Jun 16, 2024
tL;dR
This felt about as underwhelming as when the hype train told me Dr. Stone was a good anime. Obviously less so, but I expected so much more seeing how high the score was. It's pretty slow at first, but tbh the relative passage of time is the plot so its necessary. I look forward to future seasons building on what's here tho. The demons are handled really well, and if you play dnd think of a charismatic wizard whose whole subclass revolves around one lvl 3-6 spell. Epic.
**the bad ...I was so bored at the beginning I actually switched to the dub for once so
...
I could multitask**
I don't really write reviews, but it must be said. Where is all the hype for this anime coming from? I'm not saying its bad, but its nowhere near a 9. I'm not a Full Metal Alchemist-stan, but I have no idea how this of all the recent anime I've watched knocked it off it's #1 pedestal. It's vibe doesn't have gravitas like a samurai champloo. From zero to Ghibli, the animation is decent, but nothing to write home about. I may have been spoiled on fight scenes having just watched Hell's Paradise before it, but there was much to be desired as the mage on mage fighting isn't until the final few episodes, the most difficult foe (the rank 1 mage) is basically skipped, and the melee combat is as brief as a flash in the pan, otherwise it was pretty one note spell wise. I was coming into this expecting massive character growth to rival Vegeta's entire arc (from planet conqueror to stay at home dad), and while this anime is still young, all I really got here was regrets from an elf's perspective while trying to improve, a much less obnoxious Zenitsu with an Axe, and a modest purple haired girl (guess they're different in Japan than USA). Like yeah, the story reveals more about their backstories overtime, but that's not 'growth'. And before you say it, a character telling you "I use to use flashy spells" the first time they're seen fighting seriously isn't growth either. Look I get it, she's trying to relate to human's within their lifespans better, growth? yes. On the level of a power hungry Vegeta becomes a pink shirt wearing dad? not even close.
**the good ...these were pretty freaking great tho, gotta be honest**
And I want to be clear... see I even spaced this out, I did like it. My favorite parts of this anime, were how well they captured the passage of time from a 15k yr elf's pov compared to humans, and the time skips/age ups really drive home how one could refer to a 10 yr adventure as "mere". The other best part about this anime is, from a DnD perspective, how interesting the demons are portrayed. I don't want to spoil anything, but probably the best i've ever seen in any media, and well worth the watch by themselves. The way they differ in magic from mages is genius, and their manor of speaking stays true to form. If you play DnD I highly suggest adopting them into your GM style. That said, there was zero build up for either the blond guy or the pink haired girl. Their meaningfulness would have benefited tremendously from an extra episode beforehand. Instead, its just like straight to the battle of gohan vs cell, and I mean right to perfect cell, no creepy time traveling blood sucking menacing bug buildup or "omg we don't have goku for this" -kind of rushed. Voice acting (dub) was also great. If this series really takes off and I rewatch it I could see me giving it an 8.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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