Why did I start with such a cliche and cheesy statement on a review? Is this starting to sound like an essay?
Well, to be fair, Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo (Problem Children Are Coming From Another World, Aren't They) caters towards the type of individual described above. Individuals seeking to escape reality and adventure into a world of the unknown.
Too bad the world in this anime stays 'unknown'.
There are many anime that take on the storyboard of 'traveling to a different dimension'. Its a born and bred technique that, with minimal uncertainty, will definitely succeed to draw in the common anime watcher. Anime like Log Horizon, SAO, and No Game No Life first come into mind. However, with all my pride of an anime watcher at stake (if I have any), I will say that there is enjoyment in seeing this style of anime does entertain me to a certain extent. The creativity of the setting astounds us, and the ideas hidden within the protagonist's strengths evokes our imagination.
'Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?' follows three characters with the extraordinary powers. The Strongest human, the ability to interact with animals, and the voice of absolute command are all, 'coincidentally', powers that immediately pop into the mind when speaking of supernatural powers that everyone wants.
These three characters somehow are summoned into the dangerous world of 'Little Garden'
Hardly dangerous.
In fact, the anime was very fast in introducing the power of our superhuman Izayoi, who defeats a water 'god' in the span of 2 episodes. its a common event that we see in some anime like this. Antagonist underestimates protagonist at hand greatly, protagonist demolishes them with an unexplained skill, and the antagonist regretfully admits his/ her mistake. Of course, on paper it sounds cliche and cheesy, but fans love the moment when the antagonist is overwhelmed due to their sheer incompetence in fighting. Come on Water God, don't challenge our shounen protagonist with only your puny god fighting skills.
The anime is hardly to blame for this. We see it regularly. Sora and Shiro from No Game No Life easily dispatch their humanity hating enemies. Don't get me started on Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei. In fact, this anime does well to show that brute force doesn't always win battles compared to the others. Strategy actually appears, albeit occasionally, in the anime. When it does, its hard to watch, as the enemies are so remarkably stupid it makes the strategy in place look well thought out.
What the anime did well in though, was introducing the setting and story. The back-story is developed fairly well, and the majority of the plot-holes in the history that appear are subsequently covered with a brief explanation. Our protagonists discover the dilemma of the community of 'No Name'. This community was at the bottom of the food chain in the world of Little Garden.
What the story does not go in depth however, is the setting itself. Remember when I said the world stays unknown? The beautiful, imaginative idea of Little Garden is hardly developed. Its a flaw in the style of anime. Make the anime short and risk under developing the setting. Make the anime long to delve into the world and lose action and fast-paced storytelling along with it. Its a problem that is hard to correct.
For a anime that deeply involves its characters into the plot-line, Character development is a missing piece to the puzzle. A short 10 episodes may attribute to the lack of development, but the reality is, the characters have no where to go! The moment the land on Little Garden, our protagonists are as overpowered as Goku is by the end of Dragon Ball Z. There is a bit of marginal growth for our characters power wise, of course with the exception of Superhuman Izayoi, who is so perfect in the power category that its hard not to become worse.
Sometimes I go quite overboard with my little jabs at anime. The artwork in Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? is beautifully done. Characters have no glaring differences in artwork from one point of the anime to the next. The backgrounds are populated with significant detail. Every character looks unique in their own way, and are very distinguishable through artwork.
Through there is far little in character development, the personalities of our protagonists are actually very unique and fairly intriguing. Each character has a unique personality that quite often suits their abilities and appearance. Because of this, when these characters initiate their abilities, it actually feels as if the the abilities they possess are unique to them only.
...
When individuals rate an anime, they rate it either through their enjoyment or how well the anime is made. Of course, both these two factors influence one and another, but they are also distinctly separate. Someone can watch a plot-hole filled, disturbing, unimaginative anime and still receive enjoyment because it may fulfill with what that individual may want. Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? has some glaring mistakes that all anime of its type possesses, but I cannot say that it didn't have its good points, and that I didn't enjoy it. Many of its problems revolve around the shortness of the anime, along with the cliffhanger ending. However, there is more to come, and when that time comes, there will be individuals to either praise it, or judge it no matter what the outcome.
6/10 - Good
(Please don't think that 6 is bad, for those of you, because I base my ratings off of the word descriptions (ie good, very good, mediocre) rather than the number)
