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After the previous two installment I was happy to know there was a 3rd one still ongoing, and since the two endings were honestly fullfilling, I expected to see exactly a follow up to that "I want more" both characters were so set on, however I was proven wrong.

If you've come for more Nana to Kaoru you'll get it but not entirely, at best you'll get it partially, because the only thing you can say it's the same as before is the cast (and I mean only by appearence)

Clearly, after over 200 chapters of build up to these events, I can't help but compare the ... two previous works, but let me add an intruder: Happy Negative Marriage (I'll use HNM for short from now on), this is another work by the same author as NtK, and it was written at the very same time as NtK/Black Label, and since I've read it just earlier, I couldn't help but notice one thing in particoular: Last Year is quite literally a copycat of this 3rd work he did, you just have to swap the cast and you're readying the same thing, just BSDM themed!

As far as characters go, the main difference from NtK is that the characters regressed as they were in the 2008 prequel, Kaoru once again thinks that Nana does breathers just because she needs them, and Nana thinks Kaoru agrees on it because he's interested in BSDM and doesn't care about her, this clearly undermines the direction they were headed to with the other two endings, as you really were left with little to imagine, since they both declared that it wasn't about the breathers for them, as much as wanting to stay next to the other person, and it was stated clearly at that. The whole cast pretty much appears in full force, but they're changed, if they used to be just side characters with not much relevance since it was the main duo to push the plot, now they're the driving force that moves things, as if even their standing wasn't clear aswell in the parent' story ending, and that's one trait taken from HNM.

Now there's the plot itself, and here things get rendundant with HNM, with a very important difference, one is a self serving work with only 33 chapters (HNM) that starts and ends there, the other one is a "sequel", that pretty much goes and undoes everything that was built up in 23 volumes, and brings you back perhaps at volume 2 or 3 of the original serie progress wise. The drama itself isn't bad (but certainly it's nothing new if you've been reading this genre long enough), but it's introduced too late into the game, and it's clearly not inspired at all, it even happens in the same chapters where it happens in HNM unironically, and the whole plot has the very same tone as the aforementioned work, which is a semi serious romcom. The BSDM is lacking and it feels more like a filler fanservice and lacks the intensity of its predecessors. In general, as I stated earlier, it's the side characters to make the plot this time around, it really configures itself as a shoujo in that sense, hence the "original" touch I felt in NtK and BL is lost.
As I walked into this Last Year I certainly wasn't expecting the whole manga to be turned upside down, nor for it to be a straight up copy of another work, instead I expected something along the lines of Black Label, where the two "hand in hand" understand each other more and better, and finally open up about everything, so I can't help but be disappointed by the cheapness there is this time around.

The art is probably the only thing I'm gonna comment nicely, it is different yes, but it's neater, perhaps too shiny, but still very likeable, it just takes time to get used to it.

To sum it up, were it a standalone thing (HNM) it certainly works and it's not bad, it's even enjoyable, it's just that you obviously can't help but compare it to its prequels and you can't forget all the progress they made along the way (that left little to nothing to our imagination) to justify what happens in this 3rd work, that effectively has only the same characters (in looks only) of NtK, but takes everything else from HNM, just to have the two of them say "I love you" and be together officially for the readers to see, as if it wasn't heavily implied already in the previous works.

THIS REVIEW COULD CONTAINS SPOILERS

Hi everyone, I'm here writing this review cause this anime definitely catched my interest in this season, mostly cause I played a lot of online games and I am defnitely a RPG addicted, or at least, I used to be one.

-Story: 7
If we already saw from SAO, Log Horizon and hack//Series the "trapped in a videogame" plot, this time the subject is for sure something more "actual":
The eSport scene. Putting aside it's an intresting concept by itself that is probably the main reason this anime catched your attention, I felt uneasy by not having a certain knowledge ... of the game they are playing, quite often it looked like a music beat game where you have to hit the notes, or a typical hack and slash (maybe this was supposed to be in the enjoyment paramenter, but I consider it a very important missing background to be fully aware of what made so many people play it, creating such a huge follow/bringing it to be an eSport).
Going forward in this short 12 eps. adventure we still get the chance to have some thrilling moment based on pure RPG concepts such as speedruns, strategies, plotwists that keeps the attention level constantly high.

-Art and sound: 7
I really apprecieated the scenaros where the story take place, even the character desing was in my likes, not something exceptional or innovative, but they gave the idea of how the scenarios where stories like this take place. But what about battles? Amazing skills in synchro with some metal with an orchestra background, making every fight looks like it's the final one, absolutely a good way to keep the tension and show how much concentration was required making it sounds fairly intense.

-Characters: 8
Here we are, I was waiting to discuss this point since when I started reviewing this anime. Finally we see both games and animes arent something related to high school guys, which made this serie even more attractive by not seeing the classic 17 years old having in his hands a really heavy burden. Might look like something "minor" to the majority, but this is very important to me cause I was starting to feel out of place by being "too old" compared to anime characters and confronting myself at their age.
Overall characters have their own personality and they reflect it on their avatars while playing. We see some of the most common categories of players we can meet online (for example, did you just meet someone typing 300 messages in one second saying the same thing?)

-Enjoyment: 8
I can't denie I had fun watching this first season, that kept me willing to watch every second of it without skipping any sequence of it as I usually do, which is quite something to me.

In conclusion, if you read my review and made it this far I apologize if something is out of context or it looks poorly described, it's my first one.
If you wanna join a new world where the characters aren't trapped into it, you like eSports and you are willing to close one eye for some strange premise, this anime is for sure something you'll enjoy, both as Player and as Viewer which has a very good potential to be one of the best animes of the videogame genre.
I'm looking forward to the second season already, hoping it has a good developement, overall this 8 is well deserved.