Part 7/11:
Participants lament the franchise's drift away from its core appeal—the depiction of an exotic, digital wonderland—and instead, it becomes a blurry approximation of our mundane environment. The failure to establish a sense of culture, society, or internal conflict within the digital realm further diminishes the franchise’s potential depth.
Character and Narrative Failings
The characters are described as flat, unrelatable, and lacking motivation. For example, the protagonist’s story begins with an open-ended shot that hints at future developments but quickly falls into confusion as characters come and go with minimal development. The major villain, Mother Ana, is seen as a weak actress embodying a plot about power struggles, but her character offers little nuance.