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Harem anime are often looked down upon, because even though frequent through out human history, it doesn't match the social norms of today's day and age. BUT, this anime deserves a chance. It's not just another harem anime, this is PEAK romcom genre. It's synopsis already makes you think ''what?'', and even though this shouldn't work, it does. The main reason why these anime suffer is because they try too hard, even though the setting is unrealistic. It's really refreshing to see an anime not take itself too seriously and even make fourth wall breaking jokes. You could say this is the eminence in shadow ... of the romance genre.

The season 2 of a show of this obviously has a lot of expectations, and for most anime like this, they fail in some aspect, but not 100 girlfriends. It honestly made me really happy to see, that the quality of the girlfriends hasn't fallen off, even though it seems like they are going for the full 100. To make that many characters with their own quirks and stories with constant interactions is obviously not an easy task, but somehow this anime accomplishes it in its entirety.

If you enjoyed season 1, this is definetly a must watch.

Arifureta is an anime known to many as isekai harem trash, and if not so much any more, it definitely was known for that when season 1 came out, but comparing this to the similar kind of isekai shows with an overpowered MC and a bunch of girls fawning over him that have come out in the past few years, this hits different. This is proven by the very fact that it has received a 3rd season, something a generic isekai could never do. I hope.

A lot of these kinds of shows suffer from either bad character writing or weird pacing, and sometimes both of ... those put together with eerie animation on top of it. By bad character writing I mostly mean MC's going through something similar that Hajime went through, some kind of betrayal or bullying, and then they still somehow have the highest principles of morality and somehow end up forgiving everybody, basically they are painted as the most forgiving, nice and kind characters and do things humans would never do in their situation.

This show thankfully doesn't suffer from that, even in season 3. It knows what it is and who's the audience. Hajime went through bad betrayal, almost lost his life, and that is reflected on how he acts going forward. He values people who he cares about or is close to and doesn't give a damn about anybody else. In addition he doesn't act all edgy and ''above everybody'' for no reason, he knows he's strong because he has defeated labyrinths.

The same goes for the girls around him, they are not there for a nonsensical reason, almost all of them are around him with a good explainable reason. Almost, because Kaori liking him was kind of like in any other isekai. But then again, it's not like Hajime has an uncontrolled ego, he always prioritizes Yue and tries to keep it that way, he doesn't go for every girl just because he has a chance to, Hajime has set in stone values, and that is reflected even in season 3.

In terms of pacing, Arifureta definitely feels about average or maybe even a bit more fast-paced, which is definitely better than most of the isekai anime nowadays, that set out some random goal, and in the end nothing happens and you feel like the story didn't progress at all, or they skip over half the plot and leave the watcher with only questions, but it is already season 3 after all, so maybe the pacing is right and I just don't want this show to end, either or. Arifureta's story feels meaningful, actual progress gets made, and new powers discovered, although this show definitely deserves a few episodes for deeper worldbuilding, especially since it's already the 3rd season and the people who didn't enjoy the show have already left. As it seems by the pacing though, most likely not all volumes will be adapted into season 3, meaning we might just get a 4th season.

Altogether, season 3 is the continuation of the story and it seems to keep getting better. The Haulia tribe arc was great, and as it's only at episode 6 at the time of writing, one can only hope that the ending of this season doesn't miss.

TL;DR
The show doesn't deserve the bad rep it seems to get, as it's character writing and worldbuilding are miles above most other similar isekai. Season 3 is great and for anybody who enjoyed the first 2 seasons, this is a treat.

So to anyone who hasn't seen the season 1 since it's airing ended a little less than 4 years ago, this sequel might seem quite good. We finally get a continuation from where the story left off. But, as someone who didn't remember the story that well and decided to binge season 1, the sequel has many, well not problems per say, but differences. Now most of these differences are subtle and play into the ''feel'' of a character, some characters act in ways and say things which they never would, based on the story progression and season 1. There is also the art direction/art ... style difference. The latter may be subjective, but the character details and expressions are muted and really unimpressive compared to season one. It's like those mobile game ads you see everywhere, where season 1 Iska would be the level 100 mafia boss, and season 2 Iska the level 1 crook. The same goes form Alice, and Iska's crew. The only character that could be argued to have better features in season 2, would be Sisbell, but sadly that doesn't even matter because of the next point:

As the ''feel'' of a character goes, the biggest change is in, guess who, Sisbell. In season one we got to know her as the shy little girl who couldn't trust anyone but his butler and Iska. Well what do we know, season 2 arrives and she's just brimming with confidence. She could explain why the earth is flat, and nobody would be able to tell if she actually believes it, or is joking. She doesn't have an inch of distrust left in her, with Iska's crew or the random lady who brought her a drink at the restaurant. Now this may be reading a little too deep into one specific instance, but there really is no way to explain how a character feels. If you watch 12 episodes of an anime, you learn how the characters interact, how they express themselves, what they would and would never do in a situation, unless there's a plot twist, and in this case there were no hints to that during season 1. Sadly it isn't only Sisbell that acts differently, it's also Mismis, Alice and Rin, and to some extent Iska. Mismis seemed to have a thing for Jhin in season 1, in season 2 she's jealous that Sisbell is touching Iska's arm. Speaking of jealousy, Rin is jealous of Alice's bazoogie woogies, that is kind of out of character, but it's not like it ruins anything, but then again, the maid who was always in a maid outfit, always being proper and acting noble, is wearing a stupid hat at the end of episode 1. Then there's Alice, and well she just bleeds disappointment. From season 1 you kind of get the feeling that Alice is a small klutz, she often got lost in thought, just to get embarrassed over some little things, or having Iska in mind. And then there's season 2. She fully, straight up, explains to her mother, why there's no way she knows who Iska is and proceeds to name drop him and add location as to where they totally didn't meet at. Was this supposed to be a humorous bit for comedic relief? Uhm maybe? But there was no self awareness, or anything to explain why she would do that. It could've very well been character development, but all I can say is that it feels off and that she would never. There were similar moments in season 1, but this one was basically making fun of the viewer, by the level of absurdness it goes through.

And so with that all in mind, looking at the production team and studios, you may realise, that they only added crunchyroll to production and studio palette, latter of which well, could explain something (it's the studio responsible for the KamiKatsu harvester scene).

For the story, there is not a lot to say at the moment, until the season ends, will there be another cliffhanger? Probably, but the story in itself is decent, and the art direction shouldn't take away from that. The pacing does seem kind of off at some points, but nothing major, just some buildings randomly blowing up without any warnings and a fight breaking out, with no music build up, in the matter of a few seconds.

TL;DR
Characters feel off and act in ways that are confusing and immersion breaking, they feel like empty shells with painted on personalities.
Artstyle is different compared to season 1 and could be seen as cheaper and less detailed.
Story and plot is fine, but at moments pacing is off.

If you have seen season 1 and enjoyed it, you'll enjoy this one just as much, if not more.

The only way to describe this show is a roller coaster that never stops. There are plot twists everywhere. Cid is still an edgelord and I absolutely love it. To only say that this show fully embraces the cringe is not enough, it adds toppings. And this cringe is not the one that makes you pause the show and bury your head in pillows - it's the cringe that makes you smile and smirk, while hoping that the show would never end.

The Eminence in Shadow is ... truly a rare find in the genre that isekai and fantasy. Rarely is there a show with this much fun to be had while also having an interesting plot and a great main character.


Is this a power fantasy?
Yes.

Does the MC get hella girls?
Yes.

How entertaining is the show?
Yes.

This is the best anime I've ever seen.

If it was possible I would rate this 11 out of 10. The style of the anime, the art, the characters, the voice acting - it's all impossibly close to perfect. It isn't scared of trying new things and it maintains a cool yet often hilarious plot. After every episode it just kept getting better, so it made me sad to see other reviewers watching only a few episodes and not reccomending it, because it was ''just another boring isekai''. The anime is so much more than that.

This is the only time while watching actively an ... airing series and being sad that one moment it will end. This will most likely be forever my favourite anime ever.