GAMERS!

Honestly, I went into gamers expecting 1 thing and I came out with something completely different, but it was worth it.

GAMERS! is a 2019 Psychological Tragedy where communication goes to die. It follows our main guy, Amano Keita, who is, as you know, a gamer. He's a standard, generic, otaku nerd who just loves playing games. He is one day approached by, as you would expect, the school's prettiest girl, who turns out to be the president of the school's mostly unknown, Gamer's Club, where gamers work hard to be better gamers and compete in competitions. Amano of course loves the vibes, a perfect place to cultivate friendship while also talking about his beloved games. So he proceeds to..... checks notes... not join?

Yeah surprise surprise, Amano never joins, like at all. In fact, I would say this anime is 20% about the fact that they're gamers, and 80% about romance and friendship. This anime is as school rom-comy as school rom-coms get. Almost half of the people you meet in the first ep are almost never seen again. It was a little disappointing but it doesn't take away anything from the show.

Why do I call this a Psychological tragedy? Well, if you were to take 5 manic over-thinkers and told them to cultivate relationships, this is what you would get. As many have said, this show is built on misunderstandings. Misunderstandings are its structure, its bones, the food they eat in the morning, the toothpaste they brush their teeth with, the pavement they walk on, the clothes they wear, and the air they breathe. You wouldn't have GAMERS! without MISCOMMUNICATION! So bad that not even all of them sitting at one table could clear it up. It's honestly a mess, but that's not a bad thing. Everything is comedically well portrayed. I couldn't even get annoyed by it. They're all loveable fools and you can't help but want to cheer them on.

The anime is especially strongest in its first 7 episodes, which builds to the main couple's eventual get-together. The miscommunication, in a way, does help cultivate their relationships. They make friends with each other and bond. You get to know more about these characters beyond their first impressions and very, very generic designs. It drives them to act and take charge. It's kind of surprising but they really wouldn't be who they are without these misunderstandings.

There is definitely a charm to GAMERS! It's honestly a really nice, feel-good anime, which is probably why I binged it all in one day. My only real gripe would be the last 12th episode. While episode 11 felt like a proper finale, episode 12 only served to kill us with mostly meaningless dialogue jus to prove a point. Could have done without.