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I'm sorry, but this is a horrible anime and an even worse adaptation. In terms of the adaptation, everything has been changed and it's extremely rushed to the point that battles only show 1-2 points scored and then just cut to the end with the final score... Not only that but they changed the main character. Yup, the main character of the visual novel and his background story that drives the game is practically non-existent in the anime. At first, it seems like they decided to make Asuka the main character, but then they just bounce around and don't seem to focus on anyone at ... all while making Masaya (the original protagonist of the VN's) just a very small background character. Asuka seems like a reasonable choice for the protagonist since she's the rising star of the sport, but instead they dont focus much on her either. Rushing through the story and not focusing on a character makes everyone bland and boring. None of the characters are developed enough through the anime and there are major contrasts in their character between the VN and the anime.

On terms of it being an anime, it still sucks. It is so rushed, especially the battle scenes, awesome VN fights only last like 30 seconds and are quite underwhelming. For example, Asuka pulls off an awesome move, but instead of using flashy art and intense music to show just how significant it is, they just focus on different characters saying wow. That brings on another point, the battle music is also way too calm and doesn't create any kind of tension. Speaking of tension, since the show is so rushed, there is zero build up to their opponents which leads to the battle itself having no real impact, meaning or gratification when the good guys do something great.

The story is non-existent... seriously it feels like there is none which is pretty incredible because the VN has so many different story options they could have gone with. Overall, it's a bit boring. The lack of story direction and rush through the VN content just makes it very confusing because it cuts out most of the major interactions between characters and the things that promote their growth.

I can't recommend this anime. Even if you haven't played the VN, you will be disappointed because it's just a bad anime in general. Do yourself a favor and just play the game. It's easily 100x better than this letdown.

I have slightly updated this review since I have now finished the entire series. It is based on the web series and only contains a couple very minor spoilers that won't ruin anything.


Story???

The protagonist is mysteriously summoned into the world of a book he is reading to be 1 of 4 legendary heroes that will save this other world. Cliche right? Well it takes a an interesting turn almost immediately after he arrives when he finds himself as the hero of the shield, viewed as the weakest of the 4 heroes. He is discriminated against and starts to hate this new world he ... has come to. You watch him go back and forth between being a villain and a hero as he struggles about what to do. All the while this new world is being invaded by an unknown force and battling with various political conflicts.

Setting???

The setting is a time of kings and knights with no modern technology. However, there's magic and the world itself runs like a video game. Very similar to sword art online, the characters learn new skills, earn exp, and level up while fighting monsters and other enemies that appear.

Characters???

There is a wide variety of characters in this novel but it can be summarized quite easily like this:

1) People who hate the hero- People so absurdly stupid that you can't help but hate them.
2) People who like the hero- Interesting and well thought out characters that have good character development

The hero and his circle of companions are really interesting and it's very easy to like them. However, while a couple of the "bad guys" are interesting, the majority of them are so over the top stupid that it can't help but bug you.

Additional Comments???

This is your typical harem where all the heroes companions are girls and fall in love with him. However, they're also all 10-12 years old. Not to mention the hero takes being obvious to the next level. Although it does follow a harem like formula, the heroins aren't over the top so a person who dislikes harems shouldn't have a problem reading.

The first 5-6 volumes of the web series are very good but around volume 7-8, it starts getting way to ridiculous. At one point one of the heroes uses a penis shaped spear and a flock of girls turn their eyes in embarrassment. If you can make it through some of the ridiculous stupidness of these couple volumes then it does get a lot better starting from the end of volume 10. Volume 12-17 are very good but almost feels a tad bit rushed. The last 5 volumes or so is almost nothing but fighting the entire time. Even still, it's pretty good. I strongly suggest suffering through the crappy volumes 7-10 to read the later volumes.

I stumbled upon this show the other day and marathoned through it in a couple hours, something I usually don't do unless I really like the show. Mikakunin de Shinkoukei is pretty much your typical rom com but it's fairly well done. It's not mentioned in the genre tags but there are supernatural elements which gives this rom com a little more flare.

Story:

While the plot is sort of generic and has been done a million times before, this series handled it differently than other shows which made it a bit more interesting. Basically, a girl turns 16 and a mysterious guy shows up on ... her doorstep and turns out to be her fiance, an arranged marriage setup by their grandparents and the girl had no idea. In the typical rom com, the girl will usually be completely against the arranged marriage and the 2 main characters probably hate each other and don't get along. However, that's where this show gains some points because they don't take it in this direction. Instead, the girl, while not completely thrilled about the arranged marriage decides to give the guy a chance and the 2 actually get along.

The premise may seem a bit boring because it's usually that friction between the 2 main characters that add comedy to a series but this comedy is instead introduced by the girls older sister, who seems to have some weird obsession with cute little sisters, and the guys little sister who follows him to his fiances house to help nurture the engaged couples relationship.

Art:

The art is nice and matches the genre quite well, which I guess isn't surprising from a fairly new series. The characters are attractive and the animations flow naturally without any awkwardness.

Sound:

The music in the show is nice and easy on the ears. I also found myself watching the end credit song every time because it wasn't jut entertaining but it was catchy too. I found the cast of voice actors to be quite appropriate as well. I found the voice for Hakuyas little sister to be exceptionally well done and the voice for Hakuya himself to be fitting for his personality.

Character:

This is a tough one to evaluate, mostly because it's the characters that make this show good, but it's the characters that make it bad. What I mean is, Benio (main girls older sister) and Mashiro (Hakuyas little sister) are awesome and add lots of comedy to the show. Benio is a hillarious older sister that is obsessed with doing lots of cute things with her younger sisters (including her now sister-in-law). She's so obsessed that she ends up being creepy and causes Mashiro to run in horror. The interaction between these two characters is fantastic and keeps you laughing constantly.

However, the sisters personalities heavily overshadow the 2 main characters. There's nothing wrong with Kobeni (the main girl), she's actually pretty likeable and a well rounded character. Unfortunately, Hakuya is one of the worst main characters in the history of rom coms. He is incredibly silent, has almost no personality, is incredibly stupid (his sister does all the thinking for him), and only has a line or 2 per episode. I didn't have a problem with this at first because characters like that usually go through some character development and become more likeable. Hakuya on the other hand does not. He stays the same throughout the entire season.

The interactions between him and Kobeni are boring and never lead to any real relationship development. Not only did I find myself feeling sorry for Koberi but I couldn't really understand how anyone could fall in love with someone like Hakuya. It's different when you have a mysterious, silent main character that is constantly proving to be reliable but that's not Hakuya, he's mysterious sure, but he's lacking common sense, he's indecisive, and he's just not interesting.

Enjoyment:

The 2 sisters made this show really funny and stayed pretty consistent in their humor throughout the show. However, the show started to lose momentum around half season and while the comedy was still there, i think it's because the romance never really picked up momentum. Their romance for the most part stayed pretty neutral throughout the entire season. While I loved the sister comedy, it just wasn't enough to carry the entire show. About half way through the season, I was used to the comedy and while it was still enjoyable, it just wasn't as enjoyable as the beginning. This is the point where romance starts to gain momentum and make up for that initial lose of enjoyment. Unfortunately, that didn't happen in this show and the episodes became a bit stagnant.

Overall:

Overall, it's not bad for a rom com. It had tons of potential to be a really lovely slice of life rom com but it's squandered because of a poor male lead. I'm not saying it's bad, I don't regret watching it but it wasn't spectacular either. It's one of those shows that start off really good and just keep gradually losing steam. It never hits that point of being bad but it's certainly disappointing after having such a promising beginning.