The Silver Guardian

This anime series focuses on gamer and high school student Suigin Riku. Although he attends the Shinryou Private Academy, which attracts the children of the very rich, Suigin hails from a working-class background and must juggle a series of part-time jobs to cover his tuition. One day, Suigin jumps into a pool to save his pet cat from drowning, forgetting that he cannot swim. He is rescued by Rei Riku, the daughter of a game developer, who Suigin later learns is also an online player in one of his favorite games. Rei introduces Suigin to a new game called Grave Buster, and when Rei is kidnapped, Suigin must enter the new game to rescue her from danger. Suigin’s adventures in this virtual parallel universe are entertaining, and the characters are often charming, but the series ultimately wears out its welcome, although its visually striking animation helps compensate for any storytelling shortcomings. Compiling all 18 episodes from the 2017-18 first and truncated second seasons in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, rated TV-14, this is a strong optional purchase. (P. Hall)