Review of Recovery of an MMO Junkie

Can you feel your anxiety just wash away? Recovery of an MMO Junkie knows about the pain of anxiety/depression and the NEET life, but instead of showing you that pain, the anime conquers these issues with unbridled power of CUTE. In the MMO world, the world is bright and colorful and everyone has a good time hanging out, raiding dungeons, and trying on new outfits. In the real world, though MC Morioka's room is usually dark and lonely, the cute character design and chibi-art comedic punchlines make you forget just how hard Morioka's life is. Perhaps it glosses over it TOO much, but this anime isn't Welcometo the NHK and it doesn't want to be. The show never forgets about Morioka's issues, but it is also content to acknowledge them in the background while the foreground is filled with the fluffy stuff. The fluffiness is enough to make me smile and laugh while watching an episode, but it's such a different approach that I feel weird in retrospect. Maybe the anime could've been stronger if it made more explicit connections with Morioka's issues and the game world, but the fact that it doesn't at least makes it unique, and that's fine.

MMO Junkie's real problem is its inability to juggle its characters and subplots with the romantic plot that starts during the second half. The guild members are all great, and it's sad to see them ignored for a romance that is honestly not very interesting. The romance is slow and a bit cliché toward the end, and the show slowly moves out of the MMO world altogether and takes away from what made the show interesting in the first place. Some characters we only see once or twice, and others are left with their issues acknowledged and then forgotten soon after. The drama from the romance is too weak to justify moving away from the game setting, even though it is symbolically necessary. While the pairing itself works, the last few episodes were a bit disappointing in that regard.

Still, the fun, fluffy MMO times and extremely understated adult themes make this anime a nice watch, especially if you've experienced some of these issues yourself. It's just so CUTE.

And DEFINITELY watch the OVA 11th episode. It's a step up in quality and has a bunch of great moments, enough for me to like it more than the actual episodes. If the romance plot had more of THAT, I would've liked this show better.