How A Realist Hero Rebuilt The Kingdom is not your typical isekai anime where the protagnist has an overpowerful skill, blessed, betrayed, have immense luck, or sacrificed...

Okay, perhaps our protagonist in this anime was somewhat almost sacrificed...

Anyway, unlike the typical isekai factors I mentioned, this story follows a different direction where the protagonist used his modern world knowledge and politics to govern the world he was summoned to.

But I am jumping quite ahead so let's backtrack a little to have a proper understanding of this series.

(Picture Source: Cultured Vultures thru' Google Image Search)

First of all, we need to understand the context of the world this series is build on. There will be some spoilers but I will try to minimize it as much as I can.

In the world our protagonist, Souma, was summoned into, it was during an era where the demon king's army were invading into the human territories. Of course, like any other worlds where humanity is around, war is an inevitable part of life due to the complexity of humans. It was no exception to this world. But because of the invasion of the demon king's army, the world (or more like the continent) decided to have a truce and worked together to defeat the demon king's army.

The one leading this so-called alliance is the empire. Just like in our real world where there are memberships for countries, like the NATO, UN, ASEAN etc., this world has one similar to those but its goal is to defeat the demon king. The kingdom which Souma was summoned to is not part of that group.

(Picture Source: Leisurebyte thru' Google Image Search)

Next is understanding the situation the kingdom is in which led to the series.

As mentioned earlier, the kingdom is not part of the alliance group which the empire is leading against the demon king's army. I cannot remember clearly nor do I understand this part, but if I am not wrong, despite not being part of the empire's group, the kingdom had to pay the empire some sort of fee to enjoy the empire's protection?

I apologise if the information is wrong but I do know that the kingdom had to pay some sort of fee to the empire which they couldn't do so, and that led to Souma being summoned to the world from modern Japan. The reason for the kingdom's inability to pay in cash? Poor handling of internal affairs which led to corruption and poor management of both financial and important domestic matters.

(Picture Source: Leisurebyte thru' Google Image Search)

Now that we have the brief understanding of the "world history" which led to the start of the series, we could now look into my thoughts of the anime.

As stated in my opening, this anime is not like any of the typical isekai genre. Souma, a university student from modern Japan, was summoned to this fantasy world in hopes that he is the destined hero to help defeat the demon king. However, Souma is just an ordinary person with no superpowers that is useful in dealing with the demon king. Like any ordinary person, Souma bargained with the king to not be sold off to the empire and would instead help him deal with the affairs of the kingdom.

The entire series follows Souma dealing with the domestic matters of the kingdom that was poorly managed. It is very slow-paced as the series does not focus on any flashy battles and powerful spells. Despite its slow pace, the series made good use of the war with the demon king, the kingdom's complicated relationship with her neighbour, and internal politics to liven things up.

The story also did a good job in applying modern factors into the series. One example would be how Souma vehemently refused to be part of the empire's alliance despite the major benefits it would bring to the small kingdom. It sounds contradicting but he did explain his reasons for it.

(Picture Source: CBR thru' Google Image Search)

I did glance through the other reviews and many pointed out how the anime adaptation did not do the manga any justice. I have never read the manga but as someone who had only watched the anime version, I would say that the story and world building is quite good.

My only issue with the show is how they are trying to force romance into it when there isn't any hint of it to begin with.