Mr. Love: Queen's Choice Anime Thoughts

Things I Loved:

Lucien is A LOT more likable. Lucien has a lot of fans. Because, well, we're suckers for dreamy, morally gray character with a romantic side. But, I think even his biggest fans will admit there's moments in the game where he's a bit...creepy. Some of this could be owed to Bill Rogers voice acting in the English server: Though he gives Lucien a calm, relaxing voice--there's also a lot of sinister undertones to everything he says. In the anime, I found myself sympathizing for Lucien a lot more than I did in the game. He seems warmer, friendlier, and less suspicious. In the game, even before he was revealed to be working with Black Swan, I always thought something seemed "off" about him. But in the anime, even knowing he's not who he claims to be, I still found myself trusting him. When he does do cold, heartless things, he seems like a cool anime villain while doing it. I know I'm not the first person to make this comparison, but he really is Light Yagami as a scientist. But, unlike Light, part of you does want to like Lucien and see him be redeemed. Also we get to learn more about his backstory, which helped me sympathize more with him and understand why he is the way he is. (Not that that excuses anything, of course.) He's more well-rounded here, I think. And that's pretty impressive because it's usually the opposite for adaptations. So kudos!

Baby Gavin!! That's it, really. Just baby Gavin. In the game there are illustrations of Lucien, Victor, and Kiro as children--but never Gavin. So even though this moment was fleeting, it was nice. And I think it also summed up what his character is all about in just one shot. We see him shielding his mother from his abusive father. Though he's small, he still has a lot of ferocity and is just naturally ordained with a need to protect those he loves. That's Gavin's character in a nutshell.

Adaptations of the art from the game. While it may not be HD quality like the game, I was honestly very impressed with how on point the art was. It was pretty much replicated exactly. And it was neat to see these images that I had come to know from the game, have movement and life breathed into them. Kind of surreal, almost.

Childhood Flashbacks from the Male Characters' Perspectives. In the game, we often only see the Producer's point of view. Because of trauma she suffered as a child, her memories from the past are not the most reliable. We know that she met Kiro and Victor in childhood--but the circumstances are murky. Well, in the anime we get to see exactly what the circumstances were: Kiro was an orphaned toddler who was kidnapped and tested on with her, he found her crying in a test lab and gave her his teddy bear to cheer her up. Victor (as shown in the clip below) accidentally knocked over her sandcastle at the park and brought her pudding the next day as an apology--he saved her from a car wreck by using his powers to stop time--and then, seeing his powers, both he and the Producer were kidnapped to be test experiments. Not only are the characters adorable when animated as small children, but it adds another level of emotional depth, and helps us better understand the bond these characters hold with the Producer.

Victor gets closure. Victor lived with guilt for YEARS because he was unable to protect the Producer when they were children. Though he recognizes the Producer as the girl from years ago--in the game, he's too proud and stubborn to ever outright admit his guilt over the past or his anxiety over keeping her safe in the future. The only time he does confess, is when she's asleep, and unable to respond with reassurance. In the anime, he does admit to her (while she's awake this time) that he feels guilt, and talks about how he's worried that he can't protect her again. This leads to a sweet heart-to-heart talk where the Producer remembers him as the boy who saved her from a car accident in childhood, and she assures him he doesn't need to feel guilty--They both saved each other's lives, so they are even. In this scene, we even get the rare pleasure of seeing the usually poker faced Victor, actually smile warmly. And it's very sweet.

Gavin's father. In the game, we know Gavin has never gotten along with his father, and that his father never felt or showed affection for him. But in the anime, they amp it up so much that it makes Evangelion's Gendo Ikari look like a loving father in comparison. And it really makes you sympathize for Gavin all the more. Which, I liked because otherwise, in the anime, Gavin is pretty watered down (see rant below). Not only is it implied that his father beats Gavin's mother (and possibly Gavin as well), but he also refers to Gavin coldly as "it" and "that thing", and tells him--while mourning his recently deceased mother--that it's his fault she died, and he never should have been born. We got hints of this kind of treatment in the game, but in the anime we see it out in full swing, and it really makes you want to give Gavin a hug; and punch his father in the face.

Humor. This story can get pretty emotional and intense, so a little humor goes a long way. That isn't to say there was no humor in the game, because there is plenty. But I was concerned the anime adaptation might leave some of it out. I was wrong. In fact, the humor here, when there is some, is actually better--since it's accompanied by playful music, expressive animation, and--well, the Producer! Throughout the game, she's the only major character whose voice we never hear. But now we get to see how expressive she is--as well as how awkwardly adorable she is too! And it adds so much more energy to these scenes.

Kiro's music. I haven't mentioned Kiro much in this review because, well, his character and his arc, are portrayed about the same as in the game. Nothing so remarkably different that I felt the need to comment on. But, I will say this, we do FINALLY get to hear Kiro's music. It's only for a few seconds in the anime, but those few seconds do give us enough of an idea of what kind of music he makes, and what his stage persona is like. He's your typical J-Pop idol, as I think we all expected. But it's just so nice to actually see him in action. There is a full release of "his" song that's previewed in the anime, and it kind of bops.

The opening theme song. While I'm on the topic of music, I also want to point out how great this OP is. Anime is well known for its catchy theme songs and elaborate opening title sequences, and this one is no exception. It suits the tone of the story perfectly--A mixture of sweet and epic. It also perfectly sets up the tone for the characters and gives them all equal representation, not favoring one over the other as can sometimes be the case. (Let's be honest, the game hyped Lucien up way too much, instead of the other guys, because they wanted you to get attached to him so you'd feel personally attacked by his betrayal.) If you haven't played the game, this opening title sequence will at least give you an idea of the kind of people the characters are.

Things That Could Have Been Done Better:

Victor in Episode 8. Okay, while I did like that he got his closure, it came at the cost of giving his character more depth. For people who are new to the fanbase just from watching the anime, and haven't started playing the game yet, or have only just started and aren't into the later chapters yet--they don't get to see his growth quite as much as we do in the game. The issue with adaptations is that you have a lot of ground to cover, but not a lot of time to do so. Episode 8 condenses both Chapter 10 and 11 into one, and as such, leaves quite a lot of things out. As I said, I understand why this needs to be done when adapting something to screen. However, in the game, these two chapters combined were where players start to really connect with Victor and see a softer, more vulnerable side to this man who puts on a front of being unaffected and uncaring. We start to see his deep affection for the Producer, and the lengths he will go to keep her safe. After a heated argument, we even see him lower himself in humility by apologizing to the Producer and embracing her in a moment of panic and relief.

It brings a lot of sensitivity and sympathy to a character who was pretty cutthroat just a few chapters earlier. This is stuff that needs to unfold over a period of time, and the game perfected his character arc well. We don't really get that payoff in the anime. Yes, he does look after her while she is hospitalized, and offers her his support, and expresses guilt over not being able to keep her safe (which again, I loved)--but we don't get that powerful moment that shows that even someone as dominating and confident as Victor has things that he's so afraid of losing that he's willing to risk his image as a cruel, relentless CEO--to cherish.

Justice was not done to Gavin. Again, I think this is an issue of adaptations needing to leave a lot of stuff out. In the anime, Gavin does have affection for the Producer, it would be wrong for me to say that he doesn't. But compared to the game it's watered down. A LOT. And that bothers me, because (in my own humble opinion) in the game, I think Gavin is the man who loves the Producer the most. Think about it: She (unknowingly) breaks his heart, yet he still loves and protects her secretly and unconditionally without wanting any recognition for it. He constantly puts himself through hell and back for her, and doesn't complain or want recompense even once. He doesn't think twice about putting himself in harm's way if it means protecting her, he just does it and doesn't care if he's hurt. His affection for her is by far the most pure and wholesome. He wants to give her everything, and doesn't expect anything in return. That is the definition of love, and he embodies all of it.

But in the anime, his affection for her isn't portrayed this way and that really ticked me off. Gavin is a former military agent, and a Special Task Force operative, yes--but in the game, he's still likable and knows how to unclench and show affection. In the anime, it seems he's still clinging to his military background and acts super serious all the time. There's actually a clip from an episode that gave me secondhand embarrassment because of how awkward the interaction was. Unfortunately it's not on YouTube, so I can't link it, but essentially what happens is the Producer (very obviously) makes a joke. He only responds by staring blankly at her. Game Gavin would never do this, even in the early chapters when he was still a little awkward around the Producer. Maybe he wouldn't have laughed, but he would have at least responded with...something other than a blank stare!

Another huge thing that happens to Gavin in the story, is that he sells his body to be used as a military weapon for his estranged father's army. Doing so means his Evol needs to be accelerated to dangerous heights, which puts him through a lot of physical and emotional pain. But, he does it because his father used the Producer as a bargaining chip. Saying he could guarantee her safety if Gavin would join his force. Gavin is scared of what this will entail, but once he's sure the Producer will be kept safe, he agrees. But he isn't sure if he'll make it out alive, so he tearfully pleas for her to wait for him. This is how it's portrayed in the game, and it stuck with me and made me cry for a good week. However, in the anime, this whole angle of Gavin doing it for her, isn't explored. They make it look like he does it just so he can get his powers back to normal. People who played the game know his intentions. But if people are watching it without knowledge of why he does it, it can look very selfish and lacks all the emotional weight of sacrifice and selfless love.

To be fair, some of the harshness of Gavin's character in the anime could be owed to the English dubbing voice actor, Joe Zieja, and the Japanese voice actor, Yuuki Ono, having different ideas of how to portray the same character. Having played the game with English dubs, I got used to Joe Zieja's portrayal of Gavin--whose authority is more calm and gently pressing, than it is intimidating. On the whole, he portrays Gavin with a sweetness and sincerity that makes you melt. Yuuki Ono seems to view Gavin as very gruff and authoritarian, even when he's trying to be romantic. And this is no disrespect to Ono as a voice actor; but I do think it's interesting that two people can read the same character in such different ways. I'm interested to see if a dub on the anime changes my mind at all about how Gavin is portrayed.

But as for now, Gavin's just not as likable in the anime. Which really bummed me out, because he's my favorite. He still has a lot of awesome, kickbutt moments. But I want the sweet, emotionally intelligent Gavin from the game! I will, to the creators' credit say: They did give us reasons why we should sympathize with Gavin (kind-hearted guy with a strong sense of justice, former school tough guy who was just misunderstood the whole time, comes from an abusive background but refuses to continue the cycle of abuse)--Would have been nice if they did more to put it all into action.

Kind of too tame? One thing that excited me about the anime was the prospect of seeing people who tuned in to watch what they expected to be a fluffy, reverse harem anime--only to have lots of moments of nightmare fuel instead. On one hand, I understand why they needed to change the circumstances of Lucien's Darwinist plan to weed out the weak "non-Evolving" members of the human race: In the anime, non-Evolvers fall asleep and never wake up, and eventually die. In the game, they catch a nasty flu and die--Which would be a little too on-the-nose for 2020. So I understand that part. But in the game there was also a Battle Royale type scenario where everyone has to fight to the death for an antidote to the flu. When people die from the flu, blood just explodes from their facial cavities. There's also a subplot involving a child whom Gavin is tasked to look after, but then eventually needs to perform a mercy killing on when the child is in a lot of pain and begs to be killed.

I guess the anime wanted to stay under TV-MA (or whatever Japan's equivalent is), which I understand. But man, it would have been fun to see people tune in for a cute romance anime only to find themselves watching End of Evangelion instead.

Final Episode? It seemed that this will be the only season of the show, as the final episode seemed to tie up most of the loose threads and provide closure. I loved seeing everyone happy again, but...I feel it was super rushed. See, the thing about games like Mr. Love, is that they're kind of ongoing and always being updated, so it's hard to make an anime series out of them anyway, let alone a good ending. I feel like we didn't see the end of the full story, quite yet. I mean, they totally glossed over the whole several chapters where she forces Victor to kill her, goes to an alternate dimension where nobody remembers her, and Shaw becomes a big part of the story. (In the anime, he only appears briefly in one episode to taunt Gavin and then literally backflips off a skyscraper never to be seen again.) But like I said, everything was tied up so that I don't see where else it could possibly go. It was just...Underwhelming. Which is a real bummer, because this story gives me so many emotions, and I was wanting to feel those for the last episode. But I didn't.

Overall Opinion:

Though it's far from a perfect adaptation, I think I have more positive things to say about it than negative. People who aren't familiar with the game probably won't be bothered by the differences I pointed out, which is good for them, I guess. I would give it a solid 7.5/10.

I think people who play the game will enjoy the anime just to see their favorite characters actually moving around and not just standing there. For people who don't play the game though, I wouldn't call it "essential viewing" material. It's definitely made for fans of the game. So if you're a fan of the game, I would say give it a watch. If you've never played the game and have no intention of doing so, you can probably skip it. (I would recommend playing the game though at least, because that story and the way it's told is 10/10.)

If you're interested in playing the game, I did write a review for it here, which you can check out and decide if it sounds right for you!