TOARU OSSAN NO VRMMO KATSUDOUKI

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionToaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki
NOVEL ActionToaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki

REVIEWS

• 

  bakatraitless

  50/100
  Watching someone's playthrough, in animation. Not for everyone (probably everyone).

  Yo.

  tl;dr Title is a very accurate depiction, which means enjoyment is fully dependant on if you enjoy watching video game playthroughs.

  This review will be brief, as (spoilers ahead!) there is not a tradtional story being presented here.

  I will immedately head straight to a spoiler-littered review (after another Fairy Queen, getting reprimanded by our titular protagonist), but a non-spoiler tl;dr review is present below the Fairy Queen (showcasing her smile at the top of this page). Any further reading and-

  `You will be spoiled, you've been warned!`

  So, spoilers.

  Story: 2/5
  If you are unable to decipher from the title of this series, Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki depicts a normal salary man in a time period similar to Sword Art Online, where VRMMOs have taken the Virtual Reality space. Unlike some of the popular VRMMO anime that exist in this space, this series takes a different route. Focused solely on Earth's progression and experiences, he becomes our only narrator throughout the story. This means that the quality of the story (and consequently your enjoyment) is heavily tied to if you enjoy watching someone play through a video game.

  The biggest gripe I have with this format is that all the things Earth experiences in-game is something you yourself can potentially experience playing an MMO right now. Aside from the constantly-adapting artificial intelligence that exists within the VRMMO, a majority of what you will see are things you've probably already seen (just done in a different context).

  As a result, the execution becomes the deciding factor of how enjoyable a plot point is. Unfortunately, I don't think it's done good most of the time, which dispels a lot of the tension that could exist in the story. Furthermore, since this is solely character-driven (with events here and there replacing the driving factor) it devolves into viewing how many bag of tricks Earth is able to conjure to overcome an obstacle. A majority of the time, he's already got what he needs and more to overcome any obstacles, further sliding the enjoyment down.

  Perceived as a chill SoL medium instead of a Shounen Isekai-like anime, it becomes a slightly different story. Earth goes around the VRMMO trying out different experiences before settling into a routine, from crafting different gear to cooking different dishes (which grow a little bit overtime). However, this is executed way better in other similar shows, so this remains just as an add-on component to Earth's daily routine.

  Since the story is character-focused rather than having a primary (or any) goal to pursue, I've deliberately moved the majority of the story rating over to the characters.

  Cast: 7/15
  As I've discussed, the entire cast is the strongest point of the series. That doesn't mean that the cast is extraordinary though. To keep my comments about the cast brief (there are a good number of characters that Earth encounters), I will only discuss recurring characters that have had major interactions with our MC.

  To start, Earth is our salary man that wants to play a VRMMO and chill out.

  ... [Rant incoming.]

  That's pretty much what he sets out to do. Nice, I guess. He possess some slightly-emotional moments here and there, but nothing that attempts to be a major driving factor to what he is trying to currently do. Biggest problem with Earth happens at the end of the series, where: he displays some nasty characteristics about him. Particularly concerning his fight with Fairy Queen and Emel, an elder Green Dragon. He becomes fed up with the Fairy Queen antics, but instead of properly talking to her (and consequently Emel) like an adult (another reminder, Earth irl is 38 years old; you'd think he'd talk first considering his life experience and work experience) he decides to fight them? Like, what?! Another point to add is that, the Fairy Queen explains that she was forced to do what she had to because Emel had threatened her, yet it came to this point because Earth directly refused to address Emel about why he was doing what he was doing in the first place... like, this is a whole world of ignorance that Earth displays.

  At that point of the story, it further nosedived my enjoyment and feelings overall about our MC.

  Why are you so childish? This is in direct opposition to his code of trying to live a quiet life. Of course, it can be argued that his way of approaching that situation is a way of trying to live a quiet life... but he literally ran away from the problem. A character inconsistency that drove the plot forward, but frustrating in the grander scheme.

  Can I also note that he doesn't really grow as a character either? Only his skills and repertoire of things to do.

  Okay, rant over. I guess he's an okay guy, but not someone I'd continue to watch an entire series for.

  Fairy Queen probably saves a lot of this series for me. She's the comedic character of the cast, and fulfills a role of being the funny hunny of the show, which irritates Earth as he's trying to play a VRMMO. Her presence offsets the boredom I've experienced in quite a bit of the episodes, which says a lot about this anime. Her antics are what kept me watching considering she wants to hang around Earth all the time.

  In addition, Fairy Queen is one of the few characters that receives a form of character growth over the series, despite how elevated her antics become.

  I think... that's as much as I can say for major recurring characters. The rest of the cast is scattered everywhere, destined to never show up again after that interaction. Yeah. I know I said the characters are the biggest strength, but this is what stuck out to me the most.

  Audio: 6/10
  Audio isn't anything special. OP and ED is good, fits the bill and the usual mood for what this series brings. Personally love Ueda Reina's Fairy Queen.

  Visual: 5/10
  Visual art style is alright. Nothing major to right home about, but the quality never peaks either. There will be some obvious dips in quality in some episodes, but considering what the studio has to work with when adapting this, there's not much you can do.

  Overall: 5/10
  I'm giving it my personal rating of "Garbage". You can find better anime elsewhere at each turn.

  • Do you want a better VRMMO? Should look around Sword Art Online first.
  • Do you want a better isekai? Keep looking around the bin and you'll find your niche; the isekai list is expansive.
  • Do you want a better VRMMO (again)? Should look around Shangri-La Frontier.
  • Do you want a better chill SoL fantasy? Start looking around Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi.
  • Do you want a better food fantasy? Reread the previous point.
  • Do you want a better strategic isekai-ish shounen? Start looking arouind Log Horizon.
  • Do you want a better- look, I hope I got my point across here.

  At least Fairy Queen is kinda cute.
  Continue on AniList

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