「秘密トライアングル」 (Himitsu Toraianguru)
“Secret Triangle”

God, this show is such a tease sometimes it makes me want to throw my monitor out my window (but in a good way).

General Impressions

To start things off, let me apologize about my happiness thinking we had a total of twelve episodes to enjoy ourselves. After doing a quick check after a helpful comment, I realized that there are only ten episodes. Which, all things considered, may not necessarily be a bad thing depending on how you look at it. Don’t get me wrong, I was feeling pretty down after I realized there were going to be two less episodes than I thought there would be. But when I considered how the pacing of the show’s been doing and the decision that the writers have been making on how to handle each episode (this week’s being no exception), the ten episode limit might have been a blessing in disguise for us.

Anyways, let’s dive into this week’s crazy episode where real life and in-game have been slowly encroaching on one another. Starting off with the biggest bombshell, who would have thought Fujimoto and Kanbe would have been the same person? Besides sharing the same hair-color, I don’t think I would have came to the conclusion without the story directly telling us. That and whenever I hear Nakamura Yuuichi speak, my mind starts to have a small eargasm as it tries to decide if I want to picture Okazaki from Clannad or Karamatsu from Osomatsu-san. From a story standpoint though, it’s nice to know that there’s someone who finally knows Hayashi’s true identity and can assist them both in and outside the game. That said, I’m not sure how I feel about the possible love triangle that could form from Fujimoto’s sudden jump in importance. Not necessarily about the possibility of it actually happening, but the chance of adverse effects that could stem from it.

Luckily, I think the episode did a pretty good job at establishing what should happen from here on out. Honestly, if I didn’t have so much love for this show I would probably be in the same mindset as Sakurai about the whole thing. What are the chances the person you fancy in-game would end up being the opposite gender of the character they play, whom you also accidentally (literally) ran into, realized you had mutual friends with, and at the end of it all barely catching them out of the blue through an another almost impossible set of events? Kind of crazy when you say it out loud, am I right?

Anyways, I’ll catch you guys next week where we’ll hopefully receive some good news. Based on Sakurai’s facial expression and dialogue though, it’s looking like something bad might be going down. Hopefully I’m wrong.

P.S. I love how this show handles eyebrows and how they differentiate between clean and unkempt ones.

 

Preview

24 Comments

  1. Aaah yes… One way of convincing others that you are a girl IRL is have someone else support that “white” lie. My friend who likes tricking guys to believing he is a girl doesnt insist that he is a “girl” and he is really effective in acting as one, but he always ask me to support him when someone “kinda” doubts his “gender” to make it more convincing.

    Anyway, this show really likes to hang us every end of each episode huh? I cant wait to see their reaction once they really found out that yuuta is lily and moriko is hayashi.

    Jeffers
  2. Man, they really like to scare us with those episode previews. Fingers crossed hoping that this manages to stay a pretty straightforward romance, despite all the hints otherwise.

    Also, yeah, RIP hair.

    Nex
  3. “[W]ho would have thought Fujimoto and Kanbe would have been the same person?”
    Well, called it. That said, if Fujimoto gets rejected by Moriko, he and Lilac (real name still unrevealed) would still make a great beta couple.

    https://randomc.net/image/Netojuu%20no%20Susume/Netojuu%20no%20Susume%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
    Huh. Shortened hair aside, Moriko cleans up quite nicely.

    https://randomc.net/image/Netojuu%20no%20Susume/Netojuu%20no%20Susume%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
    And was it just me, or did I just hear Shizuka Ito as the voice of the hairdresser?

    Incognito
    1. I think I might be the only person on the internet who likes Moriko’s new, shorter hair cut (I’m probably also biased because my own hair style looks a lot like her new hair style). XD;;

      mangaka-chan
    2. And was it just me, or did I just hear Shizuka Ito as the voice of the hairdresser?

      Ending credits list 古賀 葵. A quick google search points to Aoi Koga https://myanimelist.net/people/41328/Aoi_Koga

      ~

      Morimori’s such an elite NEET she keeps converting real-world currency to number of gachas. 😛

      Reminds me of a guy who does the same, but with beer. LOL

      So Koiwai’s playing the sly matchmaker (arranging a date in an oblique way!). Sakurai manages to connect (just enough of) the dots to dash out and look for Morimori. Can’t wait for the next ep!

      Magnus Tancred
  4. I ended up binge reading the manga (in Chinese though) and dear god, I just want them to get together already because these two dorks are too darn adorable!

    Also, the thing with the whole people knowing each other online and unawares they know each other off line Show Spoiler ▼

    mangaka-chan
  5. I actually had a hunch that Fujimoto and Kanbe might be same person, but it was like, “maybe 10% chance… cause the hair color, but otherwise no signs”, though both share serious, down-to-business mindset after looking closely.
    LOL-ed so hard at Morioka converting real world shopping to lootboixes. A real MMO-junkie, definitely.
    Oh and Lilac definitley has crush on Kanbe, see how flattered she was to be depended on for haling?

    ewok40k
  6. I’m confused.
    I think that the anime don’t make clear about in who exactly Sakurai have an interest. It’s Hayashi whom he knows for a year online or Moriko, a random woman that he meet by chance just one time?
    And Koiwai behavior is also confusing. He is really interested in Moriko or not? He has reasons to be, but it seems that he brags about the date aiming to incite Sakurai to do something. It’s strange.

    1. Sakurai has an interest in Moriko. He called her on a date, he was depressed when she rejected, obsessively tried to meet her again, and was upset when Koiwai said he had a date with Moriko. This was all before he had reason to suspect that Hayashi is Moriko’s avatar. He was downright obsessed with Moriko already, learning that she controlled Hayashi just made him like her more.

      As for Koiwai, he literally said this episode that he did all this so that Sakurai could meet Moriko. Maybe Koiwai likes her as well, but he clearly is wanting to help his best friend meet the woman he likes.

      Lord Nayrael
    2. In the manga we get a clearer reason on why Sakurai became so fixated on meeting Moriko.

      Show Spoiler ▼

      mangaka-chan
  7. This just feels like one of the really sweet and neat love comedy JDorama plot.
    Gave me all this youthful excited and butterflies in the tummy feel all over again.

    Awww those feeling of youthfulness… I guess I can really relate to how Morioka-san feels

    ornehx
  8. Enjoying this show and really itching for the next one. I don’t think anyone mentioned it yet, but during the end credits, you get to see (what I think is) a tell-tale clue about MoriMori’s former work-life.
    In Yuuta’s shot, you see a woman enter the frame from the left and abruptly turn back around, then you see a woman enter from the right. That woman is Morioka Moriko. So not a popular fixture at the office. I don’t think that’s a surprise, but this scene proves it and shows that Yuuta very well may have encountered her in his work setting without realizing it. It will be interesting if this is shown in flashbacks or something.

    Roren

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