Finding anime that are short and sweet like Net-juu no Susume (Recovery of an MMO Junkie) is not exactly easy. After all, this show captured the essence of MMOs perfectly and even added a touch of romance to it. With more than 470k members on MAL, there is no doubt that this Fall 2017 anime is a little gem.
While not all anime on this list are specifically about gaming, they all share the most important elements that we enjoyed in Net-juu no Susume.
15. Kamisama Kiss
Our protagonist, Nanami Momozono, is a high school girl facing tough times who gets kicked out of her home. Feeling lost and alone, she meets a strange man who proposes an unusual arrangement after she rescues him from a dog: she can live in his house!
Nanami accepts, and to her surprise, she’s suddenly a land god, responsible for a run down shrine and a bunch of mischievous spirits (fox familiars included!).
At first glance, you might not immediately see the similarities between Kamisama Kiss and Net-juu no Susume. However, upon closer examination, you’ll find they both have a heartwarming atmosphere with a comedic flair, and their adorable romances are impossible to resist!
14. Welcome to the N.H.K.
Welcome to the N.H.K. follows the story of Tatsuhiro Sato, a 22-year-old recluse who hasn’t left his apartment in years. He believes the world is a conspiracy against him, orchestrated by the evil NHK (Japan’s national broadcasting company).
One day, a mysterious girl named Misaki Nakahara appears at his door. She claims to be a former hikikomori (recluse) who can cure him of his condition. Tatsuhiro is skeptical, but Misaki’s persistence and insights begin to chip away at his isolation.
While Welcome to the N.H.K. offers a bleaker and more grounded perspective than Net-juu Susume, both stories center around adults who withdraw from society because of life’s challenges.
13. Servant x Service
In case you need another hilarious adult romance like Net-juu no Susume, give Servant x Service a go.
In this series, three new employees join a local ward office – Lucy, an energetic but slightly vengeful young woman; Yutaka, the laid-back guy who just wants to relax; and Saya, the nervous first-timer.
But instead of the seriousness you might expect, the anime shows the funny side of government work.
12. Tsurezure Children
Tsurezure Children is a cute and funny anime about high school romance. It follows the stories of many different couples, all students at the same school. Each episode focuses on a short story about their crushes, awkward moments, and blossoming relationships.
Similar to Net-juu no Susume, this anime is a wholesome and light-hearted romantic comedy with relatable characters and couples you’ll end up rooting for.
11. Sword Art Online
Sword Art Online throws a group of gamers into the virtual reality world of a fantasy game. They can’t log out until they beat the game, and if they die in the game, they die in real life too!
While Net-juu no Susume is not a high-stakes adventure like SAO, a big chunk of the latter focuses on the romantic relationship between the main couple, Asuna and Kirito. What’s more, they also later meet in real life and become a “real” couple.
10. Btooom!
This time, our main character is a freeloading NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) who spends most of his time online. One day, he wakes up stranded on a deserted island and finds himself part of a deadly game.
It’s very different from Net-juu no Susume, but there’s one key similarity: both MCs use online gaming as a way to escape reality and find someone special whom they like in-game. Later, they also meet in reality and fall in love again.
9. 3D Kanojo: Real Girl
High school loner Hikaru prefers anime girls to real ones. But his life flips when the school’s bad girl, Iroha, confesses her feelings for him! All in all, it’s a funny and sweet story about an awkward gamer dealing with a real-life romance.
In a similar vein to Net-juu no Susume, 3D Kanojo is a heartwarming romance anime about finding connection and love in unexpected places.
8. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki
High school outcast Tomozaki sees life as a bad game. Then, the school’s perfect student, Aoi, reveals herself as a gaming pro and offers to coach Tomozaki in the “game of life.”
The stories highlight the unique way love can develop online. Meeting and connecting in a game sets the stage for a real-life relationship, adding a fun twist to the classic “finding love” theme.
7. WataMote
WataMote is a story about a high school girl named Tomoko Kuroki who’s obsessed with all things otaku.
But here’s the catch: she believes she’s a master of these otaku cultures but has zero real-life social skills. The story follows her hilarious (and sometimes cringe-worthy) attempts to become popular and deal with the confusing world of high school life.
Both Net-juu no Susume and WataMote feature female protagonists who struggle with social interaction. However, Net-juu no Susume takes a more heartwarming approach, while WataMote’s humor can be a bit more brutal.
6. Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online is about a college student who feels self-conscious about her height. To escape those feelings, she dives into Gun Gale Online, but ends up with a super cute and short avatar – the complete opposite of her real self! Despite her adorable character design, Karen becomes a strong and competitive player.
This anime shares some similarities with Net-juu no Susume. Just like Morioka Moriko, Karen uses gaming as a way to escape from reality and find a sense of belonging. Both are adult women who discover a different kind of confidence and social connection through their online avatars.
5. Gamers!
Gamers! follows Amano Keita, a high school student who’s secretly a hardcore gamer, who gets tricked into joining the gaming club by Karen Tendou, a popular girl at his school who’s also a closet gamer. The story follows their adventures and the quirky group of characters they meet in the gaming club.
Gamers! follows a similar recipe to Net-juu no Susume, blending romance, comedy, and slice-of-life elements to create a fun and engaging story where gaming is a major theme.
4. My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999
If you enjoyed the concept of online connections blossoming into real-life love, My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 is definitely worth a try.
In this anime, Akane, a college student recently dumped by her gamer boyfriend, is surprised to find her powerful online guildmate in the same game is actually a cute high school boy named Yamada! Despite being complete opposites (Akane is passionate, Yamada is emotionless), they start to connect both online and in the real world.
3. ReLIFE
One doesn’t have to go far to find another anime like Net-juu no Susume. The 2016 school romance ReLIFE also tackles similar working-world adult problems.
The concept of ReLIFE is a twist on the popular isekai genre, where characters are transported to another world. In ReLIFE, the MC isn’t transported to a fantasy world, but rather back to his own high school days within his own reality.
The series follows Arata Kaizaki, a jobless and burnt-out young man, who gets a chance to redo his high school life through a mysterious ReLIFE program.
2. And you thought there is never a girl online?
If you’re a gamer, you’ve probably encountered situations where guys pretend to be girls in online games. Our main character, Hideki, falls for this when he meets a girl in-game and marries her, only to discover she’s actually a guy.
Two years later, he joins a guild where a girl named Ako asks him to marry her in-game. When they finally meet in real life, Hideki is shocked to find out that all his guildmates are girls from his school!
And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online? offers a storyline where in-game love becomes real, something Net-juu no Susume fans will undoubtedly delight in seeing.
1. Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku
Wotakoi follows a group of working adults who are secretly big fans of anime, manga, and video games (otaku). They try to keep their hobbies hidden from their colleagues, but of course, things get complicated.
Both series explore quirky romances that blossom between characters who share similar interests. However, the relationships aren’t always sunshine and rainbows – they deal with the awkwardness and challenges of balancing their hobbies with love lives.
