Phobias are something that all of us have to cope with, but what if you had to face all of your worst fears at once while fighting for your life? The first trailer for High-Rise Invasion, an anime that will be released on Netflix next year, blends together dizzying heights with masked killers, all competing for survival against each other in a Battle Royale-style game.
The series is based on the manga of the same name, written by Tsuina Miura and illustrated by Takahiro Oba. It originally ran as a web series between 2013-19 and was later collected into print volumes by Kodansha. A sequel manga was released in July 2019. In the distorted world of High-Rise that the ONA's trailer reveals, it seems that the police and other law enforcement are gone, meaning that the game's participants have only their only skills and cutthroat attitude to help them. In a scenario like this, there are likely to be plenty of shocking deaths that will leave audiences hoping that our main character isn't next.
This main character is Yuri, a seemingly normal girl prior to this breakdown of civil order, who ends up victim to whatever placed her in the middle of a high-stakes game for her life. In this game, she, along with several others, have been placed inside multiple skyscrapers. Access to the ground level is completely blocked off, forcing them to either stay inside the building or head to the roof. What stops them from hiding inside of their designated skyscraper is unclear. The skyscrapers are also connected by nausea-inducing swaying bridges, and there are killers in masks that hunt victims down.
In the trailer, these killers have a variety of weapons at their disposal. Whether it be with a melee-style weapon or a type of gun, they all have methods of executing their chosen victims. The participants of this death game have restricted access to anyone beyond who they meet in person, although they aren't entirely stripped of equipment upon waking in this dystopian world. Yuri begins her story in a skyscraper with her phone, but she is only able to use this phone to contact other members of the death game.
The idea of a larger organization being at work behind this nightmarish setting is hinted at through the mentalities of all of the masked killers in the trailer, who are no doubt responsible for killing those that are trapped on the various skyscrapers. Among those killers could well be those enjoy killing. This is further supported by the words of a masked sniper, who says that they can't disobey the Mask's commands.
Just as these killers may have their own motive to carry out their murders, Yuri has her own objectives. With the phone, Yuri contacts her brother who has also been inserted into this horrific scenario. Although the presence of a nearby killer keeps her from being on the phone for long, they plan to meet up with each other.
Ultimately, the anime has to deliver more than just thrills and screams. The breakdown of the world around Yuri has to have been orchestrated by a major event or change in societal rules, ala The Purge franchise. As Yuri struggles to survive in this multiplayer-esque death game, she is bound to encounter more threats and potential allies alike.
