Anime Summer 2024: TASUKETSU - FATE OF THE MAJORITY, It Doesn't Look Good for Humanity

Answer "yes" or "no." And your answer better be right, or you're out of luck.

Tasuketsu - Fate of the Majority
The first two episodes are now streaming on Crunchyroll. Subsequent episodes will debut every Tuesday.

The opening episode establishes Saneatsu, a likable teenager who lives alone because his mother died and his father works overseas. He attends high school with his best friend, and life is perfectly normal, if a bit lonely, until he receives a mysterious message during class one day.

The next day, he wakes up, walks through streets that are strangely deserted, and stops by his best friend's place to make sure he's OK, only to discover that he's not OK; he's dead. Naturally, this sends Saneatsu into a panic, and he rushes to school, which is likewise deserted, except for less than a dozen students gathered in a classroom, who are all likewise mystified by the apparently apocalyptic event that is happening.

By the end of the first episode, even more mysterious messages begin appearing, all sent by someone calling himself "Emperor" and demanding that the survivors answer strange questions with "yes" or "no," with the outcome of the vote deciding the fate of the majority.

In this scenario, the majority do not win: they die.

The preposterous premise is paced with reckless abandon for common sense or logic; it feels like a very bad nightmare that everyone is experiencing simultaneously. The second episode begins to answer questions, but also raises more questions that are even more perplexing.

Indeed, it was difficult for me to follow, which reminded me uncomfortably of math class back in my own high school days. (Full disclosure: I never became a mathematician or a scientist.) The steady pace stumbled a bit, but the show stood out for me, among the few shows that I've watched so far in the anime summer season.

The trailer below, while it lacks English subtitles, gives the viewer a good idea of the very good animation.

I have no idea where the series goes from here, but I want to go along for the ride. It's based on Taiga Miyakawa's manga series, first published in 2013, and dynamically reflects the urgency of the premise.

Summary: Watch it.