REVIEW: ‘Viral Hit’ Expends Too Much Effort Setting Its Stakes

Viral Hit, directed by Hideki Takeuchi (Cells at Work!) and written by Yûichi Tokunaga, follows a struggling young man named Kota Shimura (Oji Suzuka). Tormented by a school bully, Shimura’s life is nothing but ridicule and hardship, as he goes from being mocked and beaten up at school to working long shifts trying to pay for his sick mother’s treatments. But as it turns out, Shimura can only get pushed so far. 

When you have a point to get across, sometimes the best way to say it is as bluntly as possible. To hit the nail on the head so hard, it comes out the other side of the wall. This leaves no misunderstanding as to the statement and establishes everything a story wants to get across to its audience. But even by this method of thinking, Viral Hit‘s opening swings as it overwhelms its story with Shimura’s tortured existence, feels excessive to the extreme. 

Viral Hit leaps beyond reason with the flagrantness of Shimura’s pain.

A good portion of the opening entries of this six-episode story sees Shimura get the stuffing knocked out of him again, and again, and again. The desire to properly drive home the severity of his situation is understandable. His plight must be bad enough to justify his decision to try to make money through donations to a livestream where he takes on bullies. You really have to have your back against the corner for that to seem like an acceptable plan. Especially given the main character’s complete lack of fighting experience or confidence in himself.

To create this brutal set of circumstances, Viral Hit leaps beyond reason with the flagrantness of Shimura’s pain. Over the course of a half-dozen or more scenes at his school, when he is surrounded by numerous classmates and is getting stuffing knocked out of him, there is never once a teacher around to stop the situation. No one goes to get one, or even utters a reference to them. It is as if the students congregate at the school, not to learn, but to be mocked and bullied, or laugh at others who are. Why Shimura continues to attend at all feels like a mystery. 

The other element that undercuts the situation is the nature of Shimura’s bully. The over-the-top portrayal of this schoolyard menace feels utterly ridiculous. He is the kind of villain you find in anime, which this series is adapting from. However, while such exaggerated personality traits may work well in that medium, seeing an individual behave in such a manner in live action creates a conflicting energy to the character’s cruelest actions. This lends an unintended tone that makes some of Shimura’s worst moments feel oddly bizarre and even more unbelievable. 

Viral Hit’s biggest weakness is how quick everyone is to forgive all the time.

Once the story moves past the initial setup, it comes together to craft an underdog tale with some strong moments, as long as you can look past how incredibly implausible it is. How Shimura manages to win his fights can be far-fetched, but entertaining. Neat tricks and interesting gimmicks are utilized to help him get the upper hand on far more experienced fighters. 

Seeing Shimura eventually strike back at those who prey on the weak has the expected feel-good impact, though surrounding elements of the story fare less well. Viral Hit’s biggest weakness as its narrative progresses is how quickly everyone is willing to “forgive and forget” each other’s sins. How quickly villains turn into friends, even after relapses into old ways, taxes the concept of kindness. Nowhere is this flaw more apparent than in how the series treats the audience Shimura comes to perform for. 

Over the course of the show, Shimura’s story takes him on some big ups and downs as he tries to claw his way to the money he needs to help his mom. When his star is on the rise, his stream chats are full of people cheering and donating to him, heralding him a hero of the downtrodden. But the moment an accusation is made against him, even if everyone watching should already know about it, the fans turn on him in an instant. But once a sympathetic message comes out, they are just as quick to flock to him again. 

Viral Hit manages to get some key elements right, while failing at many others.

That Viral Hit tries to play off the crowd’s re-embracing of Shimura in the final act, as this uplifting coming together of a community feels out of touch and gross. Just scenes earlier, the mob was ready to string him up, plastering his house with insults and death threats, but now, since they saw a pretty girl cry for him, he is once more their hero. It feels like the most base sentimentality conceivable. That Shimura seems to get swept up in it is ridiculous. 

While some of the social exploration within Viral Hit‘s tale falls short, there are a couple of good individual relationships that breathe some emotion into the series. Shimura’s growing affection for his coworker Kaho Asamiya is one of the show’s strongest elements. The series builds their budding relationship into the plot well and paces their growth in a way that makes it feel earned without dragging it out. 

Viral Hit gets some key elements right, while failing at many others. Despite delivering a solid underdog story with some memorable moments and solid interpersonal storylines, it staggers under the weight of its absurd violence and opening act. Combined with an unwillingness to address the cruelty many characters show each other, the series feels deeply flawed and unsatisfying. 

Viral Hit is now streaming, exclusively on Netflix.