A few days ago on September 16, Hoyoverse announced several details for the next version of Genshin Impact, 3.1. Among various new characters (of which Candace is looking like my next target hot damn), the company also unexpectedly announced a new animation project out of nowhere. Normally this would probably be met with lukewarm reception, however while the current placeholder name is about as boring as could be, “Genshin Impact Long Term Project Launch”, anime fans around the globe immediately perked their ears upon hearing that ufotable would be doing the animation. Ufotable, known for their amazing work on Demon Slayer and the Fate series, has amassed a similar following as MAPPA where if their name is attached, you can expect the good times to roll. I’ll leave the official trailer below for the interested.
You know, for a guy who is basically addicted to Genshin and plays everyday, you’d think I’d be a bit more excited. Don’t get me wrong either, the trailer has that seriously impressive style of animation that ufotable brings to the table and it is cool to see many famous locations reimagined in a 2D format. However, at the end of the day this is still a game adaptation, and one for an open world at that. In my opinion, some of the best writing in Genshin comes from the character quests, and some of the small side quests that occur naturally in the world. I may be biased because to me there’s nothing better than just exploring a world and then all of a sudden you find yourself wrapped up in some quest that you never saw coming. To me it makes the world feel like it’s alive and that events are constantly occurring outside of your own adventure. This works great for a game setting but terrible for an anime idea, which is why I assume they’ll be focusing on the main story quests for the adaptation. Each nation in Genshin has its own main story, but personally they are very serviceable for me. Apart from Liyue’s story, the other nations were a fun ride to go through but I don’t really care about seeing those quests again in animated format. I haven’t finished the latest nation’s questline yet so I can’t comment on that one, but the thought of watching multiple episodes dedicated to a solid but basic questline that I’ve already seen just doesn’t sound like that great of a time. But who knows, perhaps ufotable will throw in some shit to shake up the formula, or perhaps the animation will be so clean that I’ll end up having a great time with the show anyway. Lord knows I’ll be checking it out.
Genshin’s release of Sumeru certainly seems to have re-sparked interest in the game, and this anime only further served to ensure the game stays trending in the near future. These days I’m logging in every day to collect those sweet, sweet Primogems so that I can finally roll on my first Sumeru waifu (that wasn’t given to players for free like Collei). I’ll be checking out this anime too, but I’ve learned to always keep my expectations for game adaptations low, even when the source material and studio involved both have positive aspects. Do you play Genshin Impact? Will you be checking out this anime? How long exactly do you expect a “long-term project” to last for? Complete your daily missions, spend your Primogems, and pray your favorite comes home in the comments below!
