I just loved watching Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt So I’ll Max Out my Defense and I just recently watched season one for the third time which really had me thinking about why this show had so much charm to it that makes it such an addicting show to watch. So after thinking about it I came to my own conclusion and that is that Bofuri really does a great job showing us the absolute best moments a gamer could have as well as how a healthy and amazing gaming community functions.

The show stars a girl who goes by Maple in an online game she is playing for the first time and it’s shortly after she logs in that you really start to see where the charm of this show comes from. Maple very quickly falls in love with the world of the video game and seeks out everything she can experience within the game without a care in the world. I can say with confidence that most of us who play video games have had that moment of pure joy where you play a game with no idea of what kind of experience you’re going to have only to be instantly captivated and you lose all track of time. When I watch Bofuri and see Maple have this experience it gives me the same feelings that I had back when I was a kid and I played my first Pokemon game. I was so new to the series back then and was so excited every time I caught a new Pokemon or found a new location to explore. Frankly it’s nothing short of impressive that Bofuri was able to bring me back to such a pivotal moment of my history as a gamer. The bliss of realizing for the first time how much fun exploring the features of a captivating game is something that can only be described as enchanting and when that moment hits it really creates an incredible bond between the gamer and the games that they play. To see that bond develop through Maple’s eyes just makes me as a viewer want her to be just as happy as that moment made me.

Another element to the charm comes when Maple finds a new powerup and she has no idea how to use it so she tries it out to see what it does and it always leaves her in shock and awe. Another experience that is highly relatable as we find new aspects of a game such as items, creatures, quests, NPCs and we quickly try to understand and collect everything we can so that we don’t miss a thing. Endlessly trying out new things because we want to find out more about them and the feeling of awe when we find something that is just perfect. It ultimately shows why we love video games, and how these games and everything found within them became such a wonderful part of our lives. It’s one thing to have lived through that experience when I was first introduced to video games but now I have something that helps me instantly relive the incredible feelings of that moment.

However, it’s not just the experiences within the game that makes the show so charming but also Maple’s experiences meeting new people. While we have seen many negative stories of people within respective gaming communities I’m a firm believer that a majority of the people in most if not all gaming communities actively seek to uplift and support each other and share positive experiences in a world that they mutually enjoy. This is the aspect of the gaming community that we see through Maple’s eyes as she meets new players, and sure they do try to beat her because that happens to be an aspect of the game but their is no animosity as they do this. At the end of each event or even during the events themselves everyone is laughing and just having an amazing time. Throughout season one Maple doesn’t win any of the events, even though she does place rather high, and yet she’s still smiling and laughing as she has an amazing time just like the people she plays against regardless of how they score compared to her and at the end of the day they are all happy for a chance to enjoy that time with each other. This ultimately shows us just how fun and charming video games can be when you play them in a healthy environment with players who are motivated to just have fun and enjoy the experience.

So thinking of all that it became clear to me why Bofuri is so charming. It accurate describes everything wonderful about video games. The innocent joy of experiencing a game for the first time and the thrill of exploring everything it has to offer as well as the exhilaration of sharing those experiences with people who are supporting, positive and also having an amazing time. It really highlights the charm that lured us to video games in the first place. When I started thinking about this I first wondered how this show can be so charming, when I arrived at my conclusion I then started to wonder how can it be anything else? This show is quite simply an animated love letter to the video game industry that reflects the feelings of joy most of us experience with the industry and I for one an really thankful I watched this show.