English Dub Review: My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 “This is Why I Can’t Stand Gamer Guys!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Akane Kinoshita, a university student, was struck with tragedy when her boyfriend Takuma ended their relationship with the words, “I’ve fallen for someone else”. To make things even worse, it seems the other girl he fell for is someone he met through the online game “Forest of Savior (FOS)”, which was a game that Akane also started playing in order to spend more time with Takuma. Unable to hold in her stress, she goes on to relieve her distress onto weak mobs in FOS. Then, YAMADA from the same guild happens to find her. She spills what she had just gone through with her now broken-up boyfriend but has no idea that this is going to change her life drastically.

Our Take:

It’s all fun and games until you get dumped by your lover who shares the same gaming talent as you. Sadly, that’s what Akane experienced when she discovered that her boyfriend Takuma was cheating on her with another gaming girl, Eri. This revelation sends Akane into a spiral of depression and stress, even going as far as to express her rage towards the enemies in “Forest of Savior” and the newest member of her guild codenamed “Yamada”. Of course, she would later meet this “Yamada” in real life when she attended the game’s one-year anniversary event to get even with her ex.

I’ve only heard of this series through images on social media, which seemed like a romance series with some gaming elements added into the mix. After researching the show before viewing this episode, it didn’t take me a second to realize my theory was correct. Since I’ve done some gaming myself, this series seemed to be right up my alley. But, of course, like many other rom-com shows, it all comes down to the series’s first impression via the first episode as to whether it’s good enough to keep on gaming. Spoiler alert: My first impression of it was pretty decent.

Much of the first episode consists of Akane going through a massive breakup, which would’ve made for an annoying appearance from the gamer girl. But, to my surprise, it’s pretty adorable and tragic. Her expressions when she’s sad or naive were admittedly cute, with Abby Trott selling her role of the depressed Akane. Trott is known for voicing Nezuko in Demon Slayer and Eleonore Bianca from The Misfit of Demon King Academy, so it was nice to see her getting more roles based on how she did in her previous works. It’s also hard to believe that a dumbass like Takuma would dump a sweet someone like Akane over a big-lipped woman like Eri. Seriously, her lips were massive.

The remaining episode involving Akane and the emotionless Yamada reminded me of Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion. They both involve a woman having someone pretend to be her lover. However, in this series, Akane did it to make Takuma jealous, which didn’t work out as well as she hoped. Since we’re only one episode in, it’ll take a bit for me to get attached to the chemistry we’re about to endure, especially since Akane woke up from a hangover in Yamada’s apartment.

Overall, it’s a pretty enjoyable start for a romantic comedy series involving online gaming. The English voice cast was suitable so far, including Abby Trott, and the animation by Madhouse was limited yet gorgeously appealing. However, there were a few times when it relied too much on the chibi expressions for comical effect. Other than that, it’s enough for me to get past the first level.