A considerable amount of opinions regarding Gamers!, especially in the reviews here, come from people who didn't even paid attention to what the anime actually tried to do, and therefore criticize it for expectations that were never given in first place. It's a low and not so smart move if you ask me. The main subject in Gamers!, as is shown multiple times, is: MISUNDERSTANDING. The very first scene proves this. Also, it's a lie that the anime was meant to, firstly, talk about games. The story's subject are the GAMERS, not games. But before we get any further in this idea, let's start with
...
one of the keys to understand the anime: the characters.
At first, have Keita Amano. Even though he has a good look, he is an insecure, quiet and reclusive gamer. Amano is passionate about gaming, and even puts it above interpersonal relationships, as is shown initially. His main goal with games is only to have fun, and therefore he doesn't really give value to competitions. Keita is also very self conscious of who he is, he knows about his insecurity and fear of socializing, and above all he knows that games can look like a waste of time. With this in mind, Keita wants to change. He wants to be outgoing, even though his passion for games makes this objective difficult, and distracts him from people around; however, again, he is self conscious about it. Amano is not perfect, and the anime shows this all the time, especially when he gets impulsive in order do defend his main and loved hobbie. He plays under two alias: Tsucchie and Yama (both kanjis of his mother's single surname).
The second character, and my favourite, is Karen Tendou. She is pretty, and the madonna of the Otobuki High School. She receives thousand of love letters in her school cabinet every day. But, even with all the attention and spotlight, she is humble, and gives value to the inner of human, therefore Karen never judges the students, and greets all of them at school; even with all the respect and admiration towards her. Also, always helps the teachers with their materials. However, like Keita, Tendou is also a gamer, but she somehow conciliates her hobbie with her social life and studies. She also becomes easily distraught when the subject is love, and, like Keita, Tendou initially doesn't know her true potential, doubting of her positive qualities. Karen is the president of the gaming club, and takes part in it secretly. The main goal of the club is to improve as gamers, and initially there are other three characters, and senpais, along with her: Niina Oiso, Gakuto Kase and Main Fushiguro, with a fourth, Eiichi Misumi, joining them later in the final parts of the first episode.
The third character is Chiaki Hoshinomori. She is, initially, a solitary gamer, antisocial and also gives more value to fun over competitions, just like Keita. In her first appearance, she has a somber atmosphere and her hair almost covers her face, and that, generated by lack of self esteem, disguises her beauty. It is shown later, when she changed her looks, that she develops games, under the alias of "Nobe", and plays using another nickname: "Mono" (both kanjis are from her mother's single surname). Initially, she started to develop games as a hobbie, but when online users started to bash her games, she felt insecure about them. However, a certain user called "Tsucchie" encouraged her to keep her work (neither Chiaki nor Keita were aware of their online identities initially).
The fourth character is Tasuku Uehara, a good looking and socially famous student. However, deep inside Tasuku holds insecurities about his past days a nerd, and tries to achieve a "perfect school life" (girlfriend, friends and general acceptance).He is also a gamer, but his situation is class is the opposite of Keita, who Uehara looks down mentally. It is shown in the story that he initially did this because he saw himself in Keita, and this feeling turns into a positive one, after episode 2. Even though Uehara is what would be called a "normie" (a term he hates to be called, as is shown in his conversation with Keita), Tasuku believes in his first appearance that his girlfriend, Aguri, is with him just for the looks, but that turns out to be a lie later, as she was in love with him since his nerd times.
The fifth character is Aguri Sakurano. She is a happy, beautiful, cute and at times absent minded student (but is proved later that she pretended to be like this, in order to be accepted by Tasuku). Aguri was, in her first school years, a shy nerd. However, unlike the other characters, she was never a gamer. She always goes with Tasuku to the arcade, and tends to ask him to pick up dolls from the claw crane. Sakurano sees her nerd days in Chiaki; like Tasuku, she wants to break from her past, and be accepted socially. Aguri is insecure, and, initially, has an emotional dependency towards Tasuku. She then breaks from her fears when involves with the club, especially when a friend of hers, Sarina, says that she will always be an antissocial, and Sakurano thanks her for the words.
And at last, but not least, we have the sixth and recurring character: Konoha Hoshinomori. She is Chiaki's sister and the president of the students council, and was always perfect at school, from grades to behaviour. Nevertheless, Karen took her place due to her good fame. Even though Konoha has a unbreakable image to take care, she holds a secret passion for eroge games, which she always hides from Chiaki.
These are the characters from Gamers!; they have complexity, and also so much to tell, so I had to say as many things as I could. As it is shown, besides their hobbies, they all have their flaws and insecurities. And the anime ALWAYS makes sure to show them, especially the latter. Now, let's move to another important part: the plot.
The story starts with a term I mentioned previously: misunderstanding. In the first scene, we have Keita and Karen looking to one another in a class break. All the students are staring at them, since the idol of the school is involved. Tendou asked Amano to join the Gamers Club, to which he said that wasn't interested in competitions. It was her second time proposing, the first being her presentation of the club, and its members, and the second being rejected again in front of the class. After this situation, the students understand as if Amano rejected Karen romantically, even though that was never the case. His reason, as shown later, is because of his principles of having fun beyond competition, and it's revealed that Chiaki was also invited, but rejected the offer for the same reason. However, they both would like to know Tendou's ideas about competition better, and even want to become friends with her. After some time, Tendou gets interested in Keita, who has a crush on her, but doesn't believe somebody like her would ever fall in love with him. Eventually, they start dating, and their first destiny as a couple is the bowling and gaming alley, in episode 7. Her reasons for interest were due to their passion in common for games, and due to the fact that he defended her and the Game Club in a energetic conversation with Tasuku.
I like that the misunderstandings evolve little by little. At first, they start in class, but eventually they take the mind of the main characters. Their paranoias regarding one another show their preconceived ideas falling apart, one by one. Aguri is worried about a """possible""" affair between Chiaki and Tasuku (lots of quote marks here); Tasuku thinks that Aguri and Keita are dating in secret at a local cafe; Keita has the "obvious" conception that Karen fell in love with Tasuku; Karen holds the idea that Chiaki and Keita are also dating (even though Tasuku had the intention of making Keita feel more comfortable around gaming girls, in order to make friends with not only Chiaki, but with the main goal: Karen herself); and finally, Chiaki believes that Tasuku and Keita were together, due to a misunderstanding: both students were having a conversation about their own paranoias towards the girls; Konoha supports Chiaki to take part in the gamers group, and also pretends to bring her sister and Keita together by any means, in part because of Karen's accomplishments and perfect image in school.
Gamers! shows that communication is an easy action, but when the parts involved are blinded by confusion and precipitation, it becomes nearly impossible. And it is brilliant when showing how this issue can grow in exponential heights. The anime always breaks with the conceptions we have about the characters, and shows that, before being gamers, students, friends and game club members, they are humans. In this task, Gamers! excels perfectly, fulfilling its goal.
The characters grow emotionally, and develop through the storyline. Keita starts to give more value to his friends and girlfriend, Karen, over gaming. He even forgets about the pre sale of a game called Space Ocean 2. When he tried to purchase it at the very day, he prefered to give emotional support to Aguri, in a sudden moment of misunderstanding and vulnerability of hers. They become siblings emotionally, as she says in several times. Chiaki's issues with Keita regarding differences of opinions change, evolving into a feeling of admiration and respect as a rival. She wasn't able to tell him about her being Mono and Nobe, both Keita's favorite game developer and best online friend; however, the anime shows that eventually, she will be ready to tell. Not only due to him, but also because of Konoha's support and friendship. Karen starts to give more value to fun and entertainment as gamer, after meeting Keita, who also begins to value the competition side. Although she still has preference for competitions, Amano respects her views, and even says that this is what he likes in her the most. Tasuku and Aguri learn to let the past go, but never try to hide who they are; whether they enjoy games of are secretly nerds, what really matters is their feelings towards it, above everybody else.
To show people's will to grow, their flaws, insecurities and their love in common: THIS is where the beauty of Gamers! shines.
Regarding sound, I really liked the main theme "Gamers!", the scenes and song atmosphere are perfect to the concept of 'games with friends'. It is a powerful opening in many ways, and the game sfx fit well to the verses. "Fight On" and "Koi No Prologue" are two sweet themes, depicting the three main female characters. They are beautiful, and gave me the feeling of wanting more of the anime; like it wasn't a farewell. That said, I'd really like a second season in a near future.
The animation is pretty good, the colors are very lively, and the design of the characters are well done. They are not necessarily complex, but pleasing enough.
A last idea: I think it would be better to fit episode 12, the one about the meaning of games, as an OVA. It makes more sense as an extra, since the amusement park date (episode 11) is perfect as the season finale.
So, generally, this is how deep and complex this beautiful and fun story is. All in all, Gamers! is a genuine masterpiece, that was severally misunderstood through the years (what an irony). I rewatched this anime today, in a sunday. To be honest, I didn't even pretend to watch everything at once, let alone write a review now xD
I felt the need to write a proper "scanning" of the characters background, as a carefully written and deserved review, since Gamers! deserves it. By the way, I plan to read the light novel soon, it looks as amazing as the adaptation.
Thank you for reading this far, hope you enjoyed. And I hope I gave you the will to watch or rewatch this masterpiece, in order to take these points into consideration. Have a great day.
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May 29, 2022
A considerable amount of opinions regarding Gamers!, especially in the reviews here, come from people who didn't even paid attention to what the anime actually tried to do, and therefore criticize it for expectations that were never given in first place. It's a low and not so smart move if you ask me. The main subject in Gamers!, as is shown multiple times, is: MISUNDERSTANDING. The very first scene proves this. Also, it's a lie that the anime was meant to, firstly, talk about games. The story's subject are the GAMERS, not games. But before we get any further in this idea, let's start with
...
May 25, 2022
School Days
(Anime)
add
(SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY)
School Days, eh...? The infamous anime about a love triangle that turns into a enneagon, and made thousands of people cringe due to the characters motivations and its infamous ending. Time to have some words about it. Even though you can tell by my score that my opinion about this anime is not positive, which is not wrong in any means, I won't call it a "bad written", in part because this became a common sense in the community, and this review would be like any other here. But, even with my thoughts about it in mind, I will make the complete disclaimer here. So again, ... |
