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EP. REVIEW: Recovery of an MMO Junkie


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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11340
PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:45 am Reply with quote
Hayashi and Lily
Sitting in a tree
MMORPGing

I love this show already. Her dream? fever induced hallucination? was very clever in how it blended both her feelings about her old life and the setting of her new.

I wonder which one of them will realize the truth first, or if it will be a simultaneous revelation? Or will the store clerk (I'm not sure which of the guild members he is) figure it out first?

(if you know the answers from source material, please don't reply to this at all)
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 9:57 am Reply with quote
Decent start but nothing quite special for me. The story seems like it'll rely massively on coincidence which always stress my suspension of disbelief and make the character feel less human/relatable.

As someone who has played there share of mmo, I can't say that I really feel like this is a good representation of what mmo player are like and how they spend there time. The lack of voice communication seems weird and only in place to keep the suspense alive, but maybe that's just a japan thing. But the way people spend there time in game is very different in the show. Most mmo are about giving people stuff to do so that they can naturally gather around one activity, so when you're just hanging out with an mmo friend, you're not going to go sit on a tree and stare at your screen, you'll just do some very repetitive activity to grind for something, say mine or kill low level enemy. Also if you see someone just staring at something motionless, you just assume that there AFK, not being in deep though.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5421
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 11:13 am Reply with quote
This show has had a very nice start. Episode 2 made the main character even more endearing to me. I like where things are right mow, but I want to see more dramatic, and possibly traumatizing, things about the characters.
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Roxas4ever



Joined: 25 Nov 2006
Posts: 152
PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 11:21 am Reply with quote
meiam wrote:
As someone who has played there share of mmo, I can't say that I really feel like this is a good representation of what mmo player are like and how they spend there time. The lack of voice communication seems weird and only in place to keep the suspense alive, but maybe that's just a japan thing. But the way people spend there time in game is very different in the show. Most mmo are about giving people stuff to do so that they can naturally gather around one activity, so when you're just hanging out with an mmo friend, you're not going to go sit on a tree and stare at your screen, you'll just do some very repetitive activity to grind for something, say mine or kill low level enemy. Also if you see someone just staring at something motionless, you just assume that there AFK, not being in deep though.


It depends what MMO you are playing. I know quite a few people, myself included, who don't hop on the mic for a number of reasons (it interferes with gameplay, you don't want to draw out trolls, you don't want people to know your gender, etc.)

Since this game appeared to have an active "AFK" message system, it's safe to say Lily knew he wasn't "AFK" because his avatar didn't say he was. That being said, I can't really justify the sitting in the tree thing. It's cute, but it doesn't make a ton of sense to do from a roleplaying perspective.
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Grendel8
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 12:19 pm Reply with quote
As of right now, this is one of my favorites this season. Hopefully it keeps moving in the right direction with developing the characters and story.
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michizure



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 177
PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 12:34 pm Reply with quote
Let me start by saying I'm really appreciating the attention to detail in this one. Gamers! was worth re-watching for its comedic timing. This one seems to be very carefully laying the groundwork for what comes later -- not so much foreshadowing, as planting seeds.

Gina Szanboti wrote:
I wonder which one of them will realize the truth first, or if it will be a simultaneous revelation? Or will the store clerk (I'm not sure which of the guild members he is) figure it out first?

Sakurai did take note of the game cash card in Moriko's basket at Christmas, but he doesn't seem to have connected her two appearances yet.

The character designs seem to preserve facial structure between game and real. From the opening and ending, and other clues, I'm guessing that:
* Store clerk is Kanbe -- green hair.
* Lilac is Lailah -- light hair and red dress in the bromide photo in the end credits matches the figure running away in the mirror in the opening. (That would imply that she is not a university student, or at least not just a student.)
* Girl seen through the peephole is Himerlda -- who is either over-the-top campy gay or cross-playing.
* We haven't seen Poko or the old guildmaster in real life.
* Sakurai's annoying friend is not one of the guild members -- he was in the izakaya with Sakurai while the rest were at the fountain in-game.
* The little angel characters in the opening and Moriko's dream were from her previous MMO. The dialogue implies that the other angel was one of her co-workers, or at least knew her in real life. That makes the six-month gap leading up to her dropping out potentially relevant.

I'm probably the only person bothered by the birds at ~07:50 in episode 2. I know it's a game depicted in an anime, but really: which way is the wind supposed to be blowing? Seagulls don't just hover by magic.
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 1:44 pm Reply with quote
Recovery is a nice show about likable characters which is a joy to watch. The animation is somewhat average but so far every other element in this show is either good or great. Lily's surprise appearance at the tree near the end of the second episode was very well done and in general the show has a pleasant sense of comedy to it.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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Location: IL
PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:09 pm Reply with quote
What does "turn her back on her career"mean? Does that mean that she quit her job just so she could play computer games? Has the main character done anything that could be considered remotely productive in order to maintain self-sufficiency? Does she still consider herself to be superior to other NEETs because she has chosen this lifestyle as opposed to those who have social and/or mental disorders that end up as NEETs? I have no idea how I'm supposed to find this character likeable. She's like the exact opposite of the protagonist of Hataraki Man. Now there's a character I could root for.
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Cam0



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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:32 pm Reply with quote
She is kind of dorky in a cute way. So, yeah, I wanna root for her. What I got out of these two episode is that her work really stressed her out or something. She comes home from work and just falls down on her bed dead tired. In the second episode she has like a bad dream. I interpreted it as like office workers jumping down into the corporate meatgrinder, selling their lives and souls for the sake of the company. So that made me think that her life as an office worker was really stressful or something. Don't quote me on any of this, I'm horrible at interpreting anything so take it as you will. Hopefully I at least got somewhere close?

So, no, I didn't get the feeling that she quit her job (or got fired) just to play video games. My feeling is that she hated her job.

Megiddo wrote:
Does she still consider herself to be superior to other NEETs because she has chosen this lifestyle as opposed to those who have social and/or mental disorders that end up as NEETs?


I thought her "elite NEET" thing was just a joke. A self-deprecating kind of joke.
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:52 pm Reply with quote
Roxas4ever wrote:
It depends what MMO you are playing. I know quite a few people, myself included, who don't hop on the mic for a number of reasons (it interferes with gameplay, you don't want to draw out trolls, you don't want people to know your gender, etc.)

Since this game appeared to have an active "AFK" message system, it's safe to say Lily knew he wasn't "AFK" because his avatar didn't say he was. That being said, I can't really justify the sitting in the tree thing. It's cute, but it doesn't make a ton of sense to do from a roleplaying perspective.


Whenever we encountered people who didn't use mic during gameplay we pretty much always assumed they were women, and at higher content level it's pretty much a requirement, they mention that there guild was max level and such, it would be hard to believe they'd do end game content without voice chat.

As far as AFK system, they only work by having the player actively mark themselves as AFK so if someone is just standing there, the assumption is just that there afk but didn't /afk, not that they're pensive.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 2:57 pm Reply with quote
Don't get me wrong. I can fully sympathize with wanting to quit your job. However you need to plan your life for afterwards. Ideally, you already have another job lined up. Having a lot of interviews would help as well. At the very least she needs to be at temp employment agencies. Haven't seen the 2nd episode yet but from the 1st episode she seemed like someone who shirked responsibility and had no plans to be able to make a living. As someone who has been laid off multiple times and spent a long time on the job hunt I cannot support a character that has only played computer games since becoming unemployed.
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aereus



Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Posts: 574
PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:00 pm Reply with quote
I hate when they decide to completely change the name of a series for the English release. Can make it confusing talking with others or making recommendations. Its Erased all over again. (Actual name of the series is Net-juu no Susume)

On a topical note: Its an odd choice to adapt seeing as its from a small online publisher Comico (although they also did Momokuri a few seasons ago from the same site) only had 2 volumes published and I'm told its been on hiatus for 2 years now due to the author's health.

Gov't money involved maybe, trying to get otaku to breed again? Smile

Megiddo: I think you don't understand the mental health issues behind the NEET problem in Japan. Their mental health services are very bad in Japan, so you have people that have severe depression and just basically give up on society and collect unemployment and sequester themselves in their room/apartment for years. In Japan you're considered oddball as a woman if you don't get married by age 25. So being 30, Morioka has probably "given up on life" ... she worked her ass off for 10 years for seemingly nothing in her mindset, so she probably has enough saved up to be a NEET for several years.

The whole point of the series seems to be drawing her out of her shell and getting her to re-engage with people.
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Lord Oink



Joined: 06 Jul 2016
Posts: 876
PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:33 pm Reply with quote
meiam wrote:

As someone who has played there share of mmo, I can't say that I really feel like this is a good representation of what mmo player are like and how they spend there time. The lack of voice communication seems weird and only in place to keep the suspense alive, but maybe that's just a japan thing. But the way people spend there time in game is very different in the show. Most mmo are about giving people stuff to do so that they can naturally gather around one activity, so when you're just hanging out with an mmo friend, you're not going to go sit on a tree and stare at your screen, you'll just do some very repetitive activity to grind for something, say mine or kill low level enemy. Also if you see someone just staring at something motionless, you just assume that there AFK, not being in deep though.


Nah, that's how it is in Japanese MMOs. I've played tons of MMOs starting with EverQuest and currently FF14. The Japanese community is completely different. I've seen tons of Japanese players just hanging around residential districts and houses chatting or taking screenshots of their characters, and dressing up their character. Some just treat it as a virtual chatroom. Closest you get to that in American communities are roleplayers

meiam wrote:
Whenever we encountered people who didn't use mic during gameplay we pretty much always assumed they were women, and at higher content level it's pretty much a requirement, they mention that there guild was max level and such, it would be hard to believe they'd do end game content without voice chat.


That's just an American mindset. We've cleared O4S (hardest endgame raid) within a couple weeks of launch without voice chat. Western MMO players tend to be very elitist and demanding. Use voice chat, link your DPS logs, use a latency program, install quasi-illegal programs like ACT or DBM which overlay how a fight goes and where to stand, dodge, etc, and play on PC with keyboard and mouse because consoles and controllers are for plebs. Meanwhile, most of Japan plays on PS4 with a controller, and thus no add-ons, no voice chat, or combat logs, and the clear rate for total endgame content is curretly 77% Japanese players, and 23% NA and EU.

Basically, what's considered 'mandatory' is just player enforced and arbitrary.
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Megiddo



Joined: 24 Aug 2005
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Location: IL
PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 3:59 pm Reply with quote
aereus wrote:
Megiddo: I think you don't understand the mental health issues behind the NEET problem in Japan. Their mental health services are very bad in Japan, so you have people that have severe depression and just basically give up on society and collect unemployment and sequester themselves in their room/apartment for years.

Yes, and it angered me a good deal when the main character said something like "I'm not like those people". No, she's not like those people. They actually have a reason for enclosing themselves inside their apartments. Whereas she by her own admission has chosen to do nothing but play computer games.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 4:19 pm Reply with quote
Megiddo wrote:
aereus wrote:
Megiddo: I think you don't understand the mental health issues behind the NEET problem in Japan. Their mental health services are very bad in Japan, so you have people that have severe depression and just basically give up on society and collect unemployment and sequester themselves in their room/apartment for years.

Yes, and it angered me a good deal when the main character said something like "I'm not like those people". No, she's not like those people. They actually have a reason for enclosing themselves inside their apartments. Whereas she by her own admission has chosen to do nothing but play computer games.


So what? Maybe she's made enough money to be able to afford taking a break for a while?

Seriously, i don't get why you are so hung up on that aspect of the show. It's not like she's living off your tax money or something like that... Rolling Eyes and after seeing her "dream" in ep.2, i'm pretty sure we'll get an explanation for why she made that decision sooner or later.
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