When I heard the premise for GaCen Shounjo to Ibunka Kouryuu (Cultural Exchange with Game Center Girl), all I could think about was another gaming-centric romance show that I loved, Hi-Score Girl. The art style also looked pretty similar, so onto the To Watch pile it went! Now that the first episode is done and over with, did it live up to what I considered to be the greatest geek culture romance story that I’ve experienced so far?
Let’s go!
First Episode Synopsis
The girl (because we don’t know her name until the very end of the first episode) is wandering around the streets of the city. The people seem like these far-off creatures that are beyond her reach, but in the midst of the darkness, she finds a beacon of light… an arcade! She steps inside and tries her luck at a claw game, but she cannot nab the stuffed koala toy that caught her eye. One of the game center’s employees, a boy named Renji, witnesses this. Three hours pass, and she’s still there, so he offers to help her out and win the prize. He gives it to her, but a problem arises… this girl only speaks English! He tries hard to think of what to say and then notices a poster on the wall. Figuring it aligns with his country’s version of the holiday, he gives her the bear and wishes her a Happy Valentine’s Day!
She comes back the next day and wins a koala coffee mug from the claw machine and gives it to him along with a Happy Valentine’s Day card. When Renji looks up what it means in England, he spits his coffee out as it was seen as a love confession. He stays up rather late and translates Japanese into English, writing out a letter for her in a notebook; however, when he arrives at the Game Center to meet her, she freaks out and runs away from him. After chasing her down, he gives her the notebook, and she reads it. In there, it states that he cannot fall in love with her because he doesn’t know anything about her. She then stands and proclaims that she will make him fall in love with him, but since it’s in English, he doesn’t know what she said. She says her name is Lily and says she will see him tomorrow.
In that moment, a story of romance begins, one where the two of them will become close, with Renji learning how to speak English, all themed around an arcade.
Worth Watching?
I DON’T KNOW!! – I think this is only the second time I have ever been stumped on whether or not to recommend a show. In short, this show was like a train wreck, but it was one that you couldn’t stop looking at. The premise isn’t anywhere near what I was expecting. As I said in my opening, the synopsis led me to believe that this would be something akin to Hi-Score Girl. It is not. Not even close to it.
What we were treated to was 24 minutes of broken English. Yes, there was more English spoken in this episode than there was Japanese. For the first time ever, I felt as if I could watch this entire episode without subtitles and get the full gist of everything that was happening. But, at the same time, as an English speaker, everything was SO CRINGE. But at the same time, the way it was presented was so cute that I couldn’t help but keep watching it, even though my face contorted whenever any English was uttered.
On top of that, it has the thing that I don’t like… lots of over-the-top screaming passed off as humor… but the funny thing is… despite me hating this style of humor… I actually chuckled a few times throughout the episode while holding a smile the rest of the way.
I literally do not know what it is about this show’s charm that hooked me and kept me watching. Under normal circumstances, this would have been an automatic drop from me. I don’t like over-the-top humor, I don’t like high-pitched character voices, I don’t like characters shouting at the top of their lungs, and my entire expectations for this show were not met… at all. In fact, the first thought I had in my head literally TWO SECONDS into the episode was “What the hell is up with this shitty-looking CGI bus?”
And yet… I want to see more. I can’t explain it. I am dumbfounded… so yeah… I don’t know why I want to watch more when this show should be complete trash… but it’s not. Am I finally broken to the point where I can no longer discern good anime from bad, or is this show’s charm so alluring that it might as well be a siren from the sea serenading me with her song?
Watch it and make up your own minds because I’m still trying to do that myself!
