This show is significantly oriented towards Isekai Shonen series based on a helplessly overpowered male character with a harem of female sidekicks in a medieval fantasy setting. It has been produced by the studio A-CAT and directed by Norihiko Nagahama.
The series aired in October 2022 and adapts the light novel written by Shobonnu from May 2017 on.
In advance, let me explain why I decided to write a review on this anime although having not much to add to the opinion of BubblyChika's review. A few weeks ago, I noticed this series and was expecting a nice and enjoyable, albeit light and generic isekai anime - just like for example Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja (aka: "She professed herself pupil of the wise man") which is from the same studio. When setting the series to planning on anilist, I did not notice the low average score, but looked into the reviews. As there was only one, I thought it is a single opinion and not representative. Therefore, I wasted ~23minutes x 12 of my life. And I would like to save you from this fate.
The first half episode gives a remarkably well overview of what to expect from this series. The protagonist Al Wayne is a farmer in a medieval setting and loves nothing more than to grow his crops. When traveling to the near town in order to sell the vegetables, he encounters a party of experienced adventurers being overpowered by a dragon. Al Wayne throws a carrot at the dragon such that the legendary beast dies on impact due to a large explosion. And no, my naive former self, it really does not get better.
The series progresses without a clear plot: Al Wayne encounters several damsels in distress including the princess, a receptionist at the adventurers guild and the daughter of the former hero. When Al helps them, they fall in love with him and keep dragging him into the life of a hero, that he rejects for the sake of being a farmer. I guess this is supposed to be a funny running gag, but it grew boring directly after the first time - just as him attracting orcs all the time.
Finally, the last two episodes brought some interesting plot rolling connecting Al's past, his powers and the gods of the fantasy world. But then again, this ended so abrupt that it felt really off. It somehow leaves the viewer wanting to know about all the loose ends, but at the same time it left me disgusted by the thought of this series getting another season. Yet again, why did I expect anything more from a series directed by a man whose experience is mainly based on hentai anime.
Characters
For the female characters, quantity was significantly preferred to quality. Although introduced in the very first episode, princess Fal Ys Meigis does only get three character traits during the whole series: she is the generic likable princess that puts the people of her country first, she uses a magic hair slide to prevent being recognized, and she is totally in love with Al. Her story arc is hopelessly outshone by the exact same plot taken from Seirei-Gensouki, which is also rather plain but cares about the characters much more.
The receptionist Helen Lean gets a bit more love, including a dark past catching up to her and special powers after her story arc. Yet again, the only role she plays after the introductory episodes is to be totally in love with Al and to get annoyed by every new girl he adds to his harem.
The third main harem member is the daughter of the former hero called Ruri. She somehow has the attribute of being likable, maybe because her character and her outward appearance fit very well together, but she is as plain as her love rivals. After getting over her insecurities due to Al's help, the only thing noteworthy about her are she being totally in love with Al and being annoyed by every new girl he adds to his harem.
The best thing I can write about Al's parents is that they do not appear in about half of the episodes. His mother might be the most clingy person in all anime series ever produced. In a harsh contrast to all her "I love you, Al", which might be 99% of what she is saying, she is considered to be the head of a famous spy organization. Al's father primarily acts as punching bag for his violent wife. His performance as personification of the word "failure" is so good that you do not even bother to pity him.
Plot
Luckily, there is not much of a continuous thread to be analyzed. There are two sudden time leaps when the episodes about Al's past are inserted randomly in the series, where especially the second one leaves this part of the story unfinished. Furthermore, there is a severe logical mistake when Al's village is devastated and his hyperprotective spy specialist of a mother does not return immediately to care for her one and only interest in life. Obviously, this is for the sake of the plot which wants to kill Al's adopted sister Ilvia.
Another very unfavorable plot decision is the final fight. In order to (try to) raise excitement for another season, Al has to face a much stronger enemy appearing out of nothing. But just halfway through the fight, this enemy decides to not be in the mood to fight further although not having reached any goals and simply flies away. That moment just screamed out "I have not reached anything, though I'm far stronger than you. As the twelfth episode is about to reach the time limit, I will return another day to finish you off."
Finally something I do not have to complain about: the whole soundtrack may not be something special, but it is not particular bad either. "Growing up" by 7ORODER is a very decent opening which not only fits very nicely to the general ambience of this anime, but also feels just like the typical generic isekai opening. The Ending "Rollin' Soul, Happy Days" by POP SHINANAIDE felt a bit off at the start, but I got used to it and it also does a decent job simply by not being overly special.
Overly special might have been the basic strategy for the animations, which became a total desaster. The majority of scenes is animated decently and comparable to other isekai animes. However, now and then the editor chose to fill in a scene with more realistic textures enforcing a high contrast to the main style. Not only do these scenes not fit the general outline, but they do not look good in my eyes, as well.
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