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Real is an absolute mess of a manga. The overarching plot is pretty much just nonsense, and is full of contradictions and plot holes. There are very abrupt shifts to the direction of the story that often feel really forced, such as the mangaka just suddenly dropping the first set of main characters pretty much completely two volumes in. There’s also a lot of foreshadowing that leads to absolutely nothing. I strongly suspect that the mangaka had different plans for where he wanted to take the manga but ended up changing course multiple times.

The themes explored in the manga are also really shallow. The ... manga is heavily centered the internet and social media and thus tackles things ranging from internet bullying to fake news to AI. However, it basically just shows that they exist and that they are bad without really saying anything more about them. If it did this more subtly, I suppose this wouldn’t be too much of a problem, but it is incredibly in your face a lot of the time and all of it just seems completely ridiculous.

The characters in this manga are also incredibly inconsistent. Their personalities are constantly changing and shifting in ways that don’t make sense. Their actions also don’t quite make sense in the context of their motivations a lot of the time. I kind of feel like the mangaka was completely changing characters roles in the story based on how popular they were and that led them to behaving in really bizarre ways. As such, it’s pretty hard to get invested in the cast. As such, the ending while decent enough, doesn’t hit all that hard either.

Despite all that, the manga is somehow really interesting. A lot of that stems from the social-media based death games that serve as the core of the manga. These are sometimes very straightforward at first, such as a game where all the players tweet something and the players that don’t get enough retweets die. But as the manga progresses they get more complicated, such as with a game where people’s tweets are projected over their head and the players have to run around town around beating up people with problematic tweets.

These aren’t particularly well written either, to be honest. A lot of the games involve tricks that are just dumb or rules that straight up are not explained. Despite that, they’re still quite engrossing. This is primarily comes down to two reasons. The first reason is that they’re very unique. I have not read a manga before that just straight up had a variety of different social-media based death games that it cycled through, and this manga does a lot of really creative things with the concept.

The second reason is that the manga has a very unique atmosphere that along with its fast pacing and constant suspense makes it quite the page turner. This is achieved through constantly throwing a lot of fanservice and edgy insanity at you. However, the comedy is pretty great and fuses incredibly well into all this chaos. The art is also somewhat generic in style and isn’t all that amazing in of quality either, but the mangaka is very good at portraying things in a fun manner. The end result is that the manga ends up entertaining even in the face of all of the manga’s shortcomings. Or I suppose to put it more simply, this manga is trash, but it’s enjoyable trash.

tl;dr: A manga that has a lot of issues but is still pretty enjoyable in a braindead sort of way.

As a child, Azami Riku goes through a series of tragic events that scar him deeply mentally and emotionally. As a result, he becomes incredibly withdrawn with a complex about his own powerlessness. In his quest to become stronger, he follows in the footsteps of his savior and becomes a boxer aiming for the OPBF title belt. This manga follows his career from his professional debut all the way to the big leagues.

Boxing matches are the core of this series. These matches have a lot of intense action which can seem really cool in the moment, but I still found them pretty shallow. This is ... because there wasn’t any logic to things. The boxers hit each other in all sorts of ways while also countering, dodging, and blocking but this is pretty much just a contest of physical abilities. The manga doesn’t really dwell on the boxer’s skills or strategies. As such, a lot of matches had a flow of one boxer being on the backfoot for most of the match until they simply manage to dig deep and turn things around instantly with a KO. This is satisfying at first, but it gets pretty repetitive and thus dull. There is also not really any sort of well-defined ability growth or anything like that. Riku obviously does put a lot of effort into training, but because it’s never really clear to the reader what he gains as a result it’s not all that satisfying. Thus, the action per se didn’t do much for me.

Beyond the actual combat, what’s just as important is the stories of those fighting. And in that regard, I felt this manga was even weaker. The manga does an awful job at conveying what characters are thinking and feeling. As such, it’s hard to understand their motivations and empathize with them. And as a result, it’s really hard to get invested in their struggles. Riku is the most prominent example. He’s a lone wolf that pushes people away most of the time and he has a character arc that involves getting over his traumas and connecting more with others. However, this is terribly written with any growth he goes through feeling completely random and unearned. The rest of the cast is even worse with lots of them taking all sorts of major nonsensical actions, but those actions simply being ignored afterwards. Everything was so messy it was hard to really care about anyone or anything that was happening. That resulted in an ending that should be incredibly satisfying not having much impact.

I also can’t say I was much of a fan of the art style. There are times where everything aligns and the result does look great. However, most of the time it looks pretty bad and is hard to follow. I feel the art works reasonably well for the edgy parts, but the manga actually isn’t all that edgy. It starts out pretty edgy, but once things get moving it’s increasingly less so with major spikes every so often. Thus it’s just not a good fit.

tl;dr: A boxing manga that’s all around okay at best.

Urashima Tunnel grants wishes in exchange for time. More specifically, whatever one desires lies somewhere along the tunnel. However, time goes much faster when going through the tunnel, and thus by the time the traversers reach what they wish for, the world moves on and leaves them behind. This film chronicles two high school students, Touno Kaoru and Hanashiro Anzu, who each have their own set of complicated circumstances but are united in that they each have wishes that they believe only the tunnel can grant.

Still, choosing to go through the tunnel is quite the decision, and thus they extensively investigate the tunnel before committing. ... This takes up the majority of the film. To be honest, this investigation yields very little information of value. The pair do seem to discover rules regarding how the tunnel works, but during the final stretch of the film I think it becomes clear that these aren’t really hard rules. And that’s perfectly fine. After all, it is a supernatural phenomenon.

So the actual circumstances of the tunnel aren’t what matter. The investigation is simply a backdrop to the pair spending time with each other and getting closer to each other, which in turn also allows the viewer to learn more about them and grow invested in them. Both have messy pasts that they’re trying to overcome. Touno’s are considerably more bleak in that his family has fallen apart and he lives with a violent alcoholic father that blames him for everything. Hanashiro’s on the other hand are more abstract and existential which adds a completely different layer to the narrative. This is conveyed well, and thus its easy to empathize with them and their desire to go through the tunnel.

The two also have pretty good relationship development. Each of the two is pretty strange, and it’s that strangeness that initially brings them together. Touno seems relaxed and easy-going, but really he’s basically someone that’s given up on life to such an extent that very little phases him. Hanashiro on the other hand has this extreme sort of confidence and proactivity. There’s a scene from this film that went somewhat viral that features her very immediately and aggressively standing up to bullies which I think reflects her personality really well. Though underneath all that she does have some major insecurities. Both of them are quite likable at a personal level. And the two match each other quite well and have really good chemistry. And thus, its easy to get invested in each of them and their relationship.

Most of the film isn’t all that intense and essentially just serves as build up. The final twenty or so minutes of the film is where everything truly happens. All the heavy emotional beats are concentrated during this phase. These hit pretty hard and definitely do leave an impression. However, the film moves very quickly and then ends abruptly right after that. It doesn’t really feel like things sink in properly. If the film continued a bit further and showed the aftermath better I think it would have really helped, both in of being better at orchestrating the audiences emotional response and also in tying up some loose minor plot threads. As is the ending is definitely still satisfying, but also feels a bit lacking.

The art and animation in this film are great. Not at the level of the heavy hitters such as Shinkai’s films, but I felt the vision was pretty similar and it got closer than I expected it to. The soundtrack wasn’t as good, but still decent enough. There were a few good vocal tracks that worked pretty well in context.

tl;dr: A film centered around teen angst with a great main couple but a rushed ending.

This anime is an isekai that like many other recent isekai features a protagonist that at first glance seems to be useless. In this case the protagonist, Mukoda, has the unique skill ‘Online Grocery’ that lets him summon the type of stuff that you would find in a normal Japanese grocery store. And as with most cases of this trope in anime, the ability turns out to be the most useful ability of the group. While the ability to summon groceries doesn’t directly have any combat applications, it allows him to create fantastic foods far beyond what anyone in the medieval fantasy world he ended ... up in is accustomed to.

As a result of this, Mukoda is able to form a contract with a legendary and extremely overpowered giant Fenrir wolf that he names Fel. Food from the grocery give stat boosts and experience so as a result Mukoda is also able to grow another familiar, the slime Sui, from a weak baby slime into an incredibly powerful one. The food also seems to draw the attention of goddesses who bestow upon Mukoda blessings that protect him and make him more powerful in exchange for him making regular sacrifices of said food to them. After it seemed there was no point in him ing the party going after the demon king, he was left to his own devices to make something of himself. But as he’s quickly able to become powerful enough that nothing is a threat to him, he simply wanders the world with his familiars, taking in the sights and enjoying the freedom he now has.

The way this anime handles the cooking aspect is somewhat strange, in that despite it occurring in a fantasy world it’s pretty much exactly like basic cooking from our world. Mukoda uses ingredients obtained in his new world, such as orc or wyvern meat. But other than the fact that there’s a lot more of it, their meat is essentially the same as meats from our world such as chicken or beef. For the purposes of cooking its treated exactly the same. Furthermore, the cooking isn’t from scratch or using basic ingredients. Rather, he heavily relies in premade sauces and mixes. There also isn’t really any depth or complications to things. He just follows the recipes without really putting any thought into it and everything comes out great. As such, the cooking isn’t really any more special than the typical cooking people do at home. The anime is able to portray said cooking really well and make both the cooking process and produced food look amazing, but it just isn’t that interesting. Especially considering how often it comes up and how repetitive it feels.

Beyond the cooking, there isn’t really anymore to the plot than just Mukoda and his familiars having fun on their journey. I suppose there are some minor overarching plot threads, but they’re pretty meaningless. Fel really wants Mukoda to get stronger and thus pushes him into combat situations. However, Fel is able to effortlessly deal with anything that they encounter so as of yet there didn’t really seem to be a point to this. Mukoda s the adventurer guild and has to do quests. But Fel is easily able to resolve them beyond what was expected without any tension or suspense whatsoever. Mukoda also s the merchant guild and does do some business selling things he obtains through the online grocer. However, he makes so much money just selling the monsters that Fel casually defeats that the extra income from the merchant activities is pointless.

As such, this anime is one of those cozy anime that focused on just relaxing. And in of that I felt it was just okay. The main party is pretty unique, what with it being one straight laced and cowardly human, one arrogant and battle hungry giant wolf, and one babyish but also bloodthirsty slime. However, I just didn’t find them all that likable, nor did I find their dynamic all that enjoyable to watch. There are also no other reoccurring characters. Thus, the characters didn’t really do much for me. There’s also essentially no world building beyond some vague references. The various towns the party es through are also all pretty similar to the point it’s not really exciting at all when they reach new ones. Thus, the setting also doesn’t have much value.

What holds up the anime is ultimately the comedy. There’s a good amount of it and pretty much all of it as at least somewhat amusing. The types of humor are also pretty fresh as far as isekai are concerned, so it all lands pretty well. For example, there’s a lot of humor centered around how Mukoda doesn’t like how his familiars are overpowered. This anime doesn’t handle the overpowered moments like most do in that it doesn’t revel in them at all. Rather, Mukoda is often shown as a coward that doesn’t want to have anything to do with what Fel are Sui are up to when they’re occurring, and then feels annoyed in the aftermath because he doesn’t want to catch the eyes of others who may try to push obligations on him that may limit his freedom. Furthermore, while I can’t say I grew all that attached to the main party, I will have to it that the humor that came out of their interactions was pretty funny in imaginative ways. Thus, while the anime didn’t really leave much of any impression on me, I would still have to say that I enjoyed it.

The art and animation were pretty good. Definitely for the cooking but also for the action. I found the designs in the anime pretty weak though with there not really being any character, monster, or location that was all that memorable. The OP was solid enough in of the songs and visuals. The ED is really catchy though. The soundtrack was decent enough but didn’t really stand out.

tl;dr: An anime with pretty boring cooking, an uninteresting cast, and no real plot, but pretty great comedy.

Despite the “Second Life” in the Japanese title, this anime isn’t an isekai. It features Dariel, a former high ranking soldier in the Demon King’s army, that was suddenly fired after his former boss retired. After that he wanders into human lands and due to various circumstances becomes an adventurer. The first half of the anime embodies the “slow life” in the title pretty well, as at this point he becomes overpowered and simply lives a relatively peaceful and happy life. He gets into battles, but is able to easily resolve them. There’s no harem, but there’s very easy relationship development with a single heroine, ... Marika. It’s a solid enough cozy anime, but nothing too special.

The second half goes in a different direction and takes itself much more seriously. One of the main themes explores is the long running conflict between humans and demons and how that’s created a cycle of hatred that’s hard to break free from. This is mostly generic with all the standard elements you would expect such as characters that Dariel knew as a demon and as a human learning to get along. The execution is also only decent.

However, there’s a topic tied into that which was pretty interesting. It’s hard to discuss in detail without going into spoilers so my apologies for this being confusing, but its essentially about how people can be wronged by others without the one that is wronging them actually being in the wrong. Such as if someone gets something important that another rightfully should have, but without said receiver having any choice in obtaining it. In such a case the one who should have received it getting revenge against the actual receiver would not be justified, but at the same time it’s not easy to extinguish the desire for what they should have gotten. The handling of this topic in the anime is interesting in the broad strokes, but it’s ultimately superficial and thus only decent as well.

Beyond that, the anime is very messy. There certainly are likable characters, with Marika being a major standout due to how dedicated and proactive she is, but the vast majority have little to no depth. How the writing handles them is also really abrupt at times. For example, a side character dies off screen with no build up and for what felt like no apparent reason narratively. The associated chibi mini anime is surprisingly substantial and actually helps with this to a degree by providing a lot extra details missed in the main anime, but it doesn’t resolve these issues completely. The world building is also pretty haphazard, with the political structures on both the human side and demon side not making much sense. There’s also really random stuff like magic cell phones suddenly existing, but only for like two scenes total. These issues aren’t really a problem during the first half when things are more casual, but they detracts from the more serious second half and make it hard to really get invested in things which makes the final stretch fall somewhat flat.

The art and animation are somewhat weak but mostly okay. There are some character designs that are good, but overall they were pretty dull. Also, while there is a comedic emphasis on the protagonist loving big boobs, there’s not all that much actual ecchi in the anime. The OP and ED were okay in of the song and visuals. The soundtrack was not particularly memorable.

tl;dr: A run of the mill fantasy anime with a cozy first half and more weighty but messy second half.

There are a lot of anime that feature high school protagonists that have little to no presence. However, Shiraishi in this takes that to a whole other level. People won’t notice him even if he’s literally right in front of them. When he’s in a photo, even if people are specifically looking for him in said photo, they still won’t be able to find him. His classmates view spotting him as a rare event that brings about good luck, even though he’s never missed a day of school. It’s downright supernatural. With that said, this isn’t actually that important. It’s played for comedy quite often, ... but it’s pretty much the exact same joke again and again so it gets kind of old. Beyond that his role in the story is pretty much the same as any other low presence protagonist without anything that uses the unique extremity in any meaningful way.

As such, this is a pretty standard highschool romance with a loner protagonist being approached by a more proactive female lead. The execution is pretty good. The female lead, Kubo, is pretty amusing and loves teasing Shiraishi, though in ways that aren’t meanspirited in the slightest. For his part, Shiraishi has pretty amusing responses to her with him being thrown off balance with the slightest provocation. Their chemistry is decent enough. Though as is generally the case with such romances, it is incredibly slow burn and while there was quite a lot of puppy love romantic fluff, there wasn’t actually all that much progress as far as the season got.

There are also a few side characters that play into things at times. Most interesting were definitely their respective siblings. Shiraishi’s little brother is adorable. And it’s fun seeing Kubo be the one that’s getting teased when her sister enters the picture. The familial bonds between each of the leads and their siblings is focused on somewhat, but they’re pretty minor compared to the main romance.

The art and animation are solid enough. I get what they were going for, but the style felt a bit too plain at times. The designs are pretty basic as you would expect from the setting. The OP and ED are decent in of the music and visuals, but are not all that memorable. The soundtrack was a bit too dramatically symphonic for what was going on to the point it was kind of strange. It definitely stood out though.

tl;dr: A standard highschool romance with a pretty good execution.

This manga is about a marine salvage company known as Nanba Salvage. The company takes all sorts of jobs at sea, ranging from towing uncontrollable ships to raising crashed planes off of the sea floor. They help out lots of people including those in life and death situations, but they are still very much a business. This is initially a major issue for the protagonist, Nanba Rintarou, who saw salvors as nothing more than hyenas. However, after his father died and left him both the company and a massive amount of debt, he had no choice but to take up the reins. It’s not long ... before he came to appreciate what salvors do, and he too began striving to become a master of the sea.

This manga deals with what is a pretty unique topic and does a great job of showing off lots of different facets of it in detail. That alone is enough to make it interesting. But on top of that, the story overall flows really well. There are a few major arcs that get really intense, but between that there are shorter stories that are more character focused. The major arcs are really exciting with all sorts of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. The fact that they get increasingly dangerous as the manga progresses definitely helps with that. And the lighter feel to the shorter stories in between helps things from getting to be too much. Unfortunately, the final arc was really rushed and though it definitely has its high points, it leaves a pretty weak final impression.

In of characters, I felt Nanba was a great fit for the story. He’s a goody two shoes that starts off overtly self-righteous and pretty annoying, though he quickly grows out of that. However, even after that, he’s still a really good person that’s too nice for his own good. While some may be tired of such protagonists, I feel in the context of the pretty unique setting of this manga he still felt pretty fresh and likable. As for the rest of his crew, the dynamic for Nanba Salvage overall is still great so it’s easy to get invested in them. There are two characters, Sawa and Hiro, who both have pretty decent starts to their character arcs. However, they’re both heavily tied to story elements at the core of the final arc, and since the final arc was really rushed their arcs have pretty weak endings as well. There’s also a villain turned rival sort of character named Eguchi that has a pretty decent arc. Beyond that there are various characters that are amusing, but nothing too interesting or memorable.

The manga has some romance, but it’s not very good. The main romance seems to be between Nanba and Hiro. There’s some subtle relationship progress throughout the manga, but it’s very lite. They still have decent chemistry though, so it works. There’s this strange love triangle that forms with another girl in the mix, Maaya. However, she’s a completely pointless character and it felt really forced. And making the love triangle into a polygon towards the end just made things messier. It also didn’t help that the ending was pretty rushed in regards to all of this too.

The art isn’t all that great when it comes to people, mainly in of their faces and expressions. However, it’s amazing when it comes to stuff like ships, the sea floor, diving suits, etc. Thus, it’s great at what are the most important parts for the story being told and that’s enough to make the art good.

tl;dr: A well paced manga centered around a pretty fresh and exciting topic, though with a rushed ending.

This anime is a cozy isekai about a man named Hiraku that gets isekai’d into the middle of a large uninhabited forest with super farming abilities. The story follows the progression of him and his village. It starts out with him figuring out the basics of how to live in the wilderness with only animals for company. However, slowly more and more people become residents of the village, the vast majority of them cute girls. In turn, the village has to deal with all sorts of things, such as building housing, ensuring a food supply, establishing relations with neighbors, etc.

The anime never gets too serious. ... The abilities that Hiraku got have a lot of utility in of letting him easily build up and maintain the village. Thus, there’s never really any danger of famine or disease or anything like that. But they also unexpectedly make him completely overpowered in a fight to the point that enemy nations are afraid of him, which is used for some really amusing scenes. They do their best to stay on his good side and don’t interfere with him, and Hiraku and his fellow villagers also just want to live peacefully in their village. So there’s never really any suspense or sense of danger at all. Stuff like dealing with invasions or trade negotiations are so effortless that how easy they are is played for comedy.

Instead the focus is on the Hiraku and the rest of the villagers just living happy lives. There’s no major overarching plot to the anime. Rather, it’s a bunch of small things. Sometimes it’s about farming and the best way to grow things. Sometimes it’s about the village growing and its expansion. Sometimes it’s about Hiraku cooking dishes from Earth. Sometimes it’s about playing games like mahjong or bowling. I could go on and on. It doesn’t do anything too deep with any of these. However, the writing does a great job of highlighting the fun aspects of whatever is being focused on. And then it quickly moves on and does something else. For an anime where nothing much really happens, the anime is pretty fast paced with lots of light comedy throughout which helps it stay interesting from beginning to end. The ending isn’t all that special other than Hiraku spending some time to reflect on everything that happened up to that point, but for an anime like this that’s a perfectly satisfying way to end the season.

As an aside, this anime is kind of weird in of the harem aspect. Hiraku is essentially the only available guy in a village full of girls. There are comedic bits every now and then about how all these girls seem to want him. However, other than some minor stuff really early on there really isn’t anything shown that’s the slightest bit romantic. Despite that, towards the ending it’s revealed that there was actually A LOT of major romantic progress between Hiraku and at least one heroine. It was just never actually shown. And I feel like there was an implication of there being more with others as well. While it just suddenly popping up was pretty shocking and I acknowledge that there is value in that, I still think it would have been better to have actually built up to it.

The art and animation in this are pretty good. The character designs were fantastic. The OP and ED are solid enough in of the song and visuals. I also liked how the ED visuals changed over time to reflect the growth of the village. The soundtrack was decent enough, though the only track that really stood out was the elven grape stomping song and its instrumental version.

tl;dr: A isekai about building up a village that’s really cozy and relaxing.

This manga, as should be obvious from the title, is about a powerful orc gathering a harem. The Japanese title further includes the detail that this is an isekai manga. As such, this review will assume that the reader is okay with the aforementioned themes. After all, since the title is so clear, if you still read this manga despite inherently disliking its subject matter, then it’s your own fault and you really have no right to complain. With that said, the manga is somewhat different from what the title would suggest, though probably not in ways that would appeal to those put off the ... title.

The protagonist, Olc, is the mightiest orc. That would suggest that he is overpowered and that this manga leans into the standard power fantasy elements that accompany that. However, it generally veers away from doing so. Olc is overpowered compared to most everyone in the world he’s in and thus there are a few chapters that focus on him easily crushing low level opponents. However, this is rare and the majority of fights are him facing off against those that are just as strong or stronger than him. He barely survives the fights at the end of most arcs.

The action is decent and has the standard progression of him using new abilities in each fight. Though this very much still isn’t a battle focused manga as there aren’t actually that many fights. Rather, it spends just as much, if not more time, on Olc being a merchant and dealing with politics. He’s more clearly overpowered when it comes to these and he’s generally able to power through associated problems pretty easily in such a way that that it doesn’t really give the manga much depth. But protagonists that are overpowered in such a manner are much more rare and thus this is all still pretty interesting.

This manga is an isekai manga, but he doesn’t really seem like a character from our world at all. The only area where the isekai aspect manifests is in that Olc cooks up a lot of the foods from modern Japan. The focus instead is on how Olc is a half orc. As a half orc he has the thought patterns of both a human and an orc. Orcs are massive perverts with a very strong instinctive desire to breed. Humans are much more subdued.

In combination, this results in him being very open, explicit, and gentlemanly about his goal to gather a harem. For example, he goes to an elf village and says things like “I may be an orc, but I’m a good orc that only pushes down and impregnates girls that want me to.” He also absolutely refuses to take advantage of girls in the slightest, with him rejecting any girls that he’s in the process of helping due to them potentially feeling pressured due to how he’s helping them. But he absolutely does not back down on his dream of a harem in the slightest despite some of them initially having objections. He’s a very hilarious combination of traits that is really likable and fun.

The first volume is essentially just a long training arc. Starting with the second volume it’s serious stories centered on a single heroine intermixed with lighthearted stories of Olc and his harem just hanging out. There are five heroines focused on, though the last is a daughter type character rather than a harem member. The heroines have solid enough character development and relationship development in their own arcs, but nothing substantial after that. Two of them don’t even travel with Olc and have pretty much no presence after they his harem. Still, they generally are pretty likable, and even if they aren’t that deep, they’re really fun in of what they bring in of comedy and romantic fluff. And, thus the harem aspect of the manga comes across quite well.

This is the manga adaptation of a longer light novel series. It only adapts part of the novels and it just kind of stops at some point right before the beginning of a new arc without much of a proper ending. But this is very much a manga that’s more about the journey than the destination so I would still have to say I was satisfied with how the manga ended and the manga overall.

The art is somewhat generic in style but is still pretty good. There are loads of great character designs. The ecchi art is really good, though it should be noted that it isn’t very explicit. But the art was also great in of the comedy and action. The mangaka is especially great at doing crazy expressions.

tl;dr: An isekai harem that’s a hodge podge of different types of stories mashed together, but that’s still pretty enjoyable.

This is an anime about a powerful Japanese exorcist who is killed due to people fearing his powers, and reincarnated in a new world as Seika Lamprogue, the son of a noble. He still has his memories and powers from his original world, but he doesn’t want to stand out and end up targeted again, so he does his best to lay low. The majority of the anime involves him attending a magic academy where he and his friends get pulled into various conflicts that require him to use his true powers to resolve, though he does so secretly without anyone catching on.

This is an ... overpowered protagonist isekai, though it has a couple unique aspects going for it. The first would be the context of how the protagonist is overpowered. He’s using abilities and summoning monsters rooted in Japanese fantasy, while the world and everyone else are rooted in western fantasy. This culture clash works incredibly well in making Seika seem awe inspiring. The western fantasy setting is the typical high fantasy sort of thing that’s pretty light hearted. The use of Japanese fantasy for Seika’s abilities is much darker with pretty strong horror atmosphere at times. This contrast combined with how Seika can be quite brutal with a smile on his face results in him having very unique vibes for an overpowered isekai protagonist that ultimately make this aspect feel pretty fresh and interesting.

Beyond that, the anime isn’t all that great though. The writing was a mixed bag. The plot is basically just a chronicle of various unrelated events the main cast get involved without much of an overarching plot line. It feels like there’s proper world building that’s going somewhere towards the end of the anime, but most of the anime feels pretty directionless. I’m not too nit picky about plot holes, but there were some fundamental ones that felt really off. Primarily centered around Seika’s behavior and supposed goals not really aligning at all. He says that he wants to lay low and only uses his true powers in the shadows, but even what he does in the open should attract attention. For example, he doesn’t use normal magic, only the spirit magic from his original world. And he uses it really well to do things that normal magic can’t do. Other characters comment on how his magic is strange, but it never goes beyond that. That would be fair enough if he was just an adventurer, but he’s a student at a magic academy where lots of others are doing research on magic. It’s just kind of bizarre and feels wrong both in of Seika using magic that should clearly be conspicuous, and it somehow just not being so.

The cast is also just okay. Seika is cool and the heroines are interesting, but they don’t have much depth. Seika has somewhat of a character arc where he grows to be less afraid of showing his power and becoming more comfortable being himself, but due to the aforementioned issues with him clearly already doing so this arc didn’t really land well. There are three heroines that are all pretty likable in of personality, but their character arcs felt forced. Seika resolves most everything completely on his own without the girls really having to do all that much and often without them even knowing what’s really going on, so their growth doesn’t really feel earned. There’s also a romance that’s pretty explicitly developing with one of the girls, with maybe some light hints towards the other two, so there’s somewhat of a harem feel. There’s not really enough there to be appealing to harem fans though. The writing does do a pretty great job at handling some of the side characters. Mainly in how it portrayed the mysterious wise princess, and Seika’s generic asshole brother actually getting fleshed out and growing up in a way that felt realistic.

The art and animation are decent enough. The western fantasy stuff looks pretty plain, but that just helps the stuff rooted in Japanese fantasy stand out more. The character designs were okay. The OP has a very 2000s anime feel that I’m a fan of. The ED is also pretty solid. I also like how both of them change as the anime progresses. The soundtrack worked well in of making Seika stand out, but beyond that wasn’t particularly memorable.

tl;dr: An isekai anime with a very unique overpowered protagonist, but not much going for it otherwise.