Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「サタデー・ナイト・クエスチョン」 (Satadee • Naito • Kursuchyon) by 中島愛 (Nakajima Megumi)
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「リアルは♀、ネットは♂」 (Rearu wa Onna, Netto wa Otoko)
“Female in Real Life, Male In-Game”
While I may have been wearing some slightly rose tinted-glasses while watching the episode, there wasn’t much I would have complained about. Except the pacing — the pacing is killing me.
General Summary
So, Netojuu no Susume is supposed to be a story about an early middle-aged lady named Morioka Moriko (wonderfully played by Noto Mamiko) who has given up living a tedious life working in corporate for a much simpler one as an elite neet (I hope whenever you hear the words “elite neet” that you read it with a very charismatic and overly enthusiastic voice). With her favorite game having shut down since she last played, she hops onto a new MMO called Fruits de Mer Online. Living out her fantasy by creating a cool and good looking male character, the story really starts to kick in as we get to see experience Moriko’s new life as Hayashi in a fantasy-inspired world.
General Impressions
I don’t know why I never thought about providing a short summary at the beginning of these snapshot posts. Anyways, let’s dive into what you came here for — is this show worth watching? As it stands, I would give Netojuu a thumbs up so long as you keep your expectations in check.
First and foremost, I think there was a definite issue with the pacing and how the writers are trying to tell the story. Seeing how I read a lot of the introduction material to write a preview for our Fall Preview, I think I was subconsciously filling in the gaps with what I already knew about the source material. After a hard and honest second watch though (having a friend also watch probably helped), it’s clear that toward the middle there’s huge jump in time that does an awkward job introducing the Guild that Lili invited Hayashi to which leads to an even more awkward situation where the Guild Leader has to remind Hayashi that romance within the guild is forbidden. If anything, a quick introduction to the guild would have made a lot more sense in setting up a time skip instead of a short shot of Moriko in the dark with a ton of new and fancy peripherals and monitors (I appreciated it though). However, I can kind of understand what the story is going for right now. I think it’s pretty obvious that the story is trying to push a romance onto Hayashi and Lili in-game and seeing how their real life counterparts seem to also be destined to meet one another, it would make sense to try and introduce the real life stuff as soon as possible.
Second, and this is drawing on the fact that I read some of the source material, I can’t wait to see Moriko deal the issues she has from working in the tough and unforgiving environment of a Japanese Company. There were a few brief glimpses at what’s to come, but I’m willing to bet we’ll have some really powerful moments if the show manages to capture the raw angst, anger, and sadness associated with these moments.
Third, how can you not love Moriko. She has just the right amount of neet mixed in with regular person that you just want to give her a hug and tell her everything is going to be okay.
Anyways, let me close this post off before it gets any longer. Overall, I would give this show a thumbs up so long as you’re able to hone your expectations. If you were looking for a tl;dr, I’d boil everything down to give this show at least 3 episodes since it looks like it’s starting out a little slow (but could start ramping up at any moment).
Catch you guys next week!
ED Sequence
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ED: 「ひかり、ひかり」 (Hikari, Hikari) by 相坂優歌 (Aisaka Yuuka)
Preview
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“a story about an early middle-aged lady”
Since when early 30s is middle age?
I feel so old now…
Oxford and Merriam-webster dictionaries lists middle age as between 45 and 65. As does perhaps the biggest authority on the subject the American Psychiatry Association the APA in their latest version of the diagnostic manual, the DSM-V. I think 30 is when some consider women to be “expired” (as in reproductively) and so it’s only downhill from there. In reality reproductive risks aren’t statistically present until after 35. Wanted to link to references but it seems one needs a subscription that I have through my work, so you will have to take my word for it 😛
So you’re not old, and neither am I 😉
Serious question warrants a serious answer! In 1935, when American life expectancy was ~60 years, a 30 year old was middle-aged! [lol]
Since forever, 30 is middle age because after 60 you generally retire and become “old”, when you retire you basically downgrade your status to old man, older people get the more they are in denial about their age, dude at work is 58, he says he’s still young and i laugh.
i butchered that last sentence, forgot to delete some words after editing xD
@John: dunno, from where I am 40 is when people start seeing you as middle-aged, whereas those in 30s are seen as young while those in 20s are “practically kids”.
’tis a cultural thing I guess. Japanese do seem to see reaching 20 as the end of youth though.
This one is weird. I jumped on the wagon for some Mamiko Noto goodness, but her role IRL-universe-wise is so short that it end with you craving for more. I’m not very keen on the genderbend, even if it’s for an MMO game, and yes, the pacing at the middle left you with a “what?!”
3-ep rule, and I hope some improvements
I’m kinda thinking ‘Your Name’ish – dunno why exactly.
Maybe it’s the expectation that they’ll get to know each
other in real life (I assume the store thing was their 1st
meeting).
Actually, I thought the escalation up the hierarchy made
sense and flowed pretty well with what was happening.
Since this doesn’t seem to be a story about an adventurer,
or a guild, or even any special adventure – those are all
tools which serve a greater purpose to these players, to
have fun playing the game.
I kinda like this fresh perspective on gaming – some get
so caught up in the game, they forget that it’s entertainment!
Anyway, I’ll be watching this…
Its has a nice OP by Nakajima Megumi – beautiful voice… right Ranka Lee there
And the episode itself, I must admit I really enjoyed it and was smiling all through it. Must be age catching up with me on all this romance stuff?
It really reminds me more of Netoyome. Like I was seriously cheering for both the male and female lead to be together then…
Are we even sure the blonde guys is the real-life user behind Lili? I’m interested in watching this but I don’t want to get my hopes up for potential romance only for there to be a plot twist that Lili is someone else entirely. XD;;
This was a fun first episode. Moriko is a nice protagonist to follow as she enjoys getting the most out of the latest MMO. It’ll be great to see how she develops from here, and how deep it gets into her feelings about working.
Is this show worth watching? …. I only saw the first episode and it feels more like a low-key slice-of-life romance with only mild conflicts and inconveniences, rather than a hack-n-slash SAO clone. So far it doesn’t look like it’s doing anything differently than other anime I seen, but it IS very charming and good if you wanna relax. I really like the character designs of the anime, as Moriko herself says about the game.