Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Gamers!
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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I'm still pretty amazed at how good this is, far above expectation!
Character are fresh take on classic, the dynamics are interesting and it continue to defy convention without being random for the sake of random. The visual comedy is very strong and allow the show to still have funny moment while carrying on the plot. My only problem is that the show rely a bit too much on coincidence, with Chiaki just happening to attend the same school as MC and if Nobe really is Aiguri (which is pretty much the only suspect since they introduce Nobe without a point in the story so we know he/she will be important, they could have disguised that one better) that'll be 2 for 2 surprise character who just happen to attend the same school as the MC. I guess at this point MC will never join the game club, or only toward the end maybe as co president or something. Am quite frankly amazed that they did that. |
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Ambulator
Posts: 30 Location: California |
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It's a little more romantic comedy than I was expecting. Well done, but not my favorite category. I'll keep watching for at least a little while.
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gaptoothsailor
 Posts: 100 Location: New York |
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I'm surprised no one else pointed out the obvious reason Tasuku was hovering over Chiaki's shoulder to stare at her phone. She's Keita's buddy from the Gran Blue mobile game and he had JUST sent a raid request! It's probably more "gee, more coincidences" writing for more people but I think it's a funny way to add to the "relationship drama" while potentially getting some reveals out of the way next episode.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11406 |
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This has been a surprising season for me. Series I breathlessly anticipated have fallen short while things that totally did not sound appealing, or at best meh, have become my favorites. This is in the latter group.
Although not as finely tuned as a British bedroom farce, it has all the hallmarks and the visuals are just the icing. The character expressions and random vocalizations are hilarious, and all the misunderstandings seem fairly organic rather than feeling too forced or too wildly coincidental. I was alarmed when Tasuku told Chiaki she'd look good with short hair, because I was afraid that if she cut her hair I wouldn't be able to tell her apart from Keita. 
I also got a laugh out of a typically milquetoast character like Keita thinking, "I can't shake the feeling I've been hitting on everyone lately." Even before the end hook, I knew that it was no coincidence that Keita and Chiaki were on the same level in the same game, and I agree with DP that it's likely that Aguri is Nobe, but I'm having so much fun with the dialog and delivery I don't even mind those kinds of transparent plot points. |
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EmpyreanBlaze
 Posts: 44 |
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Amen to that. Though I hope I'm not as dense... |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11406 |
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I usually kinda roll my eyes when they have girls squirming on the bed like they're having a seizure, but somehow they managed to make it charming when Karen did it.
I get that lots of guys would want to take a chance and confess to her. What I don't understand is why, if they're not the first of the day, they would toss their confession letter on a pile of other obvious confession letters. I guess they're all really optimistic lottery players. Can't win if you don't play or something? If she's getting 5-10 letters a day, how long before the entire school have declared their love? oO |
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3767 |
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I think they just push it into the slot and don't see the others. Though you do have to wonder if they are all confession letters, how is she scheduling these things? I mean it's not like they are conferring with her to set up an appointment - "Let's see...I can fit you in for a 2 o'clock confession." If you're going to confess to a girl after school and you get there and there's a line, I don't know that I would stay.
I can't really find a average high school size in Japan, but with what 4-5 classes per grade, with a class size of 45 (using the higher end of the statistics I found) and three grades puts it around 3 months and change, 6 or 7 if you include the girls. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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I don't think it is entirely "intentional" but there's an interesting message buried in Gamers that becomes clear in this episode. With the rise of eSports, it's interesting to compare gaming to any other "dream career" and ask yourself if that is what you REALLY want. There are a LOT of activities that people participate in for enjoyment that they sometimes think "it would be awesome if I could get PAID to do this". But what many fail to realize is how much WORK goes into getting to a level where people WILL pay you for it.
It's an interesting analogue with artistic ability. Many people viewing from the outside think that great artists just ooze "talent" and effortlessly create great art. But most any professional artist will tell you how they spend so much time drawing. Bakuman is a great example of what your life would be like drawing manga for a living and people don't think about how much of your LIFE it consumes. Gaming can be the same way. I recently watched an interview with a "retired" pro-gamer talking about burnout and wanting time to simply "have a life". That's what I see in the main character and really many people in life. If you play games, yeah, you (normally) want to win, but do you want to spend 14+ hrs a day "honing your craft" in order to be one of the best in the country? Or the world? I would agree that not many have THAT level of dedication. An interesting "irony" of Tendou's situation is that she seems attracted to Amano. She'd actually like to date him, and is interested to bring him into the club in part to spend more time with him. But (as is being shown now) if you want to be the "best", you don't have TIME for that. If the club was one that followed Amano's views, they would actually be able to "date" because they wouldn't be required to spend so much time gaming to maintain their skills. OTOH, if he were to join their club, they can't really have a "relationship" because the gaming goals require too much focus. |
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SleepySkull
Posts: 36 |
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As a new member of the "normally this isn't my kind of anime" chorus, I too am happy to confess my love, so to speak, for this show. In addition to the visual expressions and excellent work by the seiyuus, I'll also praise Dewa-san's efforts on the music. The various touches of 16-bit goodness are nice, but this last week's episode featured some great bits such as the celestial harps signaling Karen's idyllic life "before" and the music slowing and lowering pitch in "after" scenes as if it were being played on an old style record player losing power. Fun stuff. I'll definitely be watchiing for his name in the future. |
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Kendra Kirai
Posts: 187 |
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Speaking of just plain not having time, anybody else notice that Karen is getting, AT MOST, like five hours of sleep a night? That's just unsustainable. I'm not sure how much of that is the Japanese tendency to work oneself into an early grave or what but Jesus hell.
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zrnzle500
Posts: 3767 |
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Yeah, she wasn't even getting enough sleep when things were going well (only like 6 hours, 11:30 to 5:30). I probably could stand to get more sleep myself, but I get more than that, usually. Seems like she was ripe for a breakdown even without considering her interactions with Amano. |
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Kendra Kirai
Posts: 187 |
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RE: the timeline; the previous episode even said 'Interlude'. It fits in just about anywhere after Chiaki comes into play and before this; there was a couple of weeks that were glossed over.
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15495 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Yeah, the timeline is not as confusing as it might seem at first. For one, in episode 4, Karen thinks Keita and Chiaki are together, but when she visualised her it was her with long hair. Which means that we could squarely put it in episode 3 some time before Chiaki cut her hair. It probably would not have made sense to interrupt that story with one of Karen. They likely saw that before than it was not time to have it about her, and they might needed to have put it in by now when they want all of this tangle of relationships.
Kind of think of the series as a whole, it is kind of interesting how this show has sort of avoided the pitfall of school club anime, where one can think that the club format is used in anime just for an excuse to have the characters hang out. But here, there seems to be this little web of similarities and other relationship reasons that have these characters interact. And maybe played with again that two of the characters are officially dating, and another two are antagonistic to each other despite being so similar. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11406 |
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Well, I certainly did not expect that Chiaki was also Nobe! I guess I'm just too used to the idea of one secret identity per person, though there's no reason that should be the case.
And boy howdy, was that scene at the restaurant great. As soon as he came back and told her what he'd said, I was just face-palming at how that so obviously was not getting the right message across.  I also was surprised to see the mistaken Keita x Tasuku pairing pop up so soon, though I figured it would come along eventually.
Probably my favorite moment was how everyone was looking at Tasuku playing furiously without having put in a coin.  That was just the perfect reveal. This series is just so much fun.
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someidiot
Posts: 9 |
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Misunderstandings are almost always full to the brim with cheese on corn. But I must say, this one is so damn refreshing. I was laughing all through the second half of this episode.
What's really hilarious is the fact that both tasuku and aguri's facial expressions after the request can be interpreted as disappointed. So not only did the worst case scenario happen, even the second worst case scenario happens right after! |
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