Common Name: Net-Juu no Susume
Alternative Names: Recovery of an MMO Junkie, Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life
Score: 7/10, 5/5
Length: 10 Episodes, 1 OVA
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Shoujo, Video Game
Summary: Broken down by the stresses of the working world, Morioka Moriko has left her job as a salarywoman to become an Elite NEET, someone with enough financial stability to intentionally choose the life of a NEET. Recalling the fun she had in a now-defunct MMO, Moriko decides to jump into the world of online gaming once more. Throwing herself into the highly recommended new MMO, Fruites de Mer Online, Moriko begins her new life as the swordsman Hayashi. Before long, she and Hayashi find understanding and companionship in an adorable healer character named Lily and her guild of oddballs. Just because Morika has distanced herself from the working world doesn't mean she can be totally isolated from it though. MMOs might be able to soothe her frayed nerves, but true emotional recovery can't begin until she finds her footing in the real world once more.
Review: Allow me to make one thing perfectly clear before I start this review. I am not this show's target demographic. I do not like MMOs. I refuse to play MMOs even when invited by friends. Call it simple stubbornness. Call it a vendetta against the years of pointless nothings I put into Runescape. Either way, I knew going into this title that I'd be missing out on a lot of its appeal and humor, simply because I do not partake in the world of MMOs. In spite of that knowledge gap, though, I have to say I absolutely adored Net-juu no Susume. While I might not get this show's base appeal, I still found myself relating to this show's cast of characters. I felt for them. I laughed with them. I rooted for them because, at its core, it is a safe and simple romance story featuring a couple of nerds who don't know what to really do with their own feelings. In other words, this a love story accessible to anyone who has communicated and connected with another person online--or every introvert ever, period.
Surprisingly enough, it's a pretty darn good one too.
What probably made me relate to this show the most, though, was it's approach to the modern working world. Poor business practices, the pressures of middle management, and a stubborn desire to prove her worth, all these things are what eventually destroyed the efficient and practical working woman Morioka Moriko used to be. All these things might not necessarily be the fault of her company, but the feeling of helplessness from a job she she can't escape--believing that maybe, just maybe, getting through this next assignment will finally get you the moment's reprieve you so badly need--is a feeling I'm sure a lot of working adults know all too well. Renowned for "the crunch" seen in typically in the video game industry here in the States, Japan has been known to inflict this brand of abusive management strategy in most office-restricted professions. Not only that, but it is something of a social contract in Japan that an employee will stick with a company for a significant period of time; with the breaking of that social contract being a resume killing black mark for anyone who wishes to find a new job. So, with that kind of background knowledge, it makes total sense that this story begins with Morioka retiring from the working world entirely, after being forced into a position where she needed to quit her before it killed her.
Heh, it's like this show is the Bloodborne of rom-coms.
In one of the show's most compelling scenes, we get a solid glimpse at what exactly Morioka is so terrified of. Finding herself, as she is after retiring, standing before a broken down, cathedral-like structure surrounded by a lake of what looks to be blood, Morioka witnesses an army of faceless salarymen (note there are no women other than her). Marching toward the cathedral structure, these faceless masses reach the doors of the structure only to intentionally fling themselves into a black abyss within that sacred-looking place. While the implications of her nightmare are fairly obvious, all these things set the tone and offer an understanding for an aspect of the show we will never actually see; that being the precise events that led up to her retirement. There are some solid implications in the show's opening, however, that she actually collapsed from being overworked which might have led to anything from hospitalization and worker's comp (which would explain her ability to lead a NEET lifestyle) to that simply being the final straw for her personally. Enough about her past, though, relatable and sympathetic as it is. As the English title poorly suggests, this show isn't about what brought her to this point; it's about her recovery from these abuses.
Though, to be totally honest, some of that negativity still finds a way to eke into her new virtual life as well.
Thank God MMO characters respawn else this show could have gotten dark fast.
While the show does, unfortunately, gloss over several of the characters that help her on her road to recovery (though there is some interesting stuff to unpack in the first few seconds of the opening), the story of Net-juu no Susume is ultimately one that focuses on getting Morioka re-acclimated to society once her emotional healing is well on its way. Accomplishing that far-off goal requires something of a balance between both worlds though. In the virtual world of Fruites de Mer, Morioka (or rather her character Hayahsi) is offers this through near-constant interactions with her fellow guild members who are just as happy to play the game as they are whey they're prying into each other's lives. Most notable among the good this crew of quirky characters does for Morioka is the calming reassurance and validation offered by the first real friend in the game, an adorably perky healer by the name of Lily. Offering each other a friendly face they can vent their daily worries to, the friendship between these two understandably begins to develop into something more. There is, of course, one big problem with that though.
Morioka is terrible at dealing with other people right now. Especially those she likes.
To be fair though, who wouldn't fall for that smile?
Out in the real world, Morioka eventually stumbles upon a group of people who are similarly willing to help and support her through this difficult time in her life. Through quick and awkward interactions with these people she runs into every now and then, literally and metaphorically, Morioka slowly works to find her place in the world again. Starting off simple, she finds the ability to hold semi-comprehensive conversations with one of the clerks at her local convenience store. Graduating that, she eventually runs into the equally awkward but happily employed Sakurai Yuuta, friend to one of one of the few people Morioka actually got along with at her old job, Koiwai Homare. With their assistance and potential romantic interest in her, Morioka steps out of her MMO cocoon bit by bit. It's not a quick or easy process, to be sure, especially not with Morioka's inferiority complex running at max whenever she's out in the real world. Regardless of the intentions of these guys, these interactions are is still a step in the right direction for Morioka.
In a move that is simultaneously problematic and understandable, the show takes these characters and cements Morioka's attachment to them through the game she has called home. I say it is understandable because sharing a love for MMOs is, by far, the easiest and most reasonable way to gain Morioka's romantic interests. It is also problematic, however, because this scenario is full to bursting with unreasonable coincidences. For example, while the store clerk, Fujimoto Kazuomi, has little romantic interest in Morioka, his desire to see her live a happy life is made clear when it is revealed that Morioka already knows him as the leader of her guild, the cool and caring assassin Kanbe. Similarly, it is eventually revealed that the love interest that Morioka quite literally ran into by chance, Sakurai Yuuta, is none other than Morioka's online crush, Lily. More than that, though, it is revealed that Sakurai and Morioka have known each other for much longer than either anticipated, their relationship dating back a few years when they both played a now-defunct MMO together.
It should be pretty clear who the actual love interest of this show is by now.
While these coincidences can be justified in that MMO servers in Japan are broken up by province, meaning their chances of meeting multiple times are more like 1-in-3,000 rather than one-in-a-million, they are ultimately a hindrance to the suspension of disbelief necessary for most works of fiction. I find myself forgiving this show for this particular cardinal sin of anime though, because the characters themselves acknowledge how ridiculous all these coincidences are. Yet, as if guided by the hands of fate (aka the plot), they still actively parse out who is who and who likes who in both the real and virtual world--likely compelled by their own curiosity and desire to solve this romantic mystery more than anything else. Thankfully, the show doesn't dwell on this dilemma too long. Rather than dragging out these revelations, the show has the characters outright confess the facts of their situation, rocketing the plot into an adorably awkward and hilarious romantic arc.
I am incapable of sqeeing at an octave that would express how adorable these two nerds are,
but rest assured that I would if I could.
I think the thing I like most about this show's approach to romantic encounters and coincidences, aside from how cute it is, is the fact that the show gives the vast majority of the romantic authority to Morioka. Shy, awkward, and vulnerable as she is, it is ultimately her decision to improve herself that actually gets the romantic ball rolling. Sure, she's egged on by the flirting and respect Sakurai and Koiwai show her but neither go so far as to force her into anything--opting instead to let Morioka discover her own feelings. So, sick and tired of looking down on herself and feeling inadequate next to the person she cares about, she actively takes the steps necessary to fully overcome her defeatist nature. More than that, she finds the ability to stop using MMOs as a crutch to hold her up in her relationship with Sakurai. While their being "partners" in the MMO certainly helped develop their relationship, she doesn't use the virtual world of Fruites de Mer define her real life. She'll, of course, still play MMOs with Sakurai since that's just their way to spend free time, but she is solidly her own person by the end of the show, able to stand on her own two feet without too much support from those around her.
If that's not some amazing character development, I don't know what is.
While the English title of this show left me cringing from ear to ear, fearing it'd just be another Welcome to the NHK, I found Net-juu no Susume to be just another one of those comfortable and fluffy titles I'll likely come back to a few years down the road. While I won't go so far as to call it a "sleeper hit" like many other reviewers are doing at the moment, I won't deny that it surpassed my wildest dreams. A solid character story backed by lovable and relatable characters set to the backdrop of a scenario that many world adults can understand, if not outright relate to. While the plot might be convoluted and the animations a little sloppy at times, I never lost interest in whatever might come next with this down-to-earth romantic comedy. If you have a few hours to spare in your week, I'd recommend giving it a shot. Whether you're a fan of comedy, romance, or are an MMO Junkie yourself, there's probably something for you in this show.