The Great Anime Marathon of 2020! #21 – #25: Not Running out of Isekai Any Time Soon!

When I realised I had a marathon on my hands, I had already gone through about 20 or so different isekai series before moving on to other anime. I mean, how could I not? There is just SO MUCH isekai that has been released over the last twenty years that I couldn’t avoid them even if I tried! So far, including this entry, we’ve covered only 10 of these isekai series and there’s plenty more to come.

Initially, I had the idea of just getting all of those isekai out of the way first, but it because pretty clear that things would become dull, fast. So, here I am padding them out with other themed anime in the meantime. Anyway, let’s start off with a favourite…

The following is a spoiler-free list of anime I’ve seen this year in no particular order:

#21: The Rising of the Shield Hero

• Season 1: Complete series to date (dub)

This series probably wouldn’t have made it onto my radar if it wasn’t for the rumblings of a controversy that surrounded it. I personally don’t care about any of that and decided to watch it and determine if it was any good based on its own merits. Of course, with that said, this anime marathon run-through isn’t my first time watching the series. I originally watched it last year when the supposed controversy was still fresh just to see if it was as bad as the articles were making it out to be.

I have to say, it’s extremely rare for me to find a series like this where I can totally understand every decision a main character makes, let alone agree with those decisions. Maybe that makes me a bad person, who knows, I don’t particularly care. The fact is that this is a well made series and interesting things happened.

With Naofumi Iwatani, I’m right there with him, all the way, and understand where he’s coming from and how he felt. Hell, even the initial mistakes he makes that lead him to get fucked over (super hard) are totally understandable. He’s naively hopeful despite being in a new and unknown world and everything comes crashing down on him. His outlook on things is completely destroyed due to the trauma of that experience… and this all happens during the very first double-length episode.

While I do get a certain enjoyment out of seeing a main character who is so jaded and abrasive, trusting NO ONE for good reason, there’s an even bigger reason why this isekai stands above the rest for me. It’s to do with another character who is extremely important to making this story work, one who stands beside Naofumi when no one else will.

The way Naofumi meets Raphtalia, the fact that he buys her as a slave, the way he ends up nurturing this child back to health, making sure she’s fed, making sure she’s happy, all of it, comes together in a very practical way. No one will help him, he has no choice but to go down this path, but despite the fact that we all know as a matter of fact that owning another person is wrong, he treats her with kindness through very practical reasoning.

He is the Shield Hero, he can’t attack, he can only defend. He needs someone who will stand by his side and be the sword to his shield. The process of the trust that is forged between the two of these characters is what I love about The Rising of the Shield Hero.

I am really glad that there’s already a second and third season lined up for this series because I cannot get enough of it.

#22: Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious

• Season 1: Complete series to date (dub)

I actually caught this one thanks to a random YouTube video showing a clips from the series which gave me a bit of a chuckle, so onto the list it went! While it does have its flaws in that some of the jokes don’t land as well as they should for a comedy anime, the premise is still pretty good, and it gets more interesting as you progress.

There are plenty of anime out there that have totally overpowered characters, but Seiya takes it to another level, where every attack is the most powerful attack in his arsenal, even for a lowly slime.

Seiya and Ristarte (Restart? Listarte? eh, nevermind) from Cautious Hero, along with Naofumi, Raphtalia and Filo from Shield Hero, funnily enough made an appearance in the second season of Isekai Quartet, though while the Shield Hero cast get a few episodes of content, Seiya and Ristarte make the shortest cameo possible with only a few seconds of screen time… he was too overly cautious to walk into a school for their culture festival.

#23: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

• Season 1, including OVAs: Complete series to date (dub / OAD 1 & 3: sub)

Or, perhaps Seiya was right to use his full force against a slime… considering the feats this particular slime ends up achieving in such a short amount of time. This is a pretty odd series because it’s like you’re watching a city building simulator isekai with Rimuru at the centre of it all.

Starting from a small village, Rimuru the slime ends up forming a federation while getting into some wacky adventures along the way. It’s another one of those overpowered main character anime’s but there’s some fun to be had.

I think the only thing that really makes this a step down from what it could be is that you never feel like there’s any danger or that the stakes are high enough to threaten Rimuru in any way that could be remotely interesting. For the most part, it’s always smooth sailing ahead.

#24: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest

• Season 1, including OVAs: Complete series to date (dub / OVAs: sub)

Another overpowered character, though, this time it takes him about an episode to BECOME overpowered. Arifureta is… it isn’t good. This is a series where the main character goes from being the most pathetic guy who can’t do anything to the most overpowered character who puts on all the “I’m too cool” gear and becomes an Edge Lord, gets a Loli Vampire girlfriend, finds his way out of the dungeon with her only to find a Bimbo Bunny that tongues him deeply and eventually gets a Fish Daughter.

And then there’s Dragon Anus… I’ve totally forgotten what her name is meant to be (in fact, I’ve forgotten all their names), but the very first time you see her is a scene where you get a quite prominent shot of her… yes, dragon anus.

If this description is fucking weird, yes, that’s the anime.

#25: Knight’s & Magic

• Season 1: Complete series to date (sub)

This particular anime really does deserve a new season. It’s a simple premise, a mecha fanatic dies and reincarnates in another world with all of his memories from his previous life intact. Pretty standard stuff for a lot of isekai, nothing really much to talk about there. However, Ernesti’s obsession with mecha becomes fully realised in this new world when he’s able to become a Silhouette Knight pilot and make all of his dreams come true… and damn is it great.

The way that Ernesti becomes a mech pilot and ends up leading his own research unit to create his dream mech designs is pretty interesting to watch. What’s more is that, I have no idea why, but I really like the mech designs that Ernest comes up with, something about them makes them look so cool. In fact, a lot of the mech designs in this anime are excellent.

This is one of those anime that’s just a whole lot of fun to watch, hands down. It doesn’t have anything too deep and it doesn’t have any big twists and turns, it’s a pretty straight forward ride, but it’s an enjoyable one. Pretty much in line with That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, actually.