Tasokare Hotel

Tasokare Hotel — Between the worlds of the living and the dead, there stands a mansion where its depiction...is anything you've ever otherwise imagined. Why is it that in the 2020s, we're still getting anime adaptations of games, especially those region-locked to Japan that the West has yet to or didn't even get a chance to try them? If you're coming from a marketing executive's POV, then I can't quite have an answer to this rather bizarre gimmick of trying to market games through anime. Of course, if you've been in the AniManga scene these past few years, you've seen anime adaptations of CyGames IPs (from Princess Connect Re:Dive, to Uma Musume) being hyped adaptations from mobage players, which once their anime came out, blew up a new wave of fans towards the IPs themselves. However, for the elongated title that is the mobage of Benoma Ray and SEEC's Tasokare Hotel that's been released worldwide since December 2017, there doesn't seem to be any hype going around for the show...that is, of course, until the anime dropped this season (to decency). Of course, I need not mention the fact that you don't need to play the mobage to figure out what this show is all about, but the clues within the anime are easy enough to spoonfeed you of its content. Clearly inspired by Death Parade, Tasokare Hotel does the same regard, but as a hotel (or mansion) that is the only building of existence in a land of nothing, and this is for its sole purpose of being the gateway for people who died from circumstances both predicted and unforeseen to evaluate their lives before choosing to be given a second chance to either go back to the living world and mend their wrongdoings or, even worse, transcend down to literal Hell. And one girl stands as a testimony to her time at the mansion itself: Neko Tsukahara. An idol fan who unceremoniously got stabbed out of nowhere, she clearly expected death, but her arrival at the hotel itself gives her a chance to talk to other people who met similar fates against loved ones or people that simply have an ulterior motive, alongside the other hotel staff who have been there before him: the fire-headed Manager, the receptionist-cum-concierge Atori Haruto, the bookkeeper-cum-housekeeping Ruri, as well as bartender Menow and long-time guest monkey Kiriko. One way that these people are known for arriving at Tasokare Hotel is based on items that depict their face, which usually are items that are what caused them to face certain death or are something that's close to their heart. These people are then escorted to what look like ordinary hotel rooms but which are specifically designed around who and what they are, as well as their features, to help them recollect their memories and, most importantly, their names, which are the gateway back to Heaven (which is Earth) or Hell. Some choose to atone for their sins, while others continue being reckless; you get the point. And it's this stage that Neko gets acquainted to how the hotel is run; the dos and don'ts; as well as the specific rules of the hotel which concerns the way back or down a.k.a check-in and out for the guests. Still, with Tasokare Hotel being a supernatural mystery, there always seems to be the eerie air of incoming and outgoing guests suffering from a range of traumas, and Neko comes in obligingly to play the Sherlock Holmes detective role of the venue itself. Some stories are seen as typical, and the others are complex in their own right. But all hell goes loose when a sinister character comes to the hotel and sets off a chain of incidents that tests not just her newfound abilities but especially her reason as to why she landed in the hotel to begin with. For its presentation, the show is nothing out of the ordinary, especially for a studio where its works are far and few in between, though its biography list shows that they range from bad to mediocre. Still, this is easily the best effort that studio PRA has given to the show, and it's serviceable for the most part. For her first full-featured Anisong, I absolutely love Kayoko Yoshizawa's OP song, not just because of the song's thematics, but also because it's well-composed and thought-out music that fits the show in general. And in the sea of unimpressive OPs for the Winter 2025 season, this one sticks out to me the most in a captivating manner. As for Rib's ED song, yeah...that is just forgettable. If you want to get into Tasokare Hotel without touching the mobage, try the anime...and regardless of what you do, ignore the 3-episode rule for this, because the show's pacing just does not fit into the theory's narrative. It's only on Episode 4 when there's a plot twist to the entire show's story, which brings in a much more compelling reason as to why this show gets a recommendation to begin with.

Tasokare Hotel – A Letdown Wrapped in Potential Started off promising... but ended up mid. At first glance, Tasokare Hotel sets a moody tone with strong Death Parade vibes—which honestly had me intrigued. But once the character Osoto Masaki entered the picture, I expected the story to take a deeper turn. Instead, it just became increasingly predictable. What really killed it for me was the ending. It felt like they slapped on a forceful happy resolution with little regard for the buildup. No real explanations about who or what the bartender and the manager really were, or how this place even operates. Just a lot of emotional fluff and unanswered questions. I know the anime is based on a game (as noted on its MAL page), but since I haven’t played it, I can’t speak to how much was left out. What I can say is the anime didn’t stand well on its own. Animation: 7/10 Voice Acting: 6/10 Sound Quality: 6/10 Story: 3/10 Total: 5.5/10 A disappointing binge-watch. It had potential, but by the end, I felt more frustrated than fulfilled.

The anime had a somewhat interesting premise and some early promise, which convinced me to give it a try. This might go against the general opinion in the anime community and among fans of the original game, but I actually found the first two episodes to be pretty solid. They gave off a vibe similar to a more toned-down Death Parade, with a light-hearted mystery angle. I was intrigued enough to even download the game to explore it further. However, things started going downhill with the introduction of Oosoto. From that point on, the tone shifted dramatically as the show began taking itself far too seriously, trying to come off as deep, edgy, and intellectually intense, but failing on all fronts. Every time Oosoto appears, he’s framed as the genius mastermind: The smug, all-knowing manipulator protected by layers of plot armor. The series seems desperate to convince viewers that he’s a dangerous and brilliant psychopath, but it never really lands. The episodic cases, which initially caught my interest with their randomness and variety, quickly devolved into repetitive, shock-value-heavy stories. The show kept pushing for darker, more mature themes, but the mediocre animation and lack of a coherent narrative or strong identity made those attempts fall flat. It all started to feel like a try-hard effort to be labeled "smart" or "mature," without having the substance to back it up. From what I’ve heard, the game offers more interactivity, letting players solve mysteries themselves and search for clues, which might enhance the experience. But in the anime, that depth is lost. The main characters all feel like exaggerated tropes, which made the final twist not only unsurprising but disappointingly forced. The conclusion also undercut the core concept, making the entire premise feel redundant. In the end, the anime comes off like a mash-up of ideas borrowed from better shows, thrown together in hopes it would stick. What we get instead is a mediocre execution that left me disappointed

Tasokare Hotel - in a place between life and death covered in constant twilight, there is a hotel with many mysteries. I don't play the game, so this was a blind watch. However, i did really enjoy the show and characters. my biggest complaint was that the mystery aspect fell a bit flat to me. Doing weekly mysteries to establish a pattern is normal and i enjoyed it! however when it came to the big mystery, it was fumbled and just plopped in the viewer's lap. We didn't get to solve anything! There weren't any easter eggs or clues, just plopped the whole answer in our laps for the last 3 or so episodes. Part of why i love mysteries is because i can solve the problem with the characters. However, through weird deus x machina situations and pure plot convenience, the main mystery was solved without the viewer doing any work for it which is a bit frustrating. I found this to be very unsatisfying and just kinda put a sour mood on the rest of the show for me. Overall, I'm iffy on if i should recommend this. On one hand, the characters and weekly mysteries are fun and interesting. The concept is fresh and i would love to see a second season just based on the weekly side character mysteries of finding out what happened to them. But on the other hand, if they were to do a grand storyline again they need to pace themselves and make it more interesting to the viewer.

It's rare for me to give a 10/10 rating. Aside from this anime, I give it to "To Your Eternity" and "Dororo" so if you ever watched those two, you can predict how good this anime is. Let's break down to the show itself. It gives us many types of story that I personally think emotional, there's one particular episode that cause me cry a lot. But normally people wouldn't cry over this, so please don't expect this to become a really sad anime. Think of it as a usual mystery anime. It's like "Death Parade" a story about life and death, but with a fun MC, funny manager, and a big plot twist at the end. I read that this anime is an adaptation from game, but unlike other similar adaptation, this one is really good. Even though the animation isn't as beautiful as let's say Frieren or Demon Slayer, this anime still has a pretty good visual. I highly recommend this! If you ever watch Death Parade, it's even better than that. But please be prepared for some disturbing scene. We're talking about life and death stories, not a happy slice of life anime.

A promising concept held back by mostly weak characters and bland execution. I almost dropped this during the lackluster early episodes. But it does get good near the end. The structure is mostly episodic, with one or more new guest characters coming in at the beginning, with information revealed about them during the span of the show, finally revealing their fate. A weakness here is that the information is just handed to the audience, mostly through unearned notes that are found in books or randomly fall from the sky or similar. It would have been better to tie the reveals to some kind of character catharsis, or to some completed task, which would give it some more emotional impact. So, for the most part, these guest characters are bland. Things become interesting with the character introduced in ep 3. He is the most interesting character, and adds some necessary spice to the show. The rest of the characters are not great. The major characters are largely described by some cringe behaviors; for example, the director is lazy and sleeps on duty. It's not just a character trait he has, but rather a trait that he is fully modeled around. The MC has some weird obsession with the cooking girl which just keeps getting displayed. The tone is inconsistent, with the goofiness of the characters making it hard to take seriously, but the story getting darker near the end. There are some excellent musical performances in some episodes, with some nice jazz saxophone.

I came into Tasokare Hotel with some expectations as it's very within range of my favorite genres, and it didn't disappoint!!! I very thoroughly enjoyed this series a ton, and feel it deserves to be more widely watched!! Overall Sentiments: - The animation isn't anything stellar, however it didn't need to be anything more than satisfactory. It delivered what it needed to and I was happy with that. - Story wise I thought it was pretty damn amazing. It's episodic but does have an overarching plot that comes together and tied up well in the end. - Characters I thought were quite likable (except one, but it's on purpose lol) and thought all the individual stories were very interesting and engaging. Overall, This show was just too good and needs to be recognized more. I would be a personal defender for this show. I will add, It's My Anime of the Season for Winter 2025! <3 - Written while listening to The Cat's Dining Table by Kikuo.

As someone who loved the game, I’m biased so I gave it a slightly higher score than it deserves. Though the premise is hella interesting and had a mystery atmosphere throughout with music that matched, the plot toward the end did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. My main gripe was about both Neko and Osato. About Neko, she’s made to be a smart, detective-like character but when it comes to Osato, she makes some pretty stupid decisions that get her and the people around her in trouble. For Osato, people might say he’s a compelling villain and whatnot but he’s really just a pathetic loser and I don’t know how he got away with his actions for so long. Honestly, the most interesting character was actually the manager imo. Overall though, it’s still interesting but I would recommend the game over the anime (sad they didn’t use the original song kaneko sang in the game ;-;)

I'm a fan of the original game so was really delighted for it to be animated, but honestly, the anime adaptation falls short in many aspects compared to its OG especially characterization of the main cast. Certain anime original episodes do not add much value to the story and feel like it takes away space for proper portrayal of important bits. Overall it feels like flimsy marketing than actually trying to do a good adaptation The music is lovely and the art is nice, but if you are interested even if a bit please do check out Tasokare Hotel game

Sorry if anyone reading this really doesn't like it when reviews immediately criticize a show for being a lesser version of a completely different series... but I can't help it. The whole time I was watching this, I just kept saying that this show was a lesser version of Death Parade. I'm not instantly turned off by a show being similar to something I've already watched (I'm sure we've all watched a million high school rom coms in our time). But there was never anything that set it apart from what I was constantly comparing it to, nor was there anything about this show I enjoyed more than the other show I was constantly thinking of. The one-off stories are all very whatever and I don't entirely understand the point of uncovering each character's backstories if their fate has already been sealed. Except for when the plot allows them to do whatever they want, like deciding to work in the hotel for seemingly eternity. The final arc was sorta interesting, but due to there being such little time focused on the main cast throughout the majority of the series, I didn't really find myself overly invested in anyone's fate. Not a terrible show. But nothing really memorable or noteworthy... other than the fact that it reminded me of how much I liked Death Parade. 6/10