The second film adaptation of the freemium RPG Maker horror game Ao Oni, which garnered a Slenderman-esque cult internet following in Japan that eventually grew to include an even smaller, more niche audience in the Western Hemisphere as well. Despite coming not long off the back of its predecessor, this isn’t a sequel. Rather it’s what the title implies, another version of it. One supposedly more faithful to the video game. Now, I’ve never played the game so I can’t say for certain, but I’d be pretty surprised if that claim proved accurate considering how the plot is centered around the backstory and personality of a character who’s apparently only in the novel. The whole thing gets fairly meta as the cast end up trapped in a bullied youth’s indie dev project while investigating their town’s urban legend of a haunted building and must locate the “glitch level” to escape. It doesn’t make much sense, particularly when you factor in the unintelligible mid-credits stinger, so it’s hard to get invested in the story as anything you can legitimately take seriously. And yes, there are some slight gay undertones, but they are far more subtle than any of the other reviewers here would lead you to believe.  As far as the actual horror goes, it’s extremely weak on that front. The straight-to-DVD production values rob the movie of any atmosphere or tension, and there’s a disappointing lack of gore. The characters are just sort of occasionally chased around by this giant blue mongoloid demon whose appearances are honestly more goofy than frightening. The fan favorite “Blockman Oni” shows up as well looking like a disabled (and also blue) Dōmo-kun, yet its inclusion is more comical in nature as it’s clearly portrayed as being, well, very stupid. It makes the entire property, or at least the director, come off as highly questionable given how every creature seems like some mockery of the mentally handicapped. Overall, I got what I expected. A meme-worthy Japanese monster flick that I only watched due to my appreciation for the medium its source material is derived from and because someone uploaded a nice subtitled translation to YouTube. It’s not painful to sit through, but it is completely inept and devoid of quality. Plus, I totally doubt it offers an accurate representation of the video game for the fanbase. Unless of course it actually does, in which case I have to ask WHY WOULD ANYBODY PLAY IT?!