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Seen in metro station today - Arknights 2nd anniversary celebration ads
If I have to pick one game that represents the Chinese Gen-Z then Arknights would be my top choice.
Yes, it’s not that different from your average anime gacha but it also created an ever-expanding, community-made, organic culture that countless games are trying to recreate.
Yes, it’s not that different from your average anime gacha but it also created an ever-expanding, community-made, organic culture that countless games are trying to recreate.
Here are my thoughts on what makes Arknights so special:
1. Completely original IP with the deepest lore in gachas while also leaving enough space for fan art / fan fictions to thrive; the game built a close relationship with the fanart community before the game even launched
1. Completely original IP with the deepest lore in gachas while also leaving enough space for fan art / fan fictions to thrive; the game built a close relationship with the fanart community before the game even launched
2. Anime but proud: the aesthetics (post-apocalypse, sci-fi), lore (we the contaminated against the world), character design (kemonomimi) all tap into the taste and nostalgia of Gen-Z anime watchers who grew up consuming iconic anime media like Neon Genesis Evangelion
3. Meaningful character design: Arknights characters are hot, but not in a lewd anime waifu way (you can see that from the clothes they are wearing). Most, if not all, characters have unforgettable stories or personalities which in turn generate more organic fan art creation.
These traits have helped Hypergryph (Arknights creators) maintain a deep connection with their community - they are able to constantly create new in-game content based on the community's needs while the community recreates fan-made content that keeps the Arknights hype going.
One of the most iconic Arknights fan creations is this video that went viral on bilibili a few days ago: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1cf4y1W771?share_source=copy_web
A guy accidentally spent 3k RMB in Arknights after getting drunk - the highlight is where he drunk-talks about sending Arknights agents to attack Japan to "solve the Fukushima wastewater issue", during which he almost cried and drew a tactical map.
This viral video has led to hundreds of recreations, in the forms of animations, re-edits, reactions, etc. The original video has reached almost 10m views, while the most popular recreation videos got 1-2 m views.
This video (titled I LOST 3000 RMB PLEASE CONTROL YOURSELVES WHILE YOU'RE DRUNK I HAVE NO WORDS) is a must-watch if you:1. know mandarin 2. are slightly interested in Chinese youth culture, gacha games, nationalism.
A modern-day classic that is part of the Arknights phenomenon
A modern-day classic that is part of the Arknights phenomenon
