Recommended
In every season there is always that weird show whose synopsis can make a lot of people disgusted or bothered by one or two things and although a show like Fantasy Bishoujo Juniku Ojisan to (Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout or abbreviated Fabiniku) is like one more isekai on the list, the “gender bender” element scares a lot of creatures who… don't even know what this is about. However, to point this out is to miss out on things that a comedy like this unexpectedly offers the viewer. Created by a married couple made up of wife YuuTsurusaki and husband Chibimaru, this romantic comedy tells us about a man and a man who used to be a man: Both are teleported to a fantasy world thanks to the "blessing" of the Goddess of Love ; Jinguuji, a handsome but proud man is given a power buff while his normal friend, Tachibana, is turned into… a young blonde girl. To make matters worse, this half-naked goddess places a curse on them that the two of them will be romantically attracted to until they defeat the Demon King.
Fantasy Bishoujo is not the first existing anime where a character is transferred to another world with a change in their sex. - and that has been adapted - As isekai we can talk about cases like Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja and Youjo Senki. Everything that makes up this anime is nothing more or less than the familiar tropes and gags of a normal isekai: mmorpg system, magic, experience, superpowers, etc., which, however, goes in a different direction than one normally assumes in this genre. This is also added with a story element that not even the writers themselves took the seriousness of doing since here and there the entire program is made up of a world, let's say, strange and chaotic; from the way in which the Gods and Legendary Creatures of this world are portrayed to the attitude of the secondary characters and villagers (Especially those who venerate the Goddess of Love and Beauty).
With animation by OLM, this program cannot be visually compared to one like Odd Taxi or Komi-san Can't Communicate (Both studio productions), but it maintains the graphic quality per se despite how 'generic' it may look. Character designs remain similar to those of the manga and although there are some modifications (such as Tilolilo Lilili's clothing) in general this adaptation doesn't affect the most important elements of Fabiniku. There are some narrative omissions compared to what is presented, but these omissions are nothing more than a few more or not so important scenes for the context they want to present. Writers manage to efficiently “cut” and “paste” the show's dialogue and keep the jokes intact without altering everything that is intended to be presented.
We have an OP “Akatsuki no Salaryaman” by Yoshiki, a decent pop-rock song that isn't bad it's not that brilliant due to its low audio quality. However, the video sequence perfectly describes what the program came to do with the viewer. If you found some screaming faces, explosions, Tachibana's cute face, and Kirito hanging around funny, then you can already get an idea of what happens in the rest of the show. On the other hand, his ED “FA"NTASY to!” is more of a very catchy J-Pop song whose video introduces us to Tachibana as the protagonist of this sequence, dancing, thinking and questioning herself about her relationship with Jinguuji.
As a manga reader something I didn't expect from Fantasy Bishoujo is that it was as funny as I could remember! And even less did I expect that this comedy manga would also be entrusted with a decent budget than one expects in these types of adaptations; starting with the casting of well-known actors and others that have been taking shape for years: starting with Mao (Pecorina from Princess Connect! and Iris from Fire Force) and Satoshi (Ainz from Overlord and Saito from Zero no Tsukaima) in the voices of Tachibana and Jinguuji respectively. The chemistry between these two works and makes the jokes come naturally. We can also talk about Junichi Suwabe as Shen who I admit I didn't expect him to play the role of this mysterious villager, as well as Rie Kugimya in the voice of the Goddess of Love and Beauty and Eri Kitamura as Lucious, etc. Overall, everyone manages to do a decent and confident job of the character assigned to them.
However, not everything is jokes and laughter because the program also at a certain point adds specific flashbacks from the past of the two heroes, presenting a preview of how their friendship has been before so that the viewer has an indication of how deep the friendship is. Is likely that many expected more background to this or feel concern that this could "kill the character", but since the intention of the program is to make us laugh, this remains as a secondary element without any problem.
But, the most remarkable point is its characters: with the pair of best friends as the center of the plot, they will be accompanied by other secondary characters that the series doesn't throw away and discard when it feels like it. As a consequence, much of the potential of each of them is taken advantage of and they complement the chemistry of the program very well; Better yet, it's that it's not satisfied with appearing in a mini-arc either and it's common for them to have a series of cameos or return to prominence at certain points in the program after their first appearance. An example of these is Schwartz, the Kirito archetype, whose dialogues and actions are a clear satire to all the typical protagonists who look "cold" and can use swords; or Tilolilo Lilili, an elf proud of her beauty who is jealous of Tachibana...
On the other hand, as I said at the beginning, many may have some guesses with a program that sells you the premise of a "man turned woman" and it's understandable how uncomfortable it can be for a fan who has little adapted to this type of contents. However, Fantasy Bishoujo is a seriously funny series that offers its audience a lot of smiles everywhere and a 180-degree turn to what we normally understand of a conventional isekai, similar to what another comedy like Konosuba does.
If you liked the show, I recommend you continue on the manga.
