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High-Rise Invasion is a popular Netflix Anime that came out on the 25th of February 2021 and gained a pretty good reputation as a fast-paced, isekai, survival-type action anime with an engaging plot, semi-decent characters and a cliff-hanger ending which had fans longing for a season 2. With that said, if you’re looking to give this Anime a go, here are 5 reasons to watch Hig-Rise Invasion.
So, let’s talk more about High-Rise Invasion. Firstly, there’s hardly any problem with the main story of the Anime, and by the end of episode 1, you’ll find it very easy to understand what’s going on. It follows the main character Yuri Honjo, who is a schoolgirl who randomly wakes up in a mysterious place where the landscape of the world is just skyscrapers.
Whilst trying hard to find her older brother Rika she spots these strange humanoid beings who she calls masks. These beings don’t actually kill their victims directly, but instead, drive them to the point of distress and despair so they take their own life.
They do this by jumping off the buildings to their deaths below. The rest of the story follows Yuri trying to find a way out and teaming up with other humans who are in the same position as she is.
Main characters
Yuri – In my opinion, she was supposed to be a relatable character who spoon-feeds us info about the masks and makes obvious assumptions about them so our perspectives are changed. However, her upbeat tone and cool manner in which she took on the masks with the handgun she finds in one of the earlier episodes made her a pretty good character for fans to root for.
She didn’t have much of a cool personality or backstory but nonetheless, she was a good character to get behind. She has long black hair, and brown eyes and is supposed to be the most relatable (the show fails even at that). She was also attractive, and headstrong also has a brother who she keeps in contact with via cell phone, who regularly updates her on the world they are in and the masks.
Kuon Shinzaki – Next, we have Kuon, who isn’t let’s say, the sharpest tool in the shed. She wanders around aimlessly episodes not even flinching or running away when a mask aims a loaded gun at her. A really important thing about Kuon is that she can also control the “railgun” – a giant tower that can blow other buildings up, so with that said, it’s safe to assume that she becomes a prized asset
She is found in Episode 3 by Yuri and another character who I’ll come to next. I’ve seen her characteristic before in about 10 other animes from Keijo to Amagi Brilliant Park, Highscool Of the Dead, and so on.
Then we have the tom-boy character who becomes allies with Yuri in the second episode. Her name is Mayuko Nise and she’s just as boring as Yuri. However, she’s involved with a sub-narrative about her violent history regarding her family. This is referenced in many flashbacks, and makes the viewer wonder more about her, as it gives more depth to her character.
However, it’s not expanded upon really and we will hopefully see it in High-Rise Invasion Season 2. She also obviously secretly has a crush on Yuri and the series doesn’t bother in the slightest to make it subtle.
Finally, we have one of the most (or in my opinion the most) interesting characters in the Anime, Sniper Mask. Yuka Makoto or “Mr Mask” as he’s called by Kuon. With his white tie and black suit, he certainly looked the coolest and was really one of the few “masks” with who we got to interact and hear the dialogue.
We see him in one of the earlier episodes, on a building rooftop, targeting Yuri Honjo and Mizushita. When he opens fire, the mask shoots Mizushita in the head, nearly killing him. Quickly reloading the mask begins to target Yuri. When the mask reopened fire, his bullet struck the ground and Yuri manages to escape by avoiding a wall barrier.
The Sniper Mask sees Mizushita crawl across the ground and fires another round into his skull, killing him. The one who kills him is the mask Yuka Makoto or Sniper Mask.
Here are 5 reasons to watch High-Rise Invasion
So, now that I’ve gone over the general narrative of the Anime, a few of the subplots and of course the main characters, I will now discuss 5 reasons why you should watch High-Rise Invasion.
5. Fight scenes
First of all, one of the main reasons to watch High-Rise Invasion is the fight scenes. With the electro/EDM/CyberPunk type music and the bloody mess that some of the characters get themselves into, it’s always great when one of these fight scenes starts as the animations are good and the fight choreography is also pretty decent. This would be something to be expected since it’s an action-type anime, with full-on gun fights, sword fights, and more.
4. Intriguing storyline
The concept of the masks is something maybe we have seen before, however, the fact that they can make some of the characters in the story want to kill themselves by jumping off of the high-story buildings to their deaths, and the fact that one of the main character (Sniper Mask) is given a lot of screen time and we learn a lot about them and their purpose. Considering the fact that we still don’t fully understand the concept of the masks until some of the later episodes, the storyline is very engaging and keeps you questioning everything you learn.
3. A number of good characters
Aside from a few annoying and frequently seen trope characters, the main character are pretty easy to get behind and aren’t too boring or unoriginal. Yuri is an alright character to sympathize with, and since she slays Masks with a handgun, and sports a white Japanese style school girl uniform complete with a red tie and skirt, means every time we see her, there is a certain coolness around the scenes she appears in.
2. Season 2 is likely
Another thing you can hope to expect with High-Rise Invasion is the fact that High-Rise Invasion Season 2 is somewhat likely. This is because not only was the Anime produced on Netflix and is a Netflix original, but also, the ending was not conclusive in the slightest, and at the end, with a number of the characters especially Yuri’s brother, suggest a season 2 was heavily implied.
1. Great Anime to binge watch
One good thing about this Anime is that it is relatively short, featuring only 12 episodes. This means you could most likely finish it quite quickly, and if you’re waiting for one of your favorite Animes to renew, or for a second season to release, High-Rise Invasion might be a good one to consider. After watching it in 2021, I can say for certain it is quite an addictive Anime to watch, but everyone has their own views on it.
Final thoughts
All in all, it got about a 4.5/5 on Google Reviews, which is nothing special, however on IMBD it only got about a 6.5/10 – it gained a lot of mixed reviews, and for good reason, however, every Anime watcher is different, and there will be some people who think it’s really bad, and some that really like it. My Anime List gives it a 6.7/10 based on over 150,000 reviews. It’s very safe to say that this is a hit-or-miss type of Anime, but hopefully, the 5 reasons I’ve given might persuade you to check it out and you may just really enjoy it. Yuri is in no way a Revy or Mikasa-type character but she carries the Anime enough to make it enjoyable at the least.
