There seems to be a fascination with anime and high school. Many different anime are set there and it seems to be a perfect time for most series set in its location. What if, however, you suddenly found out that the school was not real? In fact, you have been reliving the school year over and over again in a virtual world. That is the premise of Caligula, an anime adaption of the video game The Caligula Effect.
Truth or Reality
The creator of this virtual world is not a person or evil cooperation. The creator is μ (pronounced Mu) a computer program that was created to be an idol (pop star). During an unspecified time, μ became aware and decided to create a virtual world called Mobius. Much like a siren, she lured those in the real world who were having a rough time. People forgot about the real world and were happy to relieve the school year over and over. Ritsu Shikishima remembers the real world and he is determine to get him and his friends back to it.
μ is a fascinating antagonist. She created a world that only those who like and resonate with her songs would be drawn to. She wants to make these people happy. She is not evil, but more of a child who suddenly is granted the power of God. The only problem is that she does not give those in her world a choice to stay or go. Much like a certain Mad Titan, the reasons might be sound, but the fact that a choice is made without any discussions makes you the villain.
Everyone Gets Hurt
Ritsu started his resistance as a club, called simply the Go-Home-Club. He does not hide what he and his friends want. While it might be easy to just find ways for the club to thwart μ, the creators of this anime created a second group to oppose them. The Ostinato Musicians support there leader and see the Go Home Club as traitors. This makes the threat more real instead of clashing with an entity that created everything.
The anime just started and it already made me want to play the game. A remake is coming to PS4 , so I hope it will get a North American release. Until then, I will tune in every week on Crunchyroll to see how the club tries to escape from the perfect world created by μ.