Disclaimer: This is only for the anime. I have not read the manga.
You might not think that a short anime series could run into pacing problems, at least not when it comes to dragging the story out, as opposed to rushing it. Recovery of an MMO Junkie proves otherwise, and is a cautionary tale that goes to show the importance of good pacing.
The story is about a young woman named Moriko who falls in love with a guy named Yuta, whom she meets on an MMO, Fruits de Mer. Unfortunately, it's a bit more complicated than it seems; Moriko plays a guy named Hayashi, while Yuta plays a girl named Lily, resulting in no small amount of confusion as to who the other really is.
The idea is decent, and could have been pulled off well if it had been kept to the first couple episodes. Unfortunately, this series lasts only ten episodes, and it takes eight for Yuta and Moriko to come clean about their alter egos in real life. Their inability to communicate with each other grows frustrating before long, and while they do have good chemistry when they are able to talk, the payoff is delayed so long it hardly feels worth it. It doesn't help that most of the progress that Yuta and Moriko make is either due to Contrived Coincidence, or the outside interference of their mutual acquaintance Koiwai.
That said, the two leads are fairly interesting despite their difficulty communicating, since they have charming and likeable personalities and interesting backstories (which, admittedly, could have been explored in more detail). Unfortunately, Koiwai comes off as rather obnoxious, and the rest of the cast is quite forgettable. It's fairly telling that when Nico is introduced in Episode 7, the story acts as though she's been there all along.
Fruits de Mer's gameplay element often comes off as poorly thought-out, and little more than an excuse for the two leads to meet, since there's a lot of Fridge Logic. For example, characters level at seemingly arbitrary rates, characters with vastly different levels group together with no EXP penalties and parties often consist of only two people rather than a balanced composition (e.g. WoW's tank, healer and 3 DPS), among others. That being said, I heard that the manga goes into the game mechanics in a bit more detail.
Speaking of the manga, it is unlikely to have any sort of satisfactory conclusion considering that the series ended because of the author's declining health, essentially precluding a second season to the anime. This is unfortunate, since it might have been nice to see how the leads' relationship progresses after they manage to cut through the awkwardness and get together (the fact that they do isn't really a spoiler). The series isn't necessarily bad, but it ended too soon, just as it was seemingly getting to the best part, so I can't recommend it.
Manga Reaches Arc Fatigue in record time
Disclaimer: This is only for the anime. I have not read the manga.
You might not think that a short anime series could run into pacing problems, at least not when it comes to dragging the story out, as opposed to rushing it. Recovery of an MMO Junkie proves otherwise, and is a cautionary tale that goes to show the importance of good pacing.
The story is about a young woman named Moriko who falls in love with a guy named Yuta, whom she meets on an MMO, Fruits de Mer. Unfortunately, it's a bit more complicated than it seems; Moriko plays a guy named Hayashi, while Yuta plays a girl named Lily, resulting in no small amount of confusion as to who the other really is.
The idea is decent, and could have been pulled off well if it had been kept to the first couple episodes. Unfortunately, this series lasts only ten episodes, and it takes eight for Yuta and Moriko to come clean about their alter egos in real life. Their inability to communicate with each other grows frustrating before long, and while they do have good chemistry when they are able to talk, the payoff is delayed so long it hardly feels worth it. It doesn't help that most of the progress that Yuta and Moriko make is either due to Contrived Coincidence, or the outside interference of their mutual acquaintance Koiwai.
That said, the two leads are fairly interesting despite their difficulty communicating, since they have charming and likeable personalities and interesting backstories (which, admittedly, could have been explored in more detail). Unfortunately, Koiwai comes off as rather obnoxious, and the rest of the cast is quite forgettable. It's fairly telling that when Nico is introduced in Episode 7, the story acts as though she's been there all along.
Fruits de Mer's gameplay element often comes off as poorly thought-out, and little more than an excuse for the two leads to meet, since there's a lot of Fridge Logic. For example, characters level at seemingly arbitrary rates, characters with vastly different levels group together with no EXP penalties and parties often consist of only two people rather than a balanced composition (e.g. WoW's tank, healer and 3 DPS), among others. That being said, I heard that the manga goes into the game mechanics in a bit more detail.
Speaking of the manga, it is unlikely to have any sort of satisfactory conclusion considering that the series ended because of the author's declining health, essentially precluding a second season to the anime. This is unfortunate, since it might have been nice to see how the leads' relationship progresses after they manage to cut through the awkwardness and get together (the fact that they do isn't really a spoiler). The series isn't necessarily bad, but it ended too soon, just as it was seemingly getting to the best part, so I can't recommend it.