Net-juu no Susume | It wasn’t worth it.

I love how I mentioned that Net-juu no Susume would be an easy anime to watch because it’s only ten episodes. *proceeds to stop watching for a couple of weeks only to binge the whole thing in one sitting*. Here I am, ready to give you my thoughts on Net-juu no Susume as a whole

For the first time since graduating high school, 30-year-old Moriko Morioka is unemployed—and she couldn’t be happier. Having quit her long-standing job of over 11 years, Moriko quickly turns to online games to pass her now-plentiful free time, reinventing herself as the handsome and dashing male hero “Hayashi” in the MMO Fruits de Mer. With the pesky societal obligations of the real world out of the way, she blissfully dives headfirst into the realm of the game, where she promptly meets the kind and adorable healer Lily. Befriending each other almost instantly, the two become inseparable just as Moriko herself becomes more and more engrossed in her new “life” as Hayashi. Eventually, Moriko adopts the reclusive lifestyle in its entirety, venturing out from the safety of her apartment only when absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Moriko, a timid 28-year-old corporate worker named Yuuta Sakurai has also logged onto Fruits de Mer from the other side of town. Coincidentally bumping into each other at the convenience store one night, both write off their meeting as no more than just another awkward encounter with a stranger—however, fate has more in store for them than they think.

Net-juu no Susume, MyAnimeList

For an anime that runs for a total of eleven episodes (ten episode anime + OVA which acted as episode eleven). The character development is pretty poor. Like, I do not know how to describe Net-juu no Susume and its choice in characters. I find that they are too similar and fear the same things, it’s because of this that whenever our characters find themselves in scenarios when it’s just them. Instead of one complimenting the other, they in a way conflict with each other making the whole situation a lot more awkward than it needs to be.

I’ve mentioned many, many times before opposites attract. In this case, they’re repelling each other and its annoying. I guess that’s what happens when you have two individuals who are so comfortable sitting behind screens that when it comes to real life, they falter hard. I think that this applies to our world as well because we’re so used to and comfortable sitting behind screens that it almost gives us a sense of invulnerability.

I guess part of the intrigue with this anime is that is resembles real life very well. Like, people spending countless hours on games, having that confidence in game but not outside of it, not being able to properly interact with people outside of the games you play. That inner introvert taking hold and never letting go.

Watching all that play out in an anime felt very boring. But I guess that is a reflection on us because I would assume to an outsider looking, I assume that they would think the same thing about all of us who share a similar life to that of Moriko.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t like this anime as much as I thought I would. Maybe it’s because I see myself in Yuuta and Moriko’s shoes. I’m thinking “no way this cannot be me right?” when it really is you. But anyway, that’s enough of that.

Despite what is a deeper meaning to the anime, everything about it from head-to-toe is very average or just below average. It’s a very slow paced anime for being 10+1 episodes. You see more progression out of Yuuta and Moriko’s in-game characters than in real life and that did frustrate me a bit. I found myself asking “Why not in real life?”. It was like watching our characters stay complacent because no matter how far Yuuta and Moriko’s in-game characters got, it never translated to the real world and that was just frustrating to watch.

Maybe if the anime took a more balanced approach, maybe I would’ve enjoyed it a little bit more. But alas, as this anime is several years old now, I cannot go back and change it. I’m stuck with what I got. In my opinion, Net-juu no Susume wasn’t worth it.