Art imitates life, just as many of us grew up playing games, so did many of the Anime characters we love to watch.
Like in real life, some Anime characters love to play games. Be it MMORPGs, arcade games, ARPGs and more, you’d best believe there’s a character in a title somewhere who would rather just stay home and game the hours away.
Here are 10 characters who are massive video game enthusiasts!
Akira Oono (Hi Score Girl)
Akira Oono is a prim and proper elementary school girl who’s good at everything she puts her mind to, be it in music, art, or studies. But the expectation of perfection weighs heavily on her, and as such, she has found a safe haven in the local games center and the myriad of arcade games within.
Akira loves to play fighting games like Street Fighter 2 and has easily picked up winning strategies with little to no effort, much to the chagrin of her self-professed rival Yaguchi Haruo.
Akito Yamada (My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Level 999)
Akito Yamada is a high schooler who also moonlights as a prolific professional gamer who can rake in a ton of sponsors. He mainly focuses on first-person shooters, but also relaxes with the typical MMORPG fantasy titles like the fictional Forest of Savior.
But behind his enigmatic aura as an amazing gamer, Yamada is actually quite a shy and awkward person who finds comfort behind his PC screen.
Hirotaka Nifuji (Wotakoi: Love is Hard for an Otaku)
Hirotaka Nifuji is an ordinary salary man, but behind his respectable office-working facade is an otaku who would rather play his favourite Monster Hunter game. On days without work, Hirotaka would game the hours away to the point of even forgetting to eat and sleep.
Hirotaka has even gone on record to say that without games, he’d die — truly so relatable of him.
Karen Tendo (Gamers!)
Karen Tendo is beautiful, smart, athletic, and also such a massive gaming nerd that she single handedly reformed and became the president of the Gaming Club at school. She’s been playing a variety of video games since her youth and is a big source of fun and entertainment for her.
Karen loves to take up challenges when it comes to gaming, thanks in part to her burning competitive spirit.
Keima Katsuragi (The World God Only Knows)
In the gaming world, Katsuragi Keima is known as the god of conquest, thanks in part to his ability of being able to win over the hearts of every girl in whatever dating sim game he gets his hands on. Keima enjoys games so much that he believes that there are no bad characters, only bad games, and he can sit for even 3 days straight just to conquer his favorite girl.
However, his prowess for games comes from his disinterest in the “3d world”. Keima coldly believes that 3d girls are imperfect and does not compare to his beloved 2d heroines. Thankfully, he unlearns this thinking as the series progresses.
Kenma Kozume (Haikyuu!!)
Besides being the setter for Nekoma High’s volleyball team, Kenma Kozume is also a big video game nerd. His fixation on video games may seem like his form of relaxation after a tiring competition, but playing games is also like a form of training that hones his strategic thinking. Because of this dedication to video-game based tactics and strategy, Kenma earned the moniker the “heart” and “brain” of his team.
After finishing high school, Kenma becomes a professional gamer, YouTuber, and CEO of his own company. A dream for many aspiring gamers out there!
King (One Punch Man)
King is an S-class Rank 5 professional hero of the Hero Association known as “The Strongest Man on Earth”. But in reality, he’s just a normal civilian who unintentionally gained credit for Saitama’s heroic deeds.
Truly, behind the intimidating and heroic aura that seems to emanate from him, King is just a video game nerd who loves to play romance and dating simulator games.
Konata Izumi (Lucky Star)
For all intents and purposes, Konata Izumi is a hardcore Otaku. Besides consuming tons of her favourite Anime media, Konata is also an avid gamer who loves to play a variety of games by herself or with her friends.
Umaru Doma (Himouto! Umaru-chan)
Umaru Doma is a beautiful, smart, and popular girl at school, but at home, she’s the most textbook gamer trope you could ever meet. Umaru is messy, lazy, loves junk food and cola, reads manga, watches anime, but most importantly is obsessed with playing all kinds of video games.
But behind that laidback personality, Umaru is feared in the gaming world as the feared “UMR”, who can beat anyone’s high score in the video game arcade center.
