Surprisingly good Netflix anime addition. I had no expectations outside of a very short description going into the first episode. To respect that experience, I fully recommend watching all twelve episodes, and consider Good Night World a very good anime.
The brief premise going in revolves around members of a family who spend a great deal of their lives playing a fully comprehensive, virtual video game called Planet. Their lives in the real world are at one extreme, their time in Planet is at another. A lot of this anime is spent showing the differences between the real world and the virtual realm.
As the show develops, we learn that the members of this family are all deeply connected to the game Planet. This includes development of sophisticated artificial intelligence which explodes into a variety of problems, first in the game, then in the real world.
I'm a big fan of any story that really takes a big swing with interesting ideas, and Good Night World's story goes completely off the deep end! While completely different, this anime unfolds like some sort of technological X-File. I also like how all the huge ideas are tied directly to individual characters, their experiences/motivations.
I'd say this comes at a bit of an entertainment price, because when Good Night World is in the game Planet, it's a lot like many anime; fun and full of action. But in the real world the characters and scenes can be abrasive and a rough watch. I fully approve, because there is a purpose to all of it within the context of the story, and how things play out.
I felt this anime really stressed one aspect of humanity, specifically our lack of perfection. Maybe Good Night World spends too much time on each character's flaws to allow them to be likable? Perhaps, and I do think this effects dramatic moments where it can be difficult to pull for any character.
I'd say Good Night World has a little inspiration from the movie Paprika (2006), and like that movie its pretty impressive how much content is delivered in a relatively short amount of time. Definitely a journey told and an interesting watch.
