GAMERS! has turned out to be quite the pleasant surprise this season, especially since I went into the show knowing next to nothing about it. But who could blame me for that? GAMERS! is the first full-length TV anime produced by the fairly young studio Pine Jam – and on top of that, it's being helmed by first-time director, Manabu Okamoto. While the show does have some minor animation hiccups here and there, GAMERS! has been an extremely charming and entertaining romantic comedy so far, offering good humor, bright and pleasing visuals, and an exorbitant number of hilarious misunderstandings. The show also has a lovable cast; each of them being a different type of gamer – like the more casual Amano, or the highly competitive Tendou (is anybody else also calling her Nintendou?).

But what about my primary focus – anime locations? As usual in rom-coms, the show’s locations don’t really add much to the story and aren’t all too important for the narrative, but the show still does feature a good number of real-world locations. So I headed out to Meguro in the west of Tokyo to find them, and see how they stack up to their anime counterparts!

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In this shot, Tendou is lightheartedly crossing the pedestrian walk in front of Toritsu-Daigaku Station. Almost all of the outdoor scenes in the show have been taking place in close proximity to the station, which is located in the Meguro Ward in the west of Tokyo. On a somewhat related note, I talked about the high concentration of anime studios in the west of Tokyo in last week’s article about the NEW GAME!! locations, and as it so happens, studio Pine Jam is also based there. The studio is just a bit north of Asagaya Station, one of NEW GAME!!’s main locations. And, coincidentally, if you head to Pine Jam’s site to look up the studio’s location, you’ll notice that their website is actually laid out as an insanely cool and creative pineapple jam recipe. 

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The real life Meguro Street matches up perfectly with its anime counterpart. Only the trucks in the anime seem a little too large. 

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Aside from the school and the amusement arcade, Nakane Park is probably one of the show’s most significant locations. The park was the stage for both Amano and Tendou’s earnest and insightful talks about their own gaming philosophies. 

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However, Nakane Park has been altered quite a bit in the anime. The buildings in the background have been completely changed, and the entrance is missing its gate.

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The park is also a lot larger than it appears to be in the anime. Tendou seems to be sitting on a bench in the corner of the park in the show, but the real one is almost in the center of Nakane Park.

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The real bench could really use a new paint job. Although everything is going to look pale in comparison to the magnificent Karen Tendou GAMERS!' bright and flashy color palette. 

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Check. The bottom of the anime park bench also matches up with the real one. Yes, I even checked that.

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The anime clock left out some of the details from the real one, like the flower decorations.

This shot again shows just how loosely the park is modeled after its real-world counterpart. It’s still clearly recognizable, but the actual one is just much more spacious. 

One of GAMERS!' other recurring locations is the Goldrush Game amusement arcade, which seems to be inspired by the Amusement Field Arcade. While the railings of the Nomikawa Green Road, as well as the building's corner location fit the bill, the anime’s arcade looks nothing like the real one. The interior also looked completely different.

Tasuku chases after Amano all the way to this overpass north of the station, after he runs off in the arcade when Tasuku’s friends showed up.

I wouldn’t want to reenact that scene in real life! The overpass itself has been recreated quite faithfully, although the surrounding buildings only seem to vaguely match up.  

The No U-Turn sign is also slightly misplaced.

All in all, the GAMERS! locations aren’t really anything out of the ordinary, but it was still really cool to see how they compare to their real-world counterparts.

The map I made for GAMERS!:

What type of gamer are you, and what do you think of GAMERS! so far? Sound off in the comments below!

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You can follow Wilhelm on Twitter @Surwill.