Sara Talks Anime

If you guys were curious why I decided to pick up this show: it has the setting of an arcade, also known as a game centre. …oh, and the idea of cultural exchange occurring here was also fascinating to me. But, did I end up making a good decision? Let’s find out.

The episode begins with a girl (who we learn later on in the episode is named Lily Baker) walking through a Japanese city, when she comes across a game centre, which she refers to as an arcade due to how she associates the place with her culture. She goes in, as it appears this is the kind of place where she feels the most comfortable.

We also get introduced to Renji Kusakabe, who is an employee at the arcade, and watches during his shift as Lily tries to win a crane game. When she’s still struggling after he’s off his shift, however, he wins the plush for her, and after noticing that she doesn’t speak Japanese, explains to her in the best English he can that he was giving it to her as a Valentine’s Day gift.

Little did both of them know at the time, this was the cultural misunderstanding that sparked the need to do the cultural exchange in the first place.

*ahem*

Anyway, he decides to show her around the game centre, and playing games that he think might interest her. I found it funny when she pointed to a photo booth signaling that she wanted to play it…only for Renji to assume that she wanted to play the zombie shooter game. She ends up being good at that game, though, so I guess that’s what matters in the end.

During this time, she also decides to play another crane game, and win an item to give to Renji as a gift, being a mug of the same character who she was trying to win a plush of before, complete with a card asking Renji to be her valentine.

At home, Renji decides to translate…and finds out that the Western world has different cultural norms compared to Japan, at least with Valentine’s Day.

So, the next day, Renji decides to go out of his way to see Lily again, this time with another gift…a notebook, which he wrote in English to introduce himself and apologize if his English is poor, and to get more understanding from Lily on what she intended by “be my valentine”…though it involved some chasing to get it to her. But after Lily introduces herself to Renji, the narration at the ends says that this began the cultural exchange the two had.

What’s important to note here is that Lily doesn’t speak Japanese. So, how did the studio behind this show handle this? Find someone who knows how to speak English! And that was found in Sally Amaki, who is bilingual, knowing both Japanese and English. If it weren’t for the fact that I looked at My Anime List to see who voiced Lily, I would’ve though that the voice actor was actually someone they were working internationally with, as I didn’t pick up on any of the typical signs that to me would’ve suggested Engrish. And, in all honesty? I wouldn’t ask for anyone else to voice Lily, even though I’ve never read the source material.

Though, what I do find funny is that Crunchyroll has this series rated as being for “all ages” despite Lily quite clearly saying “bloody hell”.

Before people come at me in the comments, yes, I’m aware that Lily is from England, and that “bloody hell” is just a saying there, so the folks at Crunchyroll probably used that as part of their consideration for their rating.

But I personally think I made a good decision to pick up this series. I really like how this premiere started, and I’ll be checking in every week to see how Renji and Lily exchange cultures with each other! Genuinely can’t wait to see how their dynamic evolves!

ADDITIONAL POSTS ABOUT CULTURAL EXCHANGE WITH A GAME CENTRE GIRL:

• Cultural Exchange with a Game Centre Girl Episode 2 – “If Pushing Doesn’t Work, Try Pulling”