CGI, but when done I felt like it was subpar.

For me, an anime does not have to be some masterpiece for me to really enjoy it. Dendrogram is certainly not an objectively great anime in technical nor narrative aspects, however it did manage to keep me entertained and I looked forward to it weekly. If you are not a fan of VRMMORPG you will not enjoy this show. Hell, even if you are, there’s a good chance you still won’t like this show. The first episode is pretty much how it remains throughout, so that’s enough of a barometer.

Dendrogram gets 6 Superior Embryos out of 10 from me.

This review is based off of the four episodes that I have seen thus far in the anime. I have not read the manga. As far as the first four episodes go, I would say it doesn't offer anything new to the isekai genre of anime, and it does not hook me as other isekai anime would, such as No Game No Life, Rising of the Shield Hero, or That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. The "special" part about the anime is that the main character's embryo is Nemesis, and that having a maiden embryo is something special. However, it becomes hard for ... me to care about an anime with characters as basic such as the protagonist. In addition, it is explicitly stated/demonstrated that players can toggle pain on/off, and can respawn after a delay. This removes most seriousness for me, and the prospect of an infinite array of powers/abilities doesn't capture my interest as much, because as we've seen in isekai and non-isekai animes alike, powers can be vast and varied, even if it isn't the main focus. Granted, my opinion of this anime can change as time goes on, and if characters are developed more, or the plot thickens, but based on the premises established in the first few episodes, and comparing them with the first episodes of animes in the same genre, my prediction would be that this anime won't stray away from generic isekai anime tropes and will result in a lackluster experience. Nothing abhorrent, but nothing remarkable, either.

Well, I will start saying that this anime is actually underrated. Not saying it is a masterpiece, because it's not... but it's definitely getting a lot of hate even though it's actually decent.

I guess it can't be helped. There are soooo many good animes out there about games, or Isekais, that people cannot help but compare, that, and most of people are probably tired of some archetypes and tropes, in this case, an MC with a particular phrase people dislike and justice drive people tend to see as something dumb, just like many people also hated Grancrest Senki's MC.

But, if one were to see ... the anime as for it what has to offer, I would say it's not such a terrible thing, I actually like it a bunch myself. "Just imagine yourself as part of the story"... this is something recommended mostly when reading books, but if you try to place yourself in a story, perspectives may change.

Particularly, some characters have their reasons to do what they do in this anime, and even though sometimes something may seem simple, it's actually quite amusing if you thought of your own reasons as you place yourself in their situations, or putting it simple, imagining Infinite Dendogram was an actual game and you were about to play it.

But enough rambling. This anime is interesting, not the best of the best, but animation is decent, and story-wise, I consider it pretty interesting, with a pretty nice premise and a lot of potential, and if it is headed the way I thing it is, it will get better yet (if it gets a second season, that is).

I would say, give it a shot! Also, if you try not to expect too much from every anime, you might find that many are actually quite enjoyable :) Sometimes it's also about how high you set your expectations, but tastes also vary so... blah blah blah xD

Forgettable, that’s all this show is, just so god damn dull and forgettable. I don’t mean just the entire show as a whole but also after each episode it’s difficult to really remember what happened. There’s just not much there plot wise that’s really worth remembering despite how much terminology and infodumping the show does. So much of it is just unnecessary as the information seems to extend farther than the show's 13 episode scope. Outside of what little there is worth remembering about the show, there’s not much that’s memorable about the show in of itself. There’s nothing about the setting, the characters, ... the battles, the interactions, or just about anything else about this show I really want to remember for the sake of remembering. The most effort I have put into trying to remember this show is from doing this review and saying every once in a while, “oh, I guess that did happen….”

The plot for the show, at least for the first half, is the basic misadventures of playing for an MMO. going on quests, fighting monsters, meeting new people. and so on. It seems like something that would be fine and simple, but somehow the show managed to make it such a chore to get through. For you see, one of the main points of the game is that the AI is advanced enough to pass off as real people and can be perma-death-ed. This in turn creates some sort of stakes and tension in an otherwise easy going game, especially for our main protagonist who does see them as real people . While it may seem like an interesting take by using a new perspective, there’s never enough time for these AIs to really care for them. I guess the closest thing to them would be the embryos that are humanoid companions to people such as the main protagonist. Of course all of the ones present in the show are one-dimensional and don’t really help support the point. Then again it’s not like the player characters are any more interesting or complex, so it could have something going for it in-story.

Aside from Ray Starling being the main protagonist there’s not really much about him that’s noteworthy. I guess the fact that his chad older brother plays the game as well, and also that there is probably someone behind the scenes manipulating Ray into being something great, but not much of that really matters. I don't really plan on talking about the rest of the characters because i'm not really keen on creating a laundry list of them and their one note characteristics. It only really peaks in terms of characterization for 3~4 characters and it’s mostly backstory for why they ended up joining the game. But I will put a small footnote for the fem-boy character Rook Holmes mostly due to his character class being a pimp and his embryo being something akin to a succubus, and that’s pretty funny for some reason.

The worst part of the show is the last half when a tournament is interrupted by some player character stealing the AI princess of one of the games kingdom . While it seems to be doing the appropriate thing in setting up this entire event with an antagonist, tension, and a goal, the entire thing is just an utter bore. With most of the focus being player vs player battles with the only consequence they’ll have is being unable to log on for 24 hours (which is really dumb). It’s only made worse by how unironically try hard the players make it. It wouldn’t be so if it was for this event, but it’s kind of been a thing for the entire show and it’s really hard to care about anything that happens at this point.

I wish I could say something about the visuals or audio but there;s nothing to really write home about. At this point I'm already mentally checked out from having to remind myself what the hell happened in this show. The most positive thing i can say about this dull, forgettable, disposable show is that at least it wasn’t too annoying to get through.

Dear all,
Please read the original novel (Infinite Dendrogram LN). I really don't care about the show, but, just know that the novel is 100x better than this. Moreover, it has a completely different feeling to it, and the characters are way more developed. It is really a shame that the actual shows are trash in comparison to their written counterparts.

The problem with these shows is that they opt to skip tons of details and character development in order to compress 10 volumes into 13 episodes. It's like if LOTR was a 20 minute long short. I guarantee that people would also label that as ... uncomprehensive garbage because compressing LOTR into 20 minutes would basically leave only a bunch of battle scenes on, with zero context.

All in all, go read the novel and ignore this show all-together. The same applies fo arifureta, where the show is absolute garbage while the novel is simply incredible.

Great story, with tons of unique concepts and massive amount of potential from the world that has been built.

Art is good enough to hold your attention, without being the main appeal of the anime.

Sound does it's job. Not outstanding.

Characters are all expressive without being dreadfully bland archetypes. Interaction between the characters is very pronounced. There's comedy and seriousness in their rightful places, so there's no mood killing.

A wild ride from start to finish, each episode keeps amping up the experience by making use of the neato MMO concepts and great characterization that stands above other MMO anime.

Solid 9/10 overall from me. Probably ... the most enjoyable anime to come out in the past couple years.

With the premise of infinite possibilities, the overall story is rather bland and slow. Yet jumping from one piece of the story to the next like hot potato and the underlying story is slowly, and I mean slowly, building up with only four episodes in.

Characters are rather one-dimensional but I can dig that in some RPG settings because an RPG is where you can become someone different than your reality. But while the idea of NPCs having their own lives and have no chance of returning does bring the sense of risk to people like our main protagonist to care about. It is the ... only underlying plot that they possess and it seems to become a driving force to Ray's actions. However, because of that one-dimensional personality, he never progresses as a character beyond the vague power-up scale because he "believed in his own potential or whatever plot device allows him to take care of the situation. Making everything rather extremely convenient for him regardless of the consequences.

The art style and animation isn't bad in my opinion. I like the open atmosphere and colorful tone of the world though it gets a little too bright sometimes. The animation seems like your standard expectations in an anime if not a little stiff. Don't expect it to go above and beyond because after watching a few more episodes it never provides more beyond basic lip movement and a sliding camera of the whole scene if they're not fighting where they are forced to move otherwise that stiffness becomes stillness.

This certainly isn't the worst anime, but while each episode provides what equates to an arc, it is short, simple, and only provides an underlying plot for a couple minutes and then repeat. Thereby stretching the story too thin to where I'm close to getting bored. I highly don't recommend watching this as a seasonal anime but something to either binge and have a different experience than to wait for little to happen until probably the end of the season. If you're looking for any fantasy setting anime then this is one, but it is an average if not below average experience. Overall, as Ray's catchphrase says "this leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

Rating: 5

It doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth. it doesn't have a taste at all.

It is neither good nor bad. it is just empty. not even entertaining. i'd rather choose a horrible anime than this empty one. it's like playing a game but skipping the story.

story: generic but empty, not even entertaining. There are the originals of stories and later on it becomes generic if used over and over again. nevertheless, generic stories most probably will be entertaining. For example, marvel movies are the best generic but entertaining stories. Infinite dendrogram is generic but horribly empty. It is generic because it follows a ... standard, but it is empty because it's execution of that standard is not complete. It lacks the minimum of generic stories - entertainment. it might as well pursue ecchi , at least the perverts will be entertained.

art style: standard

characters: exaggerated. MC high horse doing "good" to save NPCs, but in reality/practice - a very greedy person. he takes all the loots without even helping the NPC victims.

character reactions: MC is a FRAUD. MC sees bad things done vs. NPCS. He tries to saves them. actually saves them and receives very huge loot. MC doesn't want the loot. He takes the loot but he feels to bad for the huge prize, so he decides to divide it with other party members. He never really helped the NPCs, not even a single coin.

Others will may either hate this anime or be indifferent.

Firstly, I am going to explain why I like Infinite Dendogram, and then get on to addressing all the hate that this anime is getting.

Infinite Dendogram is completely cliched and completely uninspiring to start off with. But it its setting, its plot potential and its characters are really fun. The MC focuses on progressively getting stronger, and is following the literal plot of the game by exploring its infinite possibilities. I think that a lot of people are missing the point that the true nature of the game is a mystery that seemingly will need to be uncovered by the MC through his exploration of ... the game. Acknowledging the plot as such, I feel like this anime is definitely going somewhere, slow as it may be.

The one criticism I can't withhold in this review is the poor timing of the anime release. By the end of this season, it is likely that the anime will have caught up with the ongoing light-novel series, meaning that, and I doubt the producers are even considering it, season 2 would take ages to get released. Okay, now onto why I don't agree with the negative reception of this anime.

I really do not understand the hate that Infinite Dendrogram is getting. I don't really review anime, but I just want to clear something up for all the people reading these reviews that may end up missing out on a pretty fun anime. It seems that Infinite Dendrogram garnered much higher expectations than it may have intended to meet right off the bat. No, it is not groundbreaking, it's cliched and lacks concrete direction. But seriously, lots of isekais start off that way. What would you expect after several episodes?

Firstly: A slow start does not determine whether an anime will reach its potential or not. From what I have seen in Infinite Dendrogram, it is trying to introduce the viewer to a nicely designed virtual world, exposing you to the game-play and hinting at the true nature of the game. It's off to a casual and enjoyable start. I'm not going to judge a series by its first few episodes. I think that would be completely unfair and pretentious.

Secondly: Many anime's start off with a very loose plot. Character development is slow with no real direction, just a really fun introduction to your typical isekai setting. I've seen anime score 7+ with this exact type of pacing. Put this kind of formula into a slice-of-life (like Nisekoi) and you'll see it gather 7+/10 ratings. Why? Because sometimes you just want to relax and watch something completely uninspiring but also completely fulfilling in that it is exactly what you want and expect it to be. That's exactly what Infinite Dendrogram is AT THIS POINT. Who knows, it could be more, I think it will be, but even if it doesn't end up blowing my mind, I'll still be able to confidently say that I at least enjoyed this show.

Do you like trash? Not funny kind of trash, but a hot steamy pile of irredeemable garbage? I think not, cause noone does, and yet here it is. I remember someone said "Dude this novel is pretty good, you might want to check it out." I didn't and after this adaptation I surely will not. Now, a bit more details.
Sound and art - basic and bland, nothing worth of mentioning.
World and story - oh boy, here is the first part of what makes this anime terrible. Ok, I get it, it is a MMO RPG that is so realistic that it is "alive". Or maybe ... it is not a game and a real world and players are transported there with some arcane stuff that everyone thinks is just a game - who cares. But man, if it is a living world, can you at least make it CONSISTENT? We have fantasy stuff as usual, magic-swords-archers, but also mecha. Yes, giant robots with lasers in medival fantasy world. For what reason, can someone please explain to me? Also, being an RPG having a concept of "embryo" - ingame item that is given to you from the start that levels up with you and can turn into a cute girl (yes, for MC it is a sword turning a girl cause you need to start a harem from something I suppose?) - is plain stupid cause player does not need to grind for one type of gear AND rolling a character has way too much impact. Oh, and did I mention that apart from out of place high-tech mechs it is a completely ordinary fantasy world with classical evil necromancers that kill children and lots of damsels in distress awaiting resque? I don't think you could go more generic if you tried, cause those are the default good deeds any hero should do. But lets move on to our heroes.
Cause "heroes" they are only in name. They do, in fact, "leave a bad taste in my mouth". Yes, this is the catch phrase of our MC, the dullnes and blandness incarnate. He manages to be both completely void of character while also being an irritating "righteous paladin" who does only good, is loved by people and is a good guy overall. Oh, and he also plays the same game as averyone, but gets better job and gear from the start, finishes a high level quest on day 1, kills a few unique bosses without proper preparations. Does it sound like cheat wishfullfillment self-insert protag? Yep, I do think so. But wait, other characters try hard to be the worst one, so MC has a tough competition! We also have secondary cast, that is either for MUH TRAGEDY or MY COMEDY, also completely devoid of character and yet having a dedicated episode for their arc. And no, it is not an arc that actually shows character development, it is somehting like an infodump of TRAGIC PAST that has zero relevance to the world the game is in. Why is it in here, if said characters are somewhere on a level of target dummy in terms of being human-like? I have no idea. Oh, and lets not forget the villains! While with bad mobs doing bad thins nothing can be said, they are just XP, there is one bad guy for the last arc who behaves on the same level of cringe that MC does. Making a bad show from a war, talking non-stop about how cool he is, how smart his plan is while laughing like a maniac - and yet loosing to a low level MC who has no high-end gear - yes, it is how this world works.
To be honest, anime was so bad that I even doubt author had any experience playing an actual MMO or talking to real people, cause neither of them in this story seem to be even remotely realistic/good/entertaining. This anime is horrible and I can't stress enough HOW horrible it is. Don't watch it, save your time.

Both a great and slow series - kinda. It has a lot of potential in its concept, but it’s having trouble pacing its content, thus far.

I do love this genre - so I’m a bit biased - but it’s very easy to either overdo the exposition, or to overdo the Lore of such a world. In this case: loads of lore with poorly-paced exposition (not “awful” in the sense that it’s overwhelming or confusing, but just prioritised at only 50%’ish decency), and a lot of “Shounen-moments” that lose their ‘Epic’ touch because the “odds” just don’t feel ‘calibrated’ with the lore...

Regardless: this is a ... moderately fun show, and the imagination that went into the storyline and the Main Character(s) (and his partner - and those like her who are part of the core system’s-conspiracy) make for a fairly unique combination of ideas that aren’t just ‘hoping to catch a-hook of a popular trend’—for any of this show’s forthcomings, I’d sooner blame the production-team of this show - especially those doing the Storyboard’ing - than the underlying author (or whomever came up with this Sword Art Online V2 schematic) who, for the record, has done a brilliant job of crafting such a multifaceted concept that has both a ‘taste of the “future of Virtual Reality”’ whilst managing to work in a conspiracy that somehow doubles as a very real ‘metaphorical Moral-Dilemma’ of high-end/futuristic AI. With the contextual justification of a potential ‘Real World’ that the “privileged citizens” (ie: the participants, as in: us gamers) have to personally rationalise as either ‘some kind of prepaid-service (for your gaming entertainment)’ or ‘as a second life [to your own] that’s so complicated in ethics, your own morality, and an AI that is so identical to us humans that the only difference between our existences are the ‘Rules of the World’ (as in: game mechanics - or, by this point, “Laws of Nature”...), that it’s hard to differentiate this world - as being “a game” - from reality—making it almost indiscernible from a world of its own’.

An amazing concept that has its flaws but compensates through both imagination and inherent complex-congruity. Really can’t help but be drawn to this show every week - no matter its shortcomings!

Art: 6/10
Sound: 5-6/10
Characters: 8-9/10
Story: 9/10!
Enjoyment: 7-9/10 (hard to call before the season’s end)
Overall: 8/10. Would love to go higher because of the concept(s), but too much has been left out or even rewritten such that the ‘charm’ of the writing has partially been compromised.
Having said that: I’ll definitely be looking for both the Light Novel and the Manga to see how much they scrapped from the original script! :3

Still a great show though. Check it out—and enjoy!

Overall Rating: 2. I was going to give this a generous 3 but it just really disappointed me that much. Please don't make any more silly cash grab Mary Sue desperate destitute waifu fap material anime for NEETs. No more.

Let's start with the good:
Ultra promising premise. I'd love to see another anime take a whack at it.
The art was the highlight of this anime. Unfortunately for me art has the least weight when considering good anime and put in a different way it's sad because the art is the highlight. The art is standard, common, passable, and arguably inoffensive.

The story took a great premise where ... the VR world has a sort of unchained degree of possible NPC interactions but the overall story direction puts all of this into the dumpster just to fit in some stupid plot gags, making the story very predictable despite the "unlimited" nature of it.

The characters are very clearly only there for "visual pleasure" as seen by most protagonists having "Embryos" that take on the appearance of typical anime-waifu types and I can see the rest of this anime devolving into a Mary Sue Harem anime which, to say the least, is not my cup of tea.

I guarantee you'll agree that this is another silly Mary Sue anime by simply watching the very first episode. It does not make sense that a stock level 1 character with no special equipment whatsoever can one-shot a level 210 mob just by shouting Shounen-courage-words.

Oh also sound quality isn't awful but there were times where the sound levels were out of whack like a movie. One moment they're just talking and all of a sudden it jumps to the next scene via 'BOOOOOOOMLOUDMUSIC' and my ears ring. I don't put the volume very high at all on my computer so it's definitely an issue.

DROP:

I planned to stretch at least until chapter 3, but the way the hand comes I do not think it was necessary.
In general the proposal of "Infinite Dendogram" can be interesting as long as you are not tired of the Isekai, so from my side I am always open to these titles, but only when I really notice that it stands out in some interesting aspect and here I do not know applies nowhere.
The story itself is cliché, simple and superficial but not to be found, in addition to being half-elaborated with that of the invocation of the Embryo and the somewhat forced rhythm in ... just the first chapter, on the other hand we have the characters who are literally Robots they only interact under an average dialogue of these adaptations and everyday situations. The Animation and Sound decoration is fair / acceptable but it will not change the equation too much when evaluating the series. So what ends up being left of this Anime? little and nothing, just a shell empty of promise.
In short, there really are many adaptations with the same style and with a little effort they surpass this one, so I really do not recommend it, having so many drinkable
variants.



Version en Español:


DROP:

Pensaba estirarme al menos hasta el capitulo 3, pero por como viene la mano no creo fuese necesario.
En general la propuesta de "Infinite Dendogram" puede ser interesante siempre y cuando no estés cansado de los Isekai, por lo que desde mi parte siempre estoy abierto a estos títulos, pero solo cuando realmente noto que resalta en algún aspecto interesante y aquí no se aplica en ninguna parte.
La historia en si es cliché, simple y superficial a mas no poder, ademas de medio rebuscada con eso de la invocación del Embryo y el ritmo un tanto forzado en tan solo el primer capitulo, por otro lado tenemos a los personajes que literalmente son Robots que solo interactúan bajo un dialogo promedio de estas adaptaciones y situaciones cotidianas. El decorado de Animación y Sonido es regular/aceptable pero no te cambiara demasiado la ecuacion a la hora de evaluar la serie. Entonces ¿que nos termina quedando de este Anime? poco y nada, solo un cascaron vacío de promesas.
En fin realmente hay muchas adaptaciones con el mismo estilo y con esmerarse solo un poco sobrepasan a esta, así que realmente no la Recomendaria, teniendo tantas variantes potables.