I can be torn when it comes to shows where video games play a massive or central role in them. Something like New Game! stands out as it is set in the games industry itself, while something like Oreimo, which has a closeted gamer, is something I find a little too generic. Me calling Oreimo generic? Well what can I say? I’ve just seen far too many of those kind of shows, and that was no different. So having that all of that, what am I supposed to say about a show that effectively revolves around video gaming? A slice-of-life school show featuring nerdy video gamers.
May as well start with the one opinion I have of Gamers!: after finishing the show, I found it to be very out-of-place. Gamers! is a very Marmite show, in that you really love the story, setting and characters, or you really don’t. Now I don’t really ever have any issues with these kind of shows; it sort of lets me know what shows are a real joy to watch, and what are a real pain. Gamers! is by no means a terrible show, but it is by no means a great one.
Keita Amano is a bit of an average gamer nobody, thereby making him the perfect male MC for a show centering around video games. At school he comes across the token popular girl, Karen Tendou, who also happens to enjoy video games immensely. She invites him to the the school’s gamers club, but he decides to turn it down, as it seems the two of them have different opinions: while she enjoys competitiveness and completion, he prefers the effort made by creators and developers. Already at this point viewers will start having dividing opinions. Keita has this chance to stop being a loner and make like-minded friends, but turns it down because of this one opinion he has on video games.
Meanwhile Karen is the ‘tenchou’ of the class; the one girl everyone seems to look up to. She isn’t quite the girl who would become student council president, but is still someone that boys are itching to confess to. Karen ends up turning into some sub-main character who keeps on poking Keita and convincing him to join her club. Her ‘tenchou’ status and her ‘closet gamer’ status are the only things we are told about, and so I only wish that there could have been more to her than that.
It’s worth noting that Gamers! does not entirely revolve around video gaming, despite the title. Instead the focus is put on the characters themselves, who so happen to enjoy gaming. Does shifting the focus make this a better show? Well that would mean that the character designs would go on the backseat, and having the games themselves as the main attraction. And here I do think that approach would make this show worse. Saying that, it’s not like there is anything outstanding about any of these 5 characters.
These are all the kind of characters that are dime-a-dozen, and so the fact that this show shifts the focus on them instead of gaming is what becomes a conflict to me. Whether it be games, school or romantic interest, the five of them constantly bicker with each other. The other three, Aguri, Uehara and Chiaki, are just as much dime-a-dozen as both Keita and Karen. If there was one thing I can say about them, then it’s that all of their personalities are so askew. They don’t really behave logically, and only the scenario they are in decides how they feel. It’s almost as if the script writers purposefully designed them all to be stupid, and as a result of this, the show runs a lot on ‘misunderstandings’.
By misunderstandings, I mean that characters make immediate decisions that are usually wrong or totally ridiculous. This isn’t a new script idea, but it really doesn’t fit right in this show. The five characters are all meant to be connected via video gaming, and yet because of all of these misunderstandings, it’s like they don’t want to get any closer…which in turn makes us not really connect to them.
The show features a lot of decent references to existing video games, which is pretty neat. The tried and tested method of making up titles doesn’t apply here, and we get to see real games being played. However that’s not so important, which is unfortunate, as I’d perhaps see this show in a different light if some more focus was placed on these games that actually exist in real life. In the end, gaming becomes the sideshow in Gamers!, but just because the characters themselves take front and center does not change my opinion. The one and only reason why I didn’t enjoy watching this show is because I have seen too many like it. Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoy shows with video gaming in them. It’s just that I wish studios would go in a different direction; adapt/write new stories, take risks. And because this show has none of that, it ends up becoming something that will really keep slice-of-life school rom com followers entertained, or something that will really grate on people. The more time that goes by for me as an anime follower, the more I wish for some originality.
I beg for originality, but the show does have some genuine funny moments, and while the romance web is something that can be seen in any average school rom com show, it still adds more to the humor in the show. Gamers! is by far not the worst school rom com show ever, but my own picky tastes ended up taking over me. It’s a show that can fill up your time, and nothing more.
