I'd initially given this series a pass when it first came out, because it looked like "yet another series about people playing an MMO that got trapped in the MMO" and that's been done to death already.
But a friend convinced me to give it another shot, and I'm totally and utterly hooked now. It's currently on the second season.
There's a well developed central love triangle (and multi-angle polygon if you include a few other characters crushing on the main guy, Shiroe) and a few other safe ships that the show teases at. All the major characters are well rounded, and one of the fun things that leaks in is how everyone's real life personalities affect the way they play the game. Shiroe the engineering student. Naotsogu the salesman. Nyanta the retiree. Henrietta the MBA. Marielle the mother.
I think what really draws me to it, however, is the MMO/guild aspect of it. Much of the show revolves around leadership within the game, and how it manifests itself. Different leadership styles. I ran a large endgame guild in FFXI for many years, so I've been in the position that a lot of the characters find themselves in. (I was the "good cop" in a good cop/bad cop dynamic like Crusty and Shiroe develop near the end of the first season.) I'm still 2nd in command for a very tiny guild in FFXIV.
Anyone else watching it?
