New Game!!
NEW GAME!!
- Comedy
- Adult Cast
- CGDCT
- Workplace
- Episodes
- 12
- Duration
- 24 min per ep
- Aired
- Jul 11, 2017 to Sep 26, 2017
- Status
- Finished Airing
Synopsis
A year after joining Eagle Jump, Aoba Suzukaze and the lively character design team finally bring the studio’s latest release, *Fairies Story 3*, to completion. With one project wrapped, the company immediately turns to the next—beginning with an internal contest to choose the new game’s character designs. Backed by advice from former lead designer Kou Yagami, Aoba comes out on top and steps into the role of lead character designer.
The promotion comes with heavier responsibilities and longer nights, and Aoba can’t help but wonder if she’s truly ready. As she works through her doubts and inexperience alongside supportive coworkers, she throws herself into shaping Eagle Jump’s next title: a cute new game called *Peco*.
Otaku Consensus
New Game!! lands as the stronger, sharper half of Doga Kobo’s workplace comedy, with Yoshiyuki Fujiwara’s steady direction and Fumihiko Shimo’s series composition giving the second season more character pressure and cleaner pacing than a routine CGDCT sequel. Critics and fans single out the character-design competition and Aoba’s new professional expectations as the season’s most rewarding material, while the recurring complaint is equally consistent: its moe presentation can feel too sugary for viewers looking for the industry density of Shirobako.
Why You Should Watch
Watch New Game!! if you want a workplace anime about creative adults without the cynicism, crunch horror, or lecture-heavy production jargon that often comes with the setting. It scratches part of the Shirobako itch through meetings, art-direction pressure, and the emotional weirdness of being promoted before you feel ready, but filters it through Doga Kobo’s softer CGDCT grammar rather than documentary realism. The appeal is in seeing office friendship treated as a professional survival tool: feedback, mentorship, rivalry, and exhaustion are handled with bright comic timing instead of melodrama. Viewers who like slice-of-life shows where the cast is actually employed, the setting is not a school club, and the jokes come from recognizably awkward office rhythms will get the most out of it.
Key Characters
- AAoba Suzukaze
Aoba is compelling because the season lets her be cute and professionally insecure at the same time, turning a moe lead into a believable junior creative wrestling with visible responsibility.
- KKou Yagami
Kou functions as the show’s standard-bearer for craft: fans tend to value how her mentor role adds adult competence, blunt feedback, and emotional weight to the otherwise gentle office tone.
What Makes It Stand Out
- 1
Doga Kobo keeps the series firmly in the adult workplace lane rather than converting the office into a school-club substitute; AniList tag weighting reflects that identity with Work, Software Development, and Video Games all at 92%.
- 2
The second season’s most discussed structural choice is its shift from newcomer acclimation to professional evaluation, using an internal design contest and promotion pressure to give the comedy a clearer career-drama spine.
- 3
Director Yoshiyuki Fujiwara and series composer Fumihiko Shimo emphasize a stable office atmosphere over gag escalation, matching web criticism that the series works best when its humor grows out of normal coworker behavior rather than forced punchlines.
- 4
The production credits highlight unusually specific visual support for a workplace show: Ai Kikuchi handled character design, Megumi Matsumoto and Eri Nakajima handled prop design, and Haruka Kagaya is credited for the title logo design.
- 5
Its reception is notably consistent across major fan databases: 7.69 on MyAnimeList from 139,820 votes and 76/100 on AniList, with 1,076 AniList favourites, placing it as a well-liked sequel rather than a niche curiosity.
Fun Facts & Trivia
- Fun fact 1
- The double exclamation marks in New Game!! mark it as the second TV season; it aired for 12 episodes from July 11, 2017 to September 26, 2017.
- Fun fact 2
- The anime is based on work by original creator Shoutarou Tokunou, and AniList’s Seinen tag at 70% reflects that its cute surface is attached to an adult-reader workplace premise rather than a school-life setup.
- Fun fact 3
- Although MyAnimeList lists the show simply under Comedy with Adult Cast, CGDCT, and Workplace themes, AniList users tag it much more granularly, including Office Lady at 76%, Drawing at 60%, Otaku Culture at 55%, and LGBTQ+ Themes at 56%.
- Fun fact 4
- The key staff list includes three credited assistance roles — Takaaki Kounosu, Atsuo Muratsubaki, and Jonathan Stern — alongside the main creative leads, a small but concrete sign of how many specialized hands are visible even on a compact 12-episode slice-of-life production.
Studios
- Doga Kobo
