Bokura no Ameiro Protocol joins us from deep down in the preview.  It’s basically there at all because chief director Yamamoto Yasutaka (Hinomaru Zumo, Aharen-san wa Hakarenai) is very accomplished.  Quad studio has almost no track record and my interest in e-sports is minimal at best.  But Yamamoto and co-writer Takayama Katsuhiko are a couple of anime’s old lions (albeit not necessarily the guys you’d expect to create this sort of series) so it seemed to be worth checking out.

To be honest, I rather liked the premiere.  Production values are modest but tolerable, and considering my disconnect from the premise I found the story pretty engaging.  Teenager Shun was formerly an accomplished hand at first person shooters, but gave it up after some sort of traumatic in-game experience (which may or may not have something to do with his sister being unable to walk).  Now he works at the e-sports cafe “Fox One” owned by his sempai Nozomi’s father, despite having sworn off gaming.  Kind of a Sam Malone Cheers thing…

Also integral here is their mutual friend Akito, who’s played by Kimura Ryouhei (and it’s always great to hear him).  Nozomi’s dad manages the shop’s pro e-sports team, but that blows up in his face because the shop is deeply in debt and he was trying to siphon off their potential prize money from the “Xaxxerion” competition to pay it down.  He has no choice but to beg the kids to step in, including Shun.  He’s initially reluctant but soon enough it’s clear that he’s just been waiting for something or someone to give him a push back into the arena.

For one week at least I quite liked the characters (though dad is a rather pathetic sort), and even the e-sports side of things was kind of interesting.  Shun’s got his share of family drama what with his sister’s situation and the hinted absence of his father, but I don’t get the sense that Bokura no Ameiro Protocol is going to be a maudlin sort of show.  I see some potential here, if the premise has the legs to keep me invested.  We’ll see.