What’s up Gamers? Jon Here with Another Review!
Since I’ve been rewatching School Days for #AniTwitWatches, I thought it might be fun to look at another show that focuses on relationship drama and misunderstandings. Unlike School Days, however, this one is more comedy focused and a lot less… well, intense. I actually started this in Summer 2017 when it was airing but shelved it for whatever reason. Looking back, I can see why…
Gamers! has heart, and at times, it is a pretty good watch. The opening episode is really well done, when a joke lands, it really lands, plus the idea of misunderstandings taken to bonkers extremes is a fun idea. Unfortunately, the execution is clumsy, repetitive, and sometimes even a bit frustrating.
The initial appeal to this show is the same as it is for School Days for me. Gamers! starts off with a simple boy-meets-girl scenario and then spirals to a ridiculous love polygon that exceeds the standard triangle. While the viewer can clearly see how things should shake out, shenanigans ensue and things go a bit sideways.

However, that’s as far as my comparison to School Days can really go. After a few episodes, Gamers! has a hard time keeping up with itself. The drama is artificial, propped up mainly because the runtime demands it, and not much else. This isn’t to say I didn’t have fun with the show, but when it was finally all said and done, I was a bit disappointed.
Perhaps the biggest reason for this is by time the conclusion of the series comes at episode 11, I didn’t feel like anything was resolved. Obviously Hoshinomori makes her decision here, which should be a big moment, but it lacks impact. This is not helped by the final 12th episode where the show does a fanservice gag OVA, even though it is part of the show proper and not an OVA.
I haven’t read the light novels this anime is based on, but it feels like this was a pretty clumsy adaption. Not in that the events aren’t logically ordered or anything like that, but that there wasn’t enough to fill the 12 episodes it received. It’s a bit difficult to explain, but the experience feels off as a result.
Let me give you an example of one of these things so maybe you can see what I mean a bit better. At one point the relationship drama gets out of hand but the characters sit down and get everything all sorted, we are all on the same page again. Well, then the show just decides, NOPE, and resets it all. There’s logic to it, but it feels more contrived, like an excuse to keep the show going, and less like a thing that needs to happen to make the story fun.
Finally, my lasts negative is actually in the dialog. The characters use a lot of nerdy lingo, shoehorning in references to video games and the like as much as possible. Sometimes this is fine, but most of the time it feels forced and unnatural. It’s not like a one-off remark once a conversation, sometimes these can make up almost the entire conversation. People just don’t talk like this, even really passionate nerds. I know, shocking.
Putting those aside, the show still has some nice things to offer. When the main character, Amano speaks passionately about video games, that’s where Gamers! shines brightest. There’s a clear message about passion in this series and why people like video games as much as they do, but the drama/comedy stuff gets in the way.
Another great moment for the show is the episode where they play a spoof of the board game, “Life”. It’s kind of like a recap episode that still advances the plot. The jokes are mostly funny and that kind of creativity is nice to see. In a way, I’d almost recommend the show just for this, but it isn’t quite that good.
Otherwise I suppose the show offers some genuine relationship advice. Had I been younger when watching this, in high school or something, then this may have managed to be more relatable. I’m at a point where this advice isn’t helpful, it’s stuff I know or have learned through trial already. Kind of a, “take this point as you will” sort of deal.
That’s really it for this review of Gamers!. I wanted to like this one more than I did, but sometimes that’s just how things shake out. At least I still have School Days, so I supposed I can’t complain too much. If you were on the fence about this one, I’d say you could do worse but I wouldn’t rush to get it watched either.
What did you think of Gamers!? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to support my work, you can do so by utilizing either of my donation buttons below. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you again soon!
Looks quirky like a video game version of Otaku No Video or Comic Party, but I guess not everything clicked as well as it could.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not sure I’d give this that much credit but then again, I haven’t seen those other titles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fair enough. I was wondering since I don’t know too many series that involve making games.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, you misunderstand then, this isn’t about making games at all. It’s more about passion behind your hobbies and the troupe of misunderstandings in romance anime.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry about that. I was on cruise control with the metafiction aspect of Otaku No Video and Comic Party. I meant to say that the concept of liking video games as a hobby is a rare subject in anime or other forms of media.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, got ya. That’s true, though there are better shows if you want to see an anime more about gaming (for example, High Score Girl comes to mind).
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s good to know. I’ve heard of that High Score Girl series.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haven’t seen it myself but let me know if you give it a look 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Will do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds a hit or miss anime. I remember people really loving this back in 2017. I’ve just started playing video games again after soo long so might give this a watch simply because of that 😆
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I know a lot of folks loved it, so I may just be the minority here lol. Glad to hear you enjoying a hobby again though 🙂 Let me know if you give this a watch as a result.
LikeLike