English Dub Review: Gamers! Gamers and Wipeout “Game Over”

Misunderstandings are at critical! What can resolve this? MORE misunderstandings of course.

Wasn’t this show supposed to be about gamers? I ask that knowing that an immediate response to it would be “gamers are more than just the games they play” which is painfully true. I ask this question however not to slight the show for lacking its gaming element. The show very clearly keeps the gaming aspect consistent. I sleight it because the rom-com aspect is going full overboard into the unrealistic.

OVERVIEW

The episode is just the continued misunderstandings of all the characters and it is just dull. It’s the continuation of Uehara and Aguri’s relationship and whether or not Uehara is cheating on her. The continued puppet master planning of Uehara holding back information so Keita can be surprised by his true connection with Chiaki and his romance with Karen. And finally, it’s the absurd continuation of Keita figuring out how that darn ol’ human interaction works and how he can make a “friend request” to Karen. Any and all problems in these misunderstandings can be solved in one fell swoop by doing just one thing. Talk.

If these characters actually and realistically talked to one another then this ball of forced misunderstandings wouldn’t be an issue. However, the series is almost afraid to have that natural interconnectivity of the characters so barriers are put up between them. Like Uehara has the most connections to all the main characters and can freely talk to them all but chooses not to talk to Aguri because of… reasons I’m sure. Chiaki and Keita, by contrast, have placed up barriers between each other, both consider Karen too good to ever be friends with and Uehara a close friend they can rely on.

It’s as though the complexity of their relationships is made that much more complex by allowing the show to never follow through on emotions. Wanting to instead bide its time until a handful of episodes later where it can then bide more time until the next handful of episodes. Also, Keita’s character trait of being so disconnected from human relationships he compares them to games in this episode in particular really highlights how pathetic he is. Much like Junichi in My First Girlfriend is a Gal this bystander mentality on how to approach relationships becomes so aggravating to witness. It isn’t watching a character grow actively trying to grow as a person but just them waiting for their media of choice to cough up the answer at them. Especially in Keita’s case, I almost gagged when he came to his insultingly obvious realization while playing his game. I’m sorry but there just comes a point where social awkwardness is no longer a charming factor and it becomes full blown ignorance and if that isn’t addressed by the show itself it makes the character come across worst.

OUR TAKE

Gamers! becomes the narrative equivalent of waiting in a line, waiting for when the story will get off its butt to show the next engaging relationship step of these characters. They clearly have the dynamics to make for interesting conflict. Karen’s character alone bounced beautifully off Keita in her episode to make it a joy to watch. As long as the show wallows in being just this continued simmering of the exact same character conflicts without any of the characters taking an active role to actually talk and remedy them or change the dynamic than it really is just GAME OVER!