English Dub Review: My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 “If That Happened, That Would Be…”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Akane visits Yamada’s high school’s school festival, the “Higashinari Festival”, along with the other guild members. Eita and Mr. Kamota stop by to enjoy one of the student-run maid cafes, but Runa, on the other hand, begins to experience intense stomach pains from the pressure she was feeling around taking the entrance exams for this high school the following year. She makes a dash for the restroom, and Akane, feeling concerned for her, stands in front of the restroom to wait for her. Yamada appears before her, and the two end up walking around the school doing some shopping later on. Upon seeing Yamada walking alongside a woman, the surrounding students are causing a ruckus…

Our Take:

This week’s episode sees Akane and her guildmates attending the school’s Higashinari Festival as FOS representatives. Considering that every school-related anime has one of those episodes, it’s unsurprising that My Love Story is the latest to have one. But, of course, it’s not without a problem or two that’ll deteriorate their festive spirit or improve it. For Yamada and Akane, the day at the festival winds up being the latter, as the two continue to get closer.

One of those problems that came close to threatening this perfect day involves Runa feeling pressured to take the entrance exam. I guess the karma from Runa’s prank still lingers around Eita’s young sister. However, it turns out that Runa’s nervousness was due to her hunger, so Akane and Yamada set out to buy food for her. This leads to another situation that results in Akane’s embarrassment, and it involves her and Yamada getting caught in a web of rumors created by every girl in school. Of course, it doesn’t help that Eita has joked about them going on a date since the rumors started to spread. For someone who’s caring yet gullible, Eita can also be pretty stupid regarding how he chooses his words in a bad situation. It wasn’t as hurtful as what Runa did to Akane in episode five, but it’s still pretty despicable for Eita to do that, even if it was intended as a joke.

Regardless, we did get some promising improvements in Akane and Yamada’s friendship in this episode amid the festivities. The most important one is that we see Yamada smile for the first time, showcasing that he’s grown to be more than just an emotionless grouch. He also called Akane by her first name as a neat bonus. So, it seems that being around Akane is continuing to level up Yamada for the better, which is evident considering its rom-com narrative. As for the episode itself, it’s another humorous chapter in this enjoyable RPG love story that upgrades the characters’s relationship in more ways than one.