This was truly an unexpected gem of the Winter season. It was a surprisingly funny, yet emotional and epic anime for sure. It takes a while to really pick up, but once it does, it never looks back. Studio C2C have been quietly doing a great job with some of their recent works, such as Majo no Tabitabi, Tensei shitara Ken Deshita, and now this anime, which showcased some very impressive and sharpened animation and fight scenes that could make some of the elite studios quiver in their boots just a little bit. I think this show nails tonal shifts very well, and it kind of reminds me of Golden Kamuy, where one scene they could be making the lewdest of lewd jokes, but the next scene, people are being murdered. It’s really quite something.

The story isn’t very special, as it’s about a Handyman called Saitou, reincarnated into another world where unlike in his original world, the people treat him with much more respect, and he feels more needed. He uses his handyman skills to help out his party with lock-picking, opening treasure chests, a lot of practical things.

The first few episodes are very comedy-based, with somewhat disconnected skits to introduce the characters, and while some of the jokes hit real good, it was definitely the weakest part of the series. It shifts into a more plot-based story after that, and boy, it really got good after that. It went through a full 180, but it worked out in the end with some very meaningful and emotional backstories, along with some solid character writing in the process. It doesn’t hold back in any way, whether it’s the jokes, the action, or even the gore.

The cast is quite the goofy bunch, but they’re a very solid cast of characters. Apart from Saitou, we have an old magician who forgets his spells every so often called Morlock, a healing fairy called Lafanpan, and a strong Knight in Raelza. Their interactions can be comedy gold, but can also be very emotional. They’re a very tight knit party who clearly care about each other, and form great friendships and relationships that made for great dynamics. The side characters and antagonists also were decent, as each character had a certain degree of depth, some more than others, and it’s always a breath of fresh air when the villains have a backstory of their own instead of just being evil for the sake of being evil.

The animation is good overall, but when the plot gets serious, the animation goes up to another level. Some of the fight scenes were very well animated, and got me on the edge of my seat with how epic they were. The OST also accompanies the atmospheres very nicely, although the OP and ED weren’t all that great.

Overall, this show encompasses goofy and epic all in one package, and if there was one isekai besides MagiRevo that I would recommend people to check out, it would be this one. Genuinely, one of the better shows of the season, and it came as a very pleasant surprise. Do give this one a chance.