My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 Ep 5: Tsundere or Scary IRL Encounter?
There’s a lot going on in My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 episode 5, from Yamada’s icy exterior finally breaking, to the terrifying IRL prank that went terribly wrong, to an unlikable Tsundere showing signs of humanity almost immediately upon her debut. But what’s the true highlight?
Although exciting to see, the fact that Yamada is appearing to show possible signs of affection for Akane Kinoshita was bound to happen one of these days. As the title of the anime series suggests, this story is apparently one about love that will ostensibly involve Yamada-kun (even though it seems impossible right now). So, I’m not as “oh my god” about this development as I could be. Of course, this will undoubtedly change once he actually shows true affection beyond just being nice or chivalrous as he does in this episode. That’s because he’s just so “meh” about girls. Sure, he’ll help them but nothing more.
Then there’s the scary prank that Runa pulls on Akane after their disasterous meet-up in the real world last episode. In episode 5, Runa essentially sicks a guy who’s obsessed with another in-game character on Akane, lying that Akane is the character he’s obsessed with. Sure, it’s a little unnerving that the guy either consciously chooses to ignore or doesn’t register Akane’s words every time she says she isn’t the character he thinks she is. But when he later follows her into the bathroom, that’s when things get creepy. Luckily, the whole situation resolves fairly quickly with nothing else bad happening, so there’s no long-lasting trauma that the viewer or Akane have to deal with.
Then there’s Runa’s quick evolution over the course of one episode. A well-documented quality of even the most annoying Tsundere characters is that their rough, mean exteriors eventually get shattered by the one who’s usually the main target of their Tsundere-i-ness. Although every Tsundere normally remains cold to some extent, there’s no turning back once this shattering takes place. And it’s clear by the events of this episode that Akane’s continued kindness towards Runa shatters the core of Runa’s Tsundere personality. If they aren’t best buddies by episode 6, I will be very — dare I say — disappointed. Sure, Runa can and should get jealous every time Akane and Yamada have a moment when it inevitably happens. But the overall Tsundere none sense needs to stop. There might be some who actually like Tsundere characters, but I have a very low tolerance for them unless they’re done right (i.e. Chizuru from Rent-a-Girlfriend which I actually got to write about briefly for Screen Rant). And now that My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 has presented us with hope that the one Tsundere who just had to show up in this otherwise fun anime might be less of a Tsundere going forward, taking that away will give me the most severe of whiplashes. Here’s hoping!
Runa’s expected albeit highly welcoming transformation can be easily attributed to Akane’s unwavering kindness. Akane is just too pure that even the worst of Tsunderes can’t help but melt around her. In fact, it’s the aforementioned prank that Runa pulled on Akane that helps put Yamada in a position where he becomes the hero. Once he hears of what Runa has done, he immediately reacts and sets everything in motion to quickly save her. Of course, anyone who isn’t a monster would react this way. That is why it’s important to focus on Yamada’s actions before he learns of Runa’s tasteless prank. At the end of last episode (before all of this craziness), Yamada expressed concern about the date that Runa had set for her and Akane to meet. In this episode, we find out that the reason why the date Runa chose bothered him because he was supposed to tutor Runaon that same day. The fact that Yamada first tries to make sure that Runa actually doesn’t have any other plans when he arrives at Runa’s house to tutor her partially demonstrate that he at least cares whether Akane is being stood up. Then when he sees Akane call Runa, Yamada forces the truth out of her rather than just shaking it off. (Again, he does these things before learning about the prank.)
For anyone who’s been following the show, this is a big deal for Yamada. He rarely shows any emotion for anything and usually just tolerates Akane’s antics. Of course, it’s important to remember that he will help her when she’s in need. He went along with the lie they were dating when she gave him a ticket for a rare in-game item. He went out for drinks with her afterward even though he voiced a desire to leave, but still didn’t. And he let her sleep in his bed when she was too drunk to go home. But these are all situations where the situation is being forced on him. In this episode, he’s took the initiative more than once. There is one exception, however, as there almost always is. Yamada once went out of his way to tell Akane and their guild leader in the game was worried about her since she hadn’t logged on in awhile. He said this when she was actually walking away from him (with her drunk friend) and after an image of Akane popped in his head. Yamada taking the initiative with Runa in this latest episode therefore progresses nicely from that moment much earlier on when he asked her to log in for the sake of their guild leader.
All in all, I’m torn on which moment was better. I’m happy that My Love Story… is most likely taking the Tsundere out of Runa. I’m surprised by how dark Runa’s horrible prank actually got even though it could have gotten much darker. And watching Yamada grow will always be a treat. (It’s still really hard to envision him doing anything romantic, though.) But why should I choose between them? If I have to, then I’ll go with Takezo Kamota. I somehow love him even more than I did in episode 4. Watching him freak out and worry about Akane is just so wholesome and adorable to the point where I want to hug him.
Watch My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 episode 5 on Crunchyroll.
