Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?

Oh, great. Another light novel adaptation with a harem, a stupidly long title that nobody in their right mind would want to pronounce, and a story revolving around MMOs. The anime industry clearly hasn't had enough of those.

It would be one thing if Netoge was just more run-of-the-mill mediocrity, but it instead goes all the way in being silly tripe. This is an anime where the protagonist's entire set of friends in an online game just so happen to be attractive (in some cases, popular) girls who, conveniently, attend the exact same high school and know him personally, including a twintailed tsundere and his ... in-game waifu who immediately clings all over him and proclaims herself his wife, despite not actually knowing anything about who he is in the real-world. If you were to drop the show immediately after the first episode, I would not blame you, and I would actually suggest you are making the right choice. It certainly does not do anything in the later episodes to convince otherwise.

For what is supposed to be an anime involving romance, said 'romance' is about as shallow and as juvenile as it can possibly get. They love each other over a video game. A game! This is not love--- it is two mentally troubled and lonely children infatuated with one another because they share a superficial hobby and because they cannot get anyone better. Anyone who has dated before, especially at a young age, knows that desperate relationships like these never go anywhere. And the two of them like to imagine themselves a married couple? Really? Marriage is not play-time-- it requires a great deal of compromise and sacrifice, and would crush their childish fantasy as a result. A couple like this would not last more than a few weeks in reality, much less a lifetime. So forgive me if I do not care when the show tries to make me feel for them (and often, unfortunately, it does).

Anything that comes out of Ako's mouth is a pain to the senses. She claims real-life is a kusoge and compares luck to item drops in a game. Even the most extreme of otaku on 2ch and other places have the sense to treat these sorts of comments as a joke. That Ako is completely serious about it makes it quite clear that she is a basket-case and that the show has no interest in painting her as an actual person. She is a collection of silly tropes to throw on a body pillow and sell to otaku. At least something like Oreimo, as painful a show as it often was, actually made an effort to make its characters something more than that.

On numerous occasions, Ako makes it clear that she is a terrible girlfriend who has no right dating anyone. She even goes as far as to lie about meeting up with another dude to get back at the protagonist and make him jealous. Anybody, whether male or female, who thinks this is acceptable behaviour is, frankly, scum. He should have dumped her right then and there. But he didn't, and he won't, because this is a harem anime, and harem anime do not care for their characters behaving like sensible human beings.

Netoge isn't all too interested in making the other girls (and there are a whole four of them) feel like they actually have a place in the story. They could just as easily be taken out of the show entirely without it affecting all that much. They exist primarily as eye-candy, showing up, for example, in a vapid 'beach episode', where they join Ako, swimsuits and all, in lathering the protagonist with sunscreen. Netoge doesn't really have any idea of whether it wants to commit solely to Ako or fully embrace the harem route, and often it will switch directions one or more times per episode. They encourage the protagonist and his relationship with Ako, and then the next moment they'll be rubbing their breasts against him or blushing in some pseudo-confession scene. Why? For what purpose?

(It also goes without saying that Netoge, given its genre, is ripe with unnecessary fanservice. The girls will all bath together, making vaguely homosexual comments about each other and comparing their breast sizes, with huge amounts of steam covering their bodies so that otaku will be manipulated into buying the uncensored BluRay version. How many more years will it take until the anime industry matures beyond this?)

Every male besides the protagonist is depicted as a horrible loser with no hope of finding love. His group of male friends (who, by the way, were even less of an otaku than him) do nothing but envy his apparent success with the ladies, despite him being entirely bland and average and without anything that would make the opposite sex interested in him. The protagonist is the single most important character in a story, and here he is the least interesting. I get it-- the girls need to be cute in a harem series, and so they might take a higher priority, but that is still no excuse for making the protagonist a lifeless sack of nothing. I suppose the one thing that can be said in his favour is that he isn't entirely dense like most other protagonists in the genre, and actually makes an effort to go out and get things done. He could be worse-- he could be, say, Ichika from Infinite Stratos.

Netoge tries to go for a similar art style to No Game No Life, with its blue-coloured outlines, although, quite thankfully, it does not try to assault the eyeballs nearly as much as did NGNL and its excessively bright colours. Interestingly, Netoge shows the MMO gameplay from both the player's perspective (with sprites similar to Ragnarok Online) and from some sort of fantasy (a la Sword Art Online) presumably going on in their heads. If it truly wanted to appeal to the audience's nostalgia for these sorts of games, it could have done without the latter. We don't need to see random online girls having their boobs bouncing against the protagonist's arm. The real-world side of the story already has enough of that.

Unless another lame harem anime is something you absolutely need in your life, Netoge is something to be avoided. It is completely manufactured, playing the genre trope for trope in order to manipulate a few poor souls into paying money for it. You're better than that. You deserve better than something like this. Heck, anime deserves better.

In a few weeks' time, nobody will even remember Netoge. The next generic light novel harem will roll around, as always it does, season after season. Will anime fans ever get sick of them? Perhaps. But I sure don't want to sit around and wait.

There are some series that leaves an impact on the consumer, whether positive or negative, influencing or degrading, enjoyable or painful. They fall into a specific spectrum of very good or very bad. But then there are the in-betweeners, some which have good qualities but still missed their mark more times than acceptable, or are of the “so bad, it's good” due to managing to hold on to some charm that saves it from the trash bin. Others, however, manage to find comfort in the very middle by just “being there”, not picking a side and not making an impression good or bad enough to ... be properly labeled at a glance. These get glossed over easily enough that one would really have to be paying attention or actively looking to notice them.

Such is the case of “Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?”, “And You Thought There is Never a Girl Online?”, simply shortened to “NetoYome”. It's your typical “high school ecchi romance comedy light novel” adaptation, fit for its particular audience that picks it up every season and manages to enjoy them despite the problems that plague the genre. And yet at the same time, it's one of the more tolerable ones. There is nothing infuriating about it while still not being special enough to fully stand out from its fellow ecchi light novel crowd. You could say it's the wallflower of ecchi light novel anime, the one you notice at the corner of your eye, yet aren't willing to ask for a dance. Well, maybe this time, you can make an exception to try just once, or at least give a wave to acknowledge its presence and make it feel more welcome.

STORY: Hideki Nishimura is a regular in the MMORPG called “Legendary Age” as a knight named in-game “Rusian”, and has been in a few guilds during his play-through. In one such guild, he came to like a particular player and confessed his love for that character in-game and asked to marry them. The player behind the character revealed she's actually a he in real life, and out of shock, he vowed to never trust another female character in-game again. But it doesn't stop him from meeting a new character, a cleric by the name of “Ako”, and after a bit of inner conflict with himself, they marry in-game. One day, as suggested by the guild leader, the Alley Cats decide to have a meet-up in real life, revealing much to his surprise—and near-disbelief—all three of his party members (two of which are male characters) are girls who go to the same high school. And as it turns out, Ako truly is Ako (full name Ako Tamaki), and she has fallen in love with him like she did in the game—if only because she can't differentiate between online fantasy and reality. Thus, Hideki, the tsundere Akane “Schwein” Segawa, and the student council president Kyou “Apricot” Goshouin work together to help her out by forming a club while the two in-game lovebirds find themselves growing just as close in real life.

It's a simple premise, there's nothing more to it than what is listed in the paragraph. You do get character interactions with each other both in the game and in real life (to show their online counterparts aren't too different from their actual personalities), but that's as deep as it goes, even when occurring characters come in-and-out as they please (and showing a strange male-to-female gamer ratio in-series, but whatever). It's a romance, and a sweet romance at that, which for an ecchi rom-com light novel adaptation, it's to be expected, and it knows it's nothing more than that. And yet because it's simple and sweet, there's a special charm to it that makes it refreshing for the genre. In fact, despite being an ecchi, it's not your standard ecchi fare of “main male protagonist and his harem get into sexual slapstick mishaps with cheesecake shots for the camera”. The closest it ever got to this was in the obligatory beach episode, but the roles were actually switched. It was just the characters having fun.

The only real conflict throughout the series is Ako's inability to tell apart online fantasy with the real world, but there was an episode dedicated to a hacker infiltrating Hideki's account that caused a temporary rift between him and Ako while also practically deleting his character and selling all of his inventory for a quick buck. The character of Rusian does get restored, but not with his items, so for the rest of the series afterwards, there's brief discussions about such-and-such item still being missing, Rusian and Ako remarry, and the hacker gets confronted in a strangely amusing but admittedly smart way, then that's about it for the hacker subplot.

If there had to be a problem with the story itself, it's that Hideki's trouble with trusting girls online, which is what kickstarted the anime, goes away pretty early on when he comes to terms that not everyone's what they seem to be behind the keyboard. So he doesn't show too many trust issues throughout the series as originally believed, which may or may not be a good sign depending on what you were expecting to happen. It's not like with “Girls Bravo” in which the main protagonist is allergic to girls, so there's no jokes at his dispense over it during and after. Akane more-or-less is the only one who really pushes his buttons, but that's because she developed a reputation as being the popular beauty who turns down every guy who asks her out despite being bit of an alpha bitch (more-or-less to hide the fact she's a gamer), so she has to keep that title in the school.

CHARACTERS: Personal opinion here, but Ako is one of the most precious, if not adorable characters this season, albeit in personality and design. Sure, there's always that possibility her naïveté will get on people's nerves (and given how moé she is, that's to be expected), but there's something innocent and a little sweet about the way she views her relationship with Hideki. She truly loves him even though she sees him as “Rusian” and calls him as such much to his chagrin, and the other characters are concerned enough about her lack of social life that they want to help her overcome it. And the odd thing is she's a very pretty girl, one would think she'd be popular with the boys in school. But she's not. No one gives her the time of day because she's painfully timid and probably doesn't take great care of herself at times. She's Tomoko's sweeter twin sister who's inexperienced with video games, if you want a comparison.

Hideki is your typical male protagonist in that he's the nice guy with no real distinct personality to call his own, especially since he's quite the otaku so his friends at school tease him about. He shows genuine care for his guild (which extends into real life the best they can), but especially for Ako since she's the newbie of the group. And yet, there's something charming about him. By himself, he's just there, but together with Ako, they form a nice dynamic that allows him to shine a little brighter than he could've. It's not the best way to write a character, however, the relationship is definitely there and cannot be overlooked without forsaking the lifeblood of the series.

Akane and Kyou are of their respective archetypes for the most part, but they work fine together with Hideki and Ako and thus that keeps them from being the “slightly more than a background character” characters. Kyou's the guild leader (reflecting her status as student council president as well as a rich girl), so she's the most level-headed of the group, but she has her moments as well. Akane's sharp attitude causes some bickering here and there between her and Hideki, but as the tsundere, it's to be expected, and since there's no romance between them, it's for good fun. She's pretty much their ace in the guild despite Hideki having some of the best items, and is usually the first to go into battle.

Other characters show up, but Nekohime and Sette are more-or-less the only recurring characters. There's honestly nothing more to these characters than what they're introduced as even after becoming regular members of the Alley Cat guild, but there's an actual funny punchline behind Nekohime's identity, at least if you're not paying attention.

ART/ANIMATION: Of all the shows I personally watched this season, “NetoYome” is one of those shows with a distinct art-style that makes characters pop in their beauty and attractiveness (even with the occasional bounciness of the girls not Akane, though she makes up for it with leg shots). Not entirely sure how much of Hisasi's influence there is in the anime, but Akane Yano knew what to do as the character designer. It's a very colorful, pretty show to look at, and I hadn't noticed too many quality dips during its run. Colors also have different palettes for the real world and the online world. There's more color to the real world than in-game where it's more gray and saturated, but that's probably because most of what we see in-game are the characters in the dungeon or in a pub where they hold their meetings. Not that the game itself doesn't have color, when the characters are out in a field or in the village, it is bright and there's like a rainbow filter in the backgrounds, but it's noticeably not the real world. The tone also changes much more in-game than in the real world, where everything's calm and normal, if only because other guilds tend to drop by and pick fights with Rusian when they're not battling a boss (which aren't of bad quality themselves).

I'm not one of those folks that goes around proclaiming “this cinnamon roll is too good for this earth” or “I want to protect that smile”, but I can make an exception for the latter because holy crap these characters have lips and they have adorable smiles that makes the eyes look sparklier than usual (which says something since they have rather sparkly eyes to begin with). Protect that smile at all costs, it's too precious for any other show but this one.

SOUND: Admittedly, I haven't paid too much attention to this, so this'll be short. There is a FUNimation dub currently streaming, but I haven't yet listened to it to really give thoughts on. The original is fine if you ask me, but there's nothing too special or note-worthy outside of Rina Hidaka as Ako. She knows how to make the soft-spoken character adorable, and thus her voice stands out the most in this show. Everyone else is fine, I have nothing against them. As for the music, the soundtrack doesn't really stick out to me that much outside of violins, bells/chimes, and electronic beeps, but it's not bad. The OP is sugary-sweet in setting the tone of the “1st Love Story”, and the ending has some nice, calming beeping effects in the music I actually like. I may never remember the name of the song, but I could most definitely pinpoint it to this series since those notes give off this “Internet” feel.

But I must point out that in the MMO world, swear words when spoken are censored with oinking sound-effects, which is pretty funny. I thought it was because of the “Schwein” character, but it affects all of the characters even though Akane swears the most.

ENJOYMENT: “[Don't] Judge a book by its cover” is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but there's a lot of truth to it while there's plenty of exceptions. I don't know what exactly it was about “NetoYome” that I was interested in from the start, but most likely it was the attractive art, and I had no other expectations for it. I'm just as skeptical about the light novel adaptations as the next person, especially as I haven't had too many good times with a lot of them (the last ecchi rom-com light novel adaptation I had watched peeved me off, after all). This isn't even my favorite show of the season.

And yet somehow, it wormed its way into my heart and made itself comfortable. It's too endearing to bother asking it “Yo, why're you here?”, so I just let it be, and I've grown content with its company. It'll probably leave at some point down the road, but I see it sticking around for a little bit or going off to join the likes of “My Dear Marie”, “Gingitsune”, and “Denki-gai no Honya-san” in the “Somehow I Liked This Enough to Acknowledge Its Existence a Bit More Regularly Than I Technically Should've” corner. Either way, I definitely wouldn't mind a second season if they choose to do so. I'd like to see Ako become more socially active and further develop her relationship with Hideki, since it's not too often you get an anime couple willing to develop and grow together prior to the third act of a series.

But no, really, protect that smile. Go ask that darling Ako for a dance and make her feel loved and welcome. Wallflowers are beautiful when they finally open up.

When I first saw this anime come up as a recommendation I thought it would be a underwhelming copy of the SAO franchise but after watching the first few episodes I found myself laughing out loud and engrossed in the storyline.

A great look on how online gaming can shape our lives today.

The Intro and Outro are super catchy!

It didn't matter what episode I was on, I found enjoyment. The character development in game and out of game was very well progressed. (If it was an event in the game or out the game)

Every character had an equal shine in the limelight so you could ... connect with each one.

A very funny and light hearted anime series which I would recommend to anyone looking for something to watch in between the SAO franchise.

Netoge is the type of show where it’s pretty much every school, game tropes, and roleplay coming together in one package. The English title is “And you thought there is never a girl online?” The first thought that popped into my head reminds me of the second season of Sword Art Online. To sum it easily, it’s a show that blends fantasy and reality. From the real life perspective that shifts into the MMO world, Netoge is probably a show you’ll enjoy if you’re familiar with storytelling related to such themes. Otherwise, this could just be another blend LN adapted series that serves no more ... than eye candy.

In terms of story, the show should be taken more as a comedy, almost like a type of satire. Because let’s face it, the show itself isn’t based on characters playing as saviors to defeat some overlord or escape after being trapped in some alternate world. The main character Hideki Nishimura goes by his in-game name “Rusian” and apparently finds out that his wife from an online game (Legendary Age) is also a girl in real life. Take this further and soon, he realizes that all the guild members are classmates from the real world. And they are all girls! I think this ties back a bit where Rusian needs to reevaluate about what he learned. Luckily, Rusian’s classmates accepts him as who he is because like him, they are also gamers.

However, one particular gamer seems to have difficulty of differentiating between fiction and reality. Meet Ako Tamaki, the girl that proposed to Rusian and now is technically his in-game wife. The problem is that she takes that idea too far and also considers Rusian her husband from BOTH worlds. Most of the comedy comes to reality when misunderstanding develops between the duo. Because let’s face it, these kids are still in high school and getting married at their age is almost unbelievable. Plus, Ako has somewhat of an obsession toward Rusian, like the way a clingy wife does when they are lonely. Judging on Ako’s character alone, she genuinely seems like a kind person with a bit of an airhead-like behavior and lack of common sense. Perhaps she spends too much time online and her ideas about relationships reinforces that.

While the majority of the relationships focuses on Ako and Rusian, there are times when other girls step in to show their knowledge about gaming and real life. Characters such as Akane often tries to get Ako to be more herself rather than an in-game character. Kyo Goshuin, the leader of the Alley Cat guild (also student council president) plays the role of a commanding leader. As such, she often serves a big sister to the other characters and bears a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. But needless to say, these characters are still one dimensional. Ako gets jealous like most wives tends to do when other girls are flirting with their “husbands”, Akane is the classic tsundere, and Kyo is pretty much a walking billboard of fan service in-game. Rusian is perhaps the only normal character with some common sense. Despite that, he still get dragged into various affairs whether he likes it or not.

A portion of the enjoyment coming from the show is the humor. The story itself isn’t well written as it mostly focuses on the life styles of these gamers but the comedy can be quite fun once you get sucked into it. What does that mean? It generally means try watching the show with an open mind. Every episode mixes in a variety of ideas from gameplay mechanics, relationship dynamics, and sometimes nonsense that transforms into absurd humor. While the show’s story lacks on most parts to explore relationships, it does give a decent meaning to Ako and Rusian. The duo accepts each other more and more throughout the story and in one episode, Ako’s trust towards Rusian is proven after a malicious incident. This is characterized by Rusian accepting Ako for who she is (both in-game and out in the real world). The reality is that Ako is a timid girl and Rusian may be the first person to be honest about what he likes in her. While the couple is silly to watch, there is a genuine heartwarming feeling about them as well.

On the downside, I think the show overemphasizes on their relationship with minimal characterization about the others. Nearly every episode shows Ako getting girly with Rusian. She even has yandere-like moments when another girl approached Rusian. Akane’s role in the series can be rather annoying to watch as she constantly denies about her gaming lifestyle from the public. At some point, those scenes feels like it’s taking on TV time. The only tolerable female character out of the group may be Kyou (Apricot) She even sets up a club to unite gamers and tries to help Ako connect with reality. Unfortunately, her role in the show (particular when in-game) shows she’s more of an eye candy rather than a role model.

Oh boy, the artwork of the show. When I first found out that the original source was drawn by an H-artist (Hisasi), I was already rolling my eyes. While the anime is tamer than the light novel, the series still has fan service. The prominent example is the in-game design for Kyou where she wears little clothing to cover herself. Ako isn’t far off as there are times when she’s goes full nude because of her lack of common sense. There’s also the classic beach episode with skimpy swimsuits. In one particular scene, Rusian gets hounded by three girls at once to help him “put the lotion on”. Artistic wise, the show is fairly average in terms of quality. Nothing too impressive but also not atrocious either. The in-game character designs are perhaps what stands out the most while their real life counterparts is nothing special.
Soundtrack is one of the lesser noticeable parts of the show. The OP and ED theme songs does characterize what this show is about on paper. Character voice mannerism is moderate although listening to Ako’s voice makes her sound like a child on most occasions. Akane’s tsunder personality is clearly evident in her voice as well. There are also some occasionally sad and heartwarming moments with a surprisingly decent soundtrack to bring it together.

By the time I finished this show, I pretty much thought “ok”. Because quite honestly, I think this show is fine as it is. If it stretched more, it’ll feel dragged and quickly gets old while rushing isn’t doing the source any favor. Ako and Rusian’s relationship can be a mixed bag for most viewers where at times, they can be really fun to watch while other times feels like it’s a chore. But in retrospect, Netoge is what it is, with nothing great but also not so easily forgettable either.

Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta had a very interesting concept, plot, story and more importantly nice cast of characters.

I think what I liked most about this title, the story specifically, is that no matter what episode I was watching I always had some sort of sense of enjoyment. Seeing the characters progress through certain events both inside and outside the game. I think that character development & growth was a big part of the story due to each character having some sort of social problem however, I'd like to discuss this more in the character department rather than story.

Sudden ... plot development and story development, I felt like the way both were introduced came off as weak and somewhat uninteresting.. The lack of exciting new developments in the shows story-line actually made me less excited to watch new episodes. The drama along with new issues in certain episodes could have been resolved within a few minutes maybe the first 11 minutes of a 23 or 24 minute episode. This however was not the case and because of that a majority of the problems that the characters had made it feel like some episodes were slow and boring.

Art looks pretty great. Special effects looked great when used properly and the overall character designs were fantastic. I can tell that the producers and animators were going for the moe look with the girls because they gave them bigger eyes and tiny lips. Personally I think that this was a very smart idea, especially for the character Ako since she's like the main female character. The producers knew that we were going to be seeing Ako the most, so why not make her look even more appealing. All of that aside costumes, daily outfits all looked alright to me. The only issue I had was the show was really bright.

I used three different methods of watching Netoge. I tried using my samsung 48 inch 4K Smart TV and the results just weren't that great so I tried using my computer monitor on "Economic" so it could dim down the brightness. Lastly I tried using my 42 Vizio TV and just didn't get the results I was hoping for. In the end though, I just had to deal with the strange brightness in the show.Other than that, the art and animation was pretty great.

Oh the soundtrack. I honestly didn't care too much for the soundtrack. The background music just lacked intensity and sometimes it felt dull. The ending song was the only song I liked. I felt that it imagined a better picture of the romance between Ako and Rus was all about!

Characters stood-out in a good way! In my opinion, the shows biggest working department is character development. As I mentioned earlier I believe that character development was much more important than actual story and plot in Netoge. This is because just about every episode focused more about certain characters issues... you know who I am talking about (cough Ako.. cough..) and how that said person is going to grow from it.
Lastly, the girls were super cute & adorable and Hideki was a pretty decent main character.

My overall feelings and enjoyment for the title were a little above average. I loved the fan-service, I liked the characters, and the story was engaging. There was a considerable amount of action that kept the story exciting. The character development kept the show refreshing and the special effects were great!

I felt that Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta? deserves its 8/10 for introducing such a creative story as well as nice characters.

*will edit when i find my Tamaki Ako

Yes, is the answer to the title of this anime
As a veteran mmorpg gamer, mountain dew runs through my blood and i must say i have done some regrettable things pretending to be a female to get some of those premium items

Plot : What can i say, as a neck beard, this plot is something i have dreamed about
We have our innocent MC being approached by a girl that would devour him if that would mean they would be together forever inside her stomach but a traumatic experience ruins his opportunity to get it in. Some twists and ... turns occur and they me meet in real life, proving his in game wife is indeed a solid 9/10 on the loli index
There isn't a harem tag for this anime, but let me be clear the MC is a weakling and what do we know about weaklings,they make perfect Harem MC, its a proven fact
But after the first episode the story develops into something more than just boy meets girl but rather a heart warming story of friends trying to break the line between game and reality that Ako is blurring

Soundtrack : Nothing much to say here, average cutsie music, you definitely won't be contemplating life listening to it

Animation : Usually i don't mind animation because i'm all about the "plot" but i have to say the colorful scenery and the camera work really bring this anime to life

Characters : This is where this anime shines. Right of the bat we can relate to the MC, qwerky loser that can't talk to girls but is a horn dog. The only thing we cannot relate to is the fact that the MC seems to be skinny, and let's be honest viewers of this anime can't see our toes anymore. What makes a Harem great is not what the MC can do but what the women do
We have our tsundere, simple not over the top but is there for some quick laughs . We got our president, again simple and not memorable
Other women trying to get a piece of our MC but again not memorable, except my pink haired goddess, what a babe
But lastly, we got our main wife, and she is amazing, she is the embodiment of our worldly desires, her VA really portrays what we think our wife would sound, when we become a wizard at age 30.

And that's it, as a veteran gamer i can say there aren't any girls that play video games, wait no, there aren't any pretty girls that play video games
With this anime in hand, we, as the viewers must appreciate this anime of the season. I can safely say, this anime is a must watch for all mmorpg, loli, harem, chicken breast lovers.

With the completion of this anime i would have to say i'm disappointed with the lack of harem and the absurd amount of censoring of the bresticles

When I started watching this show at a friends place because we had nothing better to do, I didn't expect to like it all that much if at all. Now a week later I can say that this show has become one of my all-time favourites.

Now I'll be the first to admit that this show does heavily follow cliches of it's genre, but really thats not an entirely bad thing as it does those cliches very well. From the characters to the story, even if I had seen it before somewhere else, this show just does it better. That said even when the story ... does cliches well, it's still not that strong and if you want a good story, don't come looking here.

The characters though, that is where the show shines like a diamond. The characters despite a few being cliche, are all incredibly enjoyable and fun. Ako, the main girl is probably one of the most adorable and endearing characters in any anime I've ever seen. This same general sentiment can be applied to all major characters, they're endearing and they grow on you to the point of loving them.

The animation style of this show is yet another thing I love about it.All the characters and backgrounds look good. This animation coupled with the good sound design go a long way to tell me that there was actual effort put into this show.

I love this show.

This wonderful Rom-Com, was more than sarisfying in story and visuality. The proposition of a guy who's lost his desire to be any kind of normal, he has totally given up on a life of romantics, both in reality and in real life. He is fully set on that "Games and Reality are separate!" too quote him personally. But, alas he still gets married in the online game called "Legendary Age" he treasures so incredibly, just to find out his so called "wife" is a girl even in reality, and a beauty to top it off! They even go to the same school! Unfortunately, this ... girl can't distinguish her games from reality... Therefore, she thinks they're married even in real life. No matter how you look at it, this girl has got some screws loose!
He struggles immensely with trying to teach her how to refrain from combining games and reality, however it does not prove easy...

I have watched through the serie partaking in the story and it literally nailed me to the couch! It is incredibly artistic with both scenes for the sensitive girls to the game-addictive males. As I've written above it's a fantastic Rom-Com, which means it has it' moments, where it'll make you laugh, and where it makes you cringe, but hey! When has a serie not made you cringe at least once? Never! Exactly. So, therefore I really recommend it for most of the Anime-watchers out there, of course not everyone will like it, but that's just life. Everyone has their distinct taste in Anime, Games, and so on..
Well anyhow! To me this was definitely a must watch!

That concludes this review. Hope you will also enjoy it! See ya!

If you're looking for a time-killer, Netoge would be a reasonable choice.
However, Netoge is just that. A time-killer and nothing more.

[Story: 3/10]
Looking back, it's quite difficult to pinpoint what exactly the plot is (although there was plenty of "plot", that's not what I'm talking about).
Netoge is not story-driven, but chooses to focus on the comedic-slice-of-life route. Unfortunately, the comedy is very lacking, so all you get is slice-of-life.

[Art & Animation: 5/10]
The art style is acceptable. Although I mostly enjoy how many of the characters appear, sometimes they do appear a bit odd.
Whether you want the fanservice or not, Netoge often cuts to strange camera ... angles for "that sideboob".
The fighting scenes and such were a joy to watch, but fluidity isn't anything to write home about.

[Sound: 4/10]
The opening and ending songs scream "generic anime music".
They are actually...quite painful for me to listen to.
But hey, if you like it I won't judge.
The regular background music is barely noticeable, so I can't comment too much on it other than "it's okay I guess".

[Character: 2/10]
My biggest gripe with this anime.
Netoge focuses entirely on Ako, the self-proclaimed wife of Light Novel Guy.
Annoying, air-headed, and most of all irrational.
She is portrayed as the absorbed-in-video-games character but fails grasp simple game strategies such as skill combos. It makes little to no sense that someone would be so dedicated to video games yet lack the dedication to work harder to understand how to better themselves in-game.
The other cast members are really only there to provide support for Ako and Light Novel Guy's relationship and have very little personalities on their own.

[Overall: 3/10]
Personally I felt Netoge was very much forgettable and made no impact whatsoever.
If you end up liking Ako's character, then I almost guarantee you will still enjoy the anime. It's just unfortunate that I didn't.


And many thanks for taking the time to read my very first review :D

I think a lot of people get the wrong idea about this anime revolving around an MMO instead of realizing that for the most part the anime focused more on the nuance of MMO players rather than the actual game. The whole anime is meant to create a variety or characters who each take different (and often opposing) standpoints on gaming and helps to make the characters feel more unique as well as creating interesting dialog. I personally love the plot of the show but believe that the ending has a weak buildup and during the end their choice to focus actual story time on ... the game was a wasted effort considering how generic the game they play actually is. Other than the occasional moments where they focus more on the game and less on each other this anime has a pretty solid plot and some minor character development that I enjoyed.

Art 5/10

Nothing special about their IRL appearances and even less so in the game where everything is generic and bland.

Sound 5/10

The dub and sub are both terrible voiced and the music in too repetitive and indifferent.

Other than the bad animation and delivery I overall enjoyed it. At first it seemed the anime was going to take a more edgy approach towards ako's internal conflict but I was glad they didn't overdo it and more often that not used it to make her character seem more appealing in a comedic way than in a cliche tragic way so at the least the anime gets points for not following conventions.

Being unable to discern the difference between fantasy and reality is a fear that many a critic of games and other fictional media frequently purport. You see it on the news every now and then, how someone committed a murder that mimicked an event they saw in a game, and that violent fiction spurs one on to commit villainous deeds since they don't realise that it actually has some real life consequences. Yet little do they touch on the other effects that it might have; they only latch onto and showcase the most awful examples in an effort to definitively prove their case. Netoge no ... Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta? (And you thought there was never a girl online?) is a fun little anime that touches on this in a more positive spin. Centring on a group of highschool gamers going by the online monikers of Rusian, Ako, Schwein and Apricot, Netoge explores - in an albeit exaggerated and comical fashion - some of the other issues and events that might arise should one struggle to separate their gaming world from the real one.

After deciding one day that the four of them should meet up in real life, they're all shocked to discover that not only do they all live in the same area, but they all know of each other already, as they go to the same school and share many classes. Whilst making their initial meet-up both awkward and somewhat easier to deal with (it's less daunting to meet and talk with people you know than with strangers, after all) it brings with it a slew of issues and problems, the biggest of which is immediately brought to light - Ako, the Guild's newbie healer, cannot separate fantasy from fiction. It is first seen in her naming convention - Rusian is called Hideki Nishimura in real life, Schwein is called Akane Segawa, Apricot is called Kyou Goshouin, and Ako....is called Ako Tamaki. Unlike the rest, she has not bothered using a different online name because she doesn't consider there to be any difference between Legendary Age - the game they play - and the rest of the world. To make matters yet more problematic, Ako and Rusian are married in LA, which she then considers to be carried over when they finally meet up, immediately clinging to his arms and addressing him in a far more intimate fashion than people usually would.

This provides the basis for the vast majority of the content that follows. Ako's inability to discern between pixels and reality becomes a focal point for the group, as they all decide to form a gaming club to try and help Ako out of her problem. It is not so easy as that, however, since Ako is undescribably dumb. This is also where my opinion on this anime split - whilst it managed to be somewhat entertaining and comical with all the misunderstandings and problems that Ako made, it also served to act as a point of contention because her idiocy was at times excessive, and completely halted the plot from advancing. This was especially prevalent in the relationship between Ako and Rusian; Netoge really had a huge chance here to separate itself from other harem-esque highschool anime much in the same way Rakudai separated itself from Asterisk - they could have went for an actual relationship, but decided that Ako was so deluded that she already considered herself Rusian's wife and therefore didn't need to accept a confession of feelings from him.

I felt really quite disapppointed at this particular aspect, because the relationship route is seldom tread in this type of anime and thus is one which I absolutely root for - pun not intended. The flipside to Ako's delusions, though, were many of her other actions and misdeeds - such as assaulting her teacher when she mistakenly believes Rusian is cheating on her with their sensei in the game, or how she was completely non-plussed when Rusian walked in on her when she was naked - Hell, her reaction was actually brilliant in that particular scene because she was happy about it. It ends up being an arbitrary toss up between which scenes I enjoyed and which I didn't; at times her delusions were handled in a funny manner, but other times it just seemed overly exaggerated and dragged out for the sake of it.
As far as all of the characters go, they're a mashup of previously seen tropes but have their own little spins on them for the most part. The aforementioned Ako plays the role of the romantic main girl, as Nishimura the person, not Rusian the character develops feelings for her pretty soon off the bat. She's rather ditzy, and refuses to accept things for what they are. Everyone else bands together to try to help her out of her predicament.

Rusian is the lucky male who gets to spend all of his time with his female guildies. He's fairly typical as far as male harem-esque MCs go, but one thing that sets him apart is the fact that he is actually true to his feelings and confesses (multiple) times. It was a breath of fresh air to have a high schooler who wouldn't just freak the fuck out over even the thought of confessing.
Schwein plays the role of the textbook tsundere character (who bears a striking resemblance to Lieseharte from Saijaku). However, in the game she is a very self-confident player; she refers to herself as 'ore-sama' and her overall gaming persona is vastly different to how she acts in person.
Apricot - dubbed 'Master' by the rest of the crew since she is the guild leader - is the student council president at their school, and is considerably wealthy. She uses that wealth in order to be one of those pay-to-win filth by buying all the best gear, weapons and consumables. Her family's success also leads to them having many properties, including their own private beach; all of these residences she owns become, at one point, a staging post for them to try and wean Ako off of online gaming. In this respect, the obligatory beach episode actually makes a lot of sense since there was some context behind it. It made the inclusion of such a cliché much better.

Naturally, since there's a beach episode, you can expect lots of fanservice, and there's a healthy amount of it throughout the anime. The handling of it, however, is a positive thing from my perspective - a lot of that fanservice felt either very natural or was used for comical purposes. The natural fanservice occurred in the game. For anyone who's ever played a fantasy RPG, you'll know that female gear is typically quite revealing, and much of it is like that in LA too. Apricot's entire top half is uncovered, aside from two lines of fabric which cover her nipples, the rest of her boobs spilling out around it. There're other times when the characters show a lot of flesh, such as Ako being found naked by Rusian - yet despite how that trope normally plays out, Ako's reaction was "Please, be gentle with me!" The little twists on the typical tropes and clichés made it a fair point more entertaining than what it would otherwise be.

The fanservice was also bettered by the series' art - it certainly made all the characters look cute and attractive. It reminded me a lot of Aishen Qiaokeli-ing, what with how huge the eyes of Ako were and the colour palette in general. It worked much in the anime's favour because of the decent aesthetics. However, one of my personal issues with the art style is the way that the bottom lip for the female characters is drawn on but the top isn't. The result of this is that everytime the characters have their mouths closed, it looks like their bottom lip is being pulled over their top lip, and once I noticed it I couldn't stop seeing it. It seems like a small thing, but when the characters are supposed to be attractive, seeing such a weird-looking lip ruined the effect to a certain extent.

With all that being said, it brings you to the question of "Should I watch Netoge?" I'd say for those that like harem-esque anime the answer is a yes. It might include a lot of the stereotypical traits of other anime of this type, but it's got enough of its own unique touches to stand aside on its own two feet, and if you like those tropes anyway then that's even better. It doesn't have an overriding plot such as saving the world or fighting off an evil organisation that plagues many other similar series either; having it revolve around a bunch of gamers make it feel a lot more natural, even if it's still exaggerated. But it's not without its own problems. As previously mentioned, Ako's issue of being unable to discern fiction from reality was both funny and annoying. I became rather disappointed in the middle of the series when it could have progressed, but instead decided that Ako was such an idiot that absolutely nothing could be done to salvage her. In that regard this series could have been much better, and I would have been inclined to rate it higher. It still remained funny and light-hearted throughout, though, and for gamers it's somewhat relateable. You can have those little chuckles to yourself when you see the similarities in the anime to stuff that's actually happened to you before, such as how Ako is the token useless female who's only in the guild because she's in a relationship with one of the main players - oh, that brings back many an argument...

But it was a fun ride, even if it could have been better. Attractive characters (if you can ignore the lips), comical situations and throwbacks in gaming. A fairly standard series that has a few little perks to separate itself from the rest of the pack.

Have you ever wondered what girls in the internet are like in real life? Well, this anime shows you just that, but with a twist. If you think the internet is just full of GIRLs (guys in real life), then let this show prove you otherwise.

If the title isn't an accurate description, then let me summarize the plot. It revolves around Rusian, a guy who got rejected by a character in an MMORPG. The reason: the character was guy in real life. Many of us can relate to this situation. And that's enough reason to watch the show. Then he meets another girl in ... the game and then they meet in real life. And just like that, they're married. Now, this is pretty much a one-in-a-million occurrence, but it's nice to see how it might look like if couples online become couples in real life. It's cute.

If that's not cute enough, then perhaps the heroine will catch you eye: Ako. She most certainly caught mine for several reasons. Other than the fact that she's cute, she has a personality which is too adorable to take. A yandere willing to do anything for her Rusian. It makes you wish you had your own Ako. But life doesn't really work that way, so we can only watch this and cry to ourselves as it happens right before our screens.

The biggest rating I gave to this anime is in the art. It's so fluid and colorful, it separates itself from similar romance anime. Although their smiles are creepy sometimes...

I would very much recommend it to gamers and non-gamers alike. Not only does it have gaming situations which gamers can relate to, it also has scenarios which you actually want to happen to you. And you thought there was no romance in MMORPG...

"You Thought Your Online Game Wife Wasn't A Girl?" or "And you thought there is never a girl online?" (Yeah, these are two possible translations of the name to english, well, it fits perfectly) from studio: Project No.9, isn't the most piece of art on the planet and still its not an trash, because if the class teacher is the most kawaii person in this anime, well then... idk, nevermind. The story takes place in this modern time, so don't look for mechas or magicians, magicians can be found only in the scenes where our "main characters" are playing an MMO game named: Legendary Age ... (LA). The game revolves around the whole, at least most of the whole anime. Reminds me of SAO, anyone? Except that here they dont put on headset but playing in safe of home before the monitor. Our main characters are studying on high-school somewhere in Japan. And of course, all main characters are playing that game, some of wich will be added in the time. If you want to know more read the damn synopsis or go watch this anime.

Story: 7/10
I know, the animators was trying but... its not getting 8/10. It has some good points but, somethimes I was just like WTF...

Art: 8/10
Not bad, not bad at all. Suprisingly it didnt sucked...

Sound: 5/10
I dont wanna talk about it.

Characters: 8/10
Probably, somebody in studio: Project No.9, was thinking about: We should be more focused on character, if we do bad story it doesnt matter till the people watching it will like our characters. (For me, bad decision)

When I ended up with this anime, I was like: Yeah good, saw another anime, lets watch another one... One last thing. Why this anime is suggested as ecchi anime? Just sayin cuz ecchi scenes took only 0.005% of the time at all... Watch it if you want, I can assure you its not that bad... maybe...

Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta was an anime I had little to no expectations about. The key visuals and PV were bland, and the synopsis wasn’t interesting. I couldn’t help but assume that the series would turn out to be cliché. Well, I turned out to be half wrong. The series does have its fair share of clichés, but it also tries to challenge them. Maybe not to the extent of Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, but it tries. It handles its premise nicely and it manages to bring up real life gaming problem and situations without feeling surreal. And at times, ... I get some genuine chuckles from this series. It may not be for everyone, and it may not give the best first impressions, but it’s surely something worth checking out from this season.

~{Story}~
Well, NetoYome doesn’t have the most original premise for an anime, especially one with those genres. The story is about a boy named Nishimura, who virtually marries a girl named Ako in an MMORPG, and later ends up meeting her and his guild in real life, only to find out that they’re all from the same school. The series then revolves around these main characters and their daily life with the MMORPG, and how they can make Ako differentiate between reality and the gaming world. There’s no real main story in the series and the main goal for the characters (helping Ako find the difference between the two worlds), is so vague that it feels non-existent. However, it’s fun seeing the characters go through different situations. Though the writing is a mixture of both a mixture of comedy and drama. There will be moments when the series takes a humorous approach towards situations, but there are moments when NetoYome tackles real life situations like hacking. Though the plot never goes anywhere, and it seems like the characters are still on square one by the time the series ends.
Story: 5/10

~{Presentation}~
The most impressive thing about NetoYome is the fact that it’s not as generic as it looks and sounds. It’s quite refreshing to see an anime with one male lead and many females as main characters, without it being a harem. Even though it’s labeled as a romance, there’s not much romance too it. Ako and Nishimura’s relationship is used more as a comedic relationship than a romantic one. As mentioned before, the series manages to tackle some pretty important themes and the series can take a serious tone at time. That being said, the series is at its best when it’s lighthearted. Ako’s addiction for that MMO and he unyielding love for Nishimura is what makes this series shine. That being said, the series heavily relies on her character for content. If viewers don’t end up liking her as a character, chances are they won’t like the series as a whole because she is the backbone for this series.
Presentation: 5/10

~{Character}~
The characters are a mixed bad as some of them are likable and nice, while others feel like wasted potential. Our protagonist, Nishimura Hideki, is an alright main character. His relationship with Ako is entertaining enough and some of his remarks are quite funny (like when he entered Ako’s room for the first time). That being said, it would have been nice if his reactions were more over-the-top (similar to Kazuma from KonoSuba), because Nishimura never ends up being memorable. Tamaki Ako ended up being the most likable and most memorable. She is the poster girl of this series after all. Her lack of common logic and her inability of differentiating fiction and reality is what makes this series so much fun. And her yandere mode, which was present near the beginning of the series, is fun. The rest of the characters, however, don’t end up being memorable in any way. Segawa Akane feels like wasted potential as she never played a major role in anything and Goshouin Kyou is just there so the anime can have a “wise-senpai” character.
Character: 5/10

~{Art}~,
The art is quite good in NetoYome. The character designs are quite neat and unique in some ways. The characters normally have lips (well, at least the lower lip) and it really makes the characters stand out in appearance. Nishimura’s design is quite bland and it doesn’t make him stand out, but Ako looks great. Her messy hair and lack of wearing tucked-in clothes add to her careless characteristics. NetoYome makes sure that you can judge what type of character Ako is by just looking at her appearance, just like how you can do that with someone in real life. The backgrounds in the series is also quite good looking, and the game world looks nice too. The art style is quite unique too. Especially during the game moments, the anime features an art style with more bleached-out, pinkish color with heavier outlining. Personally, this art style made the series look better.
Art: 6.5/10

~{Animation}~
The animation quality in NetoYome is decent and is consistent for most of the time. It’s nothing too special, but it works. There wasn’t any noticeable moment where the animation quality dropped. That being said, there isn’t any moment in the series when it would be challenging for the studio to animate it. Most of the series is just standard talking and walking, and even during the fantasy/game world moments, there aren’t really any big action scenes when a good amount of effort needs to be put in. But the studio does the basics and does whatever they do properly. It’s consistent and fluid, and that’s all that matters.
Animation: 6/10

~{Voice Acting}~
The seiyuu cast in NetoYome aren’t the most well-known, yet they manage to do a very good job in what they have to do. Some shine more than others, but overall, it’s a good cast. Toyonaga Toshiyuki does a good job as Nishimura, as he manages to make Nishimura sound funny whenever he gives his opinion on a comedic situation. It’s nothing extraordinary, but it’s fine. Hidaka Rina did a fantastic job as Ako; it’s spot-on. She manages to make Ako feel like a careless and illogical character, while making her likable and somewhat adorable The rest of the cast, such as seiyuu like Ichimichi Mao and Minase Inori, do a satisfactory job in their role. It’s nothing too great, but it works well.
Voice Acting: 6/10

~{Music}~
The music in NetoYome is alright, but I was hoping for something more. The OP, “1st Love Story”, is pretty decent, but it’s something I’m with listening to it once. Nothing too special, though it remind me of Oreimo’s OP. The ED, “Zero Ichi Kiseki”, is quite good though. The music is average, but the vocals are nice. The background music is quite lackluster though, as none of the music ever stand out. They all feel very average in some way. For a game that also focuses on a fantasy setting, one would have expected some likable tracks, but unfortunately the series is lacking that. Sometimes the OP music is used as music, and that’s far better than their own original soundtrack.
Music: 5/10

~{Enjoyment}~
I liked NetoYome a lot more than I thought I would. I think I liked NetoYome more than I should. It’s got some obvious flaws, such as the series going nowhere, both is story and character relationships, and it’s got a fair share of clichés. But it’s the characters (primarily the two main leads) and the handling of their concept that makes the series so much more than it is. It might have very well been the biggest surprise of this season for me and for many people that are watching some seasonal anime. If this series ever gets a second season, I’ll definitely be on board.
Enjoyment: 5/10

In the end, Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta is worth checking out, even if you aren’t fans of the genre. Don’t be turned off by the ecchi tag as there’s not too much fanservice in the series, and unlike what the key visuals make you think, it’s not a harem. That being said, there’s not much romance in the series so don’t keep your expectations, on that aspect, high. NetoYome is funny and interesting at times. The series also manages to tackle some more serious problems, with their humor added in. It would’ve been nice if the Ako and Nishimura’s relationship developed more, but’s it’s fine the way it is. After all, there’s only so much you can ask from a ecchi light novel adaptation.

+ The two main character are likable and have a good chemistry
+ Genuinely funny at times
+ Handles and focuses on some real life tech and gaming problems.
+ Great character designs, as they can represent the character’s personality
- Main story fades away and character relationships go nowhere
- Supporting characters feel lackluster

Overall: 5.4/10

Netoge is an anime adaptation of a series of light novels that tries to hide the fact that is yet another addition to the harem genre. To the high-school, harem, ecchi genre to be precise. There is a Greek proverb that roughly translates to: “The prostitute wants to hide, but the enjoyment doesn't let her” and that applies here; Netoge doesn't delve deep into the harem genre as, for instance, Nisekoi, or to the ecchi genre as Shuffle, but, believe me, it enjoys being in the company of both.

Continuing on rough translations; the title means: “And You ... Thought There Is Never a Girl On-line?“ you can probably guess that the anime tries hard to prove that notion wrong. The protagonist is the stock, average, good-natured boy, whose main hobby is playing a popular MMORPG. An off-line meeting of the small guild that he belongs in, brings light to the fact that the three other members are gorgeous girls that attend his school. What's more, one of them, his in-game wife, is a shy introvert who has problems distinguishing reality from the game and gleefully proclaims that he is her husband.

The guild manages to open a legitimate club in the high-school and eventually the number of hot girls goes from 3 to 5. Of course, no other penis-wielding character is to be found, except the mandatory scenes of envious classmates -you know the ones, those who are more akin to tapestry than actual characters.

The story is non-existent, the characters inconsistent, and if you have ever watched one of those, you know exactly how much progress will be made in 12 episodes.

As I said, the anime doesn't take the genre tropes too far. Also, the girls are cute, a fact that is enhanced by the good animation. Finally, the narrative mixes reality with the MMORPG's gameplay, which is an interesting storytelling device, but mainly gives us a chance to see the girls in exotic garments, like a beautiful priestess's dress, or slutty mage's robes.

Concluding, Netoge is an average series. It has some interesting elements, but it carries all the genre's problems. If you are not a fan, I'm positive you can find something better to watch. If you are a fan, well... you could do a lot worse. 5.0/10.

There's nothing inherently *wrong* with [Excessively Long Anime Title Anime]. If you're into game-type series with a lot of physics-defying high school grills then I expect you'll get value from the twelve episodes. So, worth watching? Not really. It was never bad enough for me to drop it, but the last three episodes had me watching on half the screen while researching grilling tips for my Grillmaster™ 5000™ and sorting my extensive collection of Grill™ Images™ on the other.

It's not really a harem anime because there's only one grill in the running, but the other collection of QTs stick around the boring protagonist like gum ... on the bottom of a school desk put there by some random Stacy while she blew Chad Penninghampgoldworthton and then forgotten about just like her prescription for Zovirax. There's nothing special about any of the main or side characters, although that doesn't mean they lack charm or personality. It's obviously nothing you haven't seen before, but they're still fun to watch. Also, the animation is top-quality and some of the panoramas really are beautiful.

What really salts my dripping axe wound is the premise/co-main component of [ELATA]: the video game Legendary Age. At first I somewhat enjoyed the game world because it allowed an alternate storytelling path for the characters to grow--even though I really, super-duper don't like vidya animes. Then it just kept going to the point where the last couple episodes are all about the game. This sucks because by that point in the series I didn't give a dry turd about the game, I wanted to watch the characters interact IRL. I'd "gotten to know them" and wanted that to take priority over an endless stream of MMO cliches. And speaking of, some of the memes spouted in dialogue are overused (normie scum) bordering on cringey.

But like I said before, there's nothing *bad* here, but it's definitely not good either. I didn't hate my time because I did finish it, but I also can't really recommend it either unless you're really into the vidya anime "genre."

Hello everybody! I hope you've all been having a fantastic day, because today, I'm going to talk about what is probably one of the cutest anime you'll ever see. A show about MMOs and the girls who play them. A show who's name is so long I do not feel like saying it, but will anyway. Yes, I'm going to talk to about netoge no yome wa onnanoko ja nai to omotta, or And You Thought There is Never a Girl Online? God that was a mouthful.

We begin our story with a young woman confessing her love to the man of her dreams, only to ... get shot down. Don't worry. This is all happening online. Fortunately for us, our young heroine isn't quite ready to give up. When her confession is rejected, she decides to go for broke. (Add video audio). That's right, Ladies and gentlemen, she figures that if he's going to reject her confession, then they should just get married.

I really have to hand it to Project No. 9. When they first created this series, I didn't think it was going to amount to much. My thoughts were along the lines of, “oh, this is just gonna be another Sword Art Online or Log Horizon.” Don't get me wrong. I don't dislike either of those anime, but I didn't think this series was going to contain anything original. I have never been so glad to be wrong. While I wouldn't say And You Thought There is Never a Girl Online? Brings anything new to the table, I feel like there are enough original twists on used tropes that I didn't get bored with the series. In fact, I enjoyed myself far more than I thought I would.

The story follows Hideki Nishimura, an open otaku who spends a lot of time playing the net game, Legendary Age. He, along with three other people, have formed a guild within the game called Alley Cats. His other companions are Schwein, a confident swordsman with a weird catchphrase; Apricot, a mage who spends a lot of money buffing his items and weapons, and also the leader of the Alley Cats; and finally, Ako, his loving in-game waifu.

One day, Apricot decides that they should meet each other IRL. When Nishimura goes to the meeting place, he is shocked to discover that not only are all of the people in his guild women, but they all go to his school. Coincidence? Of course not. The plot devicing is strong in this one.

Despite my joke, I really enjoyed this series. I don't think there was a single episode that I watched where I wasn't smiling. I was greatly impressed by the humor. All of their jokes were not only well timed, but they were also funny. I'm not lying when I say that the humor found in here was probably some of the best I've seen in a while. The only anime that was funnier was KonoSuba, but it would be exceedingly difficult to beat that series when it comes to RPG gamer jokes.


There were two jokes that I found particularly outstanding. The first was when Ako decided to quite school due to a misunderstanding. Hideki goes to her house to talk to her, but he ends up meeting her mom first. He's then given a key to Ako's room. He goes up to Ako's room and they talk for a bit. We hear some bumping noises in the background, followed by Hideki telling Ako that he's coming in. Ako tries to stop him, but he doesn't listen, and then unlocks and opens the door. Ako is practically naked.

Now, walking in on a girl while she's naked is an anime trope that's been done to death. In fact, having this trope is almost like a right of passage for generic harem anime. What made this scene funny was how they subvert the trope by putting an original twist on it. First, the door is locked. In anime, whenever the main character walks in on a girl when she's either changing or taking a shower, the door is always unlocked. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe the girl's just don't think the main character is capable of opening doors, or maybe it's just a poorly disguised plot device to show some censored boobies. Whatever the case may be, I like how the door is locked here, and the main character unlocks it and enters anyway. The second subversion of the trope is Ako's reason for being naked in the first place. She likes to feel free and uninhabited when she's in her own room. What makes this interesting is that there are actually people who are like this. In fact, when I'm at home, I generally don't wear much, and sometimes I don't wear anything.

The last subversion of the trope is when Ako tells Nishimura that she's ready, and he opens the door again, only to discover that, rather than putting her clothes back on, she has taken what little she was wearing off. While this has been done before, what made me laugh was how Ako feels like it's a perfectly normal response because they're married in-game.

The other joke that I liked was the pee joke, and I don't think I need an explanation as to why I found that funny.

While the comedy in this anime is often hilarious, this series is not without its more touching moments. There are many instances where the characters deal with real life issues, and while some of these problems are exaggerated or overemphasized, I think a lot of people, gamers especially, can relate to the quandaries these characters face.

I was particularly interested in Ako's problem. Ako is a person who has trouble separating reality from the video game. In fact, the entire premise for this anime is that Ako is so absorbed by the game world that she assumes what applies in the game also applies in real life. A good example of this is how she thinks Nishimura is her husband IRL. Not only does she think they're married in both reality and the game, but she even calls him by his in-game name of Rusian when they aren't playing, thereby informing everyone that when she looks at Nishimura, she doesn't see Nishimura but Rusian instead.

Outside of Ako and her reality issues, my next favorite character is Akane Segawa. I'll admit that a part of me likes her just because her voice actress is Jad Saxton. I've loved her voice overs since she played Suzuka Dairenji from Tokyo Ravens. However, I also feel like Segawa's character is the strongest personality wise. Unlike the other members of her guild, Segawa is a hardcore gamer who wants to have a reputation in school as a normal high school girl. It's like she wants to deny the part of herself that loves net games, but she can't give them up, which is why she turns down every boy who confesses to her. Having a boyfriend would mean less time to game.

Aside from Akane and Ako, the other four characters to note are Nishimura Hideki, Kyo Goshoin, and the two supporting characters Nanako and Yui. While none of these characters are bad, I felt like they didn't have as strong of a personality as either Akane and Ako. That said, I still had loads of fun watching them. Kyo, who plays Apricot in the game, is the daughter of a wealthy family. She spends crap loads of real money buffing her in-game weapons and armor. She's also the spearhead for the get together, and the one who forms the net game club so they can hang out at school. Meanwhile, Hideki is technically the main character. I say technically because he gets the most screen time, but in truth, Kyo, Ako, and Akane also play pivotal roles in the series.

Aside from the cute story, the anime isn't anything especially spectacular. I do appreciate the artwork, and the animations were good enough that I certainly won't complain. That said, while the artwork was lovely, this series isn't going to win any awards for it's animation. It was just okay, and honestly, I don't think it needs to be anything other than okay. Where this anime really shines isn't with its animation and artwork, but with its characters. For people who enjoy playing video games, and especially online games, it's easy for you to feel a sense of kinship with these characters. Aside from all of them being very likable, they also make me think of myself when I went to high school.

For those of you who love video games, I would highly recommend giving this series a watch. You can watch it in either subtitles or dubbed. While I usually prefer subtitles to dubbing, I honestly prefer the dubs for this anime. I believe the VAs had a really strong showing here, and the jokes made more sense to me dubbed than when I had to read subtitles.

People, calm down. This series is simply a bad/mediocre.
Too much generic things.
It has the basic elements of romance + ecchi comedy.
Not much to stand out, see it relaxed, almost to do with the brain off.

A series opportunely created from role-playing games online.
He has the male lead semi virgin.
The beautiful girl with some traumas.
The tsundere friend.
The older friend that might not exist.
... And a teacher but also contributes little.
the secondary character who could have got something to show ... disappears fast ...



5/10 - Story
6/10 - Art
4/10 - Characters
4/10 - Sound
5/10 - Enjoyment
5/10 - Overall

Have a nice day :)

Hey folks, this will be a review for Netoge no yome wa onnanoko ja nai omotta. Honestly this started out alright, but it went down hill as it progressed.

The story starts off with our main character being proposed to inside of a video game. He turns down the proposal several times, but finely agrees after being constantly bother by the girl proposing to him. We soon learn why he was so against marrying her in the game. This is the basis of a odd relationship that has now formed between our main character and Ako(the girl who proposed). The remaining bit of the story ... is dealing with this relationship. The show reminds me a lot of Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shita.

Each episode is generally dedicated to helping Ako come out of her shell and learn about real life and to start to see the world somewhat differently. However this isn't as serious or obviously a story like Chuunibyou. At the same time this show isn't slice of life enough to be considered and enjoyable episode to episode romp. Overall it was pointless, somewhat boring and otherwise mediocre.

The art was great. They had alot of emphasis on the lips which, to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about. The soundtrack was fine.

The characters are fun at first, much like the story. Our main character Nishimura, Hideki is a gamer who is an open otaku. He proposed to a girl in a game once and she turned him down on the basis she was an old man. This of course ruined his idea of games and gave him his slogan as games and real life are separate. Tamaki, Ako is this tame yandere girl who loves Nishimura. She seems rather strange and somewhat crazy at the start, but mellows out and becomes an object to show off how nice Nishimura is later. Segawa, Akane is overly tsundere, and has an interesting revelation early about her gaming companions and her name which plays a good bit into the comedy for the first few episodes. Goshouin, Kyou is the final female main character. She is the rich student council president and she uses money to buff her in game character.

The other characters do play parts in the story and at times the part they play can be significant but overall the ones listed above are the ones that are worth mentioning.

I enjoyed this anime for the first 4 or so episodes. Getting to know everyone and watching as they discovered each other and had their little misadventures was entertaining. However as the plot progressed and nothing really progressed with it, I quickly found myself bored. This show doesn't really do much great. The comedy is thin, and most of the time only worth a smile or a light chuckle. The story non existent, or perhaps more kindly altered and pushed aside. Again I find myself amazed at such high scores by other reviewers.

I do want to praise a couple of things. This show seems to have been written by a gamer. It doesn't go into the details that a game might have, but the feelings and basic outline of a gamer are clearly represented. This is a bonus because its always easy to spot when its not and that always breaks a bit of the immersion. Lastly some of the dialogue is really interesting. Its not really trying to preach to gamers nor is it designed to teach those who dont game. However it does have a few middle ground explanations moments that I thought were really nicely added.

TLDR: Starts off strong, drops quickly into a boring rut. Wouldnt recommend unless you are wanting a poor mans Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shita.

Thoroughly enjoyed this 10/10 don't fight me on this. Only problem was that 12 episodes was too short and the ending seemed slightly rushed. 13 episodes would have been perfect to wrap it all up although i'd have been cool with 20+ also. Your typical slice of life/school romance comedy anime although with a unique twist in regards to the storyline. Yes it had your standard Online gaming theme in it as well however it's take on it was different from other anime in this genre and quite comedic that kept me smiling throughout. No it's not top tier in its art or animation and ... if i had to break it down piece by piece it would probably be a 6 but my overall enjoyment of this anime is what made me give it a 10 for the simple fact that its a feel good anime that makes you happy and keeps things interesting each episode. Would recommend for anyone who likes romantic comedy anime