Eva’s First Impression
Oh my heart, this show is absolutely adorable! First off, it is music to my ears to see a female protagonist, and thirty years old to boot for an MMO Themed Story. Of course this isn’t the first, but in terms of which MMOs stories get adapted, we usually see this with a male protagonist.
Furthermore, instead of choosing to be some cutesy female avatar, our heroine, Morioko Moriko creates a ‘hot’ male avatar, and goes by the name of Hayashi, (which she immediately regretted – something I think many of us can relate too).
Morioko is a corporate dropout, and has chosen to live the Elite (as she likes to call it) NEET life. At this time, we don’t know why she ended up that way, but her carrying a bouquet home and tossing it out certainly raises questions. This episode also gave us insight that she can’t help but feel bitter seeing couples altogether on Christmas, and how she is incredibly fond of Lily-chan, which to me implies she would like to be in a relationship.
Lily-chan is a player she had met and befriended when she first started playing Fruits de Mer after her favourite MMO, Nanter SG had terminated its services. The two hit if off and now she is level 80 and is part of the @HomeParty Guild. And Morioko (Hayashi) absolutely ADORES her. So much, she really wanted to get her the Crystal Rose, but she wasn’t able to accomplish that, so instead she gifted her a Mini Rose Brooch for her Avatar.
Morioko’s quest for the Crystal Rose however created a bit of misunderstanding with Lily-chan. Because she wanted to surprise her, she kept on trying to accomplish the quest on her own. As result Lily-chan started to worry that she did something and Hayashi was trying to avoid her. This was of course all cleared up by Christmas, when they promised to hang out together in game and exchanged gifts.
I would say Netojuu no Susume’s charm is how relatable it is. We have a mature cast of characters who love gaming, and they are all part of the @HomeParty Guild in the game of Fruits de Mer Online. I also liked how they discussed how no one can tell which gender they are, regardless of their avatars.
What is also good is that it looks like we might be in for a nice balance between the real world and MMO life. Though it hasn’t been confirmed yet, I do suspect Lily-chan is the blond with glasses. If he is really Lily-chan, then it just makes their first encounter in the real world even more adorable (except for Morioko, it was one of the most mortifying days of her life due to her noisy stomach), and both wanted that last piece of crispy chicken – but the guy was kind of enough, after hearing her stomach to let her take it home. It looks like the two will be bumping into each other next week, so I can’t wait to see what happens this time!
I am curious to seeing how things will play out between Hayashi and Lily-Chan, and I suspect their impending romance. Ironically, dating is forbidden in the guild – for a understandable reason: Guildmaster just wants to game, and avoid unnecessary drama. So if the two really do want to date in the virtual world, I am curious to how they intend to keep it under wraps considering based on what what I seen today, even in the digital world, they are quite an open-book to their guild-mates.
Verdict: I will definitely be watching this show this season, there’s no doubt about that! However as much as I would love to cover this, I am too not sure if I can dish out enough content without gushing about the cuteness overload each week.
Possibility of Blogging: Low
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed
Extra Note: LOVE LOVE THE Opening! So much fun! The OP Song is super cute!
