Moriko Morioka is a self-certified NEET and Yuta Sakurai is a company man with a good heart; both have shared interests and a chance encounter that changes the course of their relationship. Unlike most heroines, Moriko is extremely polite yet headstrong. She's at the age where she understands that if she compromises too much of herself to appease a potential partner's sensibilities, they will never be happy together. She loves herself and knows how society views her as a woman NEET. Yes, she cleans up well; however, she knows that if her partner can't stand her unkempt self—her most comfortable self—then she's better off without them. I appreciate that more than anyone can say because it's such a rare thing to see in anime, especially in a character who's a woman. It's a really important message, especially for young girls.
There are so many things that lead to satisfying affirmations and the way conflicts get resolved is terrific. For example, Sakurai tries to retrace his steps in order to bump into Morioka again. Koiwai, Sakurai's friend, calls him out on his actions as stalkerish. He denies it at first but then realizes he's overstepping boundaries and stops—and I love that! Not enough creators acknowledge a realistic problem with their characters and then confront it with such nuance. There's a great cast of supporting characters, many of whom are guild members (MMO clubs). They act as any good online friends would; they're always there for the main characters, they listen and give advice when asked, and they have fun together whether it's at the in-game pub or in a dungeon. This is neither here nor there but I also appreciate that gender isn't as huge an issue as other game-related anime make it seem. There's a gay couple who are lovable and affectionate and, at one point, Morioka developed a crush on another woman. It wasn't written to serve as some kind of shocking plot point or tokenism either; made my heart swell with joy.
The animation is simple and the art style looks a little bit older than most anime nowadays but it's bearable. The coloring on the other hand is fantastic; whoever does the coloring is amazingly talented! The quality of the voice acting, the music and sound production, and the storytelling makes everything worth it. I especially appreciate that the anime doesn't rely on ridiculous tropes. Nobody goes out of their way to be horrifically sinister and all of the characters are incredibly supportive of each other. There are many relatable things that happen that many adults can relate to. Recovery of an MMO Junkie is one for the ages and, if you enjoy a heartwarming slice of life-romcom or if you enjoy video games, I implore you to give this a try. Knowledge of MMORPG's help but isn't necessary.
This anime is perfect, especially for gamers who love slice of life-romcoms. I'm surprised it took this long for producers to utilize online gaming and pair it with the genres when there are hundreds of millions of players who also watch anime. There is so much potential to create something for gamers to relate to and it's great to illustrate that healthy, longlasting bonds between players is possible. Recovery of an MMO Junkie portrays that well. It wrapped up neatly and left me wanting more; there's an 11th episode OVA and 2 shorts set to release. After this, hopefully this anime inspires other producers to create more stories like it. Please, give it a try and support them by watching on Crunchyroll!
