Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 13 (Fin) – If the Shoe Fits

Tsubaki Yukari has been watching Yamada for years. She’s able to provide a detailed list of little reasons she likes him. But she’s also seen the change Akane made in him, well before spotting the little permanent marker doodle on his hand (Akane literally marking her man).

Because she knows Yamada so well, she knows two things out of the gate: he’s going to reject her, but he’s going to be as decent and kind and gentle as possible in doing so. When Tsubaki has said everything she wants to say and receives that gentle rejection, it’s like a lead weight off her shoulders.

It still hurts—her heart is broken now—but she’ll be okay, and she’s much better off than she was, pretending not to love someone she loved. She also has no hard feelings for Akane, whom she knows to be a person both worthy of and good for Yamada.

This entire scene is so packed with emotions and gorgeous visuals. Even in heartbreak, Tsubaki has never looked so beautiful, because she’s allowing her love to rise to the surface; her tears cathartically scattering into tiny droplets in the cool night air.

The next evening, Kamota treats his guildmates to a lavish dinner at a fancy-ass yakiniku restaurant. Everyone is in awe of just how many movers and shakers are deferent to Kamota, and how he treats them all no differently than his guildmates. Kamota is just a Good Guy, and we’d all be better off with people like him in our lives.

Whatever Kamota did for these folks in the past, they feel compelled to provide small tokens of their appreciation for it, as they have attendants bring sake, meat and melon to the table. I’m reminded of how Akane assigns a great deal of her value on what she can materially bring to a relationship.

But while transactions of this type are necessary, they are not what is essential. Why else would Kamota treat everyone the same no matter their age or status? He would most definitely had not minded if his acquaintances had not provided him with tributes for the table, either. Friendships can be their own reward. The only “give and take” is spending time together and having fun.

Yamada is late to the dinner, and by the time he arrives, Kamota made the mistake of leaving Akane alone with the fancy sake too long, and she’s full-on wobbly hiccup-y drunk. This is nothing new to Yamada; the first time they went out she got this way and he had to bring her home to sleep it off. He doesn’t mind it this time either, because we know he likes her.

There’s no standard she had to meet for that other than being who she is. And as drunk as she is, Akane is lucid enough to notice the way Yamada takes her hand throughout the night, gently guiding her home through all the other drunks of the night.

That aura of comfort and safety pervades their journey, even when Akane manages to get her heel really stuck in a crack in the sidewalk. It’s a callback to the first time they met, when her shoe just plain fell off.

It again places Yamada in a Prince Charming position with Akane as her Cinderella. They share a lovely little beat when he’s gazing up at her and she’s gazing down on him and they feel very close and right.

When they reach the door to her apartment and Yamada bids Akane good night, she grabs the corner of his coat. Perhaps in part due to the fact she’s drunk and thus less inhibited, but also because of the way he was holding her hand, but she comes right out and asks Yamada if he likes her.

Yamada cracks his biggest, most playful grin of the season, and says he’s “busted.” When Akane worries that this is just some kind of dream, or she’ll forget what he told her when she wakes up in the morning, he makes it clear: “I like you.” If she forgets, that’s okay; he’ll tell her again tomorrow.

In the end, it wasn’t solely a matter of when and how she’d make clear to Yamada that she liked him, but her realizing that for a while now he’s liked her, but just hasn’t been overt about it. Now that the air is cleared and they know where they stand, they can move forward, either hand-in-hand or, as they end the evening, in each others’ arms.

Back in class, Akane is understandably hung over, but lets her friends know she now has a boyfriend (again). The mood is celebratory, and for her part Momo is not surprised, as she could “smell” that they’d eventually end up a couple. When Akane asks if it looked like she was “throwing herself” at Yamada, Momo says it was the opposite.

While at a café together, perhaps for the first time as an “official” couple, Yamada seems distracted while Akane is talking. He admits he was distracted by Akane’s canines being sharper than usual and also cute. While walking her home, he notices there’s something she wants to say. She takes a breath and says she wants to hold hands when they’re walking.

The point is, Akane is gradually getting to the point where she feels it’s okay to ask for things, just for her, without it having to be transactional. Nor does she have to worry about what kind of girlfriend she should be, whether it’s mature and independent or needy and spoiled.

She can be all or none of those at different times. Because in Yamada she has a kind, understanding, and patient partner…even if he doesn’t get the point of heels. I have the feeling these two are going to be just fine!

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 12 – Decent Item Drop

Akane still remembers the day she was wandering FOS looking defeated and bored when she was comforted by the warm light of Rurihime. It’s for this reason that now that she’s over her Covid (hat tip to kumashock) she wants Eita and Momo to be the first people to hear that she’s fallen for someone—and Eita can easily guess who.

Eita tells Akane that even though most people note Yamada’s looks, there’s no one kinder than him, so he wishes Akane the best in expressing her feelings to him. Once Akane is off, Momo wastes no time re-introducing herself and asking if Eita has a girlfriend. Hey, can’t hurt to try!

But when Akane stops by Yamada’s to say what she wants to say, the moment never seems right. There are loud neighbors ruining the mood. Yamada is in a rush to get to cram school. Without knowing what Akane wants to say, he suggests she walk with him, but she loses focus and almost gets hit by car-kun.

It’s at this point that Akane decides to call it; she’ll tell him another time. But Yamada can still sense it’s something important, so he says he’ll give her a call later tonight. This puts a big, adorable smile on Akane’s face, which in turn puts a smile on Yamada’s.

By not going for broke and getting those ever-important three words out when she had the chance, Akane unwittingly kept the door open for someone else: Tsubaki. After cram school it starts raining hard, and Tsubaki doesn’t have an umbrella so Yamada shares it with her.

When he decides to give the whole umbrella to her and run for it, Tsubaki chases after him, stumbling and dropping her glasses in the process. Yamada comes back to pick them up for her, and that’s when she says “I like you,” tearfully covering her mouth immediately after as if she’d done something terrible.

But kudos to Tsukabi—she said what needed to be said to clear the air between them, and her timing was perfectly imperfect. The only problem is, it’s unlikely Yamada can return her feelings. He may not totally understand his feelings for Akane, but he knows he doesn’t have those same feelings for Tsubaki.

My heart breaks for Tsubaki, as she’s a good kid who deserves happiness. But I also can’t overlook how well-matched Akane and Yamada are.  Yesterday, Akane felt selfish and self-centered by not thinking about Yamada’s schedule the day she visited him to confess.

Rather than press her agenda of trying to confess when he visits the konbini where she works unannounced, Akane can tell Yamada is down, and so decides to cheer him up, drawing her character and her new sword on his hand. When he tells her he’s quiet and reserved because he fears saying the wrong thing, and is “just a nobody”, Akane assures him he isn’t.

That said, I would feel like garbage too if I had to meet with Tsubaki that night to turn her down and possibly break her heart. Tsubaki’s sentiment is devastatingly apt: falling in love should be more fun than that.

As for Akane, she could have confessed to Yamada the previous day or here outside the konbini, but chose to subordinate her feelings to Yamada’s (previously due to his hectic schedule, now due to his mood). Eventually, if anything is going to happen with these two, Akane is going to have to put herself and her feelings, first.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 11 – Runa Can’t Find Her Doughnuts

Momoko arrives a little late but still regarded as a goddess by Akane for providing much-needed provisions to beat her cold. When Momo learns Yamada took her to the hospital and watched over her, Momo asks if they’re dating now, and Akane says they’re just friends.

Momo, who has met some real cads, isn’t not sure a man would do that much for a woman he’s not in love with. That said, she knows too little about him to make a fair judgment. But it’s evident to us Akane’s feelings are growing beyond mere friendship, as she feels extreme relief upon receiving a belated text from Yamada saying he’s fine.

Feeling up for it, Akane ditches her studying to play some FOS, and ends up meeting the newest member of their guild, Tsubaki, through Rurihime. It’s clear that Rurihime, i.e. Eita, ensured that Tsubaki would see that Akane is a good, kind person who is easy to talk to and work with.

Eita also makes this entertaining for him by pitting Akane and Tsubaki, both relatively weak Paladins, against a seemingly low-level boss Rurihime could destroy with one strike. Tsubaki and Akane work well together, using trial and error to make progress even though they run out of time.

Later, when it’s just Tsubaki and Rurihime, the latter tries to offer the former some advice after Tsubaki tells him that she’s “afraid to make a move”—go ahead and make that move. Waiting for courage or motivation to well up won’t do her any good.

Just as Tsubaki ponders this advice and possibly plans to adopt it in one form or another, Akane follows similar advice she got from Momo: Timing is everything with love. Akane calls Yamada up, and they have a long conversation mostly about the game. But she also admits she just wanted to hear his voice, before quickly saying good night and hanging up, her hands trembling.

To paraphrase the Oracle in The Matrix, by taking this first step Akane has already made her choice, she just needs to understand it. Fully recovered, she meets with Momo at an adorable café she hadn’t noticed before, and it’s not long before two pushy, handsy guys from one of Momo’s group dates show up and join the women without asking.

As Akane and Momo’s luck would have it, the manager at this café happens to be Eita. He and Akane exchange nonverbal communication, and he cheerfully invites the jerks to go find another table to sit at. When that doesn’t work, Eita adopts a far sterner aura and bearing, and the flowery request becomes an order with an air of a threat. The toxic boys obey, not wanting to wait around for Eita Stage 3.

Momo is surprised to learn Akane not only knows Eita, but can engage in effortless conversation at the drop of a hat. I especially love how Eita snaps right back into his normal bubbly self when the unpleasantness is over. Momo is not just impressed, she’s smitten. Eita is indeed a hot guy, as is Yamada, leading Momo to wonder if she should ditch the group dates for a game guild.

After Eita clocks out for the day and smoothly, politely declines a karaoke invite from a cute co-worker, Eita is approached by Akane and Momo. Akane has something she needs to talk to him about. If it’s not about Yamada, both me and Momo are going to be soufflé pancake-withholdingly cross.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 10 – So Cold It’s Hot

When Tsubaki first approached Yamada, it was because she suspected him of cheating in a game she watched him play online. He lets her watch him play, and she does—for hours. He didn’t cheat, he’s just that good. In the present, neither she nor Okamoto can get ahold of Yamada.

Okamoto tells her if she doesn’t make a move, Yamada will end up with some rando. Tsubaki’s mask falls and she tears up, and Okamoto rightfully feels bad for pressuring her, as she’s already quite aware of her situation.

Turns out Tsubaki wasn’t the younger girl with whom Yamada couldn’t promise to be together forever. Rather, she hears from Yamada why he doesn’t have a type, never had a crush, and is generally uncomfortable with women. It all comes down to that girl, who was mercilessly bullied for liking Yamada until she stopped coming to school.

Their teacher sent him to the girls to give her handouts, keeping a connection between the two. The girl kept liking him, and then asked him to make a promise he couldn’t make. He says he only did what he did because the teacher told him to, but often wonders what would have been the right thing to say instead of what he did say.

From the day Tsubaki learned that about Yamada to the present, she feared ever falling for a guy as kind and cruel as him, lest she get hurt someday. And that day seems to have arriving—or will do so soon.

As Okamoto and Tsubakai wander the streets and presumably head to their respective homes, Yamada spends the night at Akane’s, but not for romantic purposes. His role is purely to observe and protect. Akane is in a terribly bad way, to the point he wisely takes her to a late-night clinic where she gets an IV.

Akane is somewhat aware of these events, but her fever is so bad it all feels like a fuzzy dream, up to and including when she comes to and finds Yamada dozing beside her bed, her “getting over heartbreak” book loosely in his hands.

When she realizes all of the things Yamada did for her when she was well and truly much out of it, Akane bursts into tears of gratitude, feeling like “someone like her” wouldn’t normally deserve such kindness (which is of course untrue).

When the heartbreak book comes up, Akane tells him how it’s really gotten her out of her funk, he tells her he’s not the good guy she thinks he is, and she recognizes his expression. It’s the same one Takuma had when he broke up with her.

Akane tells Yamada she’s glad Takuma put an end to things that way rather than lie to her. It’s her hope that should he look back on the memory of her, it’s of her smiling, not crying and wailing, making him think “she was a great girl” and “I shouldn’t have let her go.”

Just as Yamada’s face reminded her of Takuma’s, Akane’s bright toothy grin reminded him of the girl he essentially broke up with without knowing it at the time. He even remembers something he forgot: the last time he saw her face—and the first time we see it—she’s smiling at him through tears, thanking him for being there for her.

As the night wears on and Tsubaki logs off the game with no one else around, Akane’s fever drops and she’s able to eat some yogurt. As she eats, she can’t help but notice how safe and secure Yamada’s presence makes her feel. But when she tries to reach out to him, she suddenly feels horrible.

It’s a leg cramp, and it’s agony. But as she shouts and thrashes, Yamada calmly takes hold of her foot and leg and stretches it out. Her other foot flies wildly around his head and face, sometimes hitting only air, and sometimes hitting face. But after a minute or so, the pain subsides.

Yamada thanks him for saving her yet again, and Yamada comments that she’s “so dramatic.” But when he looks over at her as she says her leg was killing her, she’s scarcely looked more beautiful. The two have an extended moment where something might happen, but it passes, and the night proceeds without incident.

The next morning Yamada heads off to school without sleep, something he assures Yamada he’s done before. She’s fine for him to go, but hopes he’ll take care and let her know if he feels sick. No doubt she’ll want to be the one to nurse him should he fall ill; such is her transactional way of showing affection and demonstrating her worth.

But more than ever before, Akane is acutely aware of her body being naturally drawn towards Yamada without her having to think. That’s the product of how safe and secure she feels around him. He’s about to leave when she grabs a corner of his jacket, only to tell him she’s fine and to go ahead and go. But when he’s gone, she can’t help but sigh, and her blushing isn’t just from her cold.

This episode was another triumph of shoujo romance shot composition and direction, full of beautiful cross-fades and dissolves reflecting the characters’ states of mind. Minase Inori and Uchiyama Kouki’s layered performances also add to the intimate atmosphere of an episode that takes place almost entirely in Akane’s bedroom.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 09 – Self-Serving Dream

When Akane vociferously urges Yamada to go to the local konbini while they’re playing FOS, he finds that she’s the clerk at said konbini. When she asks him to wait for her shift to end so they can go home together, he does. She made another meal for him as thanks for his help with her laptop.

While she’s glad he’s opened up a little more and they’ve gotten a little closer, she’s wary of seeing him in a romantic light, considering his troubles in that arena. That said, in practice he is quite sweet and kind, both in waiting for her shift to end, protecting her from a bicyclist, and expressing his hope she doesn’t get too bad a cold.

While Momo is giving her a manicure, Akane calls Yamada’s kindness a “terrifying trap”, but while Momo has heard a lot about Yamada from Akane, she hasn’t heard Akane say what she wants to do. Runa interrupts by announcing a “crisis in the guild”, which is really just Yamada inviting a new member—a girl! Even though she became friends with Akane, Runa is scared of a new member, but Akane calms her down with cocoa.

As for that new girl member, it’s Tsubaki, who seems to be harboring some lingering feelings for Yamada, or is at least curious about the older woman who came to the cultural festival. Could that be the only reason she’s joining the guild? We’ll have to see, but one thing’s for certain: Akane will welcome Tsubaki to the guild with open arms, not as the romantic rival Tsubaki believes herself to be.

It’s almost as if Tsubaki has taken comfort in the fact Yamada is terrible with girls, but Akane is quickly changing that, becoming someone he cares about and wants to protect. Akane is back in full-on disaster mode as she catches the mother of all colds after having to pull a night shift.

She can’t drink water, and hasn’t eaten in a day, but has nothing for rice porridge. She tries to take her bike as she’s worried about infecting other riders on the bus, but she’s too feverish and weak to get on the bike, or even get back to her apartment.

Fortunately for her, Yamada is close by. He stops a bike from falling on her, then picks her up from the ground and carries her to safety. This whole time, Akane is so feverish she believes this is all a dream—a selfish dream. But there’s nothing selfish about it. Yamada is doing what he wants to do. Helping her isn’t a burden—it’s a comfort.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 08 – Kidding Not Kidding

Not long after Akane arrives at Yamada’s high school cultural festival, Runa clings to her like a kid to her mom. All the hustle and bustle is a bit much for the little princess, especially since she’s taking the entrance exam to enroll there next year.

After escorting Runa to the bathroom with a stomachache (though we later learn she’s is just hungry) Akane spots Yamada, but his attention is elsewhere. However, he later surprises her by appearing before her, and Tsubaki gets her first look at Akane.

It becomes immediately apparent that Yamada is the school idol, as he’s absolutely hounded by girls throughout his and Akane’s walk down the hall. Akane feels a fusillade of daggers as the whispers fly; when she tells one of his jock teachers that she’s a college student, the first years are in an uproar about him being into older women.

While outside, Eita jokes that if everyone is going to assume they’re a couple when they’re together, they might as well just start dating, right? In his deadpan way Yamada assents, but Akane’s reaction—getting flusterd and running off—isn’t like anything either of them expected.

While running through the hall wondering what’s wrong with her, Akane runs into Tsubaki, who scolds her for running in the hall. But when Yamada shows up in pursuit, Akane takes off again. Yamada calls her by her first name, stopping her in her tracks, but once again a large crowd soon forms around them.

Akane grabs Yamada and takes him to a more private spot, where he apologizes for joking around. Akane assures him she’s not mad, just a little embarrassed; when he learns she’s not mad, his smile throws her off guard. Akane then goes for broke, asking him how he’d feel if they actually were dating…before saying “just kidding”.

But Yamada carefully considers the question and doesn’t let her just dismiss it. He tells her it would be an honor to date her, but reveals that the main reason he hadn’t given it much thought is that he considered her an “unattainable prize”.

Akane may be a bit of a mess in many ways, but she’s also an extremely warm and kind person who is also often far too self-critical. I’m glad his general thoughts on the matter are now known to Akane. It feels like he air was cleared and they were on the same wavelength. Hopefully their progress will continue as they continue to come to understand each other better.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 07 – Bad At Girls

Yamada’s latest encounter with Akane has him remembering a time when an apparent childhood friend of his, was being bullied in their class, and she asked if he’d stay with her forever.  He flatly, curtly said he couldn’t promise her that, which looks like it broke the girl’s heart.

In the present, while getting away from the weirdness at Akane’s, a konbini clerk chats him up and asks for his name. He flatly, curtly says he’s in a hurry, which is true, but also…kinda mean? You can argue whether it’s professional for the clerk to do what she did.

But sometimes meeting someone means taking a chance and getting outside your comfort zone. This clerk did that, worked up the courage to talk to this regular customer of hers. But Yamada is simply uncomfortable with “This Kinda Stuff”.

When he returns to Akane’s (as he said he would), she and Runa have already eaten and are napping in the dark (naturally Akane left out some wrapped omurice for Yamada, topped with “Yamada” written in ketchup). He simply admires her as she sleeps so peacefully, then sees her tied up hair, feels bad, and undoes the clip.

Akane’s cascading hair, free at last, is one of the most gorgeous pieces of animation depicting a simple act of physics I’ve seen all season. The flowing, glowing strands of hair mesmerize Yamada, but the moment is rudely interrupted by repeated rings of the doorbell. It’s Akane’s Ex, He Who Shall Not Be Named.

While initially surprised Yamada answers the door, Yamada then confirms it’s “not like that.” The ex provides a back full of bento boxes from lunches Akane made, which he’s only now getting around to returning after dumping her.

He also came because when he saw the boxes, he suddenly felt a pang of guilt for discarding the person who so lovingly prepared the meals within them. So he really came to assuage that guilt; to feel better about himself. Yamada may be clueless about a lot of things, but not this.

Mr. Ex doesn’t get to have peace of mind, so Yamada sends him on his selfish way. Then Akane opens the door, Yamada tells her the boxes “came out of nowhere”, and after looking forelorn for a beat or two, starts to snicker at the transparent but seriously-recited white lie. She also thanks Yamada for “dealing” with Mr. Ex, who she no doubt did not want to see. Fuck that guy!

Once back in Akane’s place, Yamada realizes he still has her hair clip, and returns it. She worries it fell off while she slept, but he flatly, curtly tells her he removed it, because, for reasons he’s not quite sure of, he simply wanted to do it. Akane justifiably wonders what this is all about. Is Yamada coming around?

From the homemade lunches for her ex to the curry she made for Yamada, Akane is someone who works above and beyond to please others. You could say she does it because she believes doing good things for people means good things happen to you, or if you’re less cynical, she’s just really nice and generous, almost to a fault.

When Eita procured secondhand parts to fix her laptop, Akane decided she had to pay him back with cash, so she applies for a part-time job at a konbini. Hopefully she still takes the job so we haven’t seen the last of Ms. Lonely Hearts clerk. But again, no one asked her to do this, nor is she expected to. She’s just taking it on to ensure her debts are paid.

She talks to Momo on this on the phone, but Momo has to go; she’s in the middle of a group date. Another girl in the group notes that Akane hasen’t been on them of late. That’s because we’ve seen her get immersed in FOS. I love how Momo doesn’t judge her friend for going off and doing something else. And of course she knows Akane may have just found someone through gaming.

But the fact remains, Yamada has some serious baggage. It’s no surprise that he’s awkward around women; they rarely act normal around him, instead placing him on a pedestal and fawning over him from afar. Whatever insecurities he may carry, these outsiders have made up their mind about who he is, and don’t care about the truth.

One of the incidents that formed his reticence to interact with most women involves his friend in that flashback who he couldn’t promise to be with forever. My first thought upon seeing how Tsubaki acts towards Yamada (and how she put his phone on a towel so it wouldn’t rattle against the desk) suggests she’s that same girl.

If this is indeed the case, she and Yamada have remained in proximity ever since, but if they were once good childhood friends, there’s now a cold distance between them, far larger than the space between their desks. Even so, Tsubaki seems to express interest in Yamada finding FOS fun.

I’m looking forward to learning more about Tsubaki and how she and Yamada came to have such a complicated and by appearances presently bruised relationship. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t be like Miss Konbini Clerk and simply rely on appearances. Yamada wasn’t trying to be rude or mean, just truthful. The gap between perception and reality can be harmful.

As for Akane’s old laptop, it’s good as new…in fact, it may be more new than old now, and must be hooked up to a large toaster-sized external GPU to play FOS. She likes how much more pep the computer response times are, and thanks Yamada, who promptly acknowledges said thanks and leaves promptly without any small talk.

From there, Akane enters the Guild where Rurihime and Kamota are waiting. Kamota’s avatar, incidentally, is a teeny-tiny dust mote-sized puffball with ears and a tail. It’s as adorable as his Battle Mode is breathlessly terrifying, as Akane learns first hand when they go on a quest together.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 06 – A Weird Dance

This week dives deeper into Runa’s whole deal. Because she was raised and doted upon like a princess by her parents and brother, she comes off as haughty and hard to approach at school, even if she’s looking for connections. She also dislikes unfamiliar things and people, which is why Akane joining their guild was such a shock.

That said, as someone a little more grown up than her middle school classmates, Runa has come to like hanging out with the older Akane, essentially regarding her as the big sister she never had. When she sees her classmates doing a funny dance they found online, she can’t join them, but she is comfortable dancing with Akane.

Momo isn’t quite sure about the appeal of hanging out with a “runaway” middle schooler, and when Runa tries to give her attitude, she swats her right down with a frightening aura that will brook no insolence. When Akane suggests a super-bored Momo watch her play FOS, Akane’s laptop suddenly shuts down and starts smoking.

When Eita informs Yamada of the situation, he allows Runa to take him to Akanes to take a look at the laptop (he offers no promises of successfully fixing it). Akane is delighted he’s come, but knows from Eita that he’s generally awkward around women, so she does her best not to come on too strong while still being a welcoming host and friend.

When Runa snaps a cute picture of Akane and Yamada together and sends it to her brother, Eita suggests Runa do something to help them close the distance. Unfortunately, all Runa has are the most cliched anime scenarios: lucky perv, toast-in-mouth collision, walking-in-on-the-bath.

When it’s clear no one is bathing and Akane eats the toast shoved in her mouth, Runa resorts to shoving Akane into Yamada a bit too hard. When Akane gets up to scold Runa, her hair flies everywhere—including into Yamada’s eye. Akane gets up really close to Yamada and pushes his hair back to inspect his eye.

In doing so, Akane is following her usual code of being helpful and caring, while forgetting not to do anything to make Yamada uncomfortable. He excuses himself to return to his house to get some tools, but both Akane and Runa thought it felt like he was escaping the situation.

Just like hanging out with Runa means dealing with her princess act and being able to see through her sourpuss, pursuing any kind of relationship with Yamada means always being cognizant that he just isn’t super comfortable around girls. At the same time, he clearly cares for Akane, but just doesn’t have the experience interacting with women who aren’t Runa.

If he and Akane are to progress as friends or something more, it will take time and caution—like hunting for the hundreds of VIT or INT shards needed to synthesize a single gem.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 05 – Let Me In

Sasaki Runa starts out this episode as pure scum, standing up Akane so she can have her tutor Yamada all to herself. Yamada is aware of the scheduling conflict, and even gives the little brat a chance to redeem herself, but she insists she’s not standing Akane up; she merely had someone go in her place.

That “someone” happens to be one of Rurihime (i.e. Eita’s) online superfans, who is obsessed with Rurihime and assumes Akane is Rurihime. At no point whatsoever does this creep bother to listen to what Akane is saying to him. When she flees to the ladies’ room, he follows her in and tries to open the door to her stall. Like what the actual fuck?!

When Yamada tells Eita that Runa used his Rurihime account to prank Akane—and put her in potentially legitimate danger—Eita is not happy with his little sister. Eita texts Kamota saying Akane has been kidnapped—maybe a bit too far—so he can give him, Yamada, and Runa a ride to the meeting spot, where Akane is just barely tolerating the creep’s continued presence.

Akane is wearing a bandage on her shin from knocking against the toilet when the creep barged in on her.  When she spots Runa, Runa runs away, and when Akane gets up to chase her she hurts her leg again. But instead of continuing to run, to her credit, Runa turns back and runs towards Akane, getting down on her knees to ensure she’s okay.

Akane has all the guys fuck off so the two of them can have some space and time. And Runa does admit to ditching her and apologizes for being so shitty. Akane can tell she’s super protective of her friends, but makes clear she isn’t trying to take them away. She simply wants to become part of their circle, if Runa will have her.

Later, when having coffee with Yamada, Akane tells him she may stink at romance, but she’s pretty good at making friends with other girls, even tough nuts like Runa. Akane’s capacity for patience, empathy and forgiveness was on full display this week, thus endearing her to me further. If Yamada were to eventually get a damn clue, he’d be lucky to have someone as caring as her as a girlfriend.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 04 – Bouncing Back

Akane assumes the cute girl who looks like the online Rurihime is Rurihime, but she’s actually Runa, the little sister of Eita, who is the real Rurihime. This comes as a slight shock to Akane, but Eita is in firm opposition of the derogatory nekama label. As for Runa, she hates Akane’s guts, likely because she’s somehow insinuated herself into Yamada’s good graces.

For his part, Yamada doesn’t consider himself the property of Runa nor anyone else, but is never anything more or less than Yamada Akito. While not the most verbose or charismatic fellow, when for instance Akane drops her water glass while he’s staring at her, he blocks her hand from touching the broken shards, rightfully telling her to leave it to the café staff.

The gesture is so unexpected and oddly tender that Akane averts her face from everyone, lest they see how suddenly red it’s gone with embarrassment. Yamada excuses himself “to make a call”, but Eita finds him outside just messing around on his phone. Turns out Yamada interpreted Akane’s reaction to touching her as revulsion and made himself scarce.

Through Eita we learn that Yamada’s indifference towards girls is starting to worry him. That leads us into Yamada’s memory of a girl who was being bullied, asking him if he was the one who did it. It’s clear he has some past baggage that causes him to act the way he does. Perhaps he hurt this girl, and vowed never to hurt another by transforming himself?

Whatever the case, the remainder of the in-person event passes without incident—unless you count Runa staring absolute daggers at Akane as she interacts with Yamada and Eita. She doesn’t like this interloper, and vows to expel her from the guild with her own hands.

Yamada joins Akane on the subway ride home on her suggestion, and while she has trouble maintaining a conversation with him, she notices that every other girl on the train is staring at him, and then stares at her when Yamada does another kind thing for her—switching places to a more comfortable spot.

When talk turns to dinner and Yamada says he’ll probably just eat pudding, Akane has him wait on a park bench for ten minutes while she runs home, packs him some curry and frozen rice, and bolts back to him. Whatever feelings she may be developing for Yamada, Akane currently considers him a valued friend and fellow gamer and guild member, and a high school kid needs to eat properly.

Akane’s generous gesture is interrupted by a call to her from Runa of all people. She apologizes to Akane for being rude and hopes that they can hang out on Saturday and start over. Akane is obviously over the moon to hear this, while it seems clear enough to both me and Yamada that something’s up. Yamada confirms this when he sees a calendar alert for tutoring Runa on his phone—on the same day Runa is meeting Akane.

Will Runa stand her up? Try to execute some cockamamie scheme to get Yamada and/or Eita to turn against her? The mind staggers at the possibilities, but I don’t know how successful she’ll be. After all, it’s becoming clear that Yamada isn’t bothered by Akane’s sudden presence in her life, and is even relieved that she’s feeling better after how depressed she was when they met.

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 03 – This Thing Called Romance

Momo takes Akane out on a double date, but Akane just isn’t feeling it, and after some non-verbal communication between the two, they split. When Akane gets a text from her guild leader Rurihime, Momo wonders how Akane knows for certain it’s not some old geezer. On her way home she crosses paths with a beautiful girl dressed yumekawa style with rabbit ears, and wonders if that’s what Rurihime is like IRL.

Akane is far more stoked about pouring herself a glass of barley tea, ripping open a bag of potage chips, and settling in for some FOS than she ever was about the group date, and I can tell you, I’ve been there. But neither Rurihime nor Yamada notice when she logs in, and she obseves as they talk and act like they’re an item, making her feel awkward for interrupting.

The apparent romantic vibes between Rurihime and Yamada weighs on Akane through her afternoon classes, and even when her date from last night flags her down, she’s immediately distracted by the sight of the yumekawa girl meeting up with Yamada like two people meeting up for a date. She figures Yamada would have “a girlfriend or two” with his looks, but is still depressed about it, to the point she doesn’t even feel like logging in that night.

Then Rurihime sends a very chipper and enthusiastic invitation for Akane to join her and the guild members, including Yamada, for an IRL meetup. When she leaves the station she can’t quite find the spot on the map, but gets bumped into by a tall, handsome young man and drops her phone. He picks it up, sees the spot, and asks if she’s headed to the meetup, ’cause he is too.

This fellow proceeds to totally gamer geek out on her, but there’s something about his enthusiasm that’s very…Rurihime-esque, to me at least. In fact, I’m confident saying that he’s the guild master Rurihime and genderswaps in FOS. Further evidence of this is that when they meet up with the yumekawa girl, who is with Yamada and clings to him, she acts nothing like Rurihime. Judging from what we know of Yamada, I’m not inclined to believe she’s his girlfriend, but we’ll have to wait until next week to find out who is who for certain.

After some early credits, we get a flashback to when Akane passed out at the izakaya, and we get Yamada’s POV as he carries her to his house. He’s about to start practice with his pro FPS team online when she starts to whimper, and when he goes to her bedside, she begins to sob into his chest. He stays still and lets her cry it out, sensing she’ll only cry harder if he doesn’t, and finally seems to drift back off to sleep. He’s fine letting her sleep there in peace…then she suddenly announces she’s going to be sick.

I’m not entirely certain why the awkward IRL meetup was interrupted for this flashback, except that I guess it was nice to see how Yamada felt bad for Akane for having her heart broken, and being as foreign to that world as her group date dude was when she mentioned FOS. As for Yumekawa Girl, she just doesn’t seem like a love rival for Akane. If I had to guess, she’s Eita(the other gamer guy)’s little sister who has known Yamada forever and harbors unrequited love. Again, we shall see!

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 02 – Being Selective

It looked at first like Akane woke up hungover in Yamada’s bed, but it turns out she’s in a tube top and jeans. He brought her to his place to sleep it off after she passed out at the izakaya, then washed her puke-soaked clothes. A mortified Akane prostrates herself then makes herself scarce, and Yamada notes that they’ll probably never see each other again. AS IF!!!

It isn’t until Akane showers, changes, and decompresses that she realizes she lost the heart necklace (seriously?) that was the first gift her boyfriend gave her. She concludes it must be at Yamada’s place, so she logs on and waits in her Guild hall.  When he arrives, he tactlessly complains to the guild master Rurihime about all the “trash” in the guild storage—gear Yamada thought would be helpful for newbies, but is just taking up space.

After telling him she was the culprit and being told to “be more selective”, Akane logs out and doesn’t log back in for days. After a disturbing dream where Takuma takes her back only to give her a box that contains his new girlfriend, she commiserates over lunch with Momo, who is honestly tired of hearing about Takuma and is not sure why Akane would care about a necklace he gave her when the guy dumped her.

While on the way home, Akane spots a scenario she once found herself in as a youth: a high school girl confessing to an upperclassman. The moment she hears his disinterested reply, she knows it’s Yamada. The reason he was drinking soda at the izakaya is that he’s a third-year in school. He tells her he’d hoped to see her again, because he actually found her necklace … unfortunately after stepping on it.

Now in possession of two broken hearts—the one in her chest and the one in her hand—she thanks him and runs off into the rain. Because Yamada is curt and often clueless but not heartless, he flags her down and gives her an umbrella to avoid catching her death, making clear she doesn’t have to return it. Akane, who had been crying tears in the rain, accepts it like a much more significant gift than it was meant to be.

That night Akane gets an extremely rude and unfortunately timed delivery: boxes upon boxes of all her shit from her childhood bedroom that her mom packed up and sent to her so she could have a workout room. Akane is overwhelmed and enlists Momo to help her go through the stuff, and Momo, already exhausted from work, proves merciless in culling just about all of the stuff. If it was truly that important, why was it gathering dust at her mom’s house?

Tossing all the stuff—including, apparently, the broken heart necklace—ends up being cathartic to Akane, having heard from both her best friend and a rude gamer bishounen that she needs to be more selective. She should also use better judgment with alcohol, as she decides to drop by Yamada’s in the middle of the night with an totally sloshed Momo.

Akane is a lot more lucid, and wanted to return Yamada’s umbrella and properly thank him for helping her, both at the event and all the times since. She then collects Momo (who is all over him) and goes along her merry way, but before he goes back to bed, Yamada tells her “the guild master” is worried about her, so she should log back on when she’s free.

I like to think his implication is that it’s not only the guild master who was missing her. Sure enough, after the ED he’s pressed into services helping her battle slimes, only to fall asleep at his computer, leaving her to fend for herself. Interrupting his sleep patterns is one more thing she needs to be more selective about!

Loving Yamada at Lv999 – 01 (First Impressions) – Not Just a Band-Aid

Kinoshita Akane (Minase Inori) had a boyfriend who got her into MMO gaming, only to dump her for another girl he met in-game. The guy’s last text to her is asking her to return a rare item she borrowed from him. Her BFF Momoko is sympathetic, but urges Akane not to wallow in heartbreak too long. Plenty of fish in the sea, etc.

Despite the game being the source of her pain, Akane can’t quit it, and in fact logs in to murder some minor monsters to blow off steam. She then meets a stoic mage in a Noh mask, then explains her current situation in far more detail than is needed. The mage, named Yamada, isn’t a chatty fellow, nor does he seem too interested in Akane’s problems.

When an IRL event is announced, Akane spares no expense on a day-long glow-up to look as cute (and make her ex as jealous) as possible. But at the event, she spots her ex with his new beautiful GF, and ends up tripping and falling. The tall, dark, handsome fellow who retrieves her shoe is none other than Yamada from the game—Not only is he just as cool and curt IRL, but her ex idolizes him as he’s an elite pro gamer. So Akane bribes Yamada with a rare item coupon to pretend to be her boyfriend.

That night, Akane and Yamada go to an izakaya, though only Akane drinks beer to drown her sorrows. Her victory was a hollow one; she may have shown up her ex, but at the end of the day he has a real girlfriend and she has…this guy, who doesn’t understand and has no interest in romance. That said, he’s not so cold as to abandon her while she’s clearly going through it.

It isn’t until Akane feels like she’s on the verge of tears again and goes to the bathroom that she notices her clothes are dirty and ankle bleeding from her fall. That she was so emotionally distraught and out of sorts that she hadn’t noticed her physical state speaks to just how overwhelming heartbreak can be. So it was a truly sweet moment when Yamada tenderly applies a band-aid to her ankle.

Fast forward a few hours (and beers) and a hungover Akane groggily awakens to the voice of someone talking. It’s Yamada on his gaming headset, and Akane is naked (or nearly) in his bed. Did something scandalous occur in the preceding hours? Or did Akane simply pass out and Yamada let her crash there?

Hot and good at games as he is, Yamada will need a different kind of “leveling up” to be sufficiently emotionally available to Akane. But considering the title, he also wasn’t a one-time Band-Aid for her.

With Minase Inori bringing an instant likability and genuine pathos to the relatable Akane and Madhouse making the whole show look great, I am definitely on board with this college age rom-com.