Zero Escape Director Says Nice Things About Bandersnatch, but Criticizes Lack of Romance
If one series pushed the adventure genre to new levels of popularity in Japan and then in the west, it would be the Zero Escape trilogy. Based on the player’s choices they can see their way through to the end, but depending on the player, the outcome could be different. Evidently, series director Kotaro Uchikoshi saw a lot of what he put in Zero Escape in the new Netflix mini-series Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.
In the episode, viewers interact with the media and make choices which determines the outcome of the narrative. Uchikoshi-san took to his personal Twitter to praise the episode along with giving it a few points of criticism. Be aware that there are a couple spoilers in his tweets, but they are marked as such.
I watched Black Mirror #Bandersnatch. Wonderful points: Performance of all actors, Direction, Location and Music. Everything is perfect. Especially the structure. Even though just watching the drama as usual, the audience can experience almost important paths. It’s so amazing!
— Kotaro Uchikoshi Eng (@Uchikoshi_Eng) December 29, 2018
The story including elements of philosophy, Sci-Fi, metafiction is very exciting and it never makes us bored. When an unexpected incident occurred in the counseling room, I really burst out laughing to death. So I like Black Mirror. #Bandersnatch
— Kotaro Uchikoshi Eng (@Uchikoshi_Eng) December 29, 2018
In terms of criticism, the director points out that it’s a shame that there are no girls in the episode. He follows up with his stance on the subject by saying that adding a love interest in the story is difficult to include in an adventure game, but that’s why he does it, “If you want to make it, you should remember this word. ‘Look Door, Get Key and Fall in Love.'”
Here’s where the spoilers come in as Uchikoshi-san talks about key scenes in the episode:
And one more thing. (*Spoiler!) IMO, maybe I think that it should omit the scene where a person sitting in the chair passed away. At the scene in the train, the story could have wrapped up more elegantly with leaving room for imagination. #Bandersnatch
— Kotaro Uchikoshi Eng (@Uchikoshi_Eng) December 29, 2018
(*Spoiler!) That scene reinforced the implication that everything was his delusions even though it is the obvious fact that we intervened in his life as the actual event. #Bandersnatch
— Kotaro Uchikoshi Eng (@Uchikoshi_Eng) December 29, 2018
He concludes his thread of tweets by saying, “However if I would give a score to Bandersnatch, of course it is 5/5! Bandersnatch is really amazing work that makes us feel the arrival of the next generation drama. If you are a fan of adventure games, I will recommend you to watch it.” and adding, “And if you are a producer of streaming video service, and interested in some stories like Bandersnatch, please call us TooKyo Games! We are professionals of making adventure games. Thank you!”
Currently, Uchikoshi-san is working on his upcoming game AI: The Somnium Files in development for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
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