“In Japan, books about people being reborn on alternate worlds are apparently popular, and they get the big idea in no time at all. And although the one-time excitement has waned a little, stories about other worlds are still booming. The market is still as thriving as it used to be. Wait, who am I explaining this to?”
– Ristarte
Shinchou Yuusha is one of those shows you’d wish you had only experienced via screenshots and titty GIFs posted on image boards. I had low expectations for this series from the start, as a particularly goofy looking light novel adaptation amid a sea of similar genre trappings which ran this Fall. A total of six isekai aired this season(!) including a more promising comedy series with an even more ridiculous premise penned by Natsume Akatsuki, the creator of Konosuba–the success of which has undoubtedly prolonged the popularity of the isekai trend as aspiring novelists race to cash in on their retarded take on the trope.
This is not to say that Shinchou Yuusha is a awful anime. Despite initially dropping the series, I was glad to have given it a second go and tune in while Digi committed to reviewing the show for KHANTEHNT!. After all, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss that incredible wardrobe malfunction in episode 4. (Even though I did totally pass out by that point when I tried watching it with Digi.)
That brings me to my complaints with the series. Shinchou Yuusha is carried by the intrigue of its premise and memorable visual gags. The fantasy world is uninteresting, the characters are one-note, and the pacing is erratic. While I still found the anime to be entertaining overall, I reckon the more serious episodes during the back-end of the series would have been impactful if I had a reason to care about the Roseguard captain or ever felt that the hero’s companions were ever truly in danger.
The anime began to unravel at around episode 9, when the series transitions from a whimsical, raunchy adventure to a weighty saga of preparation confined within the boundaries of a generic fantasy town away from the hysterical antics of the gods. To the detriment of what had made the anime special in the first place, we spend the rest of the narrative from the perspective of the goddess. We lose all the pay off of the hero’s elaborate planning when he saves the day with a slew of new mechanics and abilities that ought to have been established beforehand. This adaptation really could have benefited from a second cour. There appears to have been some serious complications with Shinchou Yuusha’s production, as two episodes needed to be postponed in it’s 12 episode run.
However imperfect the anime, though, I still have a folder full of the goddess’s side splitting reactions. I wish we could have gotten to see her in other outfits. Oh well, at least we were treated to some incredible boobage and a nice little homage to Bodacious Space Pirates.
If you could see yourself enjoying a quirky little comedy show while you wait for news of another season of Konosuba, and don’t mind that the girls are worse iterations of Aqua, and Serara from Log Horizon, or are not deterred by the actual worst Myth & Roid OP imaginable, this might be right up your ally. Otherwise, just enjoy this collection of funny Ristarte faces. I’ll just be over here cursing White Fox for teasing us by never showing Elulu in that bikini.
Final Score: 6.5/10
Pantsu Press 