Hibikase said:luigi-dude said:An "okay" ending, I won't lie and say the ending wasn't cute, it was and I'm glad Mori and Sakurai are together.... but we didn't get a kiss which loses a point. What's worse is that we could have HAD one, we could have had the development necessary for a kiss if the show didn't drag its ass with a useless attempt at love triangle drama from episodes 4-7. Koiwai turns out to be a bro which means 3 episodes of skirting around the issue, date prep, and the dates were wasted time.
Imagine if Mori just ACCEPTED Sakurai's hospital invitation or met him at the convenience store instead of Koiwai, the two could have dated in episode 5, became a couple by episode 8, and kissed in 10 wrapping things up in a bow covering Mori's trauma and her Recovery.....
Yeah, which brings us to the 2nd lost point, HOW IS MORI PAYING FOR ANYTHING, How is she living as a NEET? This is unresolved, we got no resolution as per the nature of her quitting her job, and she clearly states how she was cutting into savings to pay for game money... soooooo where did that go? She doesn't have a job and is still technically in NEET status even by the end...
Hindsight is 20/20, but I said before I wouldn't let the show off the hook by not ending shit, it dicked around in the middle and wasted valuable time that could have given us more insight into the guild members or Mori herself... What happens to Kanbe and Lilac who had a crush on him? What traumatized Mori so much about her job that caused her to have a nightmare in episode 2?? Oh well, no answers but I guess we got a few images of Sakurai and Mori holding hands.
This show will make a good lesson for who NOT to do mid-season in a short show, the key is to Stay ON TRACK with the established couple and wrap things up nicely in a little bow by the series end. Read the Manga isn't an acceptable answer, and whatever the OVA turns out to be is still just an OVA and not apart of this broadcast. Overall a lack of direction mid-season spelled mediocrity for this show... still a cute romance and I love that it fought a few cliche's by making the best friend a Wingman and by clearing up the MMO confusion between Mori and Skurai by episode 8. However, this "okay ending" caps off an "okay" show that had more promise in its concept.
Plot contrivances and lack of focus...ruin shows. Recovery of an MMO Junkie started with such an original and refreshing premise. What kind of anime can you think of these days that have a female NEET main character that isn't in highschool? Everything this show holds in the beginning has a lot of potential to be great, but it simply just didn't go far enough in any direction.
The overall art style also looks and feels pretty bland, which just becomes increasingly more noticeable as the show goes on. The side-characters that I initially thought were pretty interesting eventually either became forgotten or written off as one-note characters towards the end. The soundtrack, aside from the brilliantly catchy opening that synced well with the visuals, is also utterly forgettable.
I can't even say the ending is satisfying even though the Morioka and Sakurai got together... simply because their character chemistry is so lacking (I actually preferred their interaction back when they were online as Hayashi and Lily). I just feel like a romantic relationship like this would not ever last. The fact that these people are full grown adults that are still embarrassed to admit to going on DATE is quite pathetic in its own right. Also, Morioka and Sakurai kind of seem a little TOO awkward around each other. Some may call this "cute," but for me, it just makes the second half of this show hard to watch because of the cringe factor.
Also, the repeated gag of Morioka and Sakurai being interrupted by Morioka's stomach growling or some arbitrary noise in the background before an interaction that could possibly ADVANCE their relationship plot-wise could occur is utterly egregious (in the fcking FINALE episode, this happened like... 3 times). Like... wtf happened to the tight, intriguing writing of the first 3-4 episodes?
The only thing I can give this show credit for is its decently original premise. Too bad these occasional sparks of originality and intrigue just become more few and far between as the show progresses, ultimately cumulating to one of the most awkwardly paced and directed last episodes ever.
Meh. 6.2/10