The Fall 2023 Anime Preview Guide

Arknights: Perish in Frost

---

Oripathy is an incurable disease that slowly crystallizes the bodies of those infected until their deaths. Rhodes Island is a pharmaceutical company that endeavors to find a cure and solve the problems that follow in the disease's wake, and in an attempt to put a stop to the revolt of the terrorist organization known as Reunion Movement, whose ultimate goal is the salvation of the Infected, Rhodes Island has formed a contract with the Yanese city of Lungmen and continues its mission there. However, Amiya has found herself despondent since their battle against Skullshatterer, unable to accept that they were unable to save Misha. In the meantime, Rhodes Island deploys a reconnaissance squad to an abandoned city discovered in the Lungmen countryside. There, the squad notices a strange phenomenon unfolding before them…

Arknights: Perish in Frost is based on the Arknights mobile game. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Fridays.

---

Nicholas Dupree
Rating:

I enjoyed the first season of Arknights, but it was mainly as a complementary experience to the game. I've been playing that for quite a while now, and while I enjoy the gameplay quite a bit, I've never quite had the patience to read through its often lengthy, circuitous cut scenes. So, watching the story play out in motion without tapping through every line of dialogue was a nice way to catch up on all the context I'd been doing without. Mostly, though, I was here to see some nice drawings of my favorite units. So far, Perish in Frost keeps the streak going on both fronts.

Granted, that's probably not going to win over any new folks, as the pacing and storytelling of this adaptation remains glacial (badumtish). While there's less exposition than Prelude to Dawn's opener, this whole episode is just one long setup to the new villain's arrival, filling time with character cameos for the game's extensive cast. The only real meat here is in establishing Amiya's wavering confidence after the tragic events of last season, but that can only fill about a third of the episode. At the same time, everything else is built on introducing new character designs and re-iterating that the villains are evil – especially Mephisto, the cackling little twerp who can't stop monologuing to save his life.

The one area where this show objectively excels is in its art. No expense was spared on the polish here, bringing the franchise's myriad animal girls and tech wear to life with style and appeal. While I may not be enraptured by the story and find the characters' personalities superficial at best, they always look great, and the anime's art style captures the appeal of the original art while still working in animation. That heavy line count means that action is pretty sparse outside of isolated moments, but if you're here to see how cool Frostleaf and Meteorite look, you're being well-fed. Similarly, the environments look fantastic, perfectly capturing the unsettling sci-fi dystopia and architecture.

In all, Perish in Frost perfectly aligns with its predecessor – a solidly executed, gorgeously rendered helping of fanservice for existing fans. It shows no sign of changing its approach, and while that formula works for it, I don't see this grabbing many new viewers.

---

Steve Jones
Rating:

Arknights, the premier gacha mobile game about cat girls with rock cancer, is back in animated form with Perish in Frost. Despite the year-long wait and shiny new subtitle, this premiere picks up with the direct aftermath of the first season, Prelude to Dawn, so don't expect to get much out of it as a newcomer. By now, the narrative expects you to be a Doctor literate enough to differentiate between Frostleaf and FrostNova, which, for the uninitiated, I promise are two completely separate characters.

The good news is that this second season is a direct continuation of both the narrative and production sides of the coin. Yuki Watanabe returns with the same team that adapted Prelude, so the strengths of the first season persist into Perish. Most notably, the polished art direction and evocative storyboarding excellently emulate the somber tone of the story. For instance, Amiya's grief and guilt come to us wordlessly as she sulks isolated in the cold light of her industrial bedroom. Arknights the game tends to be overwritten, and while the anime falls into that mode at points, its adept grasp of visual language is arguably its strongest selling point. It's that or the music—the new OP and ED are both bangers.

The tradeoff is an adaptation that can also feel stiff and sluggish. Isolated shots of the characters look great, but there's little kinetic energy or expressiveness in motion. This isn't necessarily a bad thing either, as it fits the plot's deliberate and often dour proceedings. Arknights is a game that reserves its goofy energy for side stories and events; its main narrative is a slow-burn war with lots of moving parts and lots of emphasis on the tragic figures at its center. Thus, the adaptation's tone fits best when it explores facets like the conflict inside Amiya, the mysterious contempt Kal'tsit directs at the Doctor, and the brief but icy glimpse of FrostNova and her Yeti soldiers. Personally, I wouldn't mind if the anime quickened its pace a tad, but I respect its commitment to being boring, and so far, it has had the artistry to pull that off decently.

In the end, Arknights is a gacha game. It's all about the characters with kooky codenames you can collect, and this premiere prominently features many faces, both new and old. Mephisto is still a cartoon villain, W is still smug, and Ch'en is still a hardass. Elsewhere, it's neat to see fan-favorite Jessica be introduced slinging her pistol before she succumbs to psychological trauma. Ch'en breaking her composure also signals we should get more character development than in the comparatively flat Prelude to Dawn. And, speaking frankly, as a fan of the game, I know for a fact that this arc improves on the first one. With the adaptation's strengths as sharp as ever in this premiere, Perish in Frost should please my fellow Arknights acolytes. The uninitiated, however, won't find much compelling them to join Rhodes Island.