Entertainment
High-Flying Anime On Netflix Is A Raunchy Season Of Death-Defying Perfection
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Netflix has invested heavily in anime, creating fan-favorite original series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Delicious In Dungeon. Buried in all the more popular shows is High-Rise Invasion, a horror survival series with cool designs, cute characters, and a killer premise. If you’re ready for a single season of death-defying perfection, you can now stream this unforgettably strange hidden gem for yourself on Netflix.
The premise of High-Rise Invasion is that a young woman finds herself in a strange world of skyscrapers, all connected by rope bridges. Making things worse is that she and others who have been transported into this bizarre world are being hunted by masked figures who are obsessed with killing their victims. Now, she and other survivors must team up and try to escape from an army of masked maniacs, all while trying to unravel the mystery of where they are and how (or if) they can escape.
Join The Mile-High Dub
I’m personally a fan of the High-Rise Invasion dub (yeah, yeah, stop calling me a fake anime fan!), and I was happy to see Suzie Yeung (who voices Makima in the Chainsaw Man anime and Yuffie in the Final Fantasy VII Remake) voicing main character Yuri, someone with all the strength and willpower needed to be a final girl. Meanwhile, Jennie Kwan (best known for voicing Suki in Avatar: The Last Airbender) plays a knife-wielding girl nearly as scary as the masked killers. Speaking of which, Jonah Scott (best known for voicing Legosh in Beastars) plays Sniper Mask, the coolest masked villain this side of Scream.
When High-Rise Invasion came out, it was really appreciated…at least, by the handful of anime fans who took the time to watch it. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show has an audience score of 71 percent, with fans praising the show for its bold, bloody animation that pulls no punches when it comes to violence. They also lauded the show for its cool concept and characters, and many are clamoring for a second season that will further the narrative of this delightfully weird animated epic.
All Fan Service, All the Time
One of the most divisive things about High-Rise Invasion is that it’s filled with fan service in the form of racy shots and characters practically falling out of their clothing. That can be distracting to fans who just want to explore this anime’s engrossing story, but I would argue the cheeky fan service perfectly complements the blood and general ultraviolence of the show. If you (like me) were raised on a diet of horror movies filled with blood, breasts, and beasts, you’ll likely enjoy an anime that is often both sexy and scary in equal measure.
In addition to horror fans, I’m confident that High-Rise Invasion will appeal to gamers: its survival horror premise feels like a Resident Evil fever dream, while its masked killers would fit right into a game like Dead By Daylight. Plus, the show is filled with mysteries that can only be solved by exploration, a concept familiar to any gamer who has wandered through their share of 3D platformers. Finally, the show’s controversial fan service will likely resonate with gamers accustomed to scantily-clad women bouncing around games designed almost exclusively for the male gaze (why yes, that bikini gives her the best armor bonus, why do you ask?).
High Rise, Short Season
As for myself (a guy who loves both horror and video games), I found High-Rise Invasion to be a deeply engaging anime, and I had mixed feelings about it only getting a single, 12-episode season. On one hand, I’d love to get more adventures set in this creepy and compelling little world; on the other hand, I enjoyed the fact that this show was so easy to binge in its entirety. When your schedule gets busy enough (it’s not just me, right?), there’s something to be said for a breezy, bloody anime that you can easily binge-watch in the space of a single weekend.
Will you agree that High-Rise Invasion is one season of death-defying perfection, or would you rather jump from a tall building than finish all 12 episodes? The only way to find out is to cross the rope bridge over to your couch and stream this surreal Netflix anime for yourself. After watching the ruthlessness of these masked killers, one thing’s for sure: a fear of falling will no longer feel like the scariest thing about being on top of a skyscraper!
