I don’t know about you, but lately I find I need a break from the news for some reason. This is going to be a rather different post from what I usually do and fairly long, so adjust your expectations accordingly. Feel free to take this as something to sit and relax with on a lazy weekend.
Escapism is not a bad thing if it helps you keep your sanity, and fantasy can make more sense than reality the way things are going lately. So, I’m going to talk about 4 animated series from Japan I’ve enjoyed lately in case you’re looking for a break yourself — with a little discussion first. Feel free to skip down to the reviews if this looks TL:DR. I’m going to use a lot of links to Wikipedia for words that may not be familiar.
Pretty Pictures
I can remember a time when Saturday morning television was one cartoon series after another — back in the days when all TV was broadcast, and you had just three networks to deal with. Looney Toons, Hanna-Barbera, Disney, Tom & Jerry, Popeye… A lot of memes today make use of images from those classic cartoons.
(How crazy is it we once had a cartoon about James Norcross — Super President? And how crazy is it we now seem to demand our presidents come across like superheroes? But I digress.)
There seems to be more and more content coming from Japan, in all kinds of genres. When local tv stations started picking up syndicated programs to fill programming, that created an opening for series that had long story arcs — as many from Japan do. It’s how I got to see sci-fi/fantasy like Robotech, Voltron, The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, etc.
I’ve also taken in some feature length works; Summer Wars, Spirited Away, Your Name.
Studio Ghibli has produced a number of animated classics.
Five of the studio's films are among the ten highest-grossing anime feature filmsmade in Japan. Spirited Away is second, grossing 31.68 billion yen in Japan and over US$380 million worldwide, and Princess Mononoke is fourth, grossing 20.18 billion yen. Three of their films have won the Animage Grand Prixaward, four have won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year, and five have received Academy Awardnominations. Spirited Away won the 2002 Golden Bear and the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[7] The Boy and the Heron won the 2024 Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film,[8] BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film,[9] and the 2024 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.[10]
We’ve come a long way from Japanese films that seemed to be only about Godzilla and friends. (Kaiju stories are keeping the monster genre alive and well.)
The advent of cable created another opening for programming from elsewhere, including Japan. I first saw Cowboy Bebop thanks to Adult Swim: space cowboy crossed with film noir tropes and a killer soundtrack. Definitely not a cartoon for kiddies. Streaming has really opened the floodgates; Crunchyroll is making a lot of material available, including shows like the ones I discuss below.
I won’t pretend I’m familiar with all the options we now have available for streaming. I confess I still like physical media — aka DVDs — so I can watch on demand on my schedule, and I don’t have to keep track of what streaming service has which, or having it suddenly disappear. But I digress again.
So what is this anime thing?
So let’s talk about anime in a little more detail. There is a big range of genres under that collective name; the ones I will be talking about below are a particular kind of fantasy within anime.
Where does anime come from? I won’t pretend to be an Otaku; these are my own impressions. It appears as though there is a pipeline that starts with online publishing of light novels, which may get picked up by mainline publishers which can be released in print and/or serialized. They may get further transmogrified into manga. A manga series can be collected and published as a tankoban; and it might just make the final transition to an animated version. (Or beyond. I can’t believe the manga One Piece is now out in a live action version.)
If J.K Rowling had been writing in Japan, we might have gotten a manga version of Harry Potter, and anime translations of the books instead of live action films.
Note that in the translation from words to manga words/pictures to anime inevitably will require decisions about how to execute the story across different formats. There is this — animation makes it a lot easier to pull off the things that require special effects in live action films, and having manga to work from is effectively providing a storyboard for the animation and a head start on graphic character design.
Speaking of translation, there’s a couple of things. Since anime usually start with the dialog in Japanese, viewers in other parts of the world have to either resort to subtitles or wait for a version to be dubbed in another language. I’ve seen clips on Youtube with subtitles and in dubbed versions — and it’s apparent the two approaches can produce different results.
I get the impression subtitles tend to more closely reflect the original dialog — if as tersely as practical. (It helps if you can read quickly). Dubbed versions can be easier to watch, but I suspect there’s some leeway taken with the lines. Having subtitles on with dubbed versions can be helpful — because I find that a lot of females characters speak in high-pitches rapidly at times that can make it hard to understand what they are saying. YMMV. (It’s also interesting to compare the original dialog with the dubbed version, if only to hear the differences in voices and the emotional emphasis that comes through.)
The other translation issue is cultural. Some things just don’t come across easily, some things are referenced that don’t have an analog in western culture, some of it only comes across if you are familiar with the genre, and there are very different sensibilities when it comes to dealing with sex and violence.
Combat scenes usually involve a lot of shouting — especially screaming the name of a particular attack — and a lot of destruction. Blood and gore can cover the screen with horrible injuries and deaths depending on the story. As for sex, a lot of tropes seem to turn on male and female characters being embarrassed over sex-related events, misunderstandings, tensions, gender confusion or even switching, etc. And it can go farther: you need to be aware of differences between fan service, ecchi, and hentai. It’s a range that can go from family-friendly to hard-core depending on the individual work.
Enough prologue — on to reviews. The titles are linked to Wikipedia entries, so be advised they are full of spoilers. They do describe how the anime series are derived from the steps up from light novels, etc. which can be interesting. There are a multitude of Youtube clips taken from these shows if you want to sample before going all in — but be advised there can be some sketchy sites out there and things can evaporate over copyright issues and licensing.
The picture at the top this diary is taken from the opening titles for the show. Rein Shroud, the Main Character, is a beast tamer: he has a magical skill and training that allows him to take control of animals and use them to carry out his wishes. The story is set in an RPG — Dungeons & Dragons style world, with vaguely medieval/European architecture and magic workers, heroes, adventurers, guilds, magical creatures, and monsters.
When the story begins, Rein has just been fired without warning from his support job for the Hero’s Party, a team of a heavy fighter, a cleric, a mage, and the Hero. Their task is to fight the Demon King, and Rein’s job has been to use his skills to gather supplies and support their efforts while they train up for the final battle. As it happens, they are entitled jerks treating their quest like an extortion racket, and they trash-talk Rein as they fire him, belittling him and his skills.
Left at loose ends, Rein decides to sign up with the Adventurer’s Guild, taking on quests to raise his rank from the lowest level and earn some money so he can survive. Rein’s back story is revealed over the course of the series. He was orphaned at age 12 when a monster destroyed his village and everyone in it. He spent many years working for his keep at an inn doing scullion work; his job with the Hero’s Party was his first chance to put his skills as a beast tamer to work.
On his first quest to qualify as an adventurer, everything changes. While gathering herbs and killing a quota of goblins, he hears a scream. He runs to find a young girl about to be killed by a monster. He desperately attacks it knowing he can’t defeat it, but hopes the girl will be able to flee.
As it happens, the girl is a cat spirit. Although she has been greatly weakened by hunger and thirst, she rallies long enough to use her immense strength and agility to kill the monster before she collapses herself. The cat spirit is named Kanade and she is what the story calls an ultimate species — beings that are not human but have special powers depending on their species. Rein revives her and she is both grateful and so impressed with his character, she asks him to use his beast tamer skills to form a contract bond with her. Rein doubts he can — but succeeds.
The rest of the story sees Rein bonding with more ultimate species as his confidence in his abilities builds — and he discovers his contracts with them also grants him some of their special abilities. Note that Rein can compel animals to do his bidding, but all of his contracts with his ultimate species friends are entered into solely at their request. Although they make a thing of calling him their master, he treats them as equals and demands as much or more of himself as they are willing to give to him.
The artwork can be a bit kawaii at times. It seems intended for a younger audience, and often shifts into chibi style. When Rein and his party tackle monsters, they evaporate into dust — no blood and gore.
The tag line his party has for Rein is “He’s too nice for his own good.” Rein seems to have a good grasp of strategy and tactics — but he also seems to be able to come up with a battle-winning move out of nowhere a little too easily. He’s constantly describing himself as “just a beast tamer” despite repeatedly showing he’s a level far above the norm. Granted that he has esteem issues from his prior life; a big part of the story arc is how he — along with the others — begin to realize their full potential.
But don’t think it’s all suitable for children. The bad guys they encounter can be really bad: bandits who are killers, thieves ready to resort to murder, demons, corrupt officials, monsters, sex slavers, and child abusers. Plus, further encounters with the Hero’s Party get increasingly darker.
There’s also the fact that Rein’s party is made up entirely of ultimate species females, what is termed the Harem Genre. The story goes to great lengths to emphasize that Rein’s intentions are pure and he respects all of them — but it’s also used to put him in embarrassing moments for laughs. (This genre is apparently pretty popular and can get pretty explicit — go to Amazon and type “Harem Lit” into the search box and see what comes up — if you dare.)
This may not be the most sophisticated or consequential story, but it has plenty of simple pleasures. There’s a certain enjoyment in seeing characters who support each other, are not afraid to apologize, are willing to forgive, and care about each other — while making their community a better place as they face the challenges that come up. Together they effectively become a family, one accepted as full members of the human city of Horizon they live in despite being non-human — aside from Rein. Plus the bad guys get what they deserve. Too bad that seems like a fantasy these days.
There are 13 episodes in the series, about a half-hour long each. It makes it easy to binge-watch. There’s more manga chapters; no word if there will be a second series to cover them. The 13th episode is a setup for more to come. Here’s the opening title sequence, Change The World. (English lyrics here.)
The series I’ve been looking at here all seem to treat opening and closing titles as opportunities to create music videos as well as providing a visual summary of the what the series is about, or to highlight some particular thing.
In the world of this story, Demons and Humans have been at war for centuries. Dariel has spent his entire life in the Demon Kingdom. At age 31 he is summoned by the Four Generals of the Demon King’s Army. They tell him his service as their chief aide is no longer wanted — and neither is he wanted in the Demon King’s army. His foster father, the former greatest general, had trained him up to serve, but when he retired, his successor chose to get rid of Dariel.
Demons and Humans can’t be told apart by eye; the chief difference is Demons can wield magic and Humans cannot. Fire, Wind, Water, Earth — these are the 4 types of magic and the 4 generals each specialize in one of them. They sit at the top of a hierarchy ranked by magical strength (and family connections.) Dariel, as it happens, has never been able to use magic and has tried to make up for it by carrying out his responsibilities to the best of his ability — but that’s no longer enough without his patron.
Despondent, Dariel wanders for days. Hungry, tired, lost, he’s lying in a field trying to decide if it’s worth getting up when a young woman appears out of nowhere, leaping over him. He barely reacts — until the monster that was chasing her appears. He decides he’ll try to defend her — but the best he can do is simply charge the monster since he has no way to attack with magic.
When the monster knocks him back, he lands near the knife the woman has dropped and he picks it up, even though he has never used a weapon in his life — it’s considered a disgrace for a demon to do so. Copying a move he had seen attacking human soldiers use, he manages to kill the monster. Realizing the woman must be a human, he attempts to go his separate way — but she literally drags him back to her village and her family to thank him for saving her life.
Dariel is happy to finally get a meal, but fears they’ll try to kill him if they realize he’s a demon. He’s ready to move on when the woman (Malika or Marika depending on who is doing the subtitles) and her family encourage him to stay. Her father wants to sign him up as an adventurer, since he’s the local guild master and can use another capable person. Dariel tries to resist, because he knows the registration magic will reveal he’s a demon (and severely injure him.) They manage to sign him up before he can stop them, and he makes an amazing discovery. After living for 31 years believing he was a Demon, the ritual reveals he is Human!
When the guild master assess his abilities, Dariel discovers Humans may not have magic like Demons, but they have something comparable: aura. It’s a kind of energy they generate from within, and it usually manifests in four ways when used with weapons in combat: slash (as with a sword), strike (as with an arrow or a spear), hit (as with a hammer — Hulk smash!), and shield (which is what you would expect.) Humans generally have an aptitude for only one of those modes; Dariel turns out to have all four, and maxes out on all of them.
That’s pretty much the setup in the first of 12 episodes. The only version I was able to find on DVD is in Japanese, so I’ve had to rely on English subtitles — but it is still enjoyable. This is a world similar to the one in Beast Tamer, though without Ultimate Species and at a more adult level. When monsters are killed, it can be in a violent way, but violence involving humans avoids blood and gore.
There’s a certain amount of slapstick, and more than a little fan service. Malika is notably mammalian and a running gag is that she’s a force of nature. She’s continually running to greet Dariel and knocking him flat. She’s also very much a
waifu in waiting. But although exaggerated in some ways, she’s also smart and quite capable. While Dariel does his best to remain a gentleman around her, stuff happens.
There’s some moments in a sauna that are memorable. When Dariel ends up battling Lady Zebiantes, a Demon General and a bit of a tease, his inadvertent ‘winning move’ is, well, something that embarrasses them both — but leads to a non-violent resolution.
Overall, the story is all about how Dariel decides to live in the village of Lux that gave him a place when he had nowhere to go, and to do his best to serve it. Not to provide too many more spoilers, Dariel’s own competence and diligence along with his extraordinary abilities keep bringing him to the fore. He has to keep his past a secret, but becomes determined to find a way to end the conflict between Humans and Demons. His past life keeps reaching out to complicate matters. It turns out without him, the Demon Army is descending into chaos for lack of his organizational skills. His present second life isn’t always smooth either — there’s plenty of conflict from Humans pursuing their own interests.
In a confrontation scene when he is defending a Demon, he states he wants peace and in response to being asked if he is trying to bring about world peace as a noble cause he replies he’s doing it for himself. Simply, when he sees someone in pain, it hurts him as well and he doesn’t want anyone to experience anything as terrible as what his questioner went through. Empathy is his real super power, along with his strength of character.
I enjoyed watching this story because of the way Dariel is constantly trying to resolve conflict in a way that allows people (on both sides) to find common ground and avoid zero sum outcomes. It is something we could use more of in this world. The story builds to a big conflict — but the ending is not what you might expect, but very much in character. Plus there’s plenty of lighter moments to enjoy. It’s 12 episodes long, and is a self-contained story that doesn’t seem to call for a sequel.
Here’s the opening title: Changemaker with translated lyrics in subtitles.
This series is in a genre called isekai. The main character or characters typically find themselves transported to another world. It might be through a magical summoning, some kind of portal, or dying and being reincarnated. They usually have no way back and must find a way to survive in the new world they have landed in. Usually the transfer process may endow them with special powers, or the new world may be a place where their abilities can find an unexpected outlet.
It all begins with a stolen umbrella.
Ken Usato is a17 year-old high school student. He describes himself as a background character, nobody special, and wishes he could change his life. He sees the class leaders from a distance — he simply doesn’t see himself anywhere in the same league. When he is about to leave school for the day, he discovers someone has taken his umbrella from the rack. There’s one left — but he won’t take it to leave someone else to face the pouring rain outside. That’s who he is.
While he’s attempting to wait out the storm, student council president Suzune Inukami and vice president Kazuki Ryusen show up. It turns out the last umbrella is Kazuki’s — but he has a compact spare that he gives to Usato. Usato finds himself unexpectedly walking home with the kids at the top of the school social order — and finds out they’re real people after all. They in turn are impressed by his willingness to treat them as normal people.
If Usato had simply taken the last umbrella in the rack and left, he never would have got caught up in what happens next.
The three of them are walking together and getting to know each other when Suzune and Kazuki begin to hear bells — but Usato doesn’t. The three of them are suddenly caught up in a summoning circle. They awake to find themselves in another world, the Kingdom of Linger, where the king apologizes to them for what is essentially a magical abduction. (Note — although he doesn’t get a lot of screen time, the king comes across as an exceptionally competent and compassionate ruler.)
Suzune is thrilled and liberated; she’s always had a wish to escape from all the expectations placed on her and enter what seems to be a fantasy world. Kazuki is outraged — especially when he is told they can’t send him back. Usato is resigned, a lot more grounded, and willing to see how he can make the best of things given the realities of the situation. He calms Kazuki down.
The summoning spell had been cast to seek out heroes from another world who would have needed magical powers when they arrived. The kingdom had barely repelled an invasion from a neighboring demon kingdom 2 years earlier and they were facing another. Given how close they had come to being overrun, they were desperate to change the balance of power. Kauzki and Suzune are both tested to see what magic skill they have, and both of them prove to have abilities that will be powerful combat magic, as the spell was supposed to seek out.
Things go sideways when Usato is tested. He doesn’t have combat magic of any kind — just healing magic. He only arrived because he was accidentally caught up in the spell. Further, he doesn’t understand why everyone freaks out when they learn what kind of magic he has — until a Captain Rose shows up and literally carries him off back to her base to join the Rescue Squad she leads.
Captain Rose is a former combat commander who suffered a horrifying defeat and is resolved to never lead troops in combat again. She, like Usato, has healing magic and she dedicated herself to creating the rescue squad that would work to save lives on the battlefield. Her efforts proved critical in fighting the earlier demon invasion. She’s been looking for someone like Usato for a long time. In Usato she is hoping to find someone she can train to his full potential to save lives — and survive on the battlefield.
She’s so intense she terrifies everyone.
That’s the initial set up right there. The rest of the story is Usato being put through training hell by Captain Rose as a means of teaching him how to use his magic to its limits — and develop the mental and physical toughness needed to survive. Suzune and Kazuki are also learning to use their new powers; the 3 of them end up giving each other motivation to continue. There’s time for some humorous moments, as well as some drama. There’s very little fan service — unless you count the way Suzune is fascinated by the way training is turning Usato’s body into a buff marvel, and the way she keeps trying to flirt with him.
The story builds to a climax with the expected invasion. Usato and his friends face a challenge far beyond their expectations, and Usato has been given a particular burden. An unexpected encounter with a beast-kin had given him a horrific future vision of disaster on the battlefield that only he can change; he has to wonder if his healing magic is going to be enough.
The bad guys are really bad in this series. The demon army are not nice people, to put it mildly, and are both stronger than humans and more able to use magic. (The dubbed version also seems to give them vaguely British accents, or maybe Australian?)
There is plenty of blood and gore, even before the battle scenes. The flashback showing what happened to Captain Rose is brutal. The scenes on the battlefield are pretty graphic so be advised. After the battle, Usato breaks down into tears confessing he was terrified, and had to deal with seeing people dying everywhere. He reminds us he is only 17. Captain Rose reveals she’s far more than just a terrifying monster; she acknowledges his distress as she commends his efforts.
If you want a story about people thrown into a crisis not of their making, nothing they asked for — and seeing them rise to the occasion, you could do worse. And if that seems a little too close to what we’re facing now, having an example of how to develop determination and push beyond expectations is not the worst fantasy to indulge in. Every reality starts as someone’s fantasy.
The story doesn’t end there; the final episode of 13 sets up the story to continue, and there is plenty of material from the original manga to work with. I’d love to see it.
Here’s the opening title, Cure by Waterweed. (Lyrics here.)
And now for something completely different…
This series is another
isekai type of story, but it turns it around and plays it for laughs. A kingdom is in danger, the Demon King threatens to unleash war, only heroes can save the day, blah, blah, blah. A magic summoning rite brings three high school students from this world to there. An appraisal spell shows they have received powerful combat magic in the process of being summoned. They’re thrilled and excited.
And then there’s
Tsuyoshi Mukouda. He was also caught up in the spell but he’s not thrilled at the prospect. He’s a 27 year-old salaryman, and he decides there is something sketchy about the whole deal, just from looking at the lush life styles the king and his court seem to be displaying. It doesn’t exactly look like they are really in desperate straits, and he has no desire to be a hero.
The twist comes when they appraise him for his special skill. It turns out to be Online Grocery. No one in this new world has any idea what that might be. Mukouda begs off being chosen, asks to be allowed to live a quiet life since he has no combat magic, and they give him a parting gift of gold and send him on his way. Mukouda quickly decides to leave the kingdom as quickly as possible, exchanges his clothes for local garb so he won’t attract attention, and gets a room at an inn to sort out his next move.
In his room he tries calling up his stats and a magic window appears — “just like in anime” he’s seen. He discovers he has something called Appraisal: it allows him to look at anything and call up a magic window that explains what it is and other critical information. He also has an Item Box — which in this story is a bit of magic that allows him to store anything with no limits on size or weight, invisibly out of sight until he wants to take it out. The Item Box will hold anything and preserve it exactly as it was when placed inside.
And then there’s his absurd Online Grocery skill. When Mukouda figures out how to invoke it, a magic window pops up exactly like a web browser! He discovers he can order food items from his homeworld (Japan) and it will instantly appear in a shipping box — as long as he has sufficient funds. (There’s a magic slot onscreen that will accept the coins he was given.) He immediately orders bottled water — to avoid stomach troubles — and something to eat. He realizes he doesn’t dare let anyone realize what he can do with this, and is even more resolved to get out of the kingdom while keeping a low profile.
Mukouda takes a wagon to the border with the next kingdom. Discovering it has been closed, he finds the Adventurers Guild and hires a party as escorts while they all walk to the next kingdom. In addition to paying them Mukouda also offers to provide all the meals on the way — which is fine with them. It’s a classic adventurers party: a strong fighter (tank), a swordsman, a mage, a healer, and a scout.
When they stop for their first meal, Mukouda quickly pulls out cooking gear from his item box and food from the Online Grocery to prepare the meal. They are all impressed — they’ve never had anything like it in the field. They usually survive on dried meat and hard bread. As their journey progresses, Mukouda continues to surprise and delight them with what he provides. They encounter a huge Red Boar — about the size of a small elephant — and Mukouda ends up storing the meat in his item box after they butcher it.
When he uses it for dinner that night, he uses marinades from this world to enhance the meal, and the group is completely blown away. They’ve never tasted anything like it! It’s like a cooking show at this point; the ‘camera’ shows step by step how Mukouda prepares the meal, the ingredients he uses, and how he cooks it. He serves it to rave reviews — and an unintended audience.
Unknown to the group, they’ve been followed by someone who has become interested in all these meals he has been hearing — and smelling — about. Mukouda is asking the party about cabbage when they all freeze and tell him to look behind him. Behind him is a giant wolf-like monster, a
Fenrir. He speaks, demanding Mukouda serve him this delicious meat; Mukouda frantically cooks it up and keeps serving until the monster is sated — and the meat is gone. The Fenrir has never tasted food like this before and decides to enter into a contract with Mukouda as his
familiar — which means Mukouda has to keep the meals coming. The Fenrir demands Mukouda choose a name for him, and settles on Fel.
From this point on, the story becomes a buddy movie, with a lot of Odd Couple vibes as the two of them work to establish their relationship and set boundaries. Having Fel as a familiar is like walking around with a pocket nuke with an unpredictable trigger. He’s capable of destroying entire countries (and has), and can pretty much take down any monster he encounters — which Mukouda is expected to cook up. He also puts Mukouda in situations to force him to toughen up, developing his rudimentary survival skills with combat — something Mukouda definitely does NOT want.
Mukouda in turn is struggling to cope with keeping a low profile while accompanied by a legendary monster, and finding ways to prepare dishes like Roc bird, Orc, Cockatrice, Giant Moose, Wyvern, giant Black Snake, etc. It turns out that monsters are delicious — Orcs taste like the best pork, even if they are disturbingly humanoid. Dealing in monster meat is a stock trade for adventurers. Every episode usually involves Mukouda doing at least one cooking segment as he tries to keep Fel both fed and enjoying the meals. When he introduces Fel to
Wagyu Beef, the results are off the scale. Spaghetti is another winner. It’s hard not to watch without getting hungry.
The show follows their adventures as they roam the countryside, Fel looking for new monsters for Mukouda to cook up, and Mukouda adapting to this new lifestyle, and both of them settling into a comfortable relationship. Mukouda signs up with the adventurers guild — because they can butcher the monsters Fel brings in and buy the other parts. He also joins the merchants guild so he can (carefully) repackage goods from the Online Grocery for resale to keep money coming in.
Further complications ensue when Mukouda discovers a baby slime — a very low level monster that looks like a jiggly blob of jelly. Mukouda finds it unbearably cute and inadvertently forms a contract with it. Naming it “Sui” he discovers it can eat all the garbage that’s been accumulating from the Online Grocery packaging and can also eat the dishes clean. It loves his cooking too. Sui develops a relationship with Fel as well — and begins leveling up.
As if that wasn’t enough, it turns out Fel has a patron goddess — Ninrir, goddess of wind. One reason he is so powerful is because she bestowed blessings on him. Ninrir becomes intrigued with why her Fenrir has formed a contract with so unlikely a human, and discovers what he brings to the arrangement. Mukouda ends up getting her blessing as well — as long as he agrees to send her a weekly prayer offering of sweets from the Online Grocery. He feels like he is more preyed-upon than praying.
She can’t resist those otherworldly treats, and when 3 other goddesses discover her deal, they demand to get in on it as well. Thus Mukouda finds himself having to meet demands from Agni (fire), Kisharle (earth) and Rusalka (water).
An additional feature is that episodes end with a “second serving” — a short vignette for a bonus. One catches up with the heroes from the first episode sitting around a campfire, laughing about that salaryman with his online grocery skill and wondering if he survived. They also talk about some adventurer creating a stir as he roams with a giant monster at his side. They dig into the meal they’ve been cooking — and all go ugh! It’s terrible.
The show is a hoot — there’s a lot of comedy. It’s also fun watching Fel and Mukouda work out their relationship (it’s not all one-sided) while they travel and interact with other people. The series is only 12 episodes, but a second series is reported to be in the works and there is plenty of material to work with. If you just want something to sit back and enjoy as a guilty pleasure, this might be for you.
Here’s the
opening title:
The opening theme song is "Zeitaku na Saji" (贅沢な匙, "Exquisite Spoon") by Van de Shop. English lyrics here, from the longer version of the song.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this if you made it this far. I’ve been meaning to write this up for some time, so I’m glad to have finally gotten around to it. Feel free to offer comments, criticisms, and suggestions below. I don’t pretend to be an expert on this but I thought I’d share what I’ve enjoyed. Keep in mind that Sturgeon’s Law applies to this as so much else — and not everyone agrees on what falls in the 90% and which in the 10%. If there’s a particular show you’ve enjoyed, feel free to mention it.