Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999
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L'Imperatore
 Posts: 941 |
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I initially only got to this show only because I thought the characters looked straight out of Chihayafuru, which I like. Turns out, both share the same character designer (heck, this show reunites him with the director). Heh, the more you know.
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MFrontier
Posts: 14182 |
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It is pretty refreshing in a world of standard, idealized, or "perfect' female lead that we get someone like Akane who is such a hot mess but in such a way that you can't help but like and root for her, and how her growing closer to Yamada effects and changes the both of them. That the visuals, voice acting, and overall presentation are so great also make the show a treat to watch.
And after watching romance shows where it was an older guy and a younger girl, it's kind of neat to have it be the opposite here. |
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KitKat1721
 Posts: 976 |
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Much like Skip & Loafer, this was another series I had an eye on due to hearing good things + the team working on it (Director Morio Asaka has quite the shojo/josei resume with series like Cardcaptor Sakura + Clear Card, Nana, Chihayafuru, My Love Story, etc...). While this seems much more like a straightforward rom-com in comparison, I'm enjoying it no less!
Despite being introduced to our lead Akane at a low point, she just seems like a sweet person with just as many relatable moments as "ohhh no girl" incidents. Yamada is a bit more of a cipher, but I think Ep 3 (the stinger in particular) sold me on a guy who has the potential to understand others and be intuitive despite what he says, but doesn't always know exactly what to say or do in said situation - leading to an often more blunt approach. Looking forward to their relationship bulding, but also Akane with her guild group. Obviously we'll have to wait to get more about the unnamed young girl or the dude hiding behind the plant lol, but I already like how cheerful and considerate Rurihime/the blonde glasses guy is. This is also a really small thing, but I appreciate that it seems like we'll cover the gambit of nerds/MMO players - young vs old, shy vs outgoing, "stereotypical" vs not, etc... instead of everyone being fairly similar outside the two leads. Makes it feel much more realistic and leaves more room for different jokes and episode set-ups.
I'll be completely honest, this barely even registered to me in the slightest, there's like... a two year gap max lmao. I wouldn't even expect it to get brought up again beyond bringing up relationship experience in general. |
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ThrowMeOut
Posts: 265 |
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There sure is a trend of (straight) love stories about guys romancing girls that are older and/or bigger than him. I like it, because the girls are generally more mature and interesting, but I wonder what kicked it off? Rejection of the moe girl?
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b-dragon
Posts: 500 |
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I'm generally not too harsh on age differences in relationships- I view it as a symptom more than anything objectionable in its own right. Provided that the power and maturity difference is fairly minimal- and here that seems to be the case- then I don't see grounds to complain.
I do expect it to get brought up in the narrative-maybe as Akane worries about what her friends will say. But I doubt it'll go much further. |
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spacedin
Posts: 44 |
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That totally doesn't exist. Hasn't in ages. Even if you get past literally have an entire subgenre of isekai villainesses right now. In shonen, the female lead is often either a violent tsundere or a boorish tomboy. Shoujo and josei have had flawed heroines since at least the 1990s. Usagi in Sailor Moon? Lazy, glutton, immature, irresponsible, dumb, jealous, hypocritical etc. These days Tohru Honda types are either deconstructions or side characters. |
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KitKat1721
Posts: 976 |
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I know we're only four episodes in and it's 100% a generalization for the most part, but it is really interesting seeing the disparity of takes on Akane's character between male and female viewers/reviewers. Stuff like taking Akane's shock over Eita playing as a female-character ("why is she so upset and weirded out" vs "she's mainly embarrassed that she opened up about her love life and shared some girl talk"), the way people talk about her immaturity or character flaws (dismissive language vs more allowance/understanding), the non-consequential "age gap" between an 18 and 20-year old (but that's not new and elements like that in shojo are always judged by a different set of standards than their male-demographic counterparts. I don't even think it's particularly unique to men talking about shojo as much as unique to discussions surrounding female-targeted media in general). This is the first time I've seen that rationalization and takeaway over Akane wanting to bring a friend some home-cooked food though haha
I can't say I'm super interested tuning in each week to hear about how terrible Akane is as a person, or that anytime she does something nice there's really some 4D chess going on about how it really just highlights how much of a mess she is - but we're also only like... two weeks into reviews so it'd be pretty ridiculous to make a judgement so early. I'm really curious what's going on with Runa. I honestly can't get a good grasp on what her age is (I'm going to guess middle school?), or where exactly her jealously lies. Given how snarky she is towards her brother I don't think it's that kind of complex (thank god), but I feel like if she had a crush on Yamada it would be way more obvious. Going to assume it's more that another woman is being included in her small, close-knit group since that seems like a more reasonable reaction. I will say just deliberately standing someone up does not seem like a nearly diabolical enough plot for a teenager, but maybe she's testing the waters and this is just phase one. Side note: Out of everyone in the group I would 100% be the person in the guild who just wants to grind or farm (potentially literally if there are farming mechanics vs just farming for resources) all session long after work hours, so I get him haha |
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Cryten
 Posts: 1159 |
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I wonder IF the author wants Akane to grow up or not. There are still a lot of ideals floating around mainstream culture Japan that places women needing to rely on men as a good and natural thing. I have seen shows with strong independent ladies flounder in Japan such as Good Luck Girl. But I may be reading too much into that.
Regardless I am unsure if we shall go the route of Self Actualisation or Learning Through Love. As that all depends on the authors own desires and emotional intelligence. It would be a very grown up thing for her to realise she shouldn't try to have a relationship with Yamada. But likely unsatisfying to many teenage readers unless handled very well. I wonder what the age gap is as the two other people we have seen as potential or ex partners both seemed to be barely out of school. One thing I do not get at the moment is how come Akane is in this guild and not in her ex-boyfriends guild. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 14182 |
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My takeaway is that Runa doesn't have a lot of friends because of her personality, so she's very protective of the gaming group and doesn't like anyone trying to work their way into it. Notice she seemed just as, if not more, upset thinking Akane was also after her brother so I don't think it's 100% just Yamada. That being said though, I hope she doesn't screw over Akane too much and Akane is able to get through to her with her sincerity. Especially when things are progressing well between Akane and Yamada (even if Akane won't admit to her feelings yet, for believable reasons). |
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KitKat1721
Posts: 976 |
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Yeah while we haven't her much beyond this specific situation (Eita did say this is recently typical behavior), it wouldn't surprise me if she had trouble making friends at school. Even if she didn't have that issue, I could see her being protective over the guild group, but something like that could amplify it easily. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 14182 |
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That scene in the ladies room was super tense. There's not an episode that goes by where I don't feel a little bad about Akane.
I know there are some who will probably think Runa got off too easy, especially from Akane, especially because of how badly this could have gone...but Eita, her brother, took it seriously and scolded her but from Akane's perspective she saw Runa was genuinely concerned about her injury and seemed to recognize she was just a kid who didn't know any better. So Akane's priority was still trying to get along with her and leaving the punishment to Eita, which I think made sense. And Akane's kindness seems to have made Yamada even more charmed by her. |
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KitKat1721
Posts: 976 |
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Kamota really was the MVP this week, I need an episode (or at least a post-credits scene) where the whole group goes out and just picks strawberries on his farm haha
I've seen some division over how Akane reacted to Runa's actions just skimming through the CR comments and elsewhere, but I agree with the review here that her response was fine and better for everyone in the long-run. Middle schoolers don't always think of the more serious consequences in the moment, and given that Eita's reaction seemingly covering the bases (i.e. how dangerous that could have been), it's probably better to leave the lecturing to her family. I think it says a lot that she also gave Runa a safe space to open up a bit and apologize without everyone there. |
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Azure Chrysanthemum
Posts: 145 |
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I absolutely adore Kamota, 100% best dad boy I love him.
I honestly really liked how the episode also portrayed Eita's silent fury. He held it in well but his body language made it very clear that he understood how dangerous it was, he was clearly concerned over the situation in general (likely due to prior experience with weird stalker guy), and while he was focused on confirming Akane's safety definitely gave the impression he was also composing an absolutely incredible lecture. I do think Akane's treatment of Runa following the incident was appropriate, taking the softer touch makes sense when she can clearly see and understand some of what Runa was going through. And I think Runa needed all of that, the warm forgiveness and the upbraiding over how badly she messed up because oh boy did she mess up. That bathroom scene spiked my anxiety so hard. |
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Thesarum
 SubscriberPosts: 540 |
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Totally agree. Yelling more wouldn't do anything other than reinforce the rift, and it's generally best to let family handle discipline (and Eita had made it clear he intended to). And Yamada, who she clearly has a soft spot for even if it isn't proper romantic pursuit. She idolises him. And while he doesn't say a lot, what is does say and his body language makes it very clear to Runa that he is pissed and disappointed (and really, what can possibly sting more than the disappointment of your idol?). More than anything I think it's Yamada's reaction that drives home to Runa that she's messed up. Akane sees her confused and conflicted remorse and the flash of genuine concern, and recognises there is a path to a better relationship if she continues to try to reach out (also, props to Yamada for planting that seed too). |
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MFrontier
Posts: 14182 |
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Runa being friends with Akane and having her as like an older sister figure makes her 100x more likeable and cuter. Maybe Akane can help her open up more to her classmates.
The irony that now Momo is whining about her love life to Akane who is too busy to listen. Of course something always has to go wrong for Akane...like her PC frying because of an update on FoS now that she's been seriously gaming with it. Though it did bring Yamada to her apartment so...a win? When your wingwoman is a middle-schooler whose only frame of reference for helping push people together is old romcom cliche's. Yamda seems to be falling hard for Akane to the point he doesn't know what to do with his physical attraction towards her. Akane herself seems on cloud 9 whenever Yamada is around her or involved, but I feel like she's trying not to think that she might look at him romantically. |
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