Anime Reviews (2010-2019): Gamers! - The Complete Series (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Anime on Blu-ray Disc Review)

“Gamers!” will satisfy anime fans who don’t want to invest in a series for years and just want something short, fun and enjoyable. So, if you love romantic comedies and video games, definitely give “Gamers! – The Complete Series” out on Blu-ray!

TITLE: Gamers – The Complete Series

DURATION: Episodes 1-12

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (16×9), English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Funimation

RATED: TV 14

Release Date: August 21, 2018

Originally created by Sekina Aoi

Directed by Manabu Okamoto

Script by Hiroku Uchida, Manabu Okamoto, Masami SAito

Art Design: Kazushi Fujii, Masami Saito

Character Design by Tensho Saito

Music by Yoshiaki Dewa

Anime Production: Pine Jam

Featuring the following voice talent:

Hisako Kanemoto/Brittney Karbowski as Karen Tendo

Manaka Iwami/Marissa Lenti as Chiaki Hoshinomori

Megumi Han/Brandon McInnis as Keita Amano

Rumi Okubo/Tia Ballard as Aguri

Toshiyuki Toyonaga/Clifford Chapin as Tasuku Uehara

Natsuki Hanae/Howard Wang as Eiichi Misumi

Yasuaki Takumi/Alejandro Saab as Gakuto Kase

Yūki Kuwahara/Jad Saxton as Konoha Hoshinomori (eps 8-11)

Yuna Yoshino as Niina Ōiso

Following their first encounter with Goku Black, the Saiyan trio are itching to dish out some payback! It’s a mystery as to why Black has a Time Ring, so it’s off to the Tenth Universe for a discussion with the Supreme Kai and his suspiciously well-mannered apprentice. With everyone’s lives on the line, the Z Fighters must face the problem head-on or try to alter the timeline at the source!

In 2015, Sekina Aoi and illustrator Saboten created the light novel seris “Gamers!”.

With ten volumes published, an anime TV series adaptation by Pine Jam aired in Japan from July to September 2017. And now, the anime series will be released in North America courtesy of Funimation.

“Gamers!” revolves around a video game club featuring hardcore gamers:

Amano Keita – Always playing games on his phones. Not into competitive gaming. Wouldn’t know if a girl liked him or not.
Tendo Karen – The most beautiful girl at school and the President of the Game Club. Has blond hair and she excels in sports and academics. Usually getting her way, she is shocked when Amano rejects her in joining the Game Club. She begins to watch Amano from afar and develops a crush on him.
Uehara Tasuku – A cool, handsome guy who is an occassional gamer and great at arcade games. But before he became cool, he was a hardcore gaming nerd and changed his appearance when he went to a high school that disliked gaming nerds. He is dating Aguri.
Aguri – Tasuku’s girlfriend. She doesn’t play games and has no interest in him. And she hangs out with people who dislike gaming nerds, but because she loves Tasuku, she is willing to be part of anything, that includes the gaming club.
Hoshinomori Chiaki – A shy girl in class who loves playing handheld and phone games. She is also an indie game developer known as “Nobe”, which Amano is a big fan of and when she finds this out, she starts to develop a crush on him. Which makes Tendo jealous. Her sister Konoha tries to help her sister get closer to Amano. Aguri becomes jealous when she sees Uehara talking to Hoshinomori.

VIDEO:

“Gamers!” is created in 1080p High Definition (16×9 HD Native). The episodes are colorful and absolutely vibrant. Very good detail and shadowing on character designs and detailed art backgrounds.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Gamers!” is presented in English 5.1 and Japanese 2.0. The series is dialogue driven and with the video game sounds serving as ambiance and the music as part of the series soundtrack. Both Japanese and English dub voice acting are well-done!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Gamers!” comes with the following special features:

Textless Opening Songs
Textless Closing Songs

EXTRAS:

“Gamers!” comes with the Blu-ray and DVD of the series.

For those who like teenage romantic comedies, video games and multiple love triangles, will enjoy “Gamers!”

For the most part, “Gamers!” is a lighthearted series that showcases characters that love video games, may it be portable, mobile phone, online, arcade, etc., and that passion is what brings them together and what they have in common.

But each are different in their own personalities and are inexperienced with love that there are a lot of misunderstandings and jealousy that tend to make certain characters on edge.

If anything, the episodes are more like slice-of-life type storylines and doesn’t stray far from its concept.

You have a hardcore gamer like Keita who is a good guy, willing to help anyone in need but at the same time, is unaware what love is, but what he experienced on a video game. So, he tends to evaluate things based on video games he played. So, while he has Tendo and Hoshinomori liking him, he doesn’t have a clue.

Tendo is popular but she’s a Keita-stan, always following and observing him from afar. Uehara sees her spying on Keita, so he decides to have fun and see if he can bring the two together.

Uehara is a guy who was a hardcore gaming nerd but changed his appearance to be cool, despite enjoying arcade games a lot. His girlfriend is the popular Aguri, and to his surprise, she liked him even though he was a gaming nerd. But the problem is, while trying to help Keita find a girlfriend, he ends up spending time with other female members of the club that makes Aguri jealous.

Throw in Hoshinomori Chiaki, who likes Keita too, but spends a lot of time with Uehara, which gets Aguri jealous.

Needless to say, while these kids love video games, they are trying to learn more about love.

For the most part, the anime series is safe with its TV 14 rating, but there are scenes of fan service when the group goes out to the hot springs. No nudity is shown but you have the ladies talking about Tendo’s breasts.

But other than that, it’s a short series that is entertaining and easy to get into thanks to its many video game and also anime references.

While the series looks great and vibrant on Blu-ray, surprisingly, it’s a barebones release with no special features (note: I do not count textless opening and closing songs and trailers as special features).

But overall, “Gamers!” will satisfy anime fans who don’t want to invest in a series for years and just want something short, fun and enjoyable. So, if you love romantic comedies and video games, definitely give “Gamers! – The Complete Series” out on Blu-ray!

Anime Reviews (2010-2019): Gamers! – The Complete Series (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Anime on Blu-ray Disc Review)

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