16bit Sensation: Another Layer episode 11 aired on December 14th and is perhaps the strangest episode since Mamoru’s time-traveling adventure in episode 8. Konoha and Mamoru have planned to develop a game that will surpass the remarkable success of their 1999 creation, “The Last Waltz,” aiming to revive Akihabara as the ultimate otaku district it once was. In this episode, we see the duo plan out their game, but later on, Konoha gets captured by a mysterious organization that somehow involves her old friend, Toya.
Original Cuu
The first part of the episode brings up a topic that is relevant to our current lives in 2023. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage, while also being extremely controversial in creative endeavors. Konoha and Mamoru, as the exclusive developers of this game, are concerned about successfully completing every component of their title, including music, voice acting, animation, and more. Mamoru mentioned the use of AI and showed Konoha how simple prompts can be turned into stunning artwork.
While Mamoru was telling Konoha about the various benefits of AI, I hopefully anticipated a shift in the scene that would shed light on the challenges and complications of this controversial technology. Konoha questions Mamoru about AI’s ability to just make an entire game without human involvement, to which Mamoru fortunately responds by saying that while AI can create beautiful drawings and write a story with simple prompts, it lacks passion. I was relieved to hear this from Mamoru. I always trusted his creative process, given his unwavering dedication to traditional game development since we first saw him express his admiration for the PC-98. I’m glad the anime decided to take my own personal stance on AI in creative spaces.
The latter half of 6bit Sensation: Another Layer episode 11 is where things get exceptionally weird. Considering the peculiarities of episode 8 and the numerous unresolved mysteries, I couldn’t help but think of the series taking a strange twist — and it sure did. Konoha makes phone contact with Toya. The last time we saw Toya was in 1999 when she was a full-fledged e-girl. As Konoha waits for Toya at a confirmed meeting spot, she is captured by mysterious men and driven to a secret facility. Mamoru, standing right across the street, misses the initial capture but sparks concern about Konoha’s sudden disappearance.
Konoha awakens wearing an unfamiliar plug suit in a strange white room. As she wanders the facility, she looks upon test tube-type devices with seemingly human beings inside them. Konoha screams in fright, which is sure to trigger some facility guards to come her way in the next episode. Between the mysterious facility and Toya’s involuntary participation in whatever scheme this is, we have many questions waiting to be answered in the final episode of the season. The anime continues to be a favorite of Fall, even through all these strange twists.
The next episode will be the last, and given the final scene in 16bit Sensation: Another Layer episode 11, Mamoru is itching to help out using the power of the PC-98. We only have 23 minutes to wrap up everything about the anime, so I’m interested to see the pacing of the final episode.
Images via Crunchyroll
© Tamiki Wakagi / Misato Mitsumi / Kanroki (Aqua Plus) / 16bit Sensation AL PROJECT
The comments are temporarily unavailable for maintenance.