Project #407: Evil or Live

Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj and this year’s Aniween. A time of spooks and thrills. Now, what I’m about to say is gonna be very ironic, but people spend way too much time on the internet. Don’t get me wrong, the internet has done more good than harm, but it has created a generation that’s totally addicted to it and can’t survive without it. While there are some people out there who can control their internet addiction there are some who can’t and that has me concerned about the future. For all we know we could end up in a world like Evil or Live. A strange series based off a manhwa written by Li Xiaonan. What’s a manhwa you ask? Manhwas are basically the Chinese/Korean equivalent of a manga. Have you seen God of High School and Tower of God? Those are animes based off of manhwas. So once again we’re looking at an anime series from China and I have to admit it’s not a good one. The series came out in 2017 and was met with bad reviews all around. From China to Japan to Europe to America, you name it this anime got flak from everyone. But still horror, I’m sure there’s something in here to give me a good scare and it can’t be that bad. Can it? Well let’s find out, this is Evil or Live.

Opening and Ending Theme

Our opening is “Soredemo Boku wa Ikiteiru” by NormCore. It’s alright. The instrumental is good and the visuals are decent. The only real downside is that I can barely make out what the singer is saying. Other than that, nothing much to say about this opening.

The ending is “”Hui Jia De Lu” by Zhang Liange. This is odd. The opening is Japanese but the ending is Chinese. Anyway, this song is very good. It’s very soothe, sung excellently, and the instrumental is relaxing. I could actually see myself listening to this while watching the night sky and stargazing.  

Episodes 1-4

The anime starts off by talking about internet addiction and how this has created a generation totally addicted to the internet and ignoring reality (I blame Google, Facebook, Twitter, and the porn industry). Thus, a school was formed to help rehabilitate these addicts and make them upstanding citizens in society (as well as scar them mentally). On the surface this school is a rehab center for internet addicts but in truth it’s actually a prison where the students are beaten for stepping out of line and escape/outside interaction is prohibited (and of course there’s no internet). We focus on a new student named Hibiki who was forcefully sent there by his mother and will be staying there for a full year to cure his addition. To the mother’s credit the boy was a complete asshole to her. He treated her poorly and would be gone for days without warning (no wonder she sent you here, I would have done the same thing. Actually, I would have kicked your ass, but child laws forbid me to act on impulse). Once there one of the new students mistaking this for a game tries to fight his way out but discovers that one, he can’t fight worth shit and two, he’s in the real world and he gets the crap beat out of him (welcome to the real world, hippy). Hibiki also gets the crap beaten out of him for stealing glances at the scary (but hot) headmistress (he’s 17 years old what do you expect? Not to mention half of her shirt was unbuttoned so she was inviting the glances and I’ll take that invitation any day). Not being able to stand it anymore (it’s only been an hour) he goes to the school roof and tries to see if he can escape only to find that escape is impossible. He then decides to commit suicide but doesn’t have the guts to do it. Even when a student named Shin comes in to help him do the deed he still can’t do it (well I say this guy is on the same level as Ganta from Deadman Wonderland on the wimpy scale). Shin tells Hibiki to be his servant and in return he’ll make him a man as well as keep him safe. Not knowing what to do, Hibiki becomes Shin’s servant.

In episode 2 Shin helps set things up with Hibiki’s middle school crush Shiori who is also in the school and is now the student council president. You know how most council presidents are nice and helpful to students? Not this one. In almost every other scene she’s holding a knife to someone and ready to cut them (which I’m sure is allowed in this school). Anyway, after a girl gets caught hiding a cellphone a few of the disciplinary students led by Wudo threaten to strip her in front of everyone until Shiori saved her and Hibiki shielded her from a rock throw. Once the security guard shows up the bullies bail and Shiori treats Hibiki’s injuries in a storage area along with the girl. Once alone Shiori tries to make a trade with the girl saying she also wants a cellphone and in exchange Shiori will teach her how to use a knife and kill herself should the bullies return (she is a warped girl. No wonder you like her Hibiki). Shin comes in with the phone and says he’ll give it to Shiori if she makes Hibiki a man and she actually considers it (well she’s proving why she deserves to be locked up). The other girl tries to seduce Hibiki with her body in the hopes that he’ll convince Shin to give her the phone but Shin exposes her as nothing more than a bitch and a criminal because in the past the girl became obsessed with this boy band and began stalking them. She soon started dating one of them only to find out he wasn’t in the band and was instead after her money. Rather than turn him in, she fell for him and joined his operation even going as far as hacking into her parents’ banking account and stealing their money. They were finally caught but the girl’s parents pulled some strings and instead of going to jail she instead got sent here (which honestly is a lot worse than jail if I’m being honest). She decides to drop the nice girl act and tries to take the phone only for Shiori to rip her shirt open and she runs away crying. Shiori agrees to have sex with Hibiki but every time she tries to do it she keeps throwing up and Hibiki decides not to force her to do it (wow, Hibiki disgusts her so much that just the thought of doing it with him makes her puke).   

In episode 3 no longer able to stand Shiori suffering, Hibiki tells her they don’t have to do it. Instead he tells Shiori to act like they did it to get the cellphone and he’ll trick Shin into believing it. While she still thinks Hibiki is a detestable human being (and a pathetic one at that) she does thank him and says he still has a soft heart. After she leaves, Hibiki tricks Shin and then stands up to him because his goal now is to escape and be with Shiori (dude. . .you disgust her. Find someone else). Hibiki then goes to his dorm room where he meets his roommates Kyo, Rai, and Toh as well as the dorm leader Bin (apparently 3 is the magic number here). At first his roommates seem nice and welcome him with open arms and smiles (yeah you guys want something. That’s how this school works) because they think he works under Shin who can get sweet hookups and meals at the school. Once they find out Hibiki isn’t Shin’s follower they try to beat him up, but they’re all so weak from a lack of good food that Hibiki can beat them just by pushing them down (if anything they’re even more pathetic than Hibiki). The reason why the boys can’t get a good meal is because Bin extorts them for money in an effort to get rich quick. Hibiki tries to get Bin to stop (but that goes about as well as say Ikkitousen going more than 5 seconds without a panty shot) and fails. He goes out to the field for gym class where the head instructor tells them the rules of the school and the school regiment (running, push-ups, and military training). Those who are good will be rewarded and those who are bad will be punished severely.

In episode 4 Hibiki acts stupid and tries to be the hero (for these no good social outcasts? Okay, I admit the school is messed up beyond reason and their curriculum really isn’t going to stop your internet addiction but let’s be honest here. When you’re spending every minute of the day on the internet and don’t do anything else, you have a serious problem and need to get help. Plus, you’re minors. If your parents sent you to this hellhole knowing full well what these guys do, they must have signed a waiver meaning you can’t do shit against them). Hibiki speaks out against the harsh treatment of the students saying how unjust and illegal it is (again, waiver) and goes as far as talking back to the head instructor saying he is evil and punches him in the nose making him bleed. Shiori comes in, beats him up, and tries to get him to apologize before he drags everyone else down with him (don’t go dragging other people into your meaningless fights Hibiki) but he refuses to let up and continues to talk back and not apologize for speaking out against the school. The head instructor hears enough and decides to start punishing the class in place of Hibiki. Even Shiori gets in trouble when Hibiki accidently knocks her over and exposes her cellphone to everyone (idiot). As punishment all of the girls in her class are told to smack her and Hibiki finally caves in and apologizes for his actions (see what happens when an idiot tries to play hero?) but it’s too late as everyone in his class turns on him (I don’t blame them) and Shiori calls him worthless before walking away (you make her sick. Literally). With no one else to turn to, Hibiki goes crawling back to Shin but he’ll only accept him back if he fulfills 3 conditions. One, become the leader of his class (after what happened just minutes ago I think that’s impossible but then again he is the strongest out of all of his classmates. Kind of sad when you really think about it). Two, oust Wudo from his position as disciplinary officer and the third condition is left in the dark. Hibiki quickly takes control of his class by giving them food (quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach) and then turns his attention to Wudo. He busts into his room, punches him right in the face, and runs out with Wudo and his men after him. Hibiki lures Wudo’s men into a trap where he knocks them out with bricks and keeps slipping away from them to end the episode (well I will give this school some credit, it improved Hibiki’s stamina and endurance).  

Episodes 5-8

In the opening moments of episode 5 Hibiki lures Wudo back into the building while the instructor locks Wudo’s men outside because of curfew. Hibiki then calls in his class and together they all beat the shit out of Wudo (payback bitch). Hibiki puts the final nail in the coffin for Wudo the next day by exposing his cellphone smuggling business to the head instructor Shian who locks Wudo in the hole for a week (no! Not the hole! Anything but the hole) and Hibiki gains a little bit of Shian’s trust. After this, the episode goes by fast as we get a slew of stuff happening in the school. Shin and Hibiki turn their attention to class 6 and aim to take down their cellphone operation next, Shian and the headmistress are in this BDSM relationship (and surprisingly Shian’s the M in the relationship). Shiori gets approached by Akane and Huko who are leaders of their class and want to unite the three girl classes so that they can rule it. Finally, another instructor by the name of Ryo is looking for Jun’s cellphone for some reason because apparently he’s in on this cellphone smuggling ring as well (so the student who controls the cellphone ring controls the school. I see what Shin is trying to do).

So at the start of episode 6 Shiori refuses to team up with Akane and Huko but once they promise her a functioning cellphone she agrees to hear them out and stick with them for a bit. Hibiki manages to take down another class leader following Shin’s instructions but Shiori, Akane, and Huko come in where Akane has the hots for Hibiki (someone’s desperate. I know there aren’t many choices but come on). They want the cellphone Hibiki has and they’re prepared to take it by force. Shin comes in to help out Hibiki where he tries to get them to join his side but they’re not interested (scum recognizes scum) and soon chase after the boys where Shin leads them to the bathrooms and reveals his newest associates from other classes. They manage to catch the girls and to make sure they don’t cause anymore trouble Shin orders Hibiki to strip them and take pictures of them. Hibiki is against this but Shin tells him to do it or they are done (and with everything you’ve done, I’m sure the school can’t wait to get their hands on you). He finally caves in and agrees to take only one picture (good doggy).

At the start of episode 7 Hibiki tries to save Shiori, Akane, and Huko by opening up a chance for them to escape (stop trying to play hero. She hates your guts anyway so you trying to save her is pointless). Akane and Huko get away only to get re-captured by Ryo who is working with Shin who sells Hibiki out to Ryo where he gets charged with hoarding cellphones, extorting students, and trying to sexually assault women. As punishment he gets put in solitary confinement for 2 weeks and the girls get off light with toilet cleaning duty for a month and Shiori telling Hibiki to stay out of her sight forever (yes please. You cause that girl so much suffering it’s not even funny). Once in solitary confinement, Hibiki vows revenge on everyone who betrayed him. In the second half of the episode we focus on Shian where we find out he used to be a cop and was involved in a major shootout where he was scared for his life (so scared that he actually pissed his pants). If his superior officer hadn’t snapped him out of it, he might have died. During the shootout he went into hiding while his unit was completely wiped out and he was the sole survivor. He went to go see the widow of his captain where she blamed his death on him saying that she now has nothing since her kids don’t come and visit her at all. Shian feeling responsible for the death of his captain goes out to find his kids. He manages to find the son who became an internet addict and actually hates his father saying that he was never around when he was growing up and was a complete stranger to him. The son soon died from I want to say a stroke (maybe a heart attack. I don’t know) and Shian soon left the force. He managed to track down the daughter who is actually Jean (the headmistress of the school who is a dominatrix. A hot one mind you). She was in the middle of playing with one of her slaves when Shian busted in where she lets the slave die by not giving him his heart medicine (why did she kill him off? Because the woman is crazy).  

In episode 8 we see that Jean also didn’t like her dad. He was never home, wasn’t there when her mom collapsed and became hospitalized, did nothing for her when she was forced to drop out of school and got stuck with loans she couldn’t pay off leading her to marry the masochist on the bed who is giving all his heritage to his ex-wife and child and leaving Jean with a rundown school (Shian may view him as a hero but the kids only see him as a man who deserted his family and left them with nothing but regret and suffering). Shian finally sees this and no longer able to bear the guilt of being a coward, he decides to give his life to Jean and serve her in order to atone for his sin. Back in the present, 2 weeks have gone by and Hibiki is released from his cell where his attitude and personality have changed (because he did push-ups and sit-ups. The character development is so poor in this anime). He rescues Akane and another guy named Moku from some bullies in a horribly animated fight scene where the guy beats four people (oh come on! You’ve gotta be kidding me!? Okay, he fights dirty and attacks their joints but still 4 on 1, has shown no experience in fighting, and still manages to beat them just because he did push-ups and sit-ups in a cell for 2 weeks. I’m calling BS all day every day). After rescuing Akane, she drags him to the storage room (the same room where Shiori kept vomiting while trying to have sex with Hibiki) and tries to have sex with him but Shiori and Hoku thankfully save us from the awkward scene (scene here: https://youtu.be/u9-CgJT2Dsg). He tells them he has a plan to get back at Shin and he unfortunately needs their help (just try not to get inside Shiori’s pants this time. We’ve tried that road twice and it is a dead end). In class, the girls of class 18 challenge the boys to a friendly sparring match where the girls easily beat them (y’all are lost causes). Hibiki steps up to defend the honor of his class where he wants to fight Hoku straight up. No gimmicks or anyone taking the fall to save face, Hibiki wants to show her that he’s on the up and up this time (you truly did go crazy in that cell).    

Episodes 9-12

In episode 9 Hibiki actually earns himself some man points. He beats Hoku by groping her which angers her and she hits him with a barrage of attacks which tire her out and he traps her in the coquina clutch (rear-naked choke hold) where she has no choice but to tap out. Ryo’s class sees this and decide they want in on this action and he calls for a match between Hibiki and Yoh the leader of class 6 and one of Shin’s followers. Hibiki didn’t anticipate a struggle for power among the guards and knows he can’t beat Yoh so he calls for a different fight, stand at attention (first person to move loses). Hibiki and Yoh stand at attention while facing each other for 3 hours straight until the guards decide enough is enough and calls it a draw (even they’re bored). Hibiki is allowed to rest and gets taken back to his room by Moku (who is actually the weakest kid in the school). Once in his room, Hibiki tells him to bring a bucket of cold and hot water immediately because Yoh is on his way and he wants revenge for the humiliation (blame the instructor). Sure enough, Yoh does show up to fight him and Hibiki throws the hot and cold water on him which causes his muscles to convulse from all the strenuous activity he’s been doing. Hibiki takes advantage of this and attacks Yoh just as the rest of his class shows up where he tells them to side with him (he has the meat). At first they hesitate (they tried this once and that road was a dead end) but once Moku chair shots Yoh’s underling and talks about how he’s tired of being a dog, the others start to rally behind Hibiki and he uses Yoh as an example to show what happens to people who go against him.

In episode 10, after Hibiki takes care of Yoh (in what I’m guessing was an offscreen beating they were too lazy to animate), he turns his attention to finding Shin. While that’s going on, a guy named Hyo arrives at the school who’s basically Shian’s superior. He pummels Shian for his crappy work (he is a pretty bad as an instructor) and then turns his attention to finding Shin who has mysteriously disappeared on us. We also see that he’s the boyfriend that Jun was talking about this whole time (you have weird taste in men) and she wants Hyo’s help at getting back at Shiori. Speaking of Shiori, we see her with Akane and Hoku where they ask why she’s in here in the first place and while they don’t explain it we see a few scenes which hint that it’s complicated. We find out that her parents are dead and the brother is in the hospital. As far as getting sent to the school from hell, I’m willing to bet they’re going with the cliché that her guardian tried to rape her and when she fought him off she got sent to this school in the hopes of breaking her. She’s now stuck in the school indefinitely until her guardian says she can leave. Shiori doesn’t tell them her situation and she leaves looking for Jun where she finds her and Jun offers to help her leave if she does a little job for her. Hibiki, Akane, and Hoku look for Shin where they go to his room only to discover that the place was raided and he’s not there. Hibiki does however find his medicine cabinet and starts to figure out that something is wrong with him (you think?).  

Episodes 11 starts off with the backstory of Shiori (here it comes). Her dad died from an illness and the mother was so overcome with grief that she ODed herself with pills. Shiori and her little brother Shu got taken in by their uncle (he has the eyes of a creeper) and at first everything seems fine until Shu got sick and it turns out he has the same illness as his dad (wow, systematic destruction of one’s family). The uncle of course covered all the hospital bills but being the creeper he is he wanted compensation and that compensation was Shiori’s body (you know how you can tell an anime is bad, when you can predict the horrible clichés they’re about to do next without thinking). Shiori had to offer her body to her uncle (do I even want to know why you want to fuck your own niece?) but she eventually fought back and got sent to the internet addiction school as payback for defying him (oh yeah that reminds me, this was an anime about internet addiction. I feel as if we’ve lost sight of that). We return back to the present where Jun has confronted Shiori and offers to get her out of there in 2 days if she does a favor for her. Back with Hibiki he gets to have a talk with Ryo who wants him to work for him and his cellphone business (well it is a promising field. As long as people need to talk to each other there will always be a need for a cellphone). To convince Hibiki, Ryo shows him a broken Shiori crying her eyes out in a cell (I find this satisfying on so many levels). Hibiki laughs (this place has a unique way of breaking people) and agrees to side with Ryo. The first thing Ryo wants Hibiki to do is find Jun’s cellphone and he does with ease. Before Shiori can be released, Hibiki asks Ryo to let him handle it so he can have sex with her unconscious body (well they’re both pretty much broken people. They’re perfect for each other. Although, I think Shiori will be the dominant one in this relationship).  

And so we reach the final episode where the anime ends on pretty much of a bad note. First off, Shin’s backstory is explained horribly. The best I can get out of it is that Shin’s mom was the mistress of this yakuza leader and his older brother killed her for some reason and sent Shin to the internet addiction school which was owned by the family (btw, that last part is all theory. Don’t know if it’s true, don’t care if it’s true). There’s also the fact that he’s slowly dying from some illness. Hibiki becomes the new student council president of the school and gets tasked by Hyo to find Shin but instead Hibiki unites all the students and helps them escape just as Akane has used the internet to expose the secret agenda and abuse of the school (as well as some drug operation. I guess that was a thing) to the media and they show up asking questions. Shian returns and saves Hibiki from Hyo and Shin lights the roof on fire with Hibiki going to see him and the anime ends with the two smiling (https://youtu.be/Va5_rn3vG3A).

Final Thoughts

Where do I begin with this train wreck of an anime? Well first off, there’s no horror in this anime, so why it has a horror tag is beyond me. Are we seriously coming to the point where kids being denied access to the internet is considered horror? Second, the animation is crap. I’ve seen better animation from animes 10 years older than this anime. Third, the characters are the worst. Hibiki has got to be the worst anime protagonist I have ever seen. He causes trouble for others, can barely think for himself, is pretty much a tool, and his character development comes right the hell out of nowhere that I swear I checked to make sure I didn’t skip an episode or two. The rest of the characters aren’t that great either. Everyone is either broken or an asshole, they’re written horribly, and honestly feel like they all belong in different animes. Everyone just comes across as dumb as they’re so easily fooled and manipulated by everyone around them. Hell, some of them are pointless and don’t help the story in anyway like Hyo who just comes in and does nothing. The only decent character is Shin, but even he’s not something to write home about as we never get much focus on his backstory. Speaking of decent, the story actually had a chance to be decent. The idea of a school where internet addicts are forced to go and each one fighting to control it would have made for a good story with good twists of betrayal here and there and a good philosophical study into how even in the most messed up and worst situations, everyone needs that sense of power. But even they mess up the story. The school’s criteria makes no sense, as the abuse just feels pointless and over the top for shock value. The writing and pacing are bad throughout the anime and there are numerous plotholes that don’t add up.

Final Score

The final score for Evil or Live is a 1.5/10. It is an awful anime that feels like a joke. Did anybody proofread this anime because nobody in their right mind would greenlight this. The anime just sucks. Skip over it and find something else to watch. I hate to say that about an anime but it’s the truth. This is a disappointing mess not worth your time. This is not the way I wanted Aniween to start off. Hopefully, The King’s Game will do better. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!

*A pan comes falling from the ceiling. Nitsuj steps out of the way*

HA! Not today!  

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