Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku

Isekai about your average Joe (or whatever they call analog in Japan), who got isekai'd into more or less realistic rpg-like world. MC did not get any super powers and just do his thing to try to survive in new world. Surprisingly result is pretty good. Story does not always follow main protagonist and gives perspective of other characters rather frequently. The way it all comes together is beautiful and interesting to watch. Really nice story with happy end. Minimal fanservice, no harem, but it seems that he will get his personal life sorted out. Combat looks cool, quality overall is good.

Handyman Saito fails miserably as a comedic slice-of-life show. The comedic setups fall too short and the scenes go by lightning-fast. Not surprising, considering that the source material is 4-Koma-like: each chapter is only a few pages. I might have laughed at one scene of the many attempts at the show trying to be funny. However, as much as I was disappointed with the comedy, the more serious parts of the story really carry the show. I thought this show to be like Saito himself: jack of all trades, master of none. The show tries to be funny, be serious and has its hand dipped inromance as well. As a result, none of the themes really would stick. I was thankfully proven wrong. The serious, continuous storyline is actually better than most isekai shows out there. It's actually funny how good it is. The villains have much more characterization than a typical hero's journey story regarding a hero and demon king, and the characters themselves are eased into the story as it goes along. The show does a much better job at converging storylines than Odd Taxi, and all of the characters that you see in isolation eventually come together to form relationships with each other, and that's truly satisfying. The best thing about the show is that it doesn't just shove in a random tragic backstory onto an unknown character and call it a day, but like good storytelling, the show introduces the characters' personalities and it's only much more down the line will you be introduced to the backstory of each character. By the time the flashbacks happen, you already like and know the character enough. The pacing isn't slow or fast, and there are always going to be character arcs that flesh out all of the characters. While each chapter in the source material is very short, you can easily create a continuous storyline if you just extend it over many chapters as this author did. And it's a good thing that he did. The episodic comedic shorts are quite unfunny like I was saying before, but the converging storylines between each character as a climactic meeting and fight comes along is quite good. The animation for the fight scenes certainly hides hard-to-animate details, but it actually is better than most isekai fight scenes. It truly isn't that bad, even with some animation shorthand and time saves. It certainly does get a bit cheesy when Saito decides to let someone go after they try killing them, and it's also cheesy when the villains get to live and redeem themselves, but it's not just like Demon Slayer where a tragic backstory is slapped on somebody and they die. Some villains die, some villains redeem themselves, and they all have some sort of backstory that you get to listen to. It's not an obligatory flashback like in Demon Slayer, but one that actually puts the morality of a person into light and not just an afterthought. Overall, much more well done in terms of characterization, moral resolution, and realism compared to a vast majority of Shounen shows that try their hardest to do so. A continuous story obviously means continuous character dynamics and plot. The romance, while slow-burning, isn't just hundreds of chapters of nothing happening between Saito and Raelza, but rather, the romance actually progresses. The romance isn't super cringe, and it's definitely more natural than I would have expected. The character development of Saito in general is much more realistic than I would have expected. He isn't some cringe JP protagonist that whines about soy sauce and rice from his homeland, nor is he particularly homesick. The issue between his wanting to come home and his wanting to stay with his comrades in his current world is clearly explained and delineated: something that again, serious isekai shows fail to do miserably. Saito isn't some transported guy that gets shunned in his new world before "discovering" his OP af abilities and attends magic academy with his harem of girls, but rather just a handyman that wants respect and acknowledgment, and is given it in his new party. Each character has a realistic and deep profile that you can explore as the episodes go by. Other than Saitou, Morlock's personality and past are also heavily scrutinized by the story. He has to face his past, look at the present, and has to acknowledge his failings and accomplishments to go on in life. A surprisingly deep character arc for a lecherous geriatric man. If this show went all in on the continuous storyline, I would have easily given it a higher rating, but as it stands, the episodic shorts are just too unfunny for me to care. The lack of character development in many of the side characters, including even Lafanpan and a little bit of Raelza, as well as the excessive amount of comic relief characters (mainly the dwarf; the king and his entourage are actually the funnier ones), could have been avoided if this show focused completely on its story and worldbuilding rather than it's unfunny episodic segments. If you're only looking for a comedic isekai, there aren't many, but this definitely isn't one of the good ones. Take a look at Eminence in the Shadows, konosuba, or meikyuu black company, as they actually have decent comedic scenes.

This was truly an unexpected gem of the Winter season. It was a surprisingly funny, yet emotional and epic anime for sure. It takes a while to really pick up, but once it does, it never looks back. Studio C2C have been quietly doing a great job with some of their recent works, such as Majo no Tabitabi, Tensei shitara Ken Deshita, and now this anime, which showcased some very impressive and sharpened animation and fight scenes that could make some of the elite studios quiver in their boots just a little bit. I think this show nails tonal shifts very well, and it kindof reminds me of Golden Kamuy, where one scene they could be making the lewdest of lewd jokes, but the next scene, people are being murdered. It’s really quite something. The story isn’t very special, as it’s about a Handyman called Saitou, reincarnated into another world where unlike in his original world, the people treat him with much more respect, and he feels more needed. He uses his handyman skills to help out his party with lock-picking, opening treasure chests, a lot of practical things. The first few episodes are very comedy-based, with somewhat disconnected skits to introduce the characters, and while some of the jokes hit real good, it was definitely the weakest part of the series. It shifts into a more plot-based story after that, and boy, it really got good after that. It went through a full 180, but it worked out in the end with some very meaningful and emotional backstories, along with some solid character writing in the process. It doesn’t hold back in any way, whether it’s the jokes, the action, or even the gore. The cast is quite the goofy bunch, but they’re a very solid cast of characters. Apart from Saitou, we have an old magician who forgets his spells every so often called Morlock, a healing fairy called Lafanpan, and a strong Knight in Raelza. Their interactions can be comedy gold, but can also be very emotional. They’re a very tight knit party who clearly care about each other, and form great friendships and relationships that made for great dynamics. The side characters and antagonists also were decent, as each character had a certain degree of depth, some more than others, and it’s always a breath of fresh air when the villains have a backstory of their own instead of just being evil for the sake of being evil. The animation is good overall, but when the plot gets serious, the animation goes up to another level. Some of the fight scenes were very well animated, and got me on the edge of my seat with how epic they were. The OST also accompanies the atmospheres very nicely, although the OP and ED weren’t all that great. Overall, this show encompasses goofy and epic all in one package, and if there was one isekai besides MagiRevo that I would recommend people to check out, it would be this one. Genuinely, one of the better shows of the season, and it came as a very pleasant surprise. Do give this one a chance.

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