Review of Recovery of an MMO Junkie

Net-juu no Susume is an interesting take on the traditional fantasy world and rom-com genres of anime. I think that if you particularly like romances with some "will they, won't they" heartthrobs, then this looks like the anime for you. The female lead, Moriko is a very rootable character, as she has a very deep admiration for the character she plays with in her MMO. The male lead, Yuuta is a also a very relatable character who is a 9-5 worker who uses video games to escape the hardships of work. Both these characters are essentially mirrors of themselves, and therefore, any situation with eachother provides some pretty good character development and some comedic aspects. I especially like the main supporting cast, as they act as the emotional center for the show and provide the main couple with emotional intelligence and forward momentum in their relationship. I think the idea of placing this all in an MMO was a very clever idea, as it allows for added drama of finding out who the other person is, and also helps to show the inner side of the characters, without lengthy character thought dialogue. I did feel like some of the supporting cast's outside lives could have been capitalized on, but that is just a minor nitpick, and more of just something I would like to see. Another nitpick is the fact that both characters met on a previous MMO and were able to deduce that from their character development. Done right, this would have been a really powerful moment, but the problem is that because it isn't fully developed, it feels a bit forced and a bit of a cop-out to add more relatability for these two characters. Overall, the anime is a very nice rom-com with lots of heart. Dialogue is very well crafted, and the situations these characters get themselves into is very natural and dynamic. The supporting cast, although lacking in the real world, is very well made and plays a bigger role in this anime than most. I would definitely recommend for people who love rom-coms with some more emotional substance later in the season. A more modern take of a traditional heart-strings pulling story.