And you thought there is never a girl online?

Episode 8

Netoge has flirted with some serious issues before but usually held firm on getting too weighty. This time around, it does get fully serious about a real and significant modern problem: using phishing to set up account hacking.

As everyone probably expected, Hideki did get his Rusian account hacked. He's quick to catch on though, and also quick to be concerned about what effect this has on Ako. Fortunately, Ako actually does have a brain after all and quickly realizes that she's dealing with someone other than her beloved in Rusian's form. That doesn't entirely undo the traumatic nature of the experience for everyone, though; Ako was unnerved by the creep factor that the imposter imposed on Rusian's character, Hideki is upset about both Ako being exposed to that and losing control of a beloved character (although the writing does take pains to point out that the latter is only his secondary concern compared to the former), and Kyo tries to take at least some of the blame by being the one who suggested this hotel and thus left them vulnerable to using a public computer. Friends do rally to help Hideki track down Rusian's stuff once he learns that it's been sold off though, and Hideki comes up with a scheme to catch the perpetrator when it becomes clear that tracking down the perp is going to be tricky since he's using a different IP when running his scams. Then Ako is thrown for a loop when she's informed that Hideki losing control of Rusian is functionally equivalent to a divorce, since the marriage ring got discarded.

At the heart of the matter is phishing, which is such a real problem in the Internet era that I see a serious attempt make it through my spam filters a few times every year. The one Hideki encounters is perhaps a little more sophisticated than the typical “we've changed security standards, so please verify your information on this official-looking page” scam I normally see, as it was set up on a public computer to temporarily replace the normal login screen for Legendary Age. Those are the scariest ones, since if you're not paying careful attention to the Web address, you might not pick up on it. Given the limitations of a 24-minute episode, the series does a pretty good job of analyzing the issue and its impact on the victims, even if the economic impact is limited. The villainous phisher seems a bit over-the-top (really, what's with the pretense of using chopsticks to eat chips?), but Rusian's thoroughness and dedication in setting up the baddie trap is impressive, as is the way he keeps Ako in mind throughout; he does seem genuine about being irked more by the way the imposter treated Ako than anything else. The parts showing the creep as Rusian make some great musical choices too.

The main point of the episode is Net security though, and in that regard, the episode is a veritable object lesson.

Rating: B

And you thought there is never a girl online? is currently streaming on Funimation.