English Dub Review: My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 “In the Morning When I Wake Up”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
After impulsively spilling her feelings to Yamada, Tsubaki asks him to meet once again. Although she is aware that Yamada has feelings for someone else, she tries to tell him all the feelings she has been carrying for him through her student life. Upon hearing her feelings, Yamada says…
All the while, Akane was eating Yakiniku in an offline meetup with the guild members. Although she knew Yamada was going to join them afterward, she ended up drinking much more than she had planned in order to ease her nervousness. By the time Yamada arrived, she was completely wasted, but without a complaint, Yamada stays by her side. Then, after Akane has sobered up, what Yamada does is…

Our Take:
Tsubaki may have confessed her love first, but as we can see, Yamada still feels conflicted after that incident, meaning the race for love is still active. Of course, things got even more interesting when Yamada and Tsubaki met again at the end of the previous episode. We now see in the season finale that this meeting is for Tsubaki to list a thousand reasons why she likes Yamada. However, that’s not the only thing that happened during their latest encounter. We’ve seen Yamada gradually developing feelings for Akane throughout the last few episodes, yet he still struggles to admit it due to his past. That is until this episode, where he finally comes to terms with his feelings toward Akane. But, of course, it comes with the cost of rejecting Tsubaki’s confession, much to Tsubaki’s disappointment and eventually relief that she found the courage to tell him her feelings.
Yamada then further admits his feelings when he takes a cheerfully drunk Akane to her apartment, solidifying the next step of their relationship. Of course, he has to tell Akane he likes her again when she gets sobered up. It all comes back full circle with Yamada taking care of a wasted Akane, which is how we know they’re made for each other. I knew that Yamada would confess to Akane before the season ended, and I wasn’t surprised that he found the courage to do so in the season finale.
Regardless, it’s still a satisfyingly heartwarming conclusion to the characters’ healing process that began with their first encounter in FOS. Sure, Yamada is younger than Akane, but if they can make their relationship work throughout this season, I’m sure they can do it again in the next chapter of their lives. As for the show itself, it doesn’t blow me out of the water with its narrative, but it was delightful enough for me to eagerly wait for a possible season two.