OP: “Gradation feat. Kitazawa Yuuho” (ぐらでーしょん feat. 北澤ゆうほ) by KANA-BOON

Yes, this is definitely one of those anime days I haven’t seen in a very long time.  Having already spat out an important sequel, my top manga adaptation in years, and what would have been my highest expectations series in most seasons, it gives us my top sleeper pick of the season.  It may be a stretch to call a show directed by Asaka Morio a sleeper, but Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi o Suru is a manga I know little about.  And it seems to be pretty under the radar, based on how little I’ve seen people talking about it (in English at least).

Yamada-kun checks off a couple more romcom boxes in a season that ticks most of them.  These are relatively rare ones in anime these days, college and shoujo.  The college part comes in the form of the heroine, Kinoshita Akane (Inase Minori).  As we meet her she’s in a family restaurant about to be dumped by her gamer boyfriend Takuma.  To rub salt in the wound, he’s dumping her for a girl he met in the MMORPG he introduced Akane to, “Forest of Savior“.  That Akane takes it as badly as she does is more of a reflection of the sort of person she is than any specific attachment to said boyfriend, I suspect.

It seems as if Akane wasn’t much of a gamer before she met Takuma.  In fact she still isn’t.  When she jumps into F.O.S. after being dumped it’s mainly to blow off steam by massacring innocent forest creatures.  While there she runs into a member of her guild, a wizard who goes by the name Yamada.  Yamada is a man of few words, and isn’t particularly moved by Akane’s sob story or her burst of anger when he asks her to vacate the hunting ground so he can search for a rare item.   That would seem to be that, but fate has other ideas for this pair…

When Akane decides to go to a real-life meetup for the game’s anniversary  – springing for a new outfit and haircut in the process – it’s mainly because she’s hoping to run into Takuma and show him how over him she is.  They do meet, but the more important meeting is with the real-life Yamada (Uchiyama Kouki).  That meeting comes in the form of her tripping over him, and it happens just before Takuma and his new girlfriend Eri turn up.  It turns out Yamada is a rather famous pro gamer and Takuma is a fanboy – which is all the motivation Akane needs to beg, cajole, and finally bribe Yamada-kun to be pretend to be her boyfriend.

There’s no denying that Akane comes off as kind of pathetic through all this.  The one friend she has is hardly a model of sympathy, she skips classes for days over being dumped by an obvious loser, and in the end bribes a high schooler to pretend to be her boyfriend.  Not only that, she drags him to an izakaya (they do serve soft drinks of course) to be a captive audience for her sad story because she doesn’t want to be alone.  But there’s something amusing about pairing off the frenetic Akane with the ultra-deadpan Yamada, who has no interest whatsoever in any of this – or romance generally – but still manages to prove himself a decent kid by not walking out on her when he has the chance.

Asaka-sensei is very good, no question about it, and he certainly knows his way around a shoujo.  Anyone who’s watched his Chihyafuru adaptation at Madhouse will find the look of this premiere very familiar, in a good way.  Asaka knows how to use cinematography to create a mood, and there’s definite potential in this mismatched relationship.  I won’t say I’m sold yet but this first episode very much met my expectations, and I think both leads are likeable enough to be able to carry a series.  The competition this season is fierce, in romcom fiercest of all, but there’s a niche there for Yamada-kun to Lv999 no Koi o Suru, and I’m optimistic it has the quality to fill it.

ED: “Trick Art” (トリック・アート) by Ryuujin Kiyoshi