Arknights: Prelude to Dawn is an anime made for people who are already familiar with the series and the franchise, to begin with. It should be noted that the anime is an adaptation of the same game by the same name: Arknights. And as the rest of the anime title implies, the anime is a prologue to what the fans often allude to as an introduction to a much grander narrative filled with plentiful world-building, complex characterizations, and profound mythology. It goes without saying that people who are fans of Arknights and have played the game will have an ecstatic time with Arknights: Prelude to Dawn because of their immense knowledge of the game’s narrative and events. Moreover, seeing it all play out in a well-produced animation format will surely satisfy most of the fans. However, speaking for myself, a person who never played the game and couldn’t care less to dive into a gacha game for that matter, don’t have many positives to say about the anime in itself.

I don’t believe this anime adaptation is bad, nor do I believe the anime does anything exceptional or marvelous. It’s a prologue after all. And as a prologue, it’s an introduction to the world of Arknights. One thing to be noted is that the pacing is rather slow this time around. Which, I believe it does works in the series' favor somewhat. The slow introduction to the world of Arknights allows the anime to present the intricacies of its setting and firmly establish the tone and atmosphere of the narrative. And this really is the main appeal of the prologue: the bleakness and hopelessness of Terra—at least on the surface level.

Set in the land of Terra, the world of Arknights has been plunged into conflicts and terror since the occurrence of natural disasters known as “Catastrophy”. The regular occurrence of these catastrophic events brings down hellfire and destruction to humanity and its civilization. However, it doesn’t stop there. Its leftover remnants also radiate an incurable disease known as Oripathy upon the populations, which is the main cause of human conflict in Terra. The central focus of the entire narrative in Arknights: Prelude to Dawn can be pinned down to this internal conflict. Every plot point and event that occur within the anime happens as the result of this continuous phenomenon. Nonetheless, the issue lies in that despite the captivating establishment of its conflict, the factions involved in this conflict are left with a lot to be desired.

In the prologue, there are two main factions within this conflict. And that they exist simply because of their ideological differences. One, the Reunion side, which the series sets up as the main antagonist force of the two, strongly believes in the superiority of the infected people. Their belief, although vaguely presented thus far, stems from their suffering at the hands of oppression and annihilation from governments and their opposing force: Rhode Island. Rhode Island, contrary to Reunion, is a much more coordinated force that heavily serves the role of extension to the supposed existence of governments within the land of Terra in the series. But because many elements in Arknights: Prelude to Dawn is so ambiguous and up in the air, the conflicts that do happen feels dry and devoid of urgency in the narrative. The post-apocalyptical societal commentary that the show intends to portray is lost in the ever distractions of one-off antagonist forces that don’t get fully fleshed out; sub-plots and side missions that don’t contribute much to the narrative other than to serve as some superficial drama and dull action sequences on screen that’s also plagued with conventional anime dialogues that get your eyes rolling over at its corniness, and tire-some ways of conveying to the viewers.

The conflicts that happen in the show feel dry because of the show’s ideological and literal conflicts that are embodied by the Reunion and Rhode Island is plagued with bland characterizations. Throughout the entire run, there’s nothing profound to be revealed about the Reunion’s idealogy and their psychotic devotion to the cause. On the surface, whenever they're on screen, they illuminate the aura of sophisticated groups with personalities. That despite their divided sub-factions, they seem to have the same ideological connections. But when they actually speak and talk, they embody the typical one-off villains that are never to be seen again with corny dialogue and obnoxious voice acting. The anime never once attempted to explore that side of the conflict. Which, by a long shot, is the most interesting of the two main factions. Instead, the time spent on the Reunion side has gotten nothing but vagueness for the entire duration.

Furthermore, with the introduction of a “doctor” who’s all but lost their memories of themselves, the show relies on the supporting cast to remind the “doctor” and by extension, the viewers, that there’s a reason for all the chaos, destruction and rescues without saying much at the same time. It’s the usage of ambiguousness in the introduction of the series that holds back the overall appeal and attention that the show at the same time demands of us. Much of the show is in a state of multiple concurrent moving pieces despite its slower pacing, which prompts itself to never settle down and take a breather to present its ideas through the characters and actually show the viewers of its world’s societal complexities and complications that the series emphasizes. Because of this, over the course of its runtime, there’s nothing to be taken away from this installment. Even if Arknights: Prelude to Dawn is a prologue, there should have been a clear objective of what it wants to achieve, which the show seemingly doesn’t have outside of its visual compartment.

The next section of this review is more of a personal grudge that I have for the series as a whole rather than a universal problem that it has. And I’m well aware that the consensus of likability on this specific aspect of the show obviously varies from person to person. But what I find particularly distracting about Arknights: Prelude to Dawn is the semi-animal-humanoid character designs. For a series that reiterates again and again about its bleakness, a hopeless world where everything is either collapsing or on the brink of collapse, certain characters with cute slim bunny ears or tiny rabbit ears and tails really take me out of the immersion. It’s one thing if, from the onset, there were only these semi-animal-humanoid species on Terra that resembles human-like attributes and they have populated and ingrained themselves into the world. That way, everything would feel organic. But that’s clearly not the case: there are regular humans inhabiting Terra too.

Having semi-animal-humanoid characters in a series is not the problem, the issue lies in the series' deliberate design to make them cute and adorable in contrast to a much dreary tone that constantly overshadows the series. Personally, I’ve historically got a problem with the clash of tones in shows and films—especially the ones like Arknights. Where having the moe, ‘kawaii’ or straight-up fanservice moments ruin the immersion for me. And I see it as nothing but an attempt to be more than what it actually is.

As I have aforementioned, the fans of Arknights will probably be more than thrilled to see an adaptation of this prologue. The expectations and hype surrounding the release were already evident. But no matter how much hype and positivity the fans generate for a show like this, however, the flaws will always seep through in the end. Arknights: Prelude to Dawn is a popcorn flick with flashy visuals and an initial intriguing narrative and themes. With it, the show managed to grab an audience but never did anything with the initial appeal.