English Dub Review: My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 “It’s Almost Time For the Boss to Spawn so…”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Akane, who attended the FOS offline event, coincidentally finds YAMADA there. At the same time, however, she runs into her ex-boyfriend (along with his now-girlfriend) and impulsively blurts out that Yamada is her new boyfriend. To amend the trouble she put Yamada through, she takes him to an izakaya, where she then ends up becoming completely wasted. Yamada is left with no choice but to care for her at his home, where he relieves her, but she also loses her treasured necklace there… In search of her lost accessory, Akane enters the guild hall and happens to see Yamada. However, not only is she treated coldly by him, but he also harshly reprimands the way she is using the guild storage space.

Our Take:

First impressions can often result in misunderstandings, with this scenario being one of them. As seen in the previous episode, Akane recovered from her hangover and woke up in Yamada’s apartment. This resulted in her accusing Yamada of having sex with her, but Yamada actually let her sleep while he was playing his game. It’s always essential to clear up misunderstandings fast before they go south. But, of course, that’s the least of Akane’s problems.

For starters, Akane accidentally lost her necklace, which was her first gift from her ex-boyfriend. Yamada eventually finds the necklace in his apartment but ends up accidentally stepping on it. Considering the situation, this signifies that Akane should seriously move on from that jerk, and by “jerk”, I mean Takuma. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done when Yamada returned the broken necklace to her.

The second episode of My Love Story didn’t take us too long to learn more about the two gamers before they became more than gaming buddies. Aside from being a professional gamer, Yamada is also a high school senior, which Akane found out after seeing him rejecting a classmate’s confession. However, Akane has the most interesting development in the episode, in which she has a case of compulsive hoarding. Akane has been storing up a bunch of unneeded junk in the guild’s storage box in FOS, upsetting Yamada. Not only that, but she’s also been keeping many treasures in real life, as she received her childhood belongings from her mother.

These elements progressed Akane’s development by having her be “selective”, as Yamada suggested. This allowed her to move on from her breakup with Takuma and get rid of everything she didn’t need except her teddy bear. With Yamada unintentionally giving Akane some advice, the emotionless gamer may have a heart within his cold shell, especially toward Akane. The compulsive hoarding element seems like a one-and-done deal in this episode, but it compensates for Akane’s humorous reactions to getting her belongings shipped.

Overall, the second episode leveled up the show’s enjoy-ability skill regarding the rom-com genre and characters. Akane still proves to be a likable character due to her naive personality and cartoony reactions. More importantly, the presentation continues to take advantage of its concept through its animation and metaphorical gags, including the beer displays. But the most amusing visual gag was Akane getting damaged by Momo’s comments about her not moving on from her breakup. Considering that the series revolves around a video game, it’s fitting to have Akane’s life be similar to the game she’s playing. If the remaining episodes are as good as this, we could be looking at another victory for the genre.