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Hit TV Series Reset Attracted Viewers with Game and Anime Easter Eggs

2K View2022-01-28

The viral TV series Reset (开端) released its finale this week. The time-loop-themed series was a massive hit and has already received more than 800 million streams on Tencent Video. The story was based on the original web novel of the same name. It depicts a story where the two protagonists are trapped on a bus with a bomb about to go off, and they have to find a way to prevent the upcoming tragedy through numerous attempts. But besides the intense story, the light sci-fi production has included some Easter eggs for the Chinese anime and game fans, which has attracted the online community’s attention.

[b]Best game of all time!

[/b]One of the most talked-about scenes in the series is between Xiao, the male protagonist who works as a game designer, and Lu, a hardcore anime fan who Xiao saves in one of the time loops. The two have a debate about which game is the greatest of all time.

While Lu’s love for Persona 5 resonates with all the JRPG fans out there, some viewers are not convinced that Xiao actually loves Zelda that much. Likely because in the show’s final scene, Xiao has a massive Red Dead Redemption 2 framed poster beside his bed and his WeChat profile photo seems to be Trevor Philips from GTA 6. Interestingly, neither of these games are approved by the Chinese authority and cannot be streamed online due to their sensitive content.

[b]But, it is not yet August

[/b]Another interesting exchange also happens between the protagonists and Lu. When Li and Xiao try to come clean about their abnormal time-looping experience, Lu looks at them with profound confusion. Eventually, Lu replies: But, it’s not yet August. This is seen as a direct reference to the cult classic anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The series famously aired eight almost-identical episodes in its second season, titled Endless Eight.

Much Japanese manga and anime follow the August rule and set their stories in the bright summer holidays. After the comment, Lu also flipped through his ‘time-loop’ notebook and in the pages, we can see the quote about time from Hitoha Miyamizu, a character from the acclaimed anime film Your Name. by Shinkai Makoto.

[b]Lu’s cosplays and his bachelor pad

[/b]In the series, Lu gets a lot of screen time with his cosplay costumes. In his heart-melting monologue, he dresses up as Luffy from One Piece, Spiderman, Hisashi Mitsui from Slam Dunk, a student from Slytherin, and Itachi Uchiha from Naruto. Lu’s parents also dress up as Naruto and Demon Slayer characters in the finale.

Apart from some obvious clues, anime fans also found many ‘otaku’ details in Lu’s secret apartment. Ranging from an Akira vinyl case to figures from Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, Lu’s apartment has become a holy shrine for anime fans. He even has a couple of cats!

[b]The cosplay convention

[/b]Besides the major ‘anime-talk’ scenes, the series also set one of its main stages at a cosplay convention where many viewers identified their favourite characters.

And one of the funniest scenes during the cosplay convention is when the protagonist Li puts on the blue wig. The actress for Li, Zhao Jinmai, was once a child star in the popular kid series Balala the Fairies. The nostalgia was real.