Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Recovery of an MMO Junkie
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11404 |
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Every time the OP music starts, I think I'm watching Nanbaka.
I almost mentioned last week that it might be possible that she just lost track of what day it was. So Koiwai is off the hook for that one. However, he managed to cross my other unforgivable line in taking pictures of her without asking and against her wishes. So yeah, Koiwai is dead to me now. He can go burn in hell with whatserfeak in Just Because. I think Yuta made the right call in opting out of being the third wheel on Koiwai and Moriko's get together. That could've flown following the original plan, but after having had drinks with her already, it would look really weird for him to tag along the next night too. I don't think he should back off altogether, but rather set up his own dates with her. And you know, let her decide who to go out with. Her expression when Koiwai told her he already knew she'd been drinking with Yuta was priceless. I wonder if this will have an anime-only ending or just leave us hanging, since the manga has stalled out for so long.  I guess I hope for the former, since the manga seems unlikely to ever continue, let alone end. Not even sure why they greenlit the anime in the first place.
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ultimatehaki
Posts: 1090 |
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Same sentiments. |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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Kinda hard to get excited about a love triangle when it's so transparent what's going to happen. A bit disappointed too, I find people like Sakurai to be really boring and people like Koiwai far more interesting, if only because they have agency and are honest, rather than lie and requiring near divine intervention level of luck/coincidence to proceed at anything.
Sad that moriko appearance changed, she look way better before. 
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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I tend to agree. While i don't beleive they'd be bad for each other in any way, so far Moriko and Sakurai had way more in-game then RL chemistry and she seemed to genuinely enjoy her time with Koiwai. Plus, the guy is apparently loaded. I mean, did you see his house?! Go for it Moriko, here's you chance for eternal NEET-dom! 
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mangaka-chan
 Posts: 283 |
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It's all a matter of preference. Personally, I think I would have a hard time getting along with someone like Koiwai in RL. As for the review, I'm glad I'm not the only person who's happy to see a socially functional side of Morioka. She'd had a solid job for 10+ years and it's realistic she would still have social skills (even if she's internally feeling awkward all the time). |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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While it's fair to question whether or not Sakurai is a good match for Morika, Koiwai is a TERRIBLE match for her. I mean, sure he's fine to go out with a few times, but they'd have NO future whatsoever seeing as they CLEARLY don't share interests or really have much in common. Koiwai likes to be boisterous and go out drinking and Morika is somewhat (not badly) introverted and CLEARLY a light-weight with alcohol. I'd give that relationship MAYBE a couple of months, and that mainly because Morika wouldn't want to take initiative to call it off. Also, Morika noted that both men blocked the street for her. It'll probably mean nothing in the end, but did anyone else notice that Sakurai did that by "default" whereas Koiwai only moved after noticing a vehicle was going by? |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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That depend on people, personally I don't need (or even want really) my partner to have the same interest as me. Morika is a light weight for alcohol, but that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy it. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11404 |
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That's why I've been saying that people seem to be perceiving her as much more dysfunctional than she actually is. I totally identified with her falling on the bed thinking how exhausted she was. That's how I've always felt about social outings - it's not that I can't do them, it's just that they are utterly exhausting and I just don't have the energy for them anymore (well that, and everyone seems compelled to take pictures of everything they do now, even if it means stepping off a cliff to their deaths). |
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mangaka-chan
Posts: 283 |
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That part was actually kind of weird to me. It's not like Moriko is a child and needs to have someone block the street to keep her from wondering into traffic. Again, this might just be due to personal perspective and cultural differences, but I'd actually be kind of offended if someone did that, as it would insinuate that they think I'm clumsy and need to be coddled. |
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michizure
Posts: 177 |
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It might reflect a lingering generational difference as well. I was taught by my mother (who was brought up in the 40's) to always walk on the street side when with a lady, mostly in order to block anything coming off the road (mud splashes, etc.). The theory (so far as it went) was that my drab clothing was more expendable than whatever she was likely to be wearing. It falls in the same category as opening doors, holding chairs, and helping on with coats.
The modern adjustment is that I don't take it amiss if anyone wants to do those things for me (especially the door holding, but I've had women offer to help me on with my coat), and it's the lady's choice to decline any offered courtesy if she wishes. My takeaway from that pair of scenes is that we are meant to draw a clear distinction between Sakurai's naturally gentle manners and Koiwai's deliberate employment of them. |
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MJKS
Posts: 102 |
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Gonna go out on a not-so-distant limb that this business with Koiwai is a red herring, and that the real love triangle lies somewhere in the vicinity of Mr. "Short hair is better" Fujimoto.
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everapril
 Posts: 112 |
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I haven’t caught up with this last episode yet but have the feeling that if we get some more backstory on Morioka we may find in her history that she’s encountered people like Koiwai before and that didn’t end so well. I don’t think her and Koiwai would be a healthy relationship. She’s obviously weak when facing strong personalities. The fact that a professional Japanese woman (who we know is sensitive about her name) said nothing when a coworker, who she’s had strictly a business relationship with, call her by an infantile nickname after one interaction, is a huge red flag.
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michizure
Posts: 177 |
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Not as many Easter eggs or as much neat stuff going on in this episode, but I agree with Paul: it probably needed to happen to set up for further developments.
Here, however, I must respectfully disagree. Given that Lily and Sakurai are ultimately the same person, I thought switching the voices was an effective device for calling out the differences between the two identities. It allows Sakurai to talk it all out with himself without confusing the audience. The final line, delivered by both voices in unison, was particularly compelling. Contrast this with Koiwai/Harumi and Morioka/Molly, who use their real world voices without distinction. I think Sakurai is a very young 28. Morioka apparently joined the work-force straight out of high school or perhaps a two-year business college (11 years in an office, 30 years old). Sakurai gives the impression of someone who went to a four-year college and maybe grad school, so that he joined the work-force only 4-5 years ago. Notice that he compares his nervousness in maintaining his Lily persona with Morioka to meeting his first clients -- not something I would imagine a more seasoned worker (e.g., Koiwai) would focus on. His doubts and hesitations are not shoujo-manga-angsty, but they seem to reflect a much more limited life experience than even Morioka's. (Note that she hesitates only briefly before telling Kanbe what she's doing with Koiwai when it becomes relevant.) Other bits: Koiwai doesn't seem to be a bad person, just a (more or less literally) thoughtless one. I'm definitely in the "over-think everything" camp ["Duh," says anyone who has been reading these posts], so I find it hard to deal with people like Koiwai who don't seem to think at all before they do anything. Does he really not know how to download and install a program on his laptop? At least he tried to get Sakurai to help him first, so it wasn't all just a ploy to spend more time with Morioka. Also, what is it with Koiwai and hamburgers? I'd noticed the (sticker on the) cover of his cell phone, but now he has a huge hamburger throw pillow on his couch? Interesting that Fujimoto figures out who Harumi's player is pretty quickly from context, especially since he isn't really hearing the voices. I can't decide whether that's supposed to be Harumi in the Opening running away from the mirror, or the person Koiwai based her design on. We still don't know the significance of Lailah's bromide in the Ending, either, so perhaps these are connected somehow. The director is still being very deliberate with Nico, for reasons that aren't apparent to me. Why was it important that she logged in right as Hayashi logged out, or that she was supposed to work on the weekend? Her comment about becoming a NEET and playing MMO all day was a nice call-back to the premise of the show, however. In fact, I was wondering why Nico was so prominent in this episode. Most of what she was doing could have been handled by Lilac without changing much at all -- a little bit of tonal shift, since Nico seems more abrasive while Lilac is more easy going. On the other hand, if Lailah is Nao is Lilac, it would make sense to save her reaction to Harumi the Lailah Parody for maximum impact. I don't put much stock in this idea, but I will be very interested to finally see just who and what Lailah is supposed to be. Interesting that Molly does not look more like Morioka, at least not the way her blue-haired avatar does in the Opening. Morioka thinks that Molly looks like Lily*, while Sakurai and Morioka both are reminded of Yuki from Nante SG. Is it possible that Sakurai subconsciously based parts of Lily's design on Yuki? That would bring the whole thing full circle, though I still think Lily looks more like Sakurai. *I don't see it, myself. Since FdM is a game, they could have copied Lily's facial features exactly and changed her hair color and height. It doesn't seem to be what they did, though. |
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mangamuscle
Posts: 2658 Location: Mexico |
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I know I am a minority, but I am mad at the decision of not having a female voice for koiwai's MMO character.
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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I've been saying this since the first episode when people were comparing her to Tomoko from Watamote. I don't think they are anything alike at all. Morioka is perfectly functional, and her social anxiety is like your's and mine. She is introverted and is exhausted from social interaction. But the vast majority of her interactions in the show have been perfectly reasonable since the very beginning. She is able to talk to people just fine. I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt that aspect of her character was severely overplayed by many fans.
I don't think it insinuates that at all. At least I've never thought that, nor met anyone who did it for that kind of reasoning. It's intended to be simple courtesy, I think. They aren't protecting her from her incompetent self. They are expressing care for her by blocking rocks, dirt, splashes, cars that are driving too close to the shoulder, etc. |
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