The anime series "This World is Too Imperfect," scheduled to air from April 2024, is currently being serialized on Kodansha's webcomic site, Comic DAYS. While it's typically a full-dive open-world RPG where players are trapped and unable to log out, this is a unique work in that the protagonists are ordered by their company to log in to debug a game still in development, and are unable to log out. Rather than a realistic fantasy set in a virtual world, this work makes you feel like you're playing a game. In this article, we'd like to introduce you to the world of "This World is Too Imperfect."
Here's the introductory part of the story! What on earth is this guy doing?
Nicola, a maid living in a remote village, lives a peaceful life. One day, the village is attacked by a giant dragon. Nicola is rescued by Haga, a mysterious man with a strange behavior. In a fantasy world where dragons attack villages, Haga is researching various things, including dragon behavior. Then, the same dragon attacks the village again. Haga foolishly takes on the dragon alone, but the battle is rather unremarkable and strange: she repeatedly frightens the dragon with barrel-shaped bombs and then slowly whittles it down with a bow and arrow, fitting it into a pattern.
This world is an imperfect game world!
Haga's method of defeating the dragon was unrealistic, like the "analyzing its behavioral patterns and shutting it down" method often used in low-level RPGs. Working with the villagers to defeat the dragon and save the village, Nicola and the villagers were somehow engulfed in flames and killed out of nowhere. As Nicola vanished, Haga tearfully told her, "No matter what you do, you can't change the losing event," and confessed, "My real job is as a debugger, checking for in-game bugs." This world is an unfinished game, and Nicola and her friends' deaths are a losing event. Even if they force their way through the game, there's no scenario for winning, so the village's annihilation is inevitable.
Debuggers Trapped in Debug Online, a World Without Human Rights
This work is based on full-dive open-world RPGs, such as "Sword Art Online." However, the game was unfinished and full of bugs. Haga was a debugger for the unfinished, fully immersive VR game "King's Seeker Online," where he worked to identify bugs in the incomplete world while actually playing the game. Moreover, as expected, there was no logout function, or perhaps it was intentionally removed, but it's unclear whether Haga was able to log out. He was trapped inside the game, continuing to debug with relentless dedication for a year, without any word from the outside world.
Debuggers are scattered all over the place, but their lives vary...
Haga isn't the only debugger participating. Quite a few debuggers from other companies joined the game and ended up trapped in the RPG. However, most of the debuggers trapped inside the game for a year have already stopped debugging, and their lives since then have varied. Some debuggers use their abilities to do whatever they like, continue living as the game's characters, or aim to complete the game. Some even choose to effectively kill themselves due to the stress of being trapped in the game for a year...
Forbidden Technique: Debug Mode! Use it with care...
Debuggers are granted the right to use debug mode when performing their work. It's essentially a cheat function that debuggers can use to fix bugs, allowing them to manipulate in-game values or run specific code to trigger various events. However, using debug mode in an incomplete game carries the risk of causing various malfunctions. With the current situation where forced shutdown and restart are not possible (e.g., logging out), freezing, screen sinking, slipping through objects, and floating in the air can occur. If you become unable to act, it's likely you'll die from a permanent loss. Therefore, the protagonist, Haga, has disabled debug mode.
NPCs in this world are once-in-a-lifetime encounters!?
The NPCs in this game live their lives with wills of their own, just like real people. They're so realistic that at first glance, it's hard to tell they're NPCs. NPCs are automatically generated, and they're once-in-a-lifetime encounters. Sidequests related to these characters are also automatically generated. Just like in real life, NPCs die completely once they die, creating a strict system that's just like reality. While a debugger can revive a series of quests by redoing them, their fate remains unchanged no matter what you do.
There are three AIs in this game!?
This game features three types of AI: "Character AI," which is assigned to each character; "Navigation AI," which manages terrain data; and "Meta AI," which oversees the entire game. There are five Meta AIs operating around the world, but they do not all share a common vision. Each AI has its own rules and differing philosophies, resulting in some AIs actively participating in the game and others not.
Does Respawn Exist?
It is not clear what happens to the debugger (player) if they die. While respawning would be expected from a game perspective, given the game's buggy nature and the possibility that a respawn system may not be implemented, it is currently unknown what happens to deceased players. The circumstances surrounding players who are rendered immobile and effectively killed by a bug are largely unknown, but there's a chance they may remain conscious for the rest of their lives. There are also players who are unable to move due to bugs or other factors, but are unable to progress (stuck), experiencing the same sensation of time.
Eating is Real! Taste Stimulation Exists
In this game, it's possible to sense taste, and cooking can apparently be made even more delicious. While it's unclear whether eating is a necessary action, the existence of the cooking skill suggests it plays some role. It's also possible to recreate the flavors of outside dishes, but trial and error is required due to differences in ingredients used in real life.
The state of the real world remains unknown...
Once trapped in the game and a year of perceived time has passed, it's unclear what the state of the real world is. Furthermore, it's unclear what happened to players who effectively died. However, in-game debugging reports have been accepted and fixed, suggesting that feedback is working.
What are the possibilities?
Consider this, allowing a low-level employee to log in under the pretext of debugging and then not allowing them to log out is a brutal act. Naturally, this would have aroused suspicion among relatives and escalated into a major issue. From that perspective, there are several possibilities: 1) It's a major issue, but they can't log out; 2) There's a discrepancy between perceived time and elapsed time (in the real world, not that much time has passed); 3) The debuggers are actually input information, and are NPCs that mimic the player's behavior patterns. However, there's still a lot we don't know at this point.
[This World is Too Imperfect] Worldview Summary
Here's a summary of the worldview and setting of "This World is Too Imperfect," which will be adapted into an anime starting in April 2024. The story centers around a full-dive RPG with no logout options, but it's riddled with bugs that can make progress impossible. It also reinforces the realism of the game, making you even more aware that it's ultimately a game. There's no guarantee you'll be able to leave once you've completed the game, and one wrong move means death due to glitches. It's a worldview that's quite hopeless in a different sense, but that's what makes it so fascinating, so I highly recommend you check it out!
