Thinking about it now, I'm kinda surprised that Yamada Lv. 999 is actually the popular romcom this season, beating Over the Moon S2, Insomniacs, Dangers in my Heart, Skip & Loafer, and even Kaguya finale; at least that's what the numbers say.
Note: This is the only romcom I've watched this season. I've read Dangers in my Heart and Insomniacs for a good amount of chapters, so I skipped the Anime. Heard nothing but praise for Skip & Loafer even way before the anime came out but I'm kinda postponing on it for a few days. Haven't watched Tonikaku S1, or Kaguya S2 so I can't talk about them.
It seems like everyone collectively agreed that between all the popular battle shounens and psychological seinens, this is the safe and cute seasonal romcom that's there just to chillax.
I like to remind people that this is a Madhouse shoujo Anime, and that's actually the main reason I've picked this, because Madhouse made a shoujo sports Anime that I really liked. Except Loving Yamada isn't a sports Anime, it's an E-Sports Anime.
Yamada is the good-looking quiet chick magnet and also a pro gamer, while Akane is a cute & klutzy freshly dumped college girl. After some karmic events, Akane starts crying in the middle of a gaming event, a ball of sunshine melting in the middle of everyone, until an ice cold prince approaches and asks, "Is this your shoe?", while holding her dropped heal. The boy met the girl.
As previously implied, the stakes are pretty low and so is the emotional punch. The characters would be dealing with breakup, jealousy, first love, moving on and all the regular romcom stuff told with a soft tone. It isn't particularly groundbreaking in the way it handles its themes, but it's still a relaxing watch with all the slow pace.
The direction is something I like in this one. Reminds me of chihayafuru, except it isn't as dynamic since despite being an Anime about online gamers, the focus was more on their real life interactions, than their in-game skills. It focusses more on their mundane situations, relationships (especially with Akane), and situational chibbi gags. The art looks like pencil sketched, which is well suited for a laid back setup. One more that adds to the tone is the Lo-fi background score. Really soothing at times.
As for the anime, it's incomplete. They gave a bit of a satisfying conclusion and left room for continuation, but nothing's confirmed so far. As for the story, depending on who you root for, the ending would be different. But since this is a regular seasonal, I'm pretty sure most people align with the story's conclusion. Because, god damn! No matter how much generic romcoms I watch, they somehow always manage to make the confessions very special. And the adorable confession at the end in this one, left a big smile.
Conclusion
This is yet another seasonal anime where it's more about fun, and less about substance & impact. If you are in for the cute characters, laid back tone, and/or care the romance, this'll help as a short break.
