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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:3502#628] | ||||||
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(Five-and-a-half episodes watched): This sort of seemed like a show which is on the borderline between romances which are predictable and unoriginal, and those which are dynamic and novel. The premise of a guy who had given up on real world romance suddenly being plunged into one is intriguing; on the other hand, events kind of seemed to move a little too rapidly in a carefully pre-programmed manner. That is, the story is sort of shoved in our faces more than us being allowed to draw the obvious conclusions for ourselves. But the plot made enough sense that I could suspend disbelief, and there seemed to be more things right with this show than wrong with it. I wished that I had gotten more evidence that the difficulty of switching from a preference for 2D girls to one for 3D ones was going to be taken more seriously and more attention was going to be paid to it, but oh well. It almost seemed as if that problem has already been solved (because it wasn't really a problem at all) in the very first episode. Would there be much mention at all of Hikari's complete lack of experience in socializing in forthcoming episodes? Episode two left me a little bored. As is often the case with shows about supposedly internet and video game addicted people suddenly getting involved in real world romance, Tsutsui doesn't turn out to have all that much of a handicap after all. He hasn't lost the common sense needed to be polite and definitely isn't a hikkikomori. But the notion that he'd have a handicap was what originally made this show seem original. His girlfriend doesn't seem to care one way or another what his hobby is; just why she's attracted to him remains a mystery, and it isn't a mystery because it had to be one as part of the plot. I sometimes wonder if a conscious decision hasn't been made by someone important in the anime industry to avoid depicting people who enjoy video games as having any sort of serious problem, for fear that it would offend them and they would refuse to watch the shows in question. The only anime I can think of which takes the psychological problems of extreme otaku seriously would be Welcome to the NHK. Otherwise, it seems to be considered a minor problem only worthy of a few laughs. But people with laughable minor problems are kind of boring. What's developing here seems to be a pretty unremarkable, average romance. A gripping, engaging romance needs a problem that is liable to upset everything and keep the lovers apart. Here, Iroha will be moving away in six months or so, so this is a temporary, time-limited romance. But that doesn't seem like all that big of a problem, perhaps because the romance doesn't move very rapidly forward. So far, there's little at risk since the two haven't even kissed. One thing I hate in romances is when one lover or the other draws a completely absurd conclusion from an event, and does about the worst thing they possibly could, thereby making a problem much worse rather than better. It feels like the writer is trying to summon a big problem out of thin air by cutting corners and oversimplifying things. Although it wasn't an egregious example, something like that happens in episode four, which annoyed me. Maybe the reason it bugs me is because I can't help thinking that if the person is that stupid, maybe they don't deserve to be in love to begin with (which is no fun at all). If, after watching episode five or so, you asked me to summarize where the relationship between Tsusui and Iroha stands, I'd be hard pressed to do so. Yes, they have kissed once, but exactly why she took an interest in an otaku remains a mystery to me. What does she see in him? He's obviously a nice guy but there are lots of nice guys who don't have a hobby which is frowned upon. It seems like lots of little problems come and go rather than the show focusing on the big one, namely whether such a girl and such a guy can really fall in love. In order for this show to be truly gripping and intriguing it will have to offer a credible answer to that question, and so far I am not very confident that it will. I was intrigued for a moment when a genuine otaku girl shows up, since it suggested a romantic triangle; but my interest quickly faded as that relationship moved forward at about the same speed as the one between Tsusui and Iroha. And the show isn't particularly funny either. So, I think I will quit watching. This show is tiring and unfocused, and I have better things to do with my time. Last updated Saturday, May 26 2018. Created Sunday, April 08 2018. | ||||||||
