A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life: Anime Review and Series

A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life

Some of my favorite childhood games had a hidden, hard mode that I didn't even realize existed until I was much older. There was no straightforward menu option asking me what difficulty I wanted; instead, it was presented as a variable choice early in the game, with no warning of how each option would affect the game's challenge. I had always ended up making choices that led to higher difficulty due to mere aesthetic preferences, and yet, I somehow always triumphed amidst adversity. So, when presented with such a choice in-game, what route do you often take?

“A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life,” also known as “Toaru Ossan no VRMMO Katsudouki” or “A Certain Middle-Aged Man's VRMMO Activity Log,” is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from the 3rd of October until the 18th of December in Fall 2023. It was produced by Yomiko Advertising, KlockWorx, King Records, Stay Luck, and AlphaPolis and was brought to life by Studio Maho Film. The 23-minute episodes feature genres such as action, adventure, comedy, and fantasy, alongside a video game theme, earning a PG-13 rating for teenagers 13 years or older.

The series is based on the light novel of the same title, which began publication on January 24, 2014, and is still ongoing. It is the work of author Shiina Howahowa and artist Yamaada. A manga series of the same title was also released, beginning publication on June 27, 2014, and serialized in AlphaPolis. Artist Rikudou Shuusai collaborated with the same author, and AlphaPolis published it digitally in English through Alpha Manga. Meanwhile, the volumes have also been published digitally, thanks to AlphaPolis, as of September 29, 2023.

The story revolves around a new VRMMO game titled "One More Free Life Online," which catches the interest of many people regardless of their age group. This is where the protagonist creates a young boy avatar named "Earth" and decides to embark on an epic adventure, unlike his mundane life in the real world. The player, Taichi Tanaka, is a 38-year-old single male who works a regular office job and prefers to spend his spare time immersed in video games. As the game title suggests, players are allowed to do whatever they please in this virtual world, so he decides to begin mastering a particular skill that has been dubbed “useless” so far. This eventually leads him to prepare potions that are way too much of a hassle to make, cook food that is better than it needs to be, and even use absurd but original weapons to hunt down monsters! As weird as it sounds, it’s often the unorthodox routes like this that bring out the best in the game and possibly even end up being overpowered.

This anime is precisely what the title claims it is, and remains bland and uninteresting throughout. I have played plenty of MMOs myself and can safely say this is not what it's like, especially for players who choose to go with unusual builds. “Earth” just randomly decides to go with an extremely off-meta built Archer character with a side of crafting, and simultaneously gets bullied by others for doing it. Usually, ranged attackers are among my favorites, especially those who can provide many solid buffs and backup, so why such a character gets shunned is beyond me. Things change when several game patches are released, causing Earth’s build to gain a lot of attention and, consequently, advance the plot, which primarily revolves around Earth being rude most of the time. Credit where credit is due, this series does feature a pretty cool and in-depth crafting system, which I would honestly love to try out myself.

We even get to see the MC spending a bulk of his time crafting new gadgets to help him in the field, from new bows to bladed shoes, and so on. The only limitation here is his imagination, and this is the sole portion of the show that I genuinely enjoyed. Despite the novelty of the system and its creations, only Earth utilizes it, and nobody else seems to care, so it ultimately becomes heavily undermined.

The biggest issue here is Earth himself, who remains a mean-spirited jerk until the very end, and not in a likable way. He has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, and it’s his ability that draws other characters to him. He is one of those “I’d rather completely avoid people and just play solo” players who isn’t pleased at all about the relationships he is thrust into. However, he will certainly work with them if it furthers his agenda. He even merrily uses the powers bestowed by the Fairy Queen while continuing to be rude to her.

Meanwhile, NPCs are drawn to him with the best of intentions, only to be used and discarded in record time. Dude even gets famous for his build but waltzes around using the “you’ve got the wrong guy” card, but he DOES look like the most generic male MC ever to exist, so I’ll give him that. What’s worse is that he seems to think it works despite supposedly being a veteran MMO player! The plot attempts to redeem him, but he undermines it instantly with his terrible behavior, leaving viewers with nothing but a sour taste in their mouths.

The remaining characters all exist to be used and discarded by Earth as he sees fit. What's worse is that most of them appear to be playing dress-up with costumes purchased from the dollar store, possessing little to no gaming experience, and are only attracted to Earth because of his abilities. The man is out there using his “decades of gaming experience” to defeat the monster, and of course, there is an ever-growing band of infatuated females around him. What do these NPCs and players see in him? No idea.

Maho Film isn't the most renowned studio in the industry, a reputation they've earned through consistently releasing isekai anime that range from mediocre to awful. Honestly, I doubt anyone put in any real effort for this show, and perhaps that’s a good thing, because nothing special was wasted here. The art style is extremely minimalist and thrown together with just a few lines. However, the scenery is unpolished, poorly colored, and poorly drawn, with inconsistent elements, a weak frame, and a morbid quality to it. Why? No idea. The fights also have a lot of room for improvement, with lackluster animation plaguing the series as a whole. This was a pain to watch.

The Music and Sound department is honestly no better, because it is also a continuous string of “meh.” The opening theme is "Magic Writer" by saji, and the ending theme is "Kibou no Recipe" by Miho Okazaki, both of which are easily forgettable pieces. I don’t even remember if there were OSTs in this show, because they must have blended so sadly into whatever conundrum was happening on screen. Voice acting wasn’t necessarily bad, but it felt like everyone on this project was giving it minimum effort. The only one that stood out was Ishikawa Kaito as Earth, and that was for being an absolutely terrible person.

Overall, “A Playthrough of a Certain Dude's VRMMO Life” is a sad excuse for an isekai anime. I am aware that this genre is oversaturated with terrible shows, and this one stands out as a prime example. What’s worse is that it can get tedious and irritatingly unpleasant the more you watch, mainly thanks to Earth, so it’s better to save yourself the brain cells and stay away—not recommended, not even to the most hardcore isekai fans, because this is just annoyingly bad.