KAKANLen09
September 24, 2024
Recommended
No Longer Allowed In Another World - No Longer Human, Isekai version? Yes and Amen to death. Let's just admit this one sole fact: Isekai is just getting boring with each iteration of new seasonal shows with the same wash, rinse, repeat shtick, that one look and you'll be right to give it a miss that you won't forget to not come back. That works for about 90% of the time, but sometimes, there's shows that do have that same gimmick, but offers something else in return, and despite the negative connotations just from the title alone, the true meat of the story goes deep-diving intothe depths of the unknown that it is what makes the work so unique to begin with. This is Isekai Shikkaku a.k.a No Longer Allowed in Another World, written by mangaka Hiroshi Noda, whom you will also recognize as the author of Koi wa Sekai Seifuku no Ato de a.k. Love After World Domination, which received Project No. 9's anime adaptation back in Spring 2022. Despite both series being serialized at the exact same time, the latter ended its run back in November of that same year with the manga being axed for a rushed ending, while the former is still ongoing.
If you have read or seen Love After World Domination back in the day, I assume that you're already familiar with Hiroshi Noda having a signature of creating parody works of popular genres. And like with the former splicing both the superhero action with the rom-com genre, he has done it once again for Isekai Shikkaku, this time on the action adventure with the fantasy genre, by incorporating one of Japan's most iconic figures: Shuji Tsushima, better known otherwise as Osamu Dazai (yes, that Bungou Stray Dogs MC character name is also where the inspiration came from). Of course, while staying true to the roots of said novelist, even down to his death and the sequence of events that led to it, the parody maestro knows how to turn this into a compelling story: just nickname him as Sensei, retrace the roots of Dazai's lovers' pact of a double-suicide with his partner Tomie Yamazaki (who's only known as Sacchan), and add in the twist of Truck-kun for the iconic Isekai effect, and lay it all bare on the Other Worlder who finds himself literally in another world, but still hoping to die one day till he's fulfilled his tragic job. Until then, Sensei has to bear with the constant annoyances of the NPC announcer telling him that he's earned EXP, leveled up and the like that's usual with RPG elements, by being thwarted with inconvenient heroics that make him the "tragic hero" that he is, with an actual sense of purpose...?
It's obscenely clear that Dazai, or Sensei in this regard, his goal is just to ensue death by whatever means possible, because that's what his life's calling is glued to. But on the other hand, being in a fantasy world, meant that Saachan could also be in this world, and therefore he sets out on a tragic journey to find his lost partner. Where the problem for Sensei stems from, starts with the one who summoned him into said world: the elf priestess Annette, who implied that it was Truck-kun who did the work, and her just merely an NPC messenger to tell the summoners that they're the stereotypical heroes capable of defeating their world's Demon Lord. Of course, being so adamant about death, Sensei shrugs her off like nobody’s business and proceeds to wander into the fantasy world, trying to find a way to commit suicide. It’s then that he encounters a catgirl being captured by a monster, but being too occupied to die, Sensei easily succumbs to the monster, but his powers of bad luck saved both himself and her, and made him the hero that he did not want to be, thereby warranting her to follow him…at the cusp of just naming her Tama (i.e. cat in Japanese) and not wanting to know her real name any further.
Sensei’s quite the hilarious unexpected figure of evil who also unexpectedly does the work of good, especially with his “Death Note” diary that he uses to pen the lives of others, especially since he’s a writer by origin. And that diary from within, encloses his only ability: Storyteller, whom triggers all kinds of effects based on the person or people of notice to decide if they’re alright for the fantasy world, or as the series’ title suggests: No Longer Allowed in Another World, by sending them back to Earth for all the wrongs they’ve done in their lives, whom still have a heart to do things right, as their salvation. This is so because not only are there Other Worlders just like Sensei, but they’re too many of them to ever be counted to counter their villainous acts in the fantasy world, giving rise to the antagonist group known as the Fallen Angels: potential Other Worldly heroes who were once thought to be capable of defeating the Demon Lord, now turned to the dark side after said entity has been wiped out. And that’s the role of Annette and Tama as they join Sensei in finding Saachan, whom he thinks is also alive somewhere in the fantasy world, as this course of events winds down a deep, dark spiral, aside from the occasional comedy of the nonchalant writer who prefers to sleep in his designated bed of a worn-down coffin…that’s still another way to die. Always the determinator, Sensei, amidst the elf who turns out a lot more useful than she initially looks, as well as the catgirl whom despite her outbursts from ignorance, has an exact episode of her own with the Other Worlders. But still, the unlikely comrades create the perfect party for Sensei to find his partner-in-crime.
Is it too much of a coincidence to say that whenever studio AtelierPontdarc is, there will always be Isekai in the title? To be fair, outside of the short that is Ganbari Douki-chan, the newly established studio still has a lot of ways to go with animation and production values that can be mistaken for just about any B-tier studio in the mix. This is especially since the production-ridden Summer 2022 show of Isekai Ojisan a.k.a Uncle from Another World that’s still being fresh in our minds, despite its uniqueness (most of which was adapted from the manga of the same name), and with Isekai Shikkaku being just the studio’s 2nd work ever done, it’s alright, but nothing noteworthy.
The music…there could be more of it, because most portions of the anime just felt empty at times, and even more considering that it’s music composer Kenichiro Suehiro, the same composer as Isekai Ojisan, which that show had more value added to it. Aside from that, I thought that Kashitaro Ito’s OP was a little off kilter for my liking, but it’s still a quality song through and through. The dissonance thereafter with Mayu Maeshima’s ED, she just knows how to nail shows with dark post-atmospheric feelings, and I felt the song with the lingering of my skin to a solemn degree of good.
The misadventures of Osamu Dazai in No Longer Human, or rather, mangaka Hiroshi Noda’s take by displaying a parody of it, I have once trusted in Koi wa Sekai Seifuku no Ato de a.k.a Love After World Domination before, and Isekai Shikkaku a.k.a No Longer Allowed in Another World, continues the trend that the author himself knows what he’s doing to deliver a parody that as serious as it comes, there’s comedy to be had as well. It may not look like the innovative thing considering the AniManga of recent times, but it’s still a solid show that while it teaches about the tales of wisdom of the famed novelist himself, the story doesn't slow down to allow its characters to shine being a psudeonym of the real life from the perspective of adults.
If parody's your thing, Isekai Shikkaku's a no-frills recommendation as a comedy relief show. Either be condemned and humbled to receive salvation or be consumed by greed and ego to sink deep into the abyss.
