Isekai

I'm sure a lot of bitter stuff comes to mind, and especially garbage stuff in the least. Right now and over the past few years, the Isekai anime genre has been suffering from an explosion in popularity, and from this a decline in quality due to this popularity. It seems that everyone wants to create a generic story where a social outcast gets hit by a truck and is taken to another world so he/she can do better than his previous life. We've all seen it at this point. However, things are different for a Jobless Reincarnation.


This review will start with a brief starting summary(without too much given away), along with why you will watch this show, and finally, end with what I think about the anime as a whole. This is also my first review, so let's hope it goes well(it doesn't).

Disclaimer/Edit: I did not know while writing this that Jobless Reincarnation basically invented Isekai and all of its tropes. However, I have a life, and I'm too lazy to edit this freaking bible that I wrote, so enjoy :)Short Summary and Introduction to the world: As a reminder, any details sparred are on purpose, the story is just incredible and I would hate to spoil it for anyone looking to watch this anime. The story starts with the generic: A man in his late 30s who is a societal outcast gets hit by a truck and dies. How riveting. The man is now reincarnated into a fantasy world as a newborn baby(named Rudeus Greyrat), who when he slowly grows up, is naturally gifted in magic and whatnot. It's worth noting that the main character still thinks and acts like the person he was in his previous life(perverted shut-in). This will be the catalyst for his character development, as his physical growing up in his newfound life is right in tandem with his previous less maturing as well. His reincarnation parents discover his talent in magic, so they get a magic teacher for him named Roxy in order to see what potential he has. Fortunately for them, the main character has all the potential in the world.

Imma speedrun the rest;

Roxy and Rudeus finish their training and Roxy leaves, Rudeus wants to go to the Magic college of Winterhold(I forget the name I'm sorry) with his new friend Slypheitte, but he broke asf, so he gets a job at his nephew's house teaching Eris(his distant cousin I think) how to use magic.
After this, something major happens(Ooga Booga), plunging Rudeus and Eris into a world of adventure, discovery, and tons of BS.
The End(at least for this season)
I'm sorry if that seemed rushed, but I wanted to get to the part where convince you to watch this anime.

You need to watch this and here's why:

- The World and Character Building is solid
- With each step, the story focuses on giving you bits and pieces of the world and its characters, in order to nurture natural growth to the world. The way it does this is by revealing things to the watcher as the main character does, giving a natural feel to the world-building. It adopts a coming-of-age story not just for the characters, but also for the watchers who slowly learn about the characters and story as Rudeus does. I would also like to mention how each episode opens with a brief showcase of the world and the location Rudeus is currently in, further cementing the world in place. This also serves as a way for the animators to show off their talent by showcasing amazing landscapes and giving life to the towns and cities.

- The story is engaging
- Another thing worth talking about is how the story keeps you interested. It does this by throwing problems at the character, not necessarily devasting at first but they gradually get more fierce as the story goes on. This could resemble the growing responsibilities of adulthood, following the natural flow of growing up that the story adopts. As each problem is solved, the main character grows more and more, as well as the characters around him(this ties into world and character-building).

-The Characters are flawed

• A Big thing so many stories miss the mark on is IMO the most important thing. CHARACTER FLAWS. If a character is perfect in every way, no one will care, because they have nothing to fix(usually). Good stories have flawed characters. I could go through each character in this story and find something innately wrong with them that's holding them back. If a character has flaws, it means that they have room to grow, and that can enable interesting character development for the watcher. A flawed character also enables the watchers to sympathize with them, and create a connection with them.

- The Art/Animation is flawless
- I would not say that the animation or art is a whole new revelation for the retinas, however, the art gets the point across if that makes sense, and does go overboard or below par at all. Animation also does the same here, being very impressive and meaningful, especially during action scenes. The quality and time put in are clearly seen through the clean and direct visuals and fluid movement of animation seen throughout the show.

What I think, and a Final verdict: Now that I've analyzed the hell out of this story, you can clearly see the time and effort spent on this story, how their characters develop, how the world is introduced to the watcher, and so much more. It does not in the slightest resemble the Isekai cash grabs that trash the genre's name. This story proves that it's not too late for the Isekai genre to be great, and it can redeem itself if time and effort can be spent to make it shine above the rest. And if you haven't started yet, go and watch s1 and s2, I can guarantee it will be well worth your time.