Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou

The ordinary life of 17-year-old otaku Hajime Nagumo is disrupted when he and his classmates are summoned to a fantasy world and tasked with saving mankind. While his classmates are gifted with impressive abilities useful in combat, Hajime is belittled for only gaining an inferior transmutation skill that lacks any real offensive power.

During an expedition in the Great Orcus Labyrinth, Hajime is betrayed by one of his classmates, plummeting him to the bottom of an abyss. Though he survives the fall, Hajime is faced with menacing monsters and misfortunes that send him spiraling into a grim nightmare. Desperate to live and return home one day, he resolves to fight for his survival—only to meet an imprisoned vampire he names Yue, who is also seeking to escape the labyrinth. Taking an interest in him, Yue and a few others along the way accompany Hajime on his journey to find a way back home, while steadily transforming from commonplace to the world's strongest.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nagumo, Hajime Main

Fukamachi, Toshinari Japanese

Yue Main

Kuwahara, Yuuki Japanese

Shirasaki, Kaori Main

Oonishi, Saori Japanese

Clarence, Tio Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Haulia, Shea Main

Takahashi, Minami Japanese

Myuu Supporting

Ogura, Yui Japanese

Yaegashi, Shizuku Supporting

Hanamori, Yumiri Japanese

Riiman Supporting

Hamada, Kenji Japanese

Hatayama, Aiko Supporting

Kakuma, Ai Japanese

Endou, Kousuke Supporting

Enoki, Junya Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Sekine, Youichi Producer

Andou, Seiji Producer

Reviews

Jun 9, 2024

connor1487

Recommended

A very entertaining show with good characters. It also is markedly better visually than many anime when it comes to monsters and fight scenes. It sets Hajime and Yue up as the main couple and they are great together but is heading into harem territory. I don't mind harem if it becomes a true harem. Most are more like fan clubs than actual harems so we'll see. If you are not a harem fan then this might not be for you. Admittedly the show gets better as it goes along and the second half of the season is stronger than the first half. Still worth ... the time watching it.

A show that has some appeal for a more adult crowd and not just teen boys which is nice.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jun 10, 2024

DestronYT

Mixed Feelings

I have mixed feelings for this anime. On one hand I quite enjoyed season 1 despite the horrendous CGI for the first Labyrinth bosses.

I think the main thing that bugs me about season 1 (have yet to see season 2 as of writing this) is it started off with a serious tone all about survival, getting stronger and trying to achieve his ultimate goal. Around episode 6 or 7 though when he escapes the labyrinth he encounters a bunny girl and from there the show pretty much abandons the seriousness tone they were going for in the first place and attempts more comedy. Problem ... is with the "comedy" it comes off as more annoying than anything.

From episode 7 it also starts to become more Harem-esc with almost everyone falling for him and attempting fan service. I'm ok with fan service but if it's not going overboard with it.

I will be watching season 2, but I'm very mixed on how I feel about this anime. I don't think it's bad. Don't think it's good. I just think it's ok and if you can get over the bad CGI in the first couple of episodes especially, it can be pretty good.

6/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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May 17, 2024

lllemon

Not Recommended

Arifureta is one of the worst animes out there. It's part of that almost conspiratorial scheme of isekais with a repetitive formula. From the start, Arifureta was designed as a copy of any other isekai series, but it attempts to mask this by pretending to be unique and innovative. The truth is, Arifureta falls short of innovation, as there's not a single sign of genre reinvention throughout the series. In a sense, Shadow Garden and Arifureta share many things in common, but mainly what connects them is being praised for the originality they don't posses.

Besides placing the main character in a clear ideological dissent, ... contrasting to what's commonly associated with their role in this genre, nothing else stands out. The word "fraud" describes this anime perfectly, as it seems it puts more effort into pretending to be an original anime than actually becoming one. The foundation of the genre remains unchanged, but the way it's portrayed leads to think the opposite.

To begin with, the typical isekai structures are easily recognizable. The mc is your average talented character, which thrives in a new world after being gifted an overpowered ability that frees him from his previous mediocrity. This allows him to reach an extremely high power level and defeat any foe he might encounter. The anime tries to explain his growth by pretending he trained to earn his powers, yet the majority of his progress is a direct cause of a hidden talent that allows him to obtain the skills of the creatures he eats. The mc rejects the idea of becoming the hero and leading a party to bring peace to the world, so instead he ends up transforming into a traumatized monster-eater that tries to get back to his hometown dragging women along the way. Basically, he adopts the position of a quasi-villain that gets stronger with time. They try to justify his cold demeanor towards his classmates via an extreme victimization, referencing constantly the "betrayal" and "mistreatment" he received from his former party. Furthermore, all that's left is a "half-baked" character that is stuck between retaining his past or embracing his new identity, which can be seen in the way his antisocial and violent thoughts are often twisted by the external influence of his girlfriend or teacher. Hajime is just a narcissistic man who helps people even if opposed to, which in the end makes him fulfill the archetype of a typical heroic protagonist.

Animes of this nature saturate the whole story with predictable fights aimed at accomplishing a "greater purpose", plus secondary elements that fill the remaining gaps between episodes. Arifureta is no different. It follows the same approach, turning the story into a harem. Because of this, the series becomes something akin to a collection of women from different races, which put aside their ambitions and life goals to start mindlessly following the mc without any realistic reason. Unsurprisingly, the characters are completely useless and their sole purpose is adding fan service to the anime. All of them are designed as puppets without self-awareness, whose role is serving as Hajime's pet and sabotaging the other girls to get closer to him. The pacing is compromised by the never-ending repetition of jokes and situations which, if anything, prove how simple the characters are.

Regarding the main party, the members don't stand out individually, either. Firstly, we're greeted by a loli vampire which is conveniently sexualized using the "above 300 years" excuse. She ends up becoming Hajime's partner, probably out of mutual dependency caused by sharing the same trauma. I have to acknowledge the mc publicly announcing this, but it makes no difference if he keeps letting girls which are clearly pursuing him join his party, showing clear lack of emotional intelligence and respect for his partner. Then there's an oversexualized beast, a degenerate dragon, his mentally and physically weak childhood friend and a mermaid that turns out to be an obnoxious brat that somehow ends up getting the group's sympathy, despite only knowing her for a few minutes. All of them behave like animals every time Hajime talks or even so much as glances in any woman's direction. It seems that isekais have been forbidden from creating well-written characters that are not completely subdued by the protagonist. All men in the anime are ridiculed for not reaching Hajime's level, and all women are potential harem members. There's not a single character that isn't inferior to the mc. You could argue about the teacher or Shizuku, but they end up depending on him one way or another.

There's nothing else to comment on, it's deficient in every aspect. Even if it tries to follow a different approach, the dynamic is indistinguishable from any other isekai: a group of characters overshadowed by the mc fighting against enemies to accomplish their goals. Wether it's saving the world or going back to Japan, the process is the same and thus can't be considered innovation. Due to the story being flooded with fan service and battles, focusing on any other topic becomes nearly impossible. They try to simultaneously follow the classmates' missions, but the power difference always causes them to fail and be saved by the same person they "looked down on", as if it were a personal vendetta by the author. The plot is basic and predictable. All conflicts are solved through brute force and powerful spells, disregarding strategy and intelligence. Suffice to say, the world-building is extremely poor as well, as it lacks an identity that can portray a unique magic system, original environments, separated regions or a cohesive story. It's extremely sad to say that the visuals, being the poor-quality amalgamation they are, are probably the "best" thing in the whole anime. Perhaps due to the low budget, every scene that involves a minimum amount of action makes use of a third-rate CGI and stiff animation.

I can't come up with a reason to support Arifureta. Animes like this promote escapism and waste everybody's time due to its unoriginality and overall low quality. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, even if you like the genre.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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