I don’t know what it is, but this season has a lot of Slice of Life anime, and so far I haven’t been disappointed by any of them. Recovery of an MMO Junkie in particular just has me so invested. I haven’t reviewed this before, allow me to give you a brief description. This anime is about Moriko Morioka, a single, 30 year-old, self-decided NEET. Despite being very good at her job, she couldn’t deal with the every day, same thing day in and day out, corporate life-style. She felt no happiness or meaning in her life.
So she turned to MMO RPGs to try and find the happiness she was missing in her life. However, for reasons I’m honestly not really sure of, she made her character a male (named Hayashi) and even after making a friend and joining a guild, she still hasn’t told anyone she’s actually a woman. Things get even more complicated when she meets an attractive guy in real life.
WARNING: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS
Well…it’s kind of a spoiler, but it’s also not really because I feel like the preview photo gives it away, but anyway, I give this warning just in case.
So, at the end of episode two, we were left hanging on what Moriko’s response was to Yuta about the date. And if you’re like me and you were super excited for her to go out to dinner with him, you will be utterly let down. Because she said no.
I mean, she said it nicely, but she still said no. We do get to learn more about Moriko before she became a NEET though from Yuta’s co-worker Homare, who didn’t know her very well, but knew she was a great worker and was disappointed by her sudden resignation. Judging by his phone conversation with her, she was terribly exhausted and depressed at her job. Even though he’s interacted with her very little, Yuta is clearly quite infatuated, he even seems a bit jealous when Homare calls her “Morimori-chan.” Moriko also leaves her house in a good mood, for apparently the first time in forever because even the clerks at the convenience store notice and comment on her actually smiling.
That’s all IRL though. Let’s talk about online. Online, Moriko’s good mood is noticeable as well, her guidemates notice Hayashi’s chipper demeanor and seem pleased that he sorted out whatever it was that was weighing on him. He is almost immediately stressed though, because he recieves a very nice and expensive gift from Lily, the guild member Moriko first bonded with and feels closest too…and also has a weird kind of crush on…but she’s in real life interested in men…but her character is a male and she does think Lily is super adorable, plus I think she’s more interested in the story of Lily and Hayashi in her head as opposed to Moriko being attracted to Lily.
Lily shares a personal story with Hayashi about a close friend she once had in a different online game that she doesn’t hear from anymore and how she has been looking for that bond again, which she think she and Hayashi could have. Moriko flashes back to a game we have seen her remember before, but we see two happy characters bonding, and she confirms she understands exactly what Lily means, so she agrees to become her partner.
THE BIG REVEAL THOUGH….is the 100% confirmation that Yuta is Lily. Which, again, if you look at the preview photo it’s like…super obvious. But we hadn’t actually seen it in the show yet so now we know without a doubt. Which makes me super happy. I’m even going to speculate and theorize that they may have even been each others partner’s in the game Moriko played before this one. She said she hadn’t logged on in half a year. I just think that would be so freaking adorable.
Recovery of an MMO Junkie – Episode 3: You and I, the Cowards OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
One of the best things this show does is express what its like to build relationships over MMO RPGs. If you have ever played an MMO RPG by yourself, you understand pretty much everything they talk about. How its hard to talk too much about your personal life at first, how if your character is a girl, you attract creeps, but this episode is important, because it talks about how you can make real bonds with people. People who you’ve never met face to face, but who you somehow connect with on a real emotional level. I mean, an MMO RPG is how I met one of my best friends, and we’ve been friends for like….over 10 years. It’s a real thing.
Also if the preview for the next episode signifies anything, I think we are going to start figuring out who the other guild members are in real life. I’m also like 90% sure Kanbe is the convenience store clerk who she sees like every day. So make sure you catch up before the next episode!
Recovery of an MMO Junkie is now streaming on Crunchyroll. New episodes are added every Friday.
