New Game!! Episode 5 Review: Hey! Don't Touch Me There!

Continuing the anime’s tradition from a couple of weeks ago, this week’s title sounds like it came out of something with a content quite different to that of New Game!! However, the episode is nothing like that. Well, maybe a little bit like that. But just a little bit.

Japanese Original Episode Title: や, 変なとこ触らないでよ!

Plot

Hifumi-boss is getting accustomed to being Hifumi-boss and is walking around with a notepad that is becoming an extension of her hands. While Aoba is haggling with her over deadlines, Yun just straight out lies to her about being ready, and then considers that she might not be as comfortable with delays as Yagami was. In both occasions, Hifumi turns out to be a sweet and supportive leader, one that is more interested more in helping her colleagues improve rather than making their life harder.

Meanwhile, Hajime and Aoba are struggling with ideas for their designs and ask Shizuku for support. She encourages Hajime to look for inspiration by discussing her issue with her colleagues and gives Aoba some backstory for the final boss to help her brainstorm over the character design. Their endeavours are successful and they both come up with great character designs.

Later that day, Aoba and Nene visit the hot springs with their friend Hotaru who was studying art abroad, specifically in France, and has brought some French habits with her. She jokes around by kissing her friends on the cheek but Aoba takes it as a challenge and starts a competition of trying to make her friends feel awkward while naked. The tension is too much for Hotaru who faints, and Nene runs to the rescue to buy ice cream.

Episode Highlights

Hifumi is a boss: Owning that promotion, Hifumi takes her job seriously. She keeps up with everyone’s progress and offers support to Yun by showing her some of the configuration shortcuts she has set up on her own workspace. She even agrees to discipline her when she asks for it, by completely stepping out of character and imagining she is cosplaying some sort of sadistic femme fatale which I found hilarious.

Everyone is so nice: A rather large part of the show consists of people freaking out over their colleague’s reaction, but I really can’t see why; I mean, apart from Yagami who is a bit bitchy and authoritative, everyone at Eagle Jump is so relaxed and easy going – they rarely get upset about anything. Oh yeah, Umiko is another exception. But she works in IT so that kind of makes sense.

Shizuku is a quiet genius: Airheaded as she may seem, I was quite impressed to see SHizuku supporting her employees (a lot more than she did in the previous season). Pretty amazing how she came up with a backstory for the game’s final boss just by brainstorming on her own.

Yagami is still better than everyone: Despite her resilience and respectable efforts, Aoba is still nowhere close to skill when compared to Yagami. The way the put the character design in minutes was pretty cool, wasn’t it? I have to admit that I felt a bit jealous.

Horny friend back from France: Is it just me or was Hotaru enjoying herself a little too much in the hot springs? That was quite a bit of fan service there, by the way. I’m sure the plot could have gone on without us having to see naked girls splashing around in a hot spring. Still, compared to the stuff I’ve been seeing lately, it was quite tasteful. Did anyone notice the reflections of the girls’ faces on the bubbles? Nice little touch there.

Hotaru looks like Hajime: Well, she does. She’s basically a blonde Hajime.

Themes & Trivia

Kigurumi: Animals costumes worn by adults and children in Japan, and more recently, by groups of drunken lads here in Britain.

Kissing in Japan: Where I’m from, kissing is more or less like in France: we kiss our friends on the cheek when we meet them, whether they’re boys or girls, it’s no big deal. In the last few years I realized that’s not the case everywhere: specifically in Japan it is a BIG deal. Kissing is reserved for couples and babies, and make sure you don’t do any of this in public.

Japanese hot springs: Also known as ‘onsen’ (温泉), are a popular and common thing in Japan. If you’ve watched a lot of anime, you probably know already, since almost every show includes visits to some sort of hot springs.

Get back to work ladies

I understand they need some time off once in a while but I’m more interested in seeing the girls coming up with witty character designs and dealing with awkward office situations rather than having fun outside the office. There’s work to be done, so get on with it!

（￣へ￣）

Did you like Episode 5 of New Game!!? Let us know in the comments below by using either the forum or the Facebook tab! Join us in our new forum and let’s talk about our favorite series! Also, don’t forget the rest of our Summer 2017 reviews!