I absolutely do not care about all the sex innuendos with Claire and Phil. Or rather "Juliana and Clive". I didn't care about that role-playing in season 1 and five seasons later I still don't like it. I find it, um, seriously awkward.
And because I'm already ranting - Why did Cam and Mitch had only one kiss during the whole show? Their only kiss happened at their wedding. Seriously? We see Claire and Phil making out, and Jay and Gloria were dry-humping each other in other episodes, and all the couples throw around innuendos (even the teenagers!). But the gays do not even kiss? Even the dog got kissed more often! This is not equality. It's nothing new that Modern Family is basically one stereotype after another, but at least treat the gay couple the same way you treat the other two families and don't just use them as your poster child to lure in the LGBTQ community. Because they're doing exactly this - They're using the gay couple as advertisement for the LGBTQ community, but they don't dare to actually let the gay couple be, well, gay besides clichés because they don't want to scare away their "normal" viewers.
I just have to rate this a solid 10.
Not only because I forgot that they were going to loose (because that was what I had suspected all along), but because of how they delivered that:
During the last few episodes we witnessed the nerve-wracking back and forth, the development of Karasuno as a team and of its players. All animated beautifully, accentuated by just the right soundtrack. They made us not only care for Karasuno, but bit by bit for their adversaries, too. Then we got the battle of wills, the excruciating long stretch, the never-ending sprint for the 2 points. It was within reach, so close. And then Kageyama, the not-so-lonesome king delivered the perfect ball for Hinata and the world froze for a moment, all silent, all black. They blocked it. Oikawa realized and understood Kageyama's development and Karasuno lost their final point, because they developed as a team. Sure, they wouldn't have gotten to this point otherwise. But they didn't loose, because they made a mistake. They lost against a stronger team, fair and square.
And we as an audience didn't get left with a cliffhanger right before that moment or right after. We saw pain and sadness, anger, despair. We saw heartfelt tears. Because we needed them, too. They are part of loosing. Part of the process. And there will be more matches to play.
It's a cute anime that's entertaining to watch, but it relies way too much on coincidence and it kind of rushes the ending.
The title of the anime is very misleading. Nothing matters here except for the romance plot. There is no "recovery". There is no exploration of the shortcomings of her lifestyle. (As a gamer, I would have liked a more critical portrayal of the game's microtransaction and loot box mechanics in particular.) There is no exploration of the circumstances that caused her to become a NEET and/or MMO Junkie. All we get is passing comments to the effect that her job was a little stressful, apparently? I thought we were going to find out that she'd been sexually harassed? Or more detail about how demanding her employers were (perhaps a critical look at Japanese work culture?) Never happens! Even in the end of the series, it seems she's still both a NEET and an MMO Junkie.
The romantic plot is the only aspect to receive any kind of resolution, and even then it's only kind of half-assed. The only conclusion is they start holding hands. This is a moment that could have emotional weight but not in the way it's portrayed. They don't even acknowledge themselves as dating at the end. There's no real struggle. Just a series of increasingly unlikely coincidences that lead to the romantic outcome.
Overall, it's not a bad time, but there's a lot of wasted potential and in the end it feels a bit like a hollow piece of marketing.
