Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki

This is not an anime for you if you liked SAO.

This is not an anime for you if you don't enjoy slice of life fantasy series.

This is for you if you don't mind a slower paced fantasy series that captures actual MMO feel. This anime is not a high stakes crazy action anime, and as a fan of the manga since it came out, I can say this anime doesn't exactly match the energy of the original work but gets pretty damn close. This is an anime about experimentation, the joy of learning new things in a medium you care about, and getting to experience ... what someone who would actually play this game feels.

Look, I get it that most people aren't going to like this, but for those lone few who find this style of anime interesting: You're in for a treat.

I wouldn't say that this is bad, but it sure is boring because it makes nothing out of itself for these 12 episodes.

"Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki" is the quintessential "Middle Of The Road" or "slop on a plate" equivalent of anime; Its super bland and generic with everything you see here done in a different context in other anime, and does nothing overly good, yet nothing overly bad either.

Story-wise it makes itself to be based on the video game "Old School Runescape", not to mention it also really wants to be an Isekai but can't really do that because of its VR video ... game themes stopping it. And being honest, it really would be better as an Isekai, because the main character would have more of a reason to actually grind to get stronger.
This is because he would need these abilities to actually survive, and as such would make more of a reason to your fight a opponents, plus the MC cannot cheap out with a respawn if something goes wrong, adding stakes into the mix. Overall this makes everything feel milquetoast and bland with no real risk.
Side-note: The comedy is just poor, it has the "I do not want the fairy queen with wolf ears to be my wife!" unfunny comedy every episode. Not to mention the ending is hot garbage and actively makes the story more mediocre.

Not saying that there isn't good aspects to this show, the crafting system that is shown is cool, but that's just a reinterpretation of blacksmiths. Other than that its fights scenes are pretty interesting and unique, and really holds up the rest of the anime with it, since they are very good and have pretty cool tactics. The characters are not all bad, they just do dumb things for no reason sometimes, but they tend to have good character.

All in all, its middle of the road type of anime, not amazing by a long stretch, but not bad either. Take that as it is.
🗿 6/10 🗿

To be quite frank, I never thought that I would actually leave a review for anything on this site, using it mainly just for informational purposes. However, after completing this show, I feel compelled to leave a review for it in an attempt to ward off anyone thinking it might be worthwhile to watch.

It isn't. At all.

It starts off mediocre and...fine. Unoffensive but lame.

However, by the time the show ends, we have been subjected to the main character (called "Earth", in the game which serves as the shows main setting) being an absolutely unlikable mean-spirited jerk for almost the entire latter part of the show. ... He has basically no redeeming qualities as a person, and only his "skill", in the game is actually what makes people drawn to him. In reality, he's just thrust into relationships with people, and by his own admission would rather completely avoid them than work with them other than when it serves his own purposes, such as going through a dungeon or having things made for him.

He happily uses powers bestowed to him by the Fairy Queen character of the game, but is largely extremely rude and ungrateful to her, at multiple points literally tying her up so that he can run away. His entire attitude towards the fairy NPCs is one of convenience, and they serve has nothing more than a means to an end for him despite them largely wanting nothing more than to help and support him because they are "drawn to him".

He becomes ostensibly the game's first "famous" player, but then is under the impression that he can seriously walk around just going "yeah you've got the wrong guy", when people see him. He was literally shown to every single player and seen by hundreds of players fighting in the tournament in which he battled the Fairy Queen. Other players started using bows simply because he used one in that fight. And yet he think he can just continue walking around thinking people won't recognize him? Seriously? Even though the player-base expands multiple times for reasons outside the game, that doesn't erase his reputation in it.

If, while playing an MMO, I see the same player a few times while doing my thing, I will remember them. If they were literally famous in the game, I would definitely remember them and even tell other people that I saw them. It's the equivalent of seeing a streamer in-game, basically. He cannot escape the fact that he is well-known. And yet despite allegedly having years of experience playing MMOs and being almost 40 years old in real-life, he cannot comprehend this simple fact.

The show tries to redeem Earth at points, but then is ultimately undermined almost immediately by him again being rude or at best standoffish to the characters who want nothing more than to spend time with and support him. As said above, his interactions with other players seem cordial enough on the surface, but in reality he only interacts with them to serve a purpose. Which, fair enough, plays in to his whole "want to play alone" nonsense. But that does nothing to endear him to the viewers of the show.

To be quite honest, Earth alone is reason to completely avoid this show. The plot is entirely forgettable, but again unoffensive, even if multiple plot points are left almost entirely unexplained or abandoned. If Earth had been even remotely likable...it still wouldn't be worth watching considering just how many good shows exist. But at least it wouldn't have left me with such a sour taste in my mouth. As it is, I am borderline angry with myself that I wasted my time watching this.

I doubt that it will, but I swear if this show gets another season I'm going to be extremely frustrated when it takes a wonderful show like The Devil is a Part-Timer a literal decade to get a second season.

It gets a 2/10 simply because the other characters are at least semi-likable and despite how much I hate how much time I wasted watching it I don't really feel comfortable giving anything a 1/10 because I think everything has *some* redeeming qualities.