My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999

Episode 5

Akane is trying. She acknowledges late in this week's episode how disastrous her romantic efforts have been while feeling more confident cultivating friendships with other girls like Runa. Given that Runa is an actual child, and acting out as one, it already says something for Akane's growth to see her genuinely trying to reach the girl even as she tries to gaslight, gatekeep, and girl boss our heroine out of the guild. It's probably for the best since we saw Akane trying to be vindictive at the beginning of this show, and look how that turned out for her. Compared to the unhealthy, self-sacrificing kindness she made a point of foisting onto Yamada in last week's episode, maybe this more simple, open effort towards Runa is indicative of how she can get on with others.

It takes a bit to get there, of course, not particularly helped by Runa's date-ditch scheme we got an inkling she was setting up in the previous episode. This is another case where it might be prudent to take Runa's age into account. She seems to genuinely think the worst that would happen is that Akane would wind up annoyed by the cyber-stalker she set her up with, while older guys like Yamada and Eita immediately recognize the real, potential danger of the situation. It's a hard lesson for Runa to learn this way, and she does seem to actually take it To Heart when she catches sight of Akane's bandaged leg. She didn't actually mean for her to wind up physically hurt when she was just trying to inflict psychological damage. It's that moment, more than any potential lecture from her brother, that seems to help Runa realize why what she did was wrong and reflects that earnest connection between the girls is the best way to heal this petty, jealous gap between them, more than any conventional punishment.

The actual source of Runa's issues does seem to be something Yamada-kun at Lv999 is rolling back on, or at least clarifying differently than what they'd previously hinted at. The fully disclosed deal in this episode is that Runa has an attachment to all the members of the guild, seeming to see herself as a cared-for little sister, frustrated that some of that attention might be getting taken away with Akane's entry. She does still seem to be harboring a precocious crush on Yamada, but the possibility of a love triangle over him between her and Akane doesn't seem to be the primary inciting issue of her attacks. That's probably for the best, if only because not visibly competing with a middle-schooler over the affections of a high-schooler makes Akane look a little less pathetic. Granted, that sort of plotline could absolutely still come to pass. But it makes the actually discussed issue in this episode a better look overall.

It's also easy to understand why Runa (and Akane) would have this kind of appreciation for the guildies since they're all clearly such good guys. We all deserve to know someone like Kamota, who even as a blubbering mess will speed to our rescue in a pastel-pink strawberry van and threaten litigation on our behalf. Yamada and Eita are similarly appreciable in seeing how they know how immediately they have to go find Akane. Being that the dude Runa set Akane up with is apparently a long-time obsessive online fan of Eita's Rurihime avatar, one has to wonder how much experience Eita already has in dealing with this sort of unhinged behavior.

That undesirable date between Akane and the fervorous fanboy is the center of this episode's conflict and tension, and it absolutely succeeds at selling that sort of stressful encounter. This is another one where the direction is thoroughly on-point, framing things like Akane's retreat into the ladies' room in the appropriately askew isolation of this awful situation. They even dial things up into near full-on horror vibes as the guy's complete lack of social graces compels him to follow Akane into the restroom, ominously knocking on the stall door, palpably communicating the trapped terror Akane deals with. It becomes apparent as the episode goes on that in spite of everyone's understandable concerns, the guy probably didn't pose any threat to Akane other than just bothering her. But it still has to communicate the inherent issues understood by Akane and the others racing to find her that come from winding up with this kind of rando, and that's something it's successful at.

It all makes for an episode that's a bit different from what we've gotten so far from Yamada-kun at Lv999. There's less of that comedy borne out of Akane's disaster-human tendencies and a more serious presentation of the kinds of situations her entry into this new sort of friend circle might land her in. It also gives her something of a win, showing how Akane's capacity for friendship lets her come out of the mess with her, Runa, and the others, having worked things out for the better. It really is a complete counterpoint to her romance-related revenge efforts that failed so hard at the outset of the series, as we see how turning the tables on someone using kindness, and reaching genuinely for friendship is a much better fit for her. To hear her tell it at the end of this episode, Akane herself seems to be figuring out that those should be her priorities as well.

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My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Chris is keeping busy keeping up with the new anime season and is excited to have you along. You can also find him writing about other stuff over on his blog, as well as spamming fanart retweets on his Twitter, for however much longer that lasts.