Recovery of an MMO Junkie Series Review: Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life

Posted on by Karandi
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Recovery of an MMO Junkie Overview:

Recovery of an MMO Junkie follows Morioka, who has given up work and going out doors to become a NEET by choice who plays an MMO. Her avatar is a male and she is partnered in the game with a healer called Lily. However, everything changes when on her way to the convenience store she runs into a man named Sakurai.

Recovery of an MMO Junkie Review:

If you are looking for something amazingly new and different, then MMO Junkie isn’t going to be your thing. It is a fairly standard rom-com with a few gimmicks thrown in (as there always are) to try to give it the tiniest bit of differentiation so that you can remember which particular couple of emotionally inept characters you are following in the particular series. Despite that, there’s something fairly entertaining about MMO Junkie as it manages to execute standard rom-com in an engaging way with most of the material hitting the mark.

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I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by this series. From the synopsis I wasn’t expecting much (actually I was expecting it to be pretty average) and the whole they met in the game and then in real life thing has been done many times at this point. But where MMO Junkie quickly managed to win me over was in the characters of Morioka and Sakurai.

Neither of the two characters are teenagers and while some of their reactions are exaggerated for the sake of entertainment, most of the way through the show they respond in a believable naive but amusing manner to most of the things that happen. Small details like Morioka delinting her rug when she was stressed or thinking about something (a recurring visual gag) and Sakurai’s pink computer keyboard really helped to flesh these two out beyond the standard trope they might otherwise have represented.

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It also helped that I found them both likeable characters. I know some people were frustrated with Sakurai’s lack of initiative, but I found him to be quite a nice guy and to be honest, what he said to Morioka in the final episode while they were washing dishes was adorable. I think if a guy had said that to me in that context I’d have gone weak in the knees. It was just such a sweet moment. That doesn’t mean he’s exactly assertive, but despite his earlier dithering he does slowly but surely make progress towards actually asking Morioka out.

I mentioned this in my episode reviews but the story is significantly better when the focus is on the real world rather than the virtual one. It isn’t that the virtual world is bad or poorly constructed, it just works better as a background to the more interesting story taking place in the real world. So the first episodes that are more heavily focused inside the MMO, while cute enough, are decidedly weaker than later episodes where the characters interact more in real life.

This is a problem because I know quite a few people gave this show up early on and it is only ten episodes so this ‘wasted’ time in the series run kind of hurts it overall. And it is difficult to argue that the time isn’t wasted because they initially spend a lot of time explaining how things in the MMO world work or show us Lily and Hayashi fighting a character or just hanging out. While it establishes the bond they have in game, this could be none with much more economy and ultimately it does detract from what is otherwise a pretty solid show.

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The support cast are hit and miss. Koiwai is probably the best example of this where he serves an absolutely essential narrative purpose so removing his character is impossible, but his character is incredibly obnoxious for most of his screen time. Even though his brash personality is what allows him to move the plot along in the way he does, overall his presence is one I’d have really liked to see diminished in the story.

However, Kanbe (one of the characters in the MMO) who’s real life controller works at the convenience store Morioka and Sakurai frequent, is almost unused. What little narrative purpose he has is quickly swept away and by the final episode when you get your final look at his character you just have to wonder what the intention was behind his role because ultimately he didn’t do much.

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That might make it seem like there are more flaws to this show than quality but I’d disagree. From the opening song, to the sweet romantic story, as well as the comedic elements that most of the time hit their mark, this show was pretty much pure enjoyment. There are a few slower episodes at the mid-way point but given it is such a short series it doesn’t take long for it to pick itself back up. All and all, if you’ve got a bit of time, this is one worth checking out. You won’t be blown away but you’ll probably leave with a smile on your face.

If you wanted Recovery of an MMO Junkie I’d love to know your thoughts.

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Karandi James

Recovery of an MMO Junkie Episode 10: And They Lived Happily Ever After

Posted on by Karandi
mmo10c

Review:

And we come to the end of following these adorable dorks as they slowly stumble their way toward a relationship. It has been a great ride and this final episode tightens its focus around Morioka and Sakurai so while the other characters (both real life and MMO) make brief appearances, the majority of this episode is the Morioka and Sakurai show and that is for the better.

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It is kind of amusing to think about these two dating long term as I’m sure they are going to spend many evenings apologising to one another over nothing and then apologising for apologising. Still, the two of them continue to be so cute together and I really do want them both to be happy so I think we had a lot of decent progress in this episode to set up a happily ever after even if not everything is fully wrapped up.

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Part of what bothered me was that they still denied they were going on a date to Koiwai at the end. Morioka’s mental monologue about taking a step forward was kind of undermined by that sequence as it leaves you wondering if these two will ever just admit they like each other. I’m not disliking the fact that they haven’t kissed or anything like that, but just accepting that they are dating would have been a nice ending here.

All things considered, this has been fun. It isn’t groundbreaking or astounding but it was definitely a good time and I look forward to writing my series review of it.

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Recovery of an MMO Junkie Episode 9: Bringing it Together

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

After a handful of needless plot complications, MMO Junkie gets back to doing what it did well in the beginning, which is to say there were so many moments this week where I could really understand Morioka.

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Given this show is apparently only 10 episodes long, as a second last episode this is pretty satisfying. Sakurai and Morioka now know who they are online and are coming to terms with that, though it is happening in their usual manner which means that for every step forward or actual act that seems assertive they then fall back three steps as they second guess themselves and how their action might be perceived. These two are genuinely perfect for each other and it will be nice when they finally realise that.

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However, what I continue to love about this show is that the characters aren’t teenagers and they respond to situations with a little bit more wisdom and life experience (even as they also continue to make stupid assumptions and jump to conclusions). They’ve kind of nailed what it means for those of us who are just faking adulting and hoping no one ever catches us at it.

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I really like Morioka and Sakurai as characters and I look forward to seeing the conclusion to their story.

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Karandi James.

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Recovery of an MMO Junkie Episode 8: We’re Stretching The Plot

Posted on by Karandi
mmo8c

Review:

One of the main criticisms I’ve seen of this show is the over reliance on coincidence. Previously, I’ve noted this show does have a lot of coincidences and things happening for the sake of plot convenience but it hadn’t really been to the detriment of my enjoyment, until episode 8 happened. This week we see a whole range of plot stretching devices employed. When the series is already only 10 episodes long, these delaying tactics don’t really speak well for the overall narrative even if the characters remain pretty adorable to watch.

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Firstly, we got an entirely unnecessary and pretty dull recap of the last seven episodes. At least it wasn’t a full recap episode, but this segment was entirely without merit. It added nothing to the viewing experience providing no further insight or observations that weren’t already blindingly obvious and merely recapped events that have taken place over the last seven episodes. It isn’t exactly a long running show. This was needless.

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We then get a Sakurai real world flash back. This could arguably actually have been interesting but sandwiched as it was in a fairly mediocre episode it just kind of fell flat. I don’t think I learned any more about Sakurai. Yes, we now know specifically why he plays MMO’s but really we could have more or less figured that out from his actions prior to now anyway.

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Finally, we got the phone going flat mid-call scene that nearly saw me snap. If Sakurai hadn’t spoken to Morioka and told her that he was Lily by the end of the episode I may have rage quit this show two episodes from the end. That was a straight up delay tactic for no other reason than to extend the run time. Okay, maybe they were just trying to time the reveal for the end of the episode, but that doesn’t excuse a lame plot contrivance like that.

This is the first week where this show has really failed to be enjoyable for me and I hope it isn’t a sign of how the series will end.

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Karandi James.

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Recovery of an MMO Junkie Episode 7: Sakurai’s Hesitation

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

I know some people will hate this episode and just want to swat Sakurai for being spineless, and yet for me this was a fantastic episode. We see the story from Sakurai’s point of view and he knows what he wants but he is incredibly worried about all the things that can go wrong and so he is essentially becoming paralysed with indecision. Although, most would note that if he’d said something earlier the situation would never have gotten to this point as it is going to get more and more awkward to say something later.

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The only downside of this episode was Koiwai. I get why he is needed from a plot point of view given he’s been the catalyst for every actual bit of progress in the story, but he’s a really annoying character. And introducing him into the game world didn’t help that impression given now he can be annoying online and in real life.

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Still, this is close to the finish as it is a short season and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all resolves. I genuinely like both Morioka and Sakurai’s characters and I really hope we’re headed for a happy ending.

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Karandi James.

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Recovery of an MMO Junkie Episode 6: What is Sakurai Doing?

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

So far this show had managed to avoid having characters act too stupidly with Sakurai figuring out fairly readily that with all those similarities Hayashi kind of had to be Morioka. I kind of appreciated that. And then we get this week where Sakurai has the perfect moment to fess up and tell how he knew she would be at the station for a date that wasn’t happening until the next day and instead he calls it a coincidence.

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Although, this show does deserve points for taking six episodes before it made me want to scream at one of the characters. Despite that, I still actually really like Sakurai as a character and kind of hope he fesses up next week (though it seems likely now they will drag this out until the end – which isn’t that far away because isn’t this only ten episodes?).

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Koiwai continues to push both Morioka and Sakurai’s buttons and I’m convinced now he is just trying to help them out, while having a bit of fun. What I haven’t figured out is whether he actually plays the game with them yet. I don’t think so, but who knows.

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Very little time is spent in game this week and to be honest, that is to the show’s advantage as the real world drama is far more interesting at this point in time and punctuating it with small snippets from the game world just works so much better than spending half an episode with the characters playing the game rather than dealing with their real world issues. This show remains fun and charming and while I really did want to shake Sakurai this week I’m still hoping for a happy outcome for him.

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Karandi James.

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Recovery of an MMO Junkie Episodes 3 + 4: Fantastic Transition

Posted on by Karandi
mmo3c

Review Episode 3:

Any concerns I had about this series were kind of put to rest during episode 3. It still isn’t a perfect series but for what it seems to be trying to do it is doing it very well. The entire first half of this episode deals with Sakura and Morioka in the real world and starts drawing some real world connections (besides a bump on the head) between the two.

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While this might seem a little contrived, it adds a great deal of depth to the characters and the relationship I guess we are heading toward. As an added point, the mystery of why Morioka has decided to abandon work and become an Elite NEET just becomes more intriguing given we find out she was good at her job (if unhappy).

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From this the episode then flawlessly transitions to a lighter tone as we enter the game world and see Hayashi and Lily dealing with their changing relationship made more complex by their real world identities and their general inability to deal with personal situations. While the tone is lighter (helped by the bright colours of the game world), the human drama is really well handled and the parallel between in-game and IRL relationships is nicely delivered. This show has made me very much care about these two characters so now it is just a matter of seeing whether I continue to care as the show moves on. That said, really enjoyed this third episode.

Review Episode 4:

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This episode kind of reverses last week where we spend the first half of the episode in-game and on getting loot boxes and discussing in game fashion. It kind of seems like a throw back to episode 1 and while there are some character relationships that are explored it isn’t particularly enthralling.

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However, the second half of the episode more than makes up for it as we get closer to Lily and Hayashi’s online identities colliding with their real world identities mostly due to Lily/Sakurai’s nosy and fairly pushy friend. That said, at least he kept the plot moving forward and we didn’t just spend the whole episode with Sakurai bemoaning being turned down for dinner.

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This show continues to be fairly delightful even though it isn’t going to be a masterpiece. The in-game parts where they are dealing with the game continue to be pretty weak and not overly interesting, but the in game moments where they discuss their real lives and the events going on in their real lives kind of balance that out and as long as that continues this show is going to stay pretty fun to watch.

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Karandi James.

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Recovery of an MMO Junkie Episode 2: Adorable in its use of Cliche

Posted on by Karandi
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Review:

This episode continues with Hayato and Lily getting closer in the game but also brings Moriko and Sakura together in real life in a fantastically contrived and gloriously anime cliché moment as they quite literally collide. I think because the show isn’t actually asking me to take this seriously it is easier to swallow because so far mostly I’m just finding the two of them adorable.

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Inside the game we get the usual caution of not sharing personal information and some more netiquette about not asking but to be honest the MMO part of this story has thus far been the weakest. The story works best when focussing on the characters and their genuine interactions whether that be online or now in the real world.

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As a side note I am starting to feel like anime is aiming to give people in their 30’s a complex given how often characters of this age are dismissed as old. Anyway, I enjoyed this. It isn’t great and it isn’t doing anything new but it is cute enough and fun enough that I’m going on to the next episode.

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Karandi James.

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Recovery of an MMO Junkie Episode 1: Another In-Game, Real-Life Comparison Discussion Thing

Posted on by Karandi
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Overview:

Morioka Moriko is 30, single, and a NEET. She has dropped out of the real world. Searching for a safe place, the place she ended up… is the online world!! In this online game, Moriko starts a new life as a handsome young man with silky hair named Hayashi. However, she’s an obvious noob and ends up dying numerous times when a lovely girl named “Lily” lends her a helping hand. Meanwhile IRL, she ends up having a shocking encounter with a mysterious handsome salaryman named Sakurai Yuta. After meeting him, the real world starts to change and starts affecting her online world as well?

– From Crunchyroll

Review:

I don’t know about the ‘shocking encounter’ mentioned in the synopsis but maybe a guy letting you buy the last piece of chicken at a convenience store is shocking. Who knows?

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The set up here isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. Character drops out of the real world (becomes a NEET) and then becomes obsessed with an MMO. The kind of gimmick here is she’s playing a guy who meets a girl in the online world who is actually a guy in the real world.

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Anyway, if you don’t mind the usual set up, the generic character sucking at quests and then getting better, listening to characters discussing quests and levelling up, then this first episode works well enough. However, there is very little focus on the real world at this point and anything this anime is going to do thematically is pretty much to come at a later date or isn’t happening. There’s certainly a number of ideas the show could take on, but this first episode really just wants to give the moe girl a rose.

I didn’t actually dislike this episode and I intend to watch the next one, but I’m not finding a lot that would actually make me jump up and recommend this to someone after the first episode.

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Karandi James.

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