*Some Spoilers*
Where the hell's my Mountain Dew
"I met my girfriend online" Takes a MMO gamer spin. A harmless romantic comedy for people who like harmless romantic comedies, Netjuu no Susume is a pretty much solid example of this and is full of tropes that will have you smiling through a cringe. That's what it's supposed to do. The awkwardness is very much meant to be endearing, although there are some parts where it falls flat out awkward- which people would say makes it charming. I'm not accustomed to romantic comedies in general and it isn't my preferred genre, but I GUESS I could see why they say this. Basically, its awkward people doing awkward things awkwardly, and also there's video games.
It doesn't do anything new, so if you're looking for innovation or brave storytelling it's not here. This, as I said, is harmless, but nothing special. Sure, it connects this person in another world video game type of anime we've been seeing pop up over and over again with a typical SOL romance in a decent way, but they're not trying overly hard to draw you in with that premise. Video games are, in this anime, a plot tool used to construct the relationships between the characters. It's a nice gimmick, but obviously, the characters are the real point, so it's often brushed to the side starting from the middle, onward. It's used ok enough in the beginning.
Now obviously being a central theme the video game is important and so is the culture associated with it. Most of the anime's narrative is built around moments where it goes from the in-game personas of the characters doing something generically RPG and interacting, then switching out at the real humans behind the avatars while you watch their QUIRKY reactions. It's not terribly paced, either. It leads to most of the comedy.
Story - It's whatever. The linear nature of the story is built around the two main characters' relationship as it develops and as they discover each other. It's completely set up from episode one, of course, what will be happening as you figure out that these two people are playing opposite their genders on a video game. Obviously they're going to get together and realize WAIT YOU'RE A DUDE/GIRL?! ect. Until that happens is where it really counts, and there's just... a lot of sludge there. They overplay it. This didn't need to necesarily be as long as it was, even as short as it was. It isn't like every episode ended on a game-changing cliffhanger, and there were really only one or two big story moments to keep the interest afloat. The progression is linear and that's fine. I never expected much from this anime, so I wasn't disappointed with the story, but the other aspects are where the anime is the strongest.
Animation - Once again its absolutely nothing special, but for this anime it was very appropriate and everything it needed to be. I'm not familiar with the studio but they did a decent job.
Sound - Good for this anime. The SFX weren't ever super out of place and the opening combined that video gamer chiptune-y thing with a typical anime opening sound, which was nice. Voice acting was ok.
Characters - This is where the magic happens. Your romcom archetypes have been replaced with some pretty nicely designed characters, all of whom have their own kinds of quirks that you don't typically see in an anime like this. Moriko is a girl gamer, but a pretty realistic one that's nice to watch and only cringy in a good way. The premise made me worry she'd be self-insert, but she's actually very much her own character and the show's tone revolves around her emotions. It's fun to watch her make a decision and react to it, as you think "yup been there." Yuta is ok, definitely not 100% generic either, and just as awkward.
Once you get past those two there are the many side characters with a few quirky personalities that really spice it all up, but given the limited runtime, don't come into play too often- meaning they dont overstay their welcome. Then you have the "Characters" in the meat of the show, the MMO GAME THAT THE SHOW IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT, and the way their behaviours to the people controlling them, it makes it entertaining to imagine and see what the real people are thinking while the video game avatars act.
Overall - So yeah it's decent. I never found myself extremely wrapped up in any of the events that were happening and it wasn't exactly easy to pay attention to all the time, but there were a few moments where I watched an interaction and felt something like "that was cute lol". I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone looking for something REALLY GOOD but if you just want to kill time on a fluff-fest with some cute stuff going on, this is for you.
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