#Recovery of an MMO Junkie gif

[metalandmagi]

Romance Anime Starter List

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m sick and tired of seeing “Top ___ Best Anime of All Time” lists that are nothing but shounen. So, with "My Happy Marriage" getting a little attention from the anime community, I wanted to put together a list of some romance anime that I consider good “starters” for the genre. Because if I were just now becoming an anime fan, I’d think all there was to offer was shounen action series.

And by “starters” I mean basic stuff that’s not too…out there, and actually involves the characters getting together instead of just harems or using romance as a side plot (sorry Ouran High School Host Club and My Next Life as a Villainess). 

So if you’re new to anime and want stuff that’s not just guys beating the shit out of each other (which is also fun, don’t get me wrong), here are some basics.

Taisho Maiden Fairy Tale- When the pessimistic Tamahiko Shima loses all function in his right arm, his family sends him away to live in the mountains with the cheerful, hard working Yuzuki Tachibana…who was purchased by the Shima family to pay off her family’s debts and basically act as a caretaker/future bride for Tamahiko so they’d never have to deal with him again. It’s a more cheerful version of My Happy Marriage (without the supernatural stuff), except in this one, the guy is the one who has massive self-esteem issues and an abusive family. There are still very serious themes, but ultimately it’s not meant to make you cry every episode. I swear it’s so good, but nobody watched it!

Horimiya- A slice of life in which pretty and popular high school queen bee Hori, finds out her quiet, unassuming classmate Miyamura is hiding piercings and tattoos that could get him expelled. The two gradually find out more about each other and get together in the most realistic way I’ve seen depicted in an anime. It’s also fucking hysterical and genuinely emotional.

Recovery of an MMO Junkie- Another slice of life that focuses on two adults who meet in an MMO game without realizing they also know each other in real life. I don’t want to say much more than that. It’s adorable, and the main character is so relatable it hurts.

Love with Yamada-kun at Level 999- Speaking of MMOs, this is a newer series about Akane Kinoshita, a college first year who’s reeling from a bad break up. In an attempt to get back at her ex, she winds up meeting Akito Yamada, a popular gamer who happens to be in her guild in the MMO they both play at an IRL meetup. The two go from acquaintances to something more as they keep running into each other. Even more relatable main characters and just wholesome relationships all around.

Snow White With The Red Hair- A fantasy in which an apothecary named Shirayuki (meaning, you guessed it, “snow white”) runs away from her home in order to escape becoming the concubine of her town’s prince. While fleeing, she is rescued by Zen, the prince of a neighboring country, and she ends up becoming an herbalist to repay him. It's super cute with some genuinely swoon worthy moments and a couple that just works so well together. I have a habit of comparing this to Akatsuki no Yona, even though the two aren’t really that alike. This is more romance driven while Akatsuki no Yona is more of a serious historical fantasy with romance elements (Yona manga is amazing, but the anime barely scratches the surface, so that’s why I didn’t include it).

Sasaki to Miyano- When the shy, easily flustered Miyano meets Sasaki, a cool “delinquent” upperclassmen, the two end up bonding over manga…specifically BL manga. That’s right, Miyano is a fudanshi, but due to his small stature and somewhat feminine appearance, he’s constantly trying to convince others that he’s not interested in having his own love story where he’d be reduced to a stereotypical doe-eyed uke. But as Sasaki and Miyano spend more time together, they realize that what they have is more than friendship, and they have to come to terms with their own perception of gay relationships. This is my favorite romance of all time. It’s a slow burn, but boy is it worth it. Their relationship is so natural and realistic, just like Horimiya. Just two people hanging out and bonding over things the way people do in real life!

Given: The story of some boys in a band with trauma. Enough said. It's great. Go watch it.

Bloom Into You- Yuu Koito is a high school girl who’s been waiting her whole life for her own perfect romance to start…but when she receives a confession, she realizes she doesn’t know how to respond when she’s just not into the guy. And then she gets another confession…this time from the cool student council president Touko Nanami, who basically jumpstarts her lesbian awakening. Very cute story about how we perceive the concept of love vs actually feeling it. Also has a canonically aro/ace side character, so that’s a win for me. Another show like this is Adachi to Shimamura (but I honestly don’t remember much about it. It just didn’t stick with me as much).

Ore Monogatari- Takeo Gouda is a tall, bulky high school first year with a sensitive heart of gold. He wants nothing more than to find his own true love, but most girls are intimidated by his enormous stature, and they end up falling for his conventionally attractive friend instead. That is, until he meets the tiny, adorable Rinko Yamato. He falls in love instantly, but he’s sure she’s interested in his best friend like everyone else, so he vows to help get them together, even though his heart is breaking. Peak himbo behavior. Pure of heart, dumb of ass.

Yuri on Ice- Yes it’s the gay figure skating anime everyone knows. And yes it’s a fucking romance, okay? I will die on this hill. The romance between Viktor and Yuri is just as important as the plot!

Kaguya-sama Love Is War- Two insanely smart high school students both have a crush on the other, but since they’re…you know…high schoolers, neither of them wants to admit it first. So they come up with increasingly convoluted plans to get the other to confess first. This will go down as one of the best of all time. It’s a hilarious yet poignant modern classic.

Fruits Basket- I’ve talked about it before and I’ll talk about it again. A romance “comedy” that slowly morphs into a drama about a girl named Tohru who finds herself living with the mysterious Sohma family after her mother dies. Little does she know, the Sohmas are the victims of a  (somewhat silly, but ultimately tragic) curse that she must fight to break. Even though I’m more into it for the family drama, the romance is still top tier and plays an important role in the story. This is my second favorite anime of all time, and it’s a classic for a reason. If anyone hasn’t watched it yet, GO WATCH IT! IT WILL RIP YOU TO SHREDS!

And now for some honorable mentions that didn't quite fit into the regular list:

Ride Your Wave- A movie about a surfer who falls in love with a firefighter……and I’m not going to say any more than that. Go into it blind. If you like stuff like Your Name, this is a good one to watch.

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun- A comedy about a high school girl who finds out the upperclassman she has a crush on is actually a shoujo manga artist, and no matter how she tries to confess to him, he just never gets it.

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague- A slow burn slice of life that focuses on a guy with ice powers who has a crush on his coworker. That’s it. That’s the show. When I say slow, I mean SLOW. It’s perfectly cute and fluffy, but my god does it take forever to get anywhere with these two.

Skip to Loafer- A high strung, small town girl decides to go to high school in Tokyo, where she meets a variety of classmates, including the laid back Sousuke Shima. The unlikely pair become friends, and soon enough, she starts to feel something more than friendship. The only reason I didn’t include it in the main list is because they don’t get together by the end of the first season, but it’s still really cute (also canonically trans character for the win!?)

So that’s my starter list. And no, I didn’t include Toradora, even though it’s a classic. I know it’s blasphemous, but I like it more as a comedy than a romance. It kinda lost me with the ending. But anyway, maybe someone will find something they like. Or maybe you'll just want to roast me and my picks 😅

[ruanbaijie]

✤ BANANA MILK ✤

@animangacreators challenge 17 ✧ amc café ↳ a fast-paced animanga

[yuri-is-online]

Saturday Night Question (MMO AU)

a/n: Inspired by Recovery of an MMO Junkie and that bit of Ch. 6 where Idia assigns all the OB Boys rpg classes. Title comes from the op track which I highly recommend. (x) Loose modern au, NRC is an actual college everyone attends and Grim is still a talking cat-weasel-monster. Not everyone knows each other IRL so expect some minor catfishing. The MMO is based off of Final Fantasy XIV and will contain references to class and game mechanics but no spoilers.

For those unfamiliar with FFXIV chats

[FC] <Tempura Kun> this is the guild chat. Everyone in the guild can see this.

Tempura Kun >> this is a whisper, only two people can see this

[NOVICE] Tempura Kun: this is the novice network for mentors, only Riddle can see this

[Tempura Kun] if someone is texting it will be portrayed like this.

LFM- STYX (FC) recruiting, static needs a pure healer/off tank. Serious offers only.

Your buddy Epel talks you into trying critically acclaimed mmo First Fantasia because it has a thirty day free trial with unlimited game time and includes the first expansion as a joke but as college gets more stressful and you struggle to make irl connections it becomes your personal safe haven. You finally work up the nerve to join a guild and find yourself stuck in the middle of a really familiar set of egos. At least you're having fun.

Tempura Kun| lalafell| white mage/omni-crafter| Yu (you)

A college student living in a haunted mansion their dead beat dad's "renovating." You are only really interested in crafting after being really burned out on hardcore raiding from your last MMO, but agree to sub for heals so Epel can replace the group's usual off tank who's taking a hiatus. That and Gloomurai agreed to let you decorate the FC house, how could you refuse?

Granny Smith| male roegadyn| dark knight| Epel Felmier

One of your friends from class. Mannon keeps mailing him fantasia and insisting he change his race but he's really attached to how muscular this lets him be. He really just wants to play for fun, but he's super competitive and is super eager to try out harder content to "prove how manly he is."

Gloomy Samurai| female miqo'te| samurai| Idia Shroud

The leader of the fc and the person who runs the discord. Extreeeeeemely blunt to the point of being a bit unpleasant and downright scary. You're pretty sure they only let you join to get access to more pictures of Grim and because Epel's friends with the main tank. Super funny for someone so terminally online, but you are beginning to suspect they just- don't have a life outside of gaming.

Jude Bellerose| male hyur| black mage| Riddle Rosehearts

Knows the mechanics for every single fight in game and is scarily efficient at his rotation. Also extremely inflexible and refuses to adjust for a n y o n e, but blames the wipe on everyone else because he knew the mechanics so why don't you? Pretty sure he broke a keyboard while trying to clear the last raid tier.

Vivat Rex| male miqo'te| reaper| Leona Kingscholar

Rex plays this game for triple triad like a true king and is only kept on the static for his consistent dps. Claims that he doesn't pay attention to the discord but he knows everything everyone says in there anyway and responds any time someone vaguely mentions him. Likes to mess with Jude and is not above causing a wipe to out dps him.

Snake Whisper| male au ra| dancer| Jamil Viper

He has every single non-crafter class leveled and knows their rotation. Refuses to play anything other than dancer because he hates people pulling logs and enjoys holding dance partner over the other dps's heads. Likes to post pictures of his cooking in the discord and has his spotify linked to his account. Surprisingly willing to swap recipes if you ask, provided you promise to not give them to Nautilus.

Mannon Du Luc| male elezen| paladin| Vil Schoenheit

Epel's online friend who he says he hates but you're pretty sure he admires a whole lot. He's playing this game for glam, his dresser is maxed out with almost every limited piece ever added. He has completed every single piece of extreme content for the glam without being carried and expects the same level of competence from his off tank. Super nice to you though, he always coms his healers.

Nautilus Noise| male viera| sage| Azul Ashengrotto

Raid leader who does the call outs with Snake Whisper. Claims to be irl friends with Gloomurai but neither of them ever talk about their personal lives so who knows. Has ff logs installed and will pull them to... critique the other static members. You are 99.9999% sure he's playing the market board with 8 retainers but lack concrete proof. At least you can make him shut up if you compliment him.

[ace-reviews]

Anime Review: Four Romcoms

Skip and Loafer won this season's poll to see which anime would get reviewed, but I accidentally only set the poll for a day instead of a week and don't really have enough to say about it to fill a full review, so instead I'm going to review all four of the romance anime I watched this season.

Skip and Loafer

Where to Watch: crunchyroll

Basic Premise: over-achieving rural girl moves to tokyo and almost immediately befriends a former child actor

Maybe it's because I'm too old, maybe the stuff that has the manga readers singing this series' praises all over the internet doesn't really kick in until after the part where the anime ends, maybe it's because the mere existence of a trans person that isn't a joke isn't enough for me to automatically declare something a once-in-a-generation masterpiece (though it is definitely always nice), or maybe it just had the bad luck to air in the same season as the beautifully produced adaptation of one of my current favorite manga, but I don't really get what all the fuss is about. It's a good show. I enjoyed it immensely. I do not think it's the greatest high school romance of all time or whatever.

Mitsumi is a great protagonist, she and Shima manage to avoid any of the contrived pitfalls that typically plague high school romcom anime, the supporting cast are all fun and distinctive, and it's got a trans character that isn't a joke and is allowed to have a character other than being the token queer, and every single joke and emotional beat lands as intended. Any issues I have are 100% "me" problems and mainly boil down to my having let my expectations get raised a little bit higher than I probably should have. Definitely check it out. Just, y'know, don't expect anything life-changing.

---

My Love Story with Yamada-kun at LV999

Where to Watch: crunchyroll

Basic Premise: college girl copes with getting dumped by becoming rl friends with her mmo guildmates

I tease, but this is one of those rare cases where the romance between the legal adult and the still-technically-a-child doesn't bother me too much. For one thing, Yamada is 18 so he crosses the "half-your-age-plus-seven" threshold, and for another, he has a job and is living independently so he and Akane are roughly at the same life stage despite one of them being in college and the other being in high school. If anything, it's more an aesthetic choice. Yamada could have been a freshman at her college or not been a student of any kind at all and all that would really change is the outfit he wears sometimes.

Either way, this show is just a lot of fun. The cast is great, it's got the cutest old man character in the history of either old men or characters, almost every single joke lands, and it's vague enough about the mechanics of it's fake MMO (which is apparently based on an actual MMO that I've never played or heard of) that I didn't have to spend any time being distracted by nitpicks like an absurdly high level cap or a weirdly empty hotbar.

If a hole was left in your heart by the revelation that Recovery of an MMO Junkie was directed by a piece of shit, this could be the show to fill it.

---

Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible

Where to Watch: hidive

Basic Premise: girl pokes gentle fun at almost-supernaturally unassuming boy

This is technically a Winter 2023 anime, but it got hit by COVID delays so it didn't finish up until this season. This ended up doing it no favors, because although the overall production quality remained solid from beginning to end, it suddenly had to compete with another romcom with a similar premise that was better in pretty much every single respect.

That being said, this is still a very cute anime based on a very cute manga that deserves much more attention that it got. On the scale of "cute girl teases lame boy into liking her" anime, this is very solidly on the Teasing Master Takagi-san side of family friendliness, and is mainly a "nice people being nice to each other" type of iyashikei anime that may not be everyone's cup of tea, but is quite enjoyable if it is.

My only mark against it is that even though Shiraishi's whole thing is that he's supposed to be the mobbest of mob characters, the actual mob characters don't have eyes, so he's still very clearly a Main Character, which is like. C'mon, guys. You had one job.

---

Dangers In My Heart

Where to Watch: hidive

Basic Premise: anxious loner gets dragged out of his shell by the most popular girl in his class

This is the series that I so cleverly alluded to twice already in this review. It's based on my favorite romance manga since Fruits Basket. It's got nearly the same basic premise as Kubo-san but executed far better in every single area it could be. I finished every episode with a huge grin and a warm heart.

Some viewers may have been put off by the description and opening scene that made it seem like it was about a kid planning to murder his classmates, but it's made clear very early on that the kid is just being 14. There isn't even any bullying--just a shy, awkward kid who is more or less left alone because his classmates figure he wants to be, and the latent murderer bit is dropped entirely by the end of episode 3.

I went into the anime as a manga fan with high expectations and every single one of them was met and then surpassed. It's getting a second season in January and I could not be more excited. If you watch nothing else on this list, watch Dangers In My Heart.

[howdy-nyalll]

Chris’s top ten anime recommendations.

My descriptions are not the best but this is my current top ten list!

A Place further than the Universe - A beautifully animated story about going on a. journey, the nature of friendships and grief and acceptance. This anime made me want to travel, and I don’t like traveling. Soundtrack is a banger too.

Bloom Into You - A gorgeously animated story about what love is and what it means to different people, and recovery from grief. Loses points for being an incomplete adaptation, but the manga is readily available and excellent.

Violet Evergarden - Need I say more about the visuals? The story really is underrated, dealing with PTSD and the feeling that many veterans describe that they don’t know what to do with themselves. It catches a lot of grief for its main being so stoic, but that really is the point.

Zombieland Saga - by far the weirdest on the list. Who knew resurrecting the dead and covering their true selves with makeup makes such a good metaphor for the idol industry? The characters re truly something, with each one having a great backstory that resolves in interesting plots and good songs. Will the movie stick the landing? It’s left us with some BIG questions. Also this show has good canon trans girl representation. It’s not central but it’s there, explicitly.

Non non Biyori - Such a relaxing slice of life anime that will make you wish you grew up in a small town. Stunning animation that soothes the soul, and characters that are just unique enough to feel like real kids.

Ascendance of a bookworm - A unique premise and humorous MC. Has detailed world building that makes you eager to see how our chronically ill protagonist will maneuver society. But it fails to be terribly critical about the ableism in its own society, both from the audience and characters perspectives. Also endorses child labor? Kind of?? It’s a great show but why is no one ever talking about that part.

Recovery of an MMO junkie - An adorable little love story taking place in the virtual world. Enjoyable and relatable protagonists. The creator is a Nazi though. Does not appear in the work, but you should know.

Bocchi the Rock - Creatively animated story about an introvert who wants to join a band to avoid ever having to actually socialize. Painfully relatable, and the production value shows clear hard work and care. Low on the list because it only just came out.

Horimiya - Realistic teenage love story. Doesn’t spend the entire runtime getting our couple together, but rather focuses on their relationship and explores hidden sides of them. Funny and relaxing.

Odd Taxi - This one is SEVERELY underrated. The mystery is highly compelling, and not yet over! A grumpy walrus is the connective tissue between several moving parts of a greater conspiracy. Even if you aren’t a furry, this show won’t disappoint.

[yar3yar3]

Hey ! Welcome to my page, I post (irregularly) about Anime, mostly just memes or edits. (This is a second page so I can’t reply to comments, but if you want to have a discussion about an anime you can message me.)

Here’s a list of all the anime shows I’ve watched, since I only started this year the list is short. Feel free to leave recs of your favorite animes !

Top ten

-Spy x Family

-Yuri!! On Ice

-The Disastrous Life of Saiki K

-Kaguya Sama: Love is War

-Jujutsu Kaisen

-My Hero Academia

-Attack on Titan

-Orange

-Demon Slayer

-Bungo Stray Dogs

Great shows but not my favorites

-Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan

-Erased

-Banana Fish

-Death Note

-Fruits Basket

-Naruto& Naruto Shippuden

-Tokyo Revengers

-Assassination Classroom

-Handa-Kun

-Recovery of an MMO Junky

Bottom of my list(not bad)

-Kakegurui

-Kakegurui Twin

-The Devil is a Part-Timer

-Barakamon

-Kill La Kill

-Revolutionary Girl Utena

[done-being-problematic]

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#but the first real anime i got into was initial d and recovery of an mmo junkie

My Top Posts in 2022:

i have a bomb

1 note - Posted February 2, 2022

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[kdinjenzen]

[m-ushis]

﹆ׂׂ ˖ ◗ ᥫ᭡ like or rb if you save/use! ✦ ִֶָ ࣪ ،

[turtlycute]

My Top 10 Anime Watched in 2021:

Haikyuu!! (2014, 2015, 2016) episodes: 60 started: 9-6-21 finished: 9-10-21 rating: 9/10

Cowboy Bebop (1998) episodes: 26 started: 10-19-21 finished: 10-21-21 rating: 9/10

HoriMiya (2021) episodes: 13 started: 7-26-21 finished: 7-27-21 rating: 9/10

AnoHana: The Flowers We Saw That Day (2011) episodes: 11 started: 3-25-21 finished: 3-26-21 rating: 9/10

Hourou Musuko Wandering Son (2011) episodes: 11 started: 4-19-21 finished: 4-20-21 rating: 9/10

Recovery of an MMO Junkie (2017) episodes: 10 + 1 ova started: 3-8-21 finished: 3-8-21 rating: 9.5/10

Carole and Tuesday (2019) episodes: 24 started: 8-12-21 finished: 8-18-21 rating: 9.5/10

Your Lie In April (2016) episodes: 22 started: 4-26-21 finished: 4-28-21 rating: 9.5/10

Fruits Basket Season 3 (2021) episodes: 13 started: 9-29-21 finished: 9-29-21 rating: 9.5/10

March Comes In Like a Lion (2016 - 2017) episodes: 44 started: 3-27-21 finished: 3-31-21 rating: 9.5/10

Honorable mentions:

Given (2019) episodes: 11 started: 6-7-21 finished: 6-8-21 rating: 9/10

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions (2012) episodes: 12 + OVA started: 2-3-21 finished: 2-4-21 rating: 9/10

Sk8 the Infinity (2021) episodes: 12 started: 12-28-21 finished: 12-29-21 rating: 9/10

Violet Evergarden: The Movie (2020) film watched: 11-5-21 rating: 9.5/10 note: the main series made my top ten list last year. This movie is incredible but since it builds on the main series I'm making it as an honorable mention.

[cottage-writer]

My fav animes (in no particular order)

1) Snow White with the Red Hair (24 episodes + OVA)

2) Ouran High School Host Club (26 episodes)

3) Fruits Basket (2019)(ongoing series)

4) Blue Spring Ride (12 episodes + OVA)

5) Kimi Ni Todoke (37 episodes)

6) Kamisama Kiss (50 episodes + OVAs)

7) Sailor Moon (366 episodes)

8) Say “I Love You” (13 episodes)

9) Kaichou Wa Maid-sama (26 episodes)

10) Recovery of an MMO Junkie (11 episodes)

i’ll probs make a part two

[nonobadcat]

NoNoBadCat: **looking up pregnancy timeline calculators for breeding kink yandere AFO story**

Husband: (・・；) "I thought pregnancy terrified you and you disliked all children under the age of four? Did something happen?"

NoNoBadCat:

[ivorypasta]

"I'm an Elite NEET!" moriko morioka

recovery of an MMO junkie is one of the great short anime I've watched yet sadly it is very underrated

[nica-aizawa]

[hellionosphere]

When u stim

[hankyouken]