Series: I Want A Gal Gamer To Praise Me
Story & Art by: Geshumaro
Translator: Ko Ransom
Lettering: Ivo Marques
Publisher: Yen Press (NA) | Pixiv & Kodansha (JP)
Every once in a while, while scrolling through social media there are pieces of artwork for different manga series that will catch my eye and instantly make me want to scroll back just to see exactly what it was. Around two years ago, some gorgeous character artwork for I Want A Gal Gamer To Praise Me came across my feed and really caught my eye, so I decided to do a little investigating. It turns out the artwork was by Geshumaro, for Rion, the female lead of a new series they had been self-publishing on their Pixiv account. Since that day I Want A Gal Gamer To Praise Me was one series I had been hoping would see an official English release, and to my surprise Yen Press came through and announced they had licensed the title. So of course when the opportunity to review this series came up, I absolutely couldn’t say no.
The one problem though with being so excited for a series and hyping it up internally is that it can sometimes lead to disappointment, and well unfortunately there is a tiny bit of that, but not through any fault of the work itself. I will explain what I mean by that soon, but in order for it to make the most sense I need to give some important context about the series itself first.
So What Is I Want A Gal Gamer To Praise Me About?
I Want A Gal Gamer To Praise Me does presents itself pretty clearly and openly, given the cover for Vol. 1 boldly features the busty gal, Rion, as well as numerous pointers towards an overall concept about gaming. The series starts off with Raito, a high school shut in that simply wants to get better at Bpex, his favorite Battle Royale FPS game that boasts over 70 million players worldwide. Obvious allusions to the extremely popular Apex Legends aside, Raito decides to hire a gaming coach, which turns out to be Rion, an extremely attractive gal and Pro Gamer that just turns out to be one of the Top 10 players in Bpex.
The series starts off fairly slow paced, with Rion showing Raito the ropes, giving him some pointers on what to do as well as some actual positive re-encouragement that leaves Raito more and more flustered. Things get a little bit more hands on with the coaching session when Rion offers to show him the ropes… by giving him a demonstration of her at work. Also, Rion is pretty clumsy and not the most spatially aware, which leaves Raito even more red faced and flustered than before. As expected of a Top 10 player, Rion’s accuracy and timing, and decision making and communication skills leaves Raito completely in awe. The mood quickly changes when Rion receives a message after the match from a team member completely tearing her down and telling her that she’s not actually good at the game and is only getting carried by everyone else just because she’s a girl.
To me, this is one important and relevant topic that really grabbed my attention with the series, besides the artwork I had mentioned before. When I initially discovered the creator and their work on X, one of the first chapters I got to take a look at on Pixiv dealt with Rion and the harassment and online bullying she regularly faces from toxic gamers, just because she happens to be a girl. This topic is one that I believe doesn’t get enough attention in media, as it is something I know a lot of female gamers deal with regularly. Now, everyone will always have their own way of dealing with bullying like this, and Rion’s personal way is to simply try and brush it off and not let it affect her, but when Raito voices his concern she is grateful that someone else acknowledges this toxicity as unfair.
This actually hits close to home with me as my daughter does like to play Battle Royale games, and is something I’ve seen and heard her deal with. Based on what I’ve read, this is also an issue the mangaka has dealt with, as they are a female gamer themselves.
A clear standout feature of the series for me is the gorgeous and highly detailed artwork from Geshumaro. You can tell she takes a lot of pride in the characters she has created for this series simply by significant amount of detail she puts into them every chance she gets. Now, when it comes to some of the designs, I have seen some people on social media making the comparison between Rion and Marin Kitagawa from My Dress-up Darling, to the point she has been called “Pink-Haired Marin”. Purely on a surface appearance level I would definitely have to agree that there are some similarities but given the success and popularity of My Dress-Up Darling, both inside and outside of Japan, I think that this only helps Rion and I Want A Gal Gamer To Praise Me.
The Issues
The first issue I could see readers of I Want A Gal Gamer To Praise Me having is that there is a rather heavy helping of ecchi scenes and fanservice, all of which initially focus on Rion. The way it is done however, I feel, is done fairly well and tastefully. They are done by Geshumaro for artistic purposes in full page spreads. Obviously, this will still not be for everyone, especially given the fact that Rion is still a high school student.
Now to get to the significant issue I personally have with the series, that being that Yen Press decided to not follow the Japanese release of the series, which featured prominent spot coloring throughout. In the official Japanese release that Geshumaro has shared on her Twitter/X page, she decided to give a unique color to each character. Raito features distinctly blue eyes and hair, Rion has pink eyes and hair/highlights, an important character introduced later in Vol. 1 sports gold eyes, as well as an additional character later in the series that seems to sport more of a purple motif. You can see what I am talking about below:
This lack of spot coloring is a glaring omission as it enhances the visual impact of all of the characters, as well as breathing some life in to the series that goes a long way to separate it from many other similar series, for example “My Dress-Up Darling“ and “Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu!”. As you can see, the amount of coloring itself is fairly minimal compared to other manga series that feature spot coloring, but once you realize it is no longer there its absence feels very noticeable. As I understand it, spot coloring is more expensive to have printed, but I feel the sheer marketability of such a significant aspect of the series can not be understated. Readers do love their gimmicks after all. Perhaps one day, should the series be successful enough outside of Japan, English fans of the series do end up receiving a new edition featuring the absent spot coloring.
At the end of the day I Want A Gal Gamer To Praise Me will not be for everyone. No series ever is. However, if you are a fan of other fanservice-filled romcoms in the vein of My Dress-Up Darling and Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu!, or gaming culture in general, this should be one series you will definitely want to pick up!
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