From the Publisher
College student Akane has just been dumped by her boyfriend. Heartbroken, she decides to quit the online RPG they used to play together—but instead of deleting her account, she logs in and battles low-level enemies to relieve her stress and hurt feelings. There she meets Yamada, an elite pro gamer so reclusive that Akane can’t decide if he’s awkward or alluring.
When Akane encounters her ex at a gaming convention, she makes the snap decision to pretend Yamada is her boyfriend, and soon the two of them are spending time together both in the game and in real life. The problem is, Yamada is only interested in the game. As Akane’s feelings grow, will Yamada’s focus shift?
My Love Story with Yamada-kun at LV999, Vol. 1 is the first in a new English language edition of a contemporary geeky romance manga that US readers may be familiar with based on last year’s anime adaptation.
After her boyfriend dumps her for a girl he met in the same MMORPG he forced her to play with him, Akane’s chance encounter with a surly member of her MMO guild gives her the (not so) bright idea to pretend they’re dating to make her ex jealous—but if it were as simple as that, we wouldn’t have a romance manga series, would we?
Contemporary romance manga about otaku crop up occasionally, and those of us who participate in geek culture usually feel some kind of way about it. When done well, they can be some of the best contemporary stories we read, and they can also say a lot about the habits and flaws that tend to be present in our communities.
However, My Love Story with Yamada-kun at LV999 is probably not as much for fans of Hi-Score Girl or Wotakoi and more for readers who enjoy stories like Kimi ni Todoke or Blue Spring Ride.
Readers who are fairly serious gamers will probably be a little disappointed with the setup. Akane isn’t a very serious gamer at all. In fact, she only started playing Forest of Savior because her ex-boyfriend asked her to. (More on that later.) But for readers more like me—a casual gamer who doesn’t play games with other people because I’m terrible at them and want to play at my own pace without the pressure of a social aspect—Akane’s gaming habits (and interactions with the community) feel familiar and relatable.
I didn’t love the way Akane had pretty clear internalized misogyny at the start of the volume, particularly the fact that she referred to her ex’s new girlfriend as a “gamer bimbo.” (She knew nothing about this girl except that her trash ex cheated on her with the other girl.)
But I did appreciate that Akane had zero motivation to blame the other girl for her ex cheating, and all her thoughts of revenge were centered on getting back at her ex for betraying her. Not that her actions were especially… effective in that regard. But that alone made it a good deal less misogynistic than a lot of shojo stories, mainly because the bar there is so, so very low.
But in a manga about dating—about being cheated on, dumped, and finding a new relationship—it was also refreshing to see Akane’s overly-attached style of dating being framed as a personal flaw. Her friend criticizes her for remaining emotionally attached to gifts given to her by her ex, prioritizing dating over friendship, and absorbing her boyfriend’s personality and hobbies as her own.
Readers are also left wondering by the end whether Akane really knows who she is as a person—we don’t see her do anything self-motivated, and she only does activities that she’s being invited to by other people or specifically to spite her ex. But I would say that this is a massive part of the series, and for many people a massive part of growing up: Akane has spent so much of her time and energy forming herself to fit other people’s lives that she doesn’t know the shape of her own.
Ultimately, the first volume of My Love Story with Yamada-kun at LV999 is about a young woman learning to let go of the past and move forward. Readers who enjoy geeky elements (probably most of the people reading this review) will find a lot of the subculture references familiar and enjoyable, though female readers with more serious gaming habits may find the story a bit trite.
I’d recommend this as a contemporary romance with geek culture references for readers who like light romances with flawed female leads learning to grow beyond their shortcomings.
My Love Story with Yamada-kun at LV999 is available from Inklore, with Volume 1 available May 14. Fans in the US can watch the anime streaming on Crunchyroll in North America.
Review Source: Finished review copy provided by the publisher
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