The World Ends with You

About

The World Ends with You, also known in Japan as It's a Wonderful World, is an action RPG developed by Square Enix and Jupiter and released for the Nintendo DS in 2007 in Japan, before a more worldwide release months later in 2008. Following the story of teenager Neku Sakuraba and his adventures in the world of the Underground, an alternate plane of existence where the dead are brought to, it was released to critical acclaim, and would also receive ports for iOS and Android devices alongside a remastered version for the Nintendo Switch in 2018. An anime adaptation and sequel are due to be released in 2021.

Premise

The story follows Neku Sakuraba, a teenager who ends up in the Underground, an alternate plane of existence where the dead are brought to that mimics the appearance of modern-day Shibuya, and his endeavors to return to the world of the living, also known as the Realground, after having no recollection of his death nor how he arrived in the first place. He does so through playing the Reapers' Game, a week-long competition whereby offering a treasured possession as the price for entry, the dead are able to vie for the prize of returning to life or transcending to a higher form through completing different tasks and fending off the Noise, creatures made by Reapers, the titular opponents in the Game.

Throughout the story, Neku encounters other characters who join the Game with him, such as Shiki Misaki, a girl who gave up her appearance as her price for competing, the sly yet cunning Yoshiya "Joshua" Kiryu, and Daisukenojo "Beat" Bito, a former Reaper who wants to bring back his younger sister Raimu, nicknamed Rhyme, to life.

History

The World Ends with You was developed by Square Enix and was produced by Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Yashimoto, in collaboration with Jupiter, who developed Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance. Taking influence from Tokyo's Shibuya district and the youth culture developed around it, the game was released in Japan as It's a Wonderful World on July 27th, 2007 for the Nintendo DS, before seeing a more widespread release in April 2008. Characters from the game would also make an appearance in the game Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance for the Nintendo 3DS in July 2012.

On August 27th, 2012, a port of the game subtitled as the Solo Remix was released for iOS devices.^[1] The Solo Remix would later be ported for Android devices on June 26th, 2014.^[2] On September 27th, 2018, a remastered version of the game with added content and based on the Solo Remix, subtitled as the Final Remix was released for the Nintendo Switch initially in Japan followed by a worldwide release a month later on October 12th.^[3]

Anime

On June 25th, 2020 it was announced on Twitter that an anime based on the game would be produced. A trailer for the anime was premiered on July 3rd at Anime Expo's online "Lite" event, with its title revealed as The World Ends with You: The Animation. On November 23rd, a new trailer was released featuring an approximate release date of April 2021.

Sequel

On November 23rd, 2020, Square Enix revealed that a sequel to the original game was in development. Titled NEO: The World Ends with You, it will feature a new set of characters, full 3D combat and exploration in contrast to the original's 2D presentation, and is to be released in summer 2021 for Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch (trailer shown below). In addition, staff involved in the first game would be returning, including composer Takeharu Ishimoto who did the music for the first game but had left the company in late 2017.^[4]

On November 23rd, 2020, Square Enix revealed that a sequel to the original game was in development. Titled NEO: The World Ends with You, it will feature a new set of characters, full 3D combat and exploration in contrast to the original's 2D presentation, and is to be released for Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch (trailer shown below). In addition, staff involved in the first game would be returning, including composer Takeharu Ishimoto who did the music for the first game but had left the company in late 2017.^[4]

A new trailer premiered on April 9th, 2021, featuring a full English voice cast, alongside a release date of July 27th, 2021, and the announcement of a PC port to follow later that year.

Reception

The World Ends With You was released to critical acclaim upon release. On Metacritic, the original Nintendo DS version of the game holds an 88/100 critic score and an 8.7/10 user score.^[5] The New York Times praised the game's usage of the DS' features, calling it "not just the best role-playing game ever designed for the DS, but one of the best role playing games ever designed for anything."^[6] The Solo Remix of the game was reviewed even more positively, with a 91^[8] and 95^[9] on Metacritic for the iOS and iPad versions of the game. The Final Remix, was also reviewed positively, though not to the degree of the previous versions of the game, with criticism directed at the control system used.^[10]

Despite the game's overall praise, the game sold modestly and was seen as outshone by other Square Enix-released games at the time, eventually leading the game to gain a cult following in the years to come.^[7]

Online Relevance

On DeviantArt, search results for the game's abbreviated title "twewy" nets over 15,000 results.^[11] A subreddit^[12] created by Redditor /u/Mr_Hanekoma was created on June 28th, 2012 and garnered over 8,000 subscribers, whereas the official Twitter account for the anime adaptation has gathered close to 27,000 followers since its creation in June 2020.^[13]

Fan Art

Search Interest

External References