Back to DynaBlaster's Profile DynaBlaster's Profile

I thought for a moment about making a proper analysis and a serious review, since it's not a preliminary review anymore, but I mean, come on. The show doesn't treat itself seriously, so why should I? Also, it's not like it's unenjoyable despite being bad, so eh. I'll leave most of it as is.

Dear reader. I don't care how high or low do you think the level of my intelligence is. I think that this show did not respect it, no matter its quantity. If you've ever seen another trashy isekai, especially one that has some sort of trans-dimensional trading system in it, then you've ... seen all the gimmicks that this anime will have going for it. The plot of "Arafo Otoko" is as one-dimensional of a Campfire Cooking knock-off, as one can make. And generally it's a happy mishmash of isekai slop tropes in random order. Which to be fair, I'm used to at this point;
This is neither the first dumb power fantasy trash I watched, nor will it be the last. But I must stress, that this workaround around the general issue of dumb shows came from me, not from the show. They are still on the hook for being moronic, appealing to the base emotions and relying on the stupidest tropes one can think of. Me being "fine with that" is not a merit of these shows, but a dull reality I've grown to accept. The idea in the first place was always, is that if you're gonna be swimming through the trash anyway, at least choose a decent kind. Sometimes it's the barely trashy Eminence in Shadows. And sometimes, it's a stinker like Arafo Otoko no Isekai Tsuuhan. And I'll probably gobble it up, anyway. Self-respect is through the roof here, bois.

HOWEVER!

While there are many, many faults I can see in it, like some sound glitches, many reused frames, bad CGI, music that becomes mismatched to the general scene's vibe, because they let it play for a bit too long, stiff and cheap animation and lazy editing included, there is one part that I absolutely love. While this title doesn't respect any intelligence, it does respect the heck out of my time. Like, despite this clearly being a dogwater of an isekai show, this I feel like it's trying to speedrun the story. It's relying on the preconceived notion, that since you LITERALLY CAN NOT GET LOST in a brain-dead stupid plot like this, you therefore can go at a breakneck pace and tick off the classic isekai tropes one by one and get home for dinner with no overtime. It makes the show so much better for it. At least compared to other slow life-adjacent fantasy shows, which often take FOREVER to get to the point, even in the case of a much better Campfire Cooking which this show borrows A LOT. Yet, this dumpster fire of a show, flexes on many competitors in the trash genre, simply by saying that:
"When creating a story, its STRUCTURE matters almost as much as the plot itself."
And in this story's case, structure is king. (Even though the plot and the characters are still sh**)

While all the alleged plot takes place, I feel the author was forced by an editor to add romantic subplots and sexual innuendos, but wasn't really comfortable with them, so they are an afterthought. He probably didn't want to waste any more time on romance than necessary. It's so bad, that it loops around to being decent again, just because it brings nothing to the story and is short, sweet and already over with, before you can remember the current female romantic interest's name.

Summarizing, I like trashy isekai slop. You like trashy isekai slop. We all like slop every now and then. This one will not remain in your head for longer than an hour after the credits of the last episode roll. It's definitely one of them. It's cr*p and I recommend it regardless, because it's dumb fun you can lose yourself in, as with any slop. Have fun and probably stop reading if you are considering watching this.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One thing that changed my final score from the initial 4 to the current 2, is that it dared to hint at "Usagi Dropping" the adopted daughter character, Anemone. If you know what that means, I'm sorry. If you don't, I'm also sorry.
It doesn't go further than implying it might just happen one day, but it's disgusting enough that I felt it should be shamed for it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The super cool excavator mech that appears in the opening DOES NOT APPEAR in the show. Nor do most of the stuff from the opening. There will indeed be some heavy machinery, but not the big robot, that I was waiting for. The opening is like a banner with pictures of food at a fast food joint. Next to none of it will be there.

Disclaimer: This Review will be mostly shi***ng on Solo Levelling, because it does so many things good, that I felt it needed some balancing and focusing on what needs improvement, despite the show being very good. I hope you can accept that, reader.

I am the furthest away from ever hating on Ore dake Level Up na Ken (Solo Levelling). It's a fun little firework show. The animation is pretty much at the pinnacle of what on could expect from a visual show, pretty much like Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer). Camera work is on point, being dynamic while not being weirdo nauseating like from any ... GoHands productions. The line art is perhaps simple, but never bad. It always retains the style of the original manhwa. The shots are climatic and you always know when is "sh*t about to get real". If someone wants to see how far has animation in Japan gone, Solo Levelling is one of the titles one should recommend.

But nearly 9/10? I know that it's hype as heck. Seeing numbers go up tickles the gamer part of my brain, but... Seriously? This is the thing that fights for the top of the ranking? There's way more than hype and spectacle going into animation, right?

Okay, I need to focus on what I believe is missing in Solo Levelling, to justify my whining. Let's not beat around the bush.
In my mind, it's THE STORY, CHARACTERS and WORLD BUILDING.

THE STORY is pretty much non--existent. There is no real story to Solo Levelling. It boils down to "Jinwoo keeps getting stronger to punch bigger baddies harder". There is no final goal, no underlying narrative or anything. The closest thing to a goal there is in Solo Levelling is "to punch THE ULTIMATE BIGGEST baddie, so that there are no other even bigger baddies to punch", which is... Workable as a premise, but not really groundbreaking, is it? It worked for Dragon Ball, but in the current year, I'm feeling that this schematic is a tad bit overdone. That being said, Solo Levelling isn't the worst sinner in this department, as while it lacks a good main plot, it does deliver on a decent variety of side-quests, some even proving to be quite competent, as they often showcase various-

CHARACTERS, who... Are pretty lacking. That much is pretty universal, because it applies to Jinwoo just as much as to the circle of adorators and pants glazers that this anime calls secondary characters. Because that's pretty much what we're working with here. If you're a side char in Solo Levelling, you're either:
- an involuntary fan of Jinwoo, in which case your impact on the story boils down to being jealous/thankful/shocked/amazed at what he does, or
- his rival/enemy, which means you will promptly die, hence you don't get much chance to develop a character, or if not, you'll turn into the first category.
The exceptions, that are neither of these two do exist, although they are pretty rare. That being said, in this department, Solo Levelling actually got better than last season! Some side characters did have some semblance of their own life outside of choking on Jinwoo's massive swagger.
There's also the matter of character development! Jinwoo got emotional once! He actually had a single character trait added! AMAZING! This actually saved the manhwa for me and it did save the anime a bit too, from feeling like JUST a firework show. It's still insane to me, that people lost their sh** over this. God forbid a main character loved his mother. Right? What a weakling. How could the author destroy that beautiful empty canvas of a character by painting on it? How dare he? Seriously though, I'm happy that they didn't cut it out from the anime and made Jinwoo into an unfeeling robot. Good for them. But that still doesn't excuse the-

WORLD BUILDING, that is as lazy and repetitive as it could be. Hunters, gates, ranks, skills, itemization, guilds... (sometimes there's also some towers somewhere instead of gates) Nowadays you can't really make an Urban Fantasy show without falling on to those tropes. I don't hate it maybe with a passion, but it's stale bread now. Come on. Demand better. It works, but it could be so much more. Down with the stale bread!

I like Solo Levelling. I really do. If they keep up the quality, i don't feel I'll ever stop watching this firework show. It's good enough for that. But gosh. I feel like fans deserve better than something that appeals only to their base instincts. And I get the pull of it. Everyone needs to shut off their brain every now and then, and just look at the pretty boy punching the big monster imagining that they could do the same if they were in his place. Sure.
EVERY NOW AND THEN!
SOMETIMES!
When was the last time you watched something that wasn't a "turn off your brain and enjoy the show"? When did you last see something that challenged you mentally? If recently, then pardon me. You are free to go. You are not the addressee of that attack.
But seeing how THIS is what got almost a 9, I feel like there's way more people who haven't read or seen a good story in quite a while than there are those that have.

This is good. A 7. When it's great, it's the greatest. But when it's bad, it's almost the worst. But it is not great. It does not deserve that 8. Or 9. At best I'd like to give it a 7.5

But I can't.

Thank you for reading anyway, despite me not providing you a TL;DR on the top. Even if you dislike my amateurish analysis, you have my respect for reading till the end. Kudos, dear reader.

I picked this manhwa up fairly recently, because of lack of enough good anime junk food power fantasy in the current season to fill up my empty schedule. What I was not expecting is that this is not really that junk of a food!
(despite still being power fantasy)
Like, this is an actually compelling, believable story set in an RPG game, with characters that possess depth, have their own arcs, thoughts and do their own things. Yes, things that sometimes involve the MC, but the side characters are not cardboard cutouts. They act and feel like actual people. They have agency, have varying characters, act unexpectedly, ... but believably and generally have their own cut of the plot for themselves. I really like that. It's great worldbuilding when more than one person can be an active and moving part.

The romance is... Hit or miss. It's good enough to not throw me out of the story, but I feel like it feels better because the romantic interests are so well-written as characters, even if their interactions with the main char are... Just fine? I don't know. It felt "alright", but nothing groundbreaking. To be honest, I'll leave it. Maybe I'm just nitpicking. The main character I feel is a bit too wooden during romance-focused moments and seems to intentionally push the romance back, because he wants to focus on his studies, but eh... It sometimes feels like he's leading his admirers on a bit too much at times. And he's not dumb enough to justify this with "I had no idea they felt that way about me", so I hope he can redeem himself on that front too one day. Anyway. It's ok-ish enough to not screw up the whole enjoyment of this gem.

The premise is technically just a "male akuyaku reijou", but at the same time, it's one of the best ones that I had the chance to watch or read. Considering that this is similar in a few aspects to Mobuseka (Look it up. It's pretty good despite stinking of Shield Hero slightly), this is straight up "just" a story of rehabilitation, getting out of loneliness and learning to walk again after being stomped into dirt, but without the usual moral high ground of being the victim of the world. No. This is NOT a revenge story. This is at worst, a wholesome if a bit simple story of finding your worth. It's very wholesome and inspiring. I think it's something that many readers can empathize with at least on some level.

Another highlight I thought of, are the fights. They've so far been deeply tactical and dynamic without falling on to "who can hit harder". The movements seem believable, without a lot of deus ex machina bullshit. I remember a particular moment of one character stopping another from pulling out a knife and then disarming the assailant. That felt very realistic, as if taken from a self-defense guide. More often than not, moments like this also include magic use or arcane implements that make the fights even more complex without feeling cheap effects to appear like more than they are. When the fight appears and feels grandiose and amazing, then it usually is. This series makes it easy for others to like it. The author goes the extra distance and it shows.

It's really, really good. I'll be glazing on this series for many months to come I think. OH! And even furthermore, the art is very pleasant! The depictions of weather were atmospheric making the rain feel wet and cold as if I was there, the vibes of a wooden hut were cozy and snug, the buildings of the main academy look rich and grandiose. Gosh. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just ask you, the reader of this review this small favour. Give this a chance. 71 chapters are out now, as I'm writing this. That's at the very least half a week of peak fiction. You deserve to give it to yourself. Do not sleep on this. It's good-good.

Damn. I love when a romance anime is actually a psychological yandere horror and because it's made by a person so detached from reality, it's completely unaware of it and still considers itself a whimsical and funny fantasy, instead of a story of terror, sexual assault, victim blaming, gas lighting and manipulation.

Change the color palette. Desaturize the characters from the bright marshmallows they're shown as. Lengthen the shadows and switch up the lighting from the omnipresent bright lighting. Change the music appropriately to idk, an OST from "Jaws" and this actually becomes a competent anime, albeit in a different genre.

The main character is weird. As ... in, she is at the same time strong and has her full agency and yet, she is constantly being made into this powerless girl that changes into a willing r**e bunny whenever the main male love interest appears on screen. I sometimes feel like this is an anime about him and the power fantasy of chasing her down, than about the current main character. This I feel could work actually. Heck. It would get so much bad press that it could surf on it, but just the hate watchers would make this show almost as popular as the ones from Redo of Healer.

It's bad. It's very, very bad. I'm an isekai trash gobbler. There, the women that form the MCs harem circle are sometimes being made into friggin slaves, pets, or at the very least, they will fall head over heels with the MC over completely NOTHING. The point I'm making here is "I've seen some sh*t" when it comes to bad romance. AND YET!!!
This is by far the worst I've ever seen.*
I cannot unrecommend it enough. I will however come back to it, should it ever get a horror remake. Because the potential is there. As in, I give it a 2/10. This could be an 8 or a 9 if only they went ahead and focused on the creepiness factor and just stopped the comedy romance charade. This is currently neither comedy or a romance.

*I might have repressed some memories of awful romance plots, so maaaaybe not the worst after all, but then again I will probably repress this anime as well, so...

NO SPOILER REVIEW

(Reuploaded, rewritten and expanded upon, as it was an early review that got deleted, but everything still holds true)

The story is a stretch and mostly a placeholder for the events happening. Doesn't really matter. Isn't the focus of the series. 4/10

Art is basic, low budget and a bit 2010-ish, but not eye-gouging simplistic. Animation is just fine. Nothing special, but nothing your stomach can flip from either. Not really the focus of the series either, but I expected a bit better. 5/10

Sound, one of the fine points of the anime, even if basic, is mostly on point and doesn't feel artificial. The effects ... sound the way they should and foley artists (if they were even employed instead of using pre-made samples) did a decent job. Opening is actually very nice. Sets up the goofy atmosphere for the series. VA is decent and fits the characters. Very nice. 8/10

Characters are fine. The main character is actually fun to look at. He's despicable, horny, goofy and stupid, but by no means a total pushover. Has his moments of idiocy, moments of brilliance and even occasional wholesomeness. The other lead, a kuudere loli is mostly a straight man for the MC, but she doesn't have many distinguishing characteristics past that short description. Side characters are mostly stereotypical, to the point of being fresh in the world of originality (OK, I know that sounds stupid), but usually have a characteristic or two that sets them apart of the usual approach. Not terrific, not terrible. They are not a pain to look at. And tend to be at least somewhat fun. 7/10

Enjoyment generally comes from the comedy, which... Is ok, I guess. There are times of smirks, snorts and all-out laughter. That might just be me, but I find the primitive and juvenile humor in the series quite endearing. Tropes are all around, but the author tries his best to somehow subvert the expectations in some of them, even if not all of them and only a little bit. Decently good. 7/10

I'd say it's a 7.
Not a very solid 7 maybe, but still more fitting that a 6.
A 6.75?

Not a must-watch, unless like me, you can't live and sustain your brain-eating bug without watching at least 10 series per season, because this season is one of the weaker ones really, so we have to make do with stuff like Sentouin here.