Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation” gives us a fight between robots and an alien, but not in the way you would expect. The conflict is not a physical one. Rather, it’s a fight to understand what the alien actually wants in order to provide the best hotel service.

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation”: Details

Apocalypse Hotel JP key art
Alas, these are not the aliens…yet.

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation” is the second episode (you can read my review of Ep. 1 here) of this postapocalyptic sci-fi comedy-drama anime series. Uniquely, this anime is an original series not adapted from any manga. CyberAgent is producing the anime, with CygamesPictures (Manaria FriendsBrave Bang Bravern!The Summer Hikaru Died) as the animation studio behind it. Crunchyroll is the company licensing it for its global debut, as well as streaming it.

Production Crew

Shinya Kawabe is the director behind Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation”, with Shigeru Murakoshi as the writer, and Naoya Morotomi as the storyboarder.

As for Apocalypse Hotel as a whole: Kana Shundo is the director behind the anime, with Shigeru Murakoshi as the writer. Manami KabashimaRyou EbinaAtsushi KimuraKouichi Sano, and Naofumi Shioya are the producers. Natsuki Yokoyama is the character designer, based on Izumi Takemoto‘s original designs. Yoshiaki Fujisawa is the composer behind the music.

Speaking of that music: the opening theme song for Apocalypse Hotel is “Skirt” by Aiko. Meanwhile, “Capsule” (カプセル) also by Aiko is the ending theme song.

Voice Cast

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation” features the voices of Saho Shirasu as Yachiyo the Acting Acting Manager and Hiroki Tōchi as Doorman Robot.

The other notable voice roles in this episode are Hiroyuki Kinoshita as the unnamed Owner and Shin-ichiro Miki as Environment Checker Robot.

When and Where to Watch

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on April 15, 2025. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can watch this entire anime only on Crunchyroll due to it being an exclusive there.

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation”: Synopsis

They probably never expected to get this sort of guest.

Alas, Apocalypse Hotel has only just started airing. In fact, Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation” only just made its debut a day ago as of this writing. Thus, you all will get the official synopsis of this episode from Crunchyroll to give you all a taste of the story without too much spoilers below:

“The Gingarou Hotel gets its first guest in over a century, but he’s not human! Do aliens even count as guests?”

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation”: The Good

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 "Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation" screenshot 1
Good luck trying to figure out if this alien understands human body language.

Again, it’s the story of Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation” that draws me in the most. Mostly because of just how oddball it is. It’s like a bizarre combination of WALL-E and E.T. in this episode. You have a robot trying to figure out just what her alien guest needs, and if they even like the service the hotel is offering them. It’s an almost literal case of worlds colliding here, and I’m enjoying every moment of the collision. Especially since it’s a collision is completely non-combat in the slightest. In fact, Yachiyo is desperately avoiding every possibility of the encounter escalating into combat, despite certain attempts by a member of the cast to engage in combat at every opportunity.

The story isn’t the only good thing here though. The animation from CygamesPictures and their animation team continues to be absolutely gorgeous. Every bit of the episode, from the characters to the background, are all rendered in loving detail. Even the way Yachiyo’s clothes move as she’s walking and doing various activities speaks to that level of detail. When you’ve got an anime with animation this beautiful combined with a unique story, then you’ve got a winning combination.

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation”: The Bad

Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 "Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation" screenshot 2
What a mental breakdown looks like for a robot.

Honestly, the only thing about Apocalypse Hotel Ep. 2 “Tradition Evolves With Innovation and Experimentation” that might be a turn-off for some people is the complete lack of action. In fact, Yachiyo makes every effort to avert that kind of bloody action. This just isn’t that sort of anime.

If you want an anime with bloody action, or just bloody violence in general, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no YaibaKaiju No. 8DDDDDAN DA DANSword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online IIZenshuBlue BoxSolo Leveling, and/or Black Butler. Those anime should have more than enough of both to satisfy your inner action junkie.

What do you think of this week’s episode of Apocalypse Hotel? Or perhaps you might want to watch it for yourself after reading this review? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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