Kumo desu ga, Nani ka?

If you made it past that widely undeserved score that was given to this show because sadly, everyone has a right to an opinion, then let me try to convince you as to why this show is actually one of the best isekais that exist. I'm writing this thing hoping at least one person decides to pick up the anime

So so so, so far the story isn't anywhere near its peak and I think it is rather obvious. For now we have the exhibition scene that is "class gets transported into this other world". So we've passed the checkmark, this show is an isekai.

This show ... has 2 very different anime mixed to each other. On one end, you have the actual important stuff, where we follow the cutest spider in the world (don't watch it if you can't enjoy the cutesy character trope in anime, because this will put you off) trying to live and thrive in a massively difficult dungeon with many dangerous monsters while our spider is... a spider. This part is actually great, we see our character using to their full extent her build as a spider and her human intelligence to deal with odds she shouldn't realistically be able to face.

The skill and evolution system is also the best I've seen from any isekai so far, with several ways to obtain skills and a clear, while very fast growing curve that our spider has to face.

Then, we have the human parts. As a manga reader, I didn't have to see those, and I can understand that one may find those boring. But they are still rather helpful in giving away information that you otherwise would have to guess. The human parts are rather bland but serve to compare how easy they have it compared to Kumoko who has to live her life on a very thin thread.

Artwise, yeah it's CGI, and the first few episodes aren't pretty to watch, but episode 6 has actually been delivering something very good, and I can safely promise that it isn't Stockholm Syndrome speaking for me.

So, in short, don't watch the anime if:

-You don't like cute girls (what kind of monster are you)
-You can't wrap your head around a rather complex skill tree
-You can't handle a few episodes of bad CGI
-You have terrible prejudice even before starting (seriously the score is already at least 1.5 points too low)
-You don't like to have LN readers spoiling major plot points. Trust me, I've been there, it's not glorious

And if you do want to watch the anime, I recommend picking up the Light Novel and even the manga if you just want to see Kumoko's grind and ignore the pesky humans.
----
Also, addressing the whole "Slime rip-off" thing, since it can possibly make or break the decision for some people, let me tell you that this is what Slime should have been and has the potential to be much more, granted that this studio doesn't ruin everything (so far it's been so-so, but at least it's not Crunchyroll). Now let me explain myself

-I didn't praise nearly enough this glorious skill system, I'm a huge fan of it and no other show will ever scratch that itch

-An actual grind, no eating a dragon and becoming stupidly strong in the first episode. Trust my words, she's in this cave, and she will stay for a while

-It's a survival of the fittest type of anime. No building random cities because you don't have a challenge, every step Kumoko makes, there is and there will always be someone above

-The human parts, sure they may only seem to ruin the pacing of the show, but they bring valuable insight to the world and so far, both worlds can be compared in terms of depths, and we're 6 episodes into Kumo desu Ga while we're about 20 episodes in Slime

-It may feel a bit more nitpicky but it's also nice to have things not always going the MC's way. I swear everyone in this show likes Rimuru after one hour of hanging out with the dude.

And I guess that's it

We all have dreams about what we want to do or who we want to be when we grow up. In today's modern world, there are limitless possibilities. One dream I'm sure most people don't want to become a reality is being a spider. I mean, who actually wants to be a spider?

Announced back in 2018, there were some concerns about the production schedule of the series. Promotional material surfaced online but they caused some controversy with the amount of CGI content. It also didn't help that studio Millepensee helms the production. It's a studio that have produced mediocre projects and seems to specialize in ... CGI content. Don't believe me? Just check out their infamous Berserk project or Cop Craft. Watching this show at first glace gave me a feeling of uneasiness and it didn't take awhile until I realized what the show really had at its disposal.

Now imagine being stuck in the body of a spider and then thrown into a danger with some of the most dangerous creatures you can imagine in a fantasy world. That's the raw fate of Kumoko, a former high school student who was hit with some misfortune. Kumoko must adapt, survive, and with her new circumstances, she's going to need all the help she can get. Do note that Kumoko isn't her real name but was given by universal fans. Thankfully, she lives up to her name because not only is she a spider, Kumoko also retains all her human personalities and knowledge. In essence, she's almost like an RPG character in a vast and mysterious world.

But that's not all. Kumoko isn't the only character that reincarnated. In fact, a whole group of students got reincarnated and has their new roles set. These include Sophia, Katia, Filimos, Shun, among others. It seems when the author made these characters, they wanted to dress them into RPG skins. Let's face it, we got vampires, elves, princess, heroes, and just about any light novel trope you can imagine. Of course, it's not an original idea although Kumoko remains one of the more unique characters. In fact, why don't we talk about a bit Kumoko and know who she really is?

Kumoko's character and personality is protrayed as a happy-go spider with a hopeful vision of survival. Yes, she feels terrified and overwhelmed at first but is also prone to make sarcasm at any chance she gets. It's to prevent her psyche from being harmed and honestly one of the more unique dynamics about her character. What I mean is that despite being a spider, she thinks like a human and even retains useful knowledge. Kumoko's main goal is to survive and escape the dungeon that she's trapped in. Think of her situation as a video game protagonist trying to beat a level or even the game. The world she is in is one huge game playground and that dungeon is only a part of it. Kumoko's progression also translates into a RPG-like system with skills, development, and learning to level up. It's funny to see just how far she make use of her system and it isn't an easy task to adapt. That's because the monsters in that dungeon are easily some of the most dangerous in the world. Like with its core characters, the author threw in dragons, giant arachnoids, wyrms, and the typical type of creatures you'd find in a light novel. There's even a danger level scale that determines how deadly these monsters are. Kumoko's personal challenge is to survive against these monsters because she's only got herself to rely on. And trust me, it's no simple task. There's no reset button or an "easy mode" like in video games. She has to rely on the skills she learns and her human knowledge. Watching Kumoko overcome such obstacles shows that no matter how small she is, there's always a beacon of hope.

Then, there's the other side. I'm talking about the main core cast besides Kumoko. Unlike them, they took on more advantageous roles such as vampire Sophia or the warrior hero Shun. In particular, we follow the adventures of Shun and his former clasmates as they take on personal challenges of their own. And that doesn't come easy either. This is seen an in early example when they face off against Hugo, a character with dangerous abilities of his own. Every prominent human character in the series has his or her agenda. The bottom line is, when getting transported into a new world, characters needs to learn, adapt, and find their place. That's exactly what the cast has to do in this show to not just survive but ultimately discover their purpose. And true to its premise, this anime aims to entertain with the personalities of the cast. Every relevant character has a role whether they are human, spider, or demon. Among the most prominent character in the demon community is Ariel, perhaps being Kumoko's biggest obstacle. Indeed, Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka feels like playing a RPG alongside a spider and a group of daring adventurers.

Although I've mentioned about the art style of this anime, it's still hard to ignore the fact that it's animated in CGI style. Fighting scenes can look a bit clunky at times but qualifies for fast paced action that you should expect. Hilariously, your eyeballs will probably be glued to Kumoko as a spider trying to beat enemies multiple times her size. Watching the fighting scenes in this show convinced me that when she needs to, Kumoko will do anything to ensure her own survival. She has truly untapped potential and with each level up, Kumoko feels like a video game character bought to life.

Set at 24 episodes, Kumo Desu Ga, Nani Ka is not a very easy anime to get into at first, even for a fantasy isekai. There's also the novel series that the anime didn't fully adapt. I mean, how many anime do you know about a main protagonist turned into a spider? Not many I assume. Fantasy isekai these days tends to jump the gun with its themes and indeed, this anime does love to flirt with its RPG-style ideas. However, rest assured that along the way, you'll be entertained with this little spider at the web.

The targeted audience:

-Simply enjoys without being an anti-cgi elitist
-Loves the fan-favorite mc spider kumoko

Now I know that some of you will watch regardless of what's said above, if you want to force yourself then that's up to you. But if you want to enjoy an isekai without a boring mc for once then this is the one for you.

Characters -

Kumoko
...
Honestly the reason why you're still watching the show. Finally we are met with an isekai mc that has witty dialogue, doesn't go over too cringy, relatable in a sense. Currently fighting in a seemingly never-ending dungeon arc that goes on for ages, somehow with just her presence alone the audience is still entertained in the setting we are delt with.

Human Characters

To be honest I don't even remember their names so I'm just gonna name them off of what they've achieve.

Bland Mc
Jealous Rival
Obsessive Imouto
Gender-Bender
Teacher
Dragon Bully
and that momoko chick from the ghost stories dub

The human side introduced itself with a bad execution, there is no fixing that. Annoying, unrelatable, and all shallow in actual character. While I do admit the dragon at least regrets some of her actions in the past life, it had to take a reincarnation to do so. Hopefully they can become more likable in the future and have good character development.

Art-

I've seen bad CGI in cases like overlord, arifureta, and berserk. The CGI I've seen here actually has some fluidity and is watchable. I really don't understand why the audience would be complaining, when the spider cgi is probably one of the best we've seen in anime and it's not even that jarring especially since we're already watching a cgi dungeon background which makes the combination perfectly fine to watch. The only jarring scene you guys can really come up with is the cgi monster in the 2d human world And even if we do get elitists, I'm pretty sure the majority audience wouldn't even care about this minor personal inconvience. Other than that, the monsters and kumoko also get some 2d art from time to time, so don't complain about it being all cgi.

Narrative-

This part hasn't really been establish as of yet, but it's forming considering that we are seeing the povs from both perspectives of kumoko and the humans. Kumoko's narrative should be picking up as of now with the secrets behind her skills, etc.

Honestly I'm happy with this adaptation. Even if I do see a few bumps with the camera panning, texts covering the whole screen (well skills are actually important here), and some may even argue pacing but I'm fine with it being a bit rushed with the dungeon. This adaptation manages to capture kumoko's nature and I believe that's what matters most.
(I mean animation quality is obviously important but it's good here imo)

If you have the time to complain about bad cgi then you have the time to come up with better criticisms.

8/10

This show is how an isekai should be made… but at the same time how an isekai should not be made.


Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka doesn’t look very promising at first glance, the premise is pretty much the same as your average isekai anime, with our main character dying and reincarnating in another world with RPG videogames terminology. Not even the fact she revives as a spider monster is something new or original at this point (but at least is more striking than a lame slime!). But what it lacks in originality, it makes up for in personality and self-awareness, while taking enough care of ... important things that other animes of the genre don’t bother to even show. Let’s address it by parts.


Our protagonist, simply and unofficially named Kumoko, was reborn as a spider monster, the weakest monster race, inside the most dangerous dungeon in this new world, while still remembering her previous life as an antisocial loner otaku (of course it should be that way). Sooner than later we are introduced to the main selling point this serie has: Kumoko struggling really hard to survive in this new world, trying not to get devoured in the process, while getting new skills, becoming stronger and learning about the world. All this is done in the most energic, charming and amusing way, thanks to Kumoko charisma and positivism. Now, this is not the only thing we’ll see, alongside Kumoko, her classmates and the teacher died and reincarnated as well, having enough luck to get way better lives.


Don’t let this innocent and rather simple premise taunts you. Which may initially appear just a fantasy story about a spider monster striving inside a cave, turns out to be a way vaster and more convoluted plot as it appeared, borderline on pretentiousness. Outside of the dungeon we see there are factions, nations and politics issues, going for wars between races and churches ideologies clash, which get more fraught as the series moves on, to ancient god and demons scheming over the world origins. Not only that, the skill system by itself, initially just appearing as a hook for RPG fans like in many other isekai animes, ended up being an important part of the mystery of the world, and the reincarnation itself.


Yet those topics are touched in a very basic way, the serie fills up this ambition with a solid narrative going hand in hand with the story. The narrative switches over two different POVs: the inside of the dungeon with Kumoko, and the outside world with a little group or reincarnates. Yes, this isekai does focus on story and worldbuilding, and while these two perspectives are rather different, they actually complement each other really well, sharing information actively, and explaining terminology that is going to be used in the next segment, without feeling forced. Subtlety is well-handled as well, mentioning topics or terms that are going to be important later on the serie in a very natural way (ex: talking about a skill that will be important to explain the MC motivations, or why the skill system by itself can be dangerous). Some people couldn’t notice at the beginning that both perspectives, Kumoko’s and the reincarnates’, are actually from different timelines, considering they were born in this world and the same time, but we see Kumoko from her birth, while we see the reincarnates when they are teenagers, and it’s only later on when the reincarnates’ side mentions Kumoko existence as a kind of legend, without directly telling it’s her; they don’t even cross paths until the very end of the serie. This kind of subtlety and naturality to show and explain important topics in a narrative this ambitious is pleasant to see nowadays.


Story and narrative are very good by themselves to support all the serie, because the rest of it is… not so impressive. Characters, for example, are like day and night:

>On the one hand, we have Kumoko. As previously stated, she’s pretty much the main selling point of the serie: if we search the definition of “charisma” in a dictionary, it would be her. Kumoko is charming, funny and very optimist, always doing her best to survive even with all the rough situations she goes through. Her role in the serie is pretty much acting like a guide to the viewer, constantly breaking the 4th wall and making comedy with a lot of references to popular culture, yet she’s witty enough to be aware about her situation without unnecessary edgyness; this serie touches dark themes in the least dark way, and Kumoko it’s the living proof. For a lot of people she alone carries all the serie over her thorax, but she’s not so perfect, she got little to no development along the serie (it’s not like she needed it) and remained pretty much the same even with all the harsh moments she went through, the things she learned and the power she got. Still the most solid character in the serie.

>On the other hand, we have a little group of reincarnates who were Kumoko classmates (and the teacher). While Kumoko, as plain as she is, can still be described with a lot of adjectives, those guys can be described with just two words: boring and generic. Unlike our eight-legged MC, this group reincarnated as humans (most of them), living in prestigious families, so most of the outside world is showed by them:
-First, we have Shun, we can say he’s the deuteragonist. There’re not enough words to explain how PAINFUL and INSUFFERABLE is to see this guy taking the lead. He’s pretty much your generic isekai protagonist, with all the cliches included in the pack: bland design, lack of personality, cringe hero complex (and yes, he was born in the Hero family, so he got blessed by the power of script) and harem pandering. He’s basically an Emiya Shirou, less pretentious but way naiver. And is this naivety by far the worst part, to the point every time he got the spotlight, the serie handled to make fun of it for being such a silly. He’s so misplaced to the point he got into a war he has noting to do just because “I can’t allow these people to suffer” (yep, even his sentences are prefabricated). Honestly, I can’t blame people for thinking human side is boring just because this dude.
-Katia is Shun best friend in this and previous life, and your typical tsundere chick, with the plot twist that she was a boy before reincarnating. Actually there was a moment when this character faced her inner conflicts and decided to be honest with herself and becoming a full girl instead of a boy trapped into another body…moment that was never well-developed.
-Hugo is your edgy vain and power-thirsty villain who thinks he’s better than anyone else.
-Filimos is the students’ teacher who got reincarnated as an elf (excuses to introduce a loli character it seems). While started as a mysterious and a bit interesting character, later on it’s revealed her motivations, which are very dull, and she’s way naiver than Shun.
-Generic crazy yandere girl is a generic crazy yandere girl who got brainwashed by the church.
-Fei was actually the most decent character in this group. She, like Kumoko, reincarnated as a monster (a dragon), and she was a bully in her previous life, especially with her (she doesn’t know she’s alive living as a spider). She feels guilty, she feels this new life is a divine punishment for her actions, and she was always concerning about Kumoko and wanted to meet her to apologize. Sound like something that could drive to an interesting catharsis… except when she gets a human form and forgets about all of this.


Initially, the serie got a 50/50 split between Kumoko and humans sides, but in the second part of the serie, when the politics themes and war calls became the main focus, human side got more spotlight. If it weren’t because, again, story and narrative by themselves are good enough, this would be really painful to watch because of this bunch of generic character. But at the same time, watching Kumoko getting stronger and destroying any trace of tension would be even more boring (and we don’t want such a thing to happen, right, Rimuru?), so the change of perspective was more a win than a miss. But actually… there is a third side here! Kumoko goes in her way, humans go in theirs, but there are a bunch of character that walk another path, this includes other three reincarnates (only two of them are worth it), some demons, and even Kumoko can be placed here under certain circumstances. What makes this group different from the other reincarnates, is that they were born under different circumstances, which push them to live under this new world rules, instead of being attached to their previous lives like Shun group. This group is by far more interesting that Shun groups, it’s a shame they weren’t fully showed in this season.


Having this ambitious story and this charming MC would be worthy of a decent direction, right? Sadly this was not the case. I don’t really need to explain why this show has a very hideous animation, especially the CGI, everyone can see it, but the direction has to be the worst I’ve ever seen in many years. Not only it was disastrous in action-packed moments, where transitions and cuts were so random that was really hard to tell what was happening, and it seemed director forgot some frames in the middle, but also covering up all the scream with that hideous CGI instead of trying to hide it a little at least with dust or light rays. Even in slower or more serious moments it was a mess, like the catharsis of some characters like Katia and Filimos, they were so shallowed portrayed it’s hard to even care about what they said, even more to care about them at all. Luckily the music was decent enough to partially conceal this, and seiyuus work is really good, especially Aoi Yuuki as our favorite arachnid girl, big part of her charm was there. Yet there were a couple of good action moments with a decent -in this context- direction, like Kumoko vs Alaba.


Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka is how an isekai should be made, with an interesting and promising new approach to an already burned-out genre, focusing on a deep plot with a witty narrative but shallowly developed, and a great main character to carry the serie.

Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka is how an isekai should not be made, with really bad side-characters, going hand in hand with an appalling animation, and a very weak direction that doesn’t do justice to such an ambitious premise.


Even with all its cons still is one of the most decent isekai animes out there, and I'd love to see another season, considering all the potential it has.

The story is the best, light-hearted--- but somewhat dark comedy. Remember in the opening, she literally has guts hanging out. The positivity and what not shown by mc is a coping mechanism to the harsh environment and new reality.
8.5 out of 10. for story

Art, I know we all hate CGI, but this CGI is passable and somewhat good. Our spider CGI (i believe she is in CG) is done so well it blends it with 2d animation. You will notice some funky models in up to episode 5, but they improved each episode, or I just happen to adjust.

7 ouf of 10 ... for art.

Kumoko (our spider mc) has the best character growth and so far is able to cavitate my attention. She is the sole reason, I wanted to watch this show, and has exceeded my expectations.

So 10 out of 10 in character.

Sound?
Most anime either sound good or bad? This one sounds good so...
10 ouf of 10 sound.

Enjoyment is 10/10 for this anime I find to be the best of the season, and it is the highlight of my week.

Overall it should be an 8/10 anime, but because it sits at a 6/10. I will give it a 10/10 to try to push the score up to that amount.

The spider isekai is finally here! How is it doing? What's it like so far? Well let me explain to you how it is so far!

Story and characters
The story follows Kumoko, as she's reincarnated as a spider as the title suggests. But she's not the only one! It seems her entire class has also been isekai'd! As we follow two different sides of a tale. Where one in Kumoko, showing us how one survives, how one levels up, how one gains skills and perks. All sorts. In the most over the top and energetic way. But it's done in a good and entertaining way. ... The plot of the more human side of things however, seems so less interesting compared to what the spider is doing. The spider IS the show, she carries it so much. You're left wondering what she is doing, rather than caring for what the others are doing. They aren't bad, nor is their plot bad, but they do feel generic in some ways. Which can really bring down the show a little. But they aren't too bad, as it seems that they do in fact want to find Kumoko, which is more shown in Feirune, whom seems to regret who she was before, and really wants the entire class to be safe, which is sweet. While there others on the human side that do share that same sense of justice and respect. As they're learning about the world themselves, through attending a school like academy together, as they learn more about things, while living their new isekai lives. While Kumoko herself, as I said is the entertaining parts of the show. She's wild, energetic, fun, and I could watch her for ages, going through the motions.

Art and sound
Something could be called into question when it comes to the art, but I'd say it's pretty decent style. It's calm in terms of it's brightness. But also the right shade when it comes to being in the caves. Certain monsters can look funny, much like how some in Arifureta were looking. While some monsters don't look bad at all, mainly Kumoko herself, she's got a great colour about her, and the areas she is in, are well done. Much like there are good colours on the characters themselves, and the backgrounds. While the sounds are real good, like the ED theme is a banger, you should go listen to it right now!

Kumo for now seems a mix of two shows that are coming together, much like another show in Arifureta did beforehand. It's fun in parts, and entertaining in others, for sure, I'm gonna keep watching for the Spider alone. So give it a watch!

So I’m a spider. Well, not really, but so what?

This is an anime that has been on my radar for some time now, mainly because it was originally slated for last year but got delayed due to production issues. Covid-19 must have not helped things there as well. But we did eventually get this year in the stacked winter 2021 and pretty much got overshadowed by Re:Zero season 2 part 2, Mushoku Tensei and Slime season 2. But I definitely thought to myself that I should not sleep on the spider isekai, especially as more episodes aired as time went on. And of course, ... I’m writing this review to tell you that you should also not sleep on the spider (mainly because you’ll squash it) but because it’s definitely one of the more interesting narratives that I have watched recently, even if it is burdened of being an Isekai. Which honestly, wouldn’t have worked anywhere else.

So get your drink, put your feet up, sit back, relax and don’t squash that spider next to you as I present to you the anime review for So I’m a Spider, So What? Let’s begin shall we?


Story: 8.5/10

A great catastrophe strikes a school and kills everyone hit by it. But fortunately for some, they get reincarnated to a fantasy world. Some even more fortunate than others. Like one of our main protagonist Shun who gets reincarnated as a son to the king and his brother (or one of his brothers) being designated the hero of the kingdom as well as reuniting with some of his former classmates and appreciates the life he have. But one was not so lucky. Kumoko was reincarnated as a weak spider at the bottom of a labyrinth with dangers from all over the place. Alone with no help, Kumoko must adapt and get stronger to survive the horrors in the labyrinth.

The story does start off quite slow and in a rather typical Isekai fashion with our characters learning about their surroundings and the fact that there is a RPG like system that helps make people stronger and uses that system to get stronger themselves. It’s the standard Isekai affair to get viewers comfortable with something familiar but the problem with that is that it does make the first few episodes rather boring because it very much feels like we are going through the motion to get us introduced to the series and characters.

Now, the real meat occurs around episode six and where things start to get interesting. I won’t spoil anything but let’s just say that the thing that kept me most interested in the story and the show in general was how Kumoko and Shun’s story were connected to one another. Throughout the show, we are given clues and leads as to how this connects to that and how this one action can affect the other story. It was essentially playing connect the dots to see how these two stories connected to one another. It did make me engage with the story a lot better than it did to begin with because I wanted to see all the little details that can have effect on the show overall. After an episode finished, I didn’t immediately move on to the next show I needed to watch, no I sat there thinking of what could this mean in the future. It got me thinking after the episode was finished and made me want to find out what happens next to see if I am right with my thinking. The show does a great job with how it leaves clues and hints to keep you theorizing and get you hooked to watch what happens next.

What also helped with this was the show’s good world building. It’s not amazing but it was solid enough to help me understand the world better, especially as we get more episodes and more things are explained due to the situation going on in that episode. As well as the RPG like system that helps tell how strong an individual is. Although the walls of text you have to read when looking at the skills is just ridiculous. But the show does highlight the skills and titles that are important to the story so you won’t get swamped or confused when trying to read that wall of text.


Characters: 7/10

I want to start with the characters from Shun’s story because honestly, I didn’t care too much about them but still enough to be interested (So a sort of middle ground). I mainly was interested in them and their side of the story was to see how they were connected to Kumoko’s story and vice versa. They all have a role to play in the overall story and I will admit that they do a solid job when it comes to it. Some of them I do like more than others like Sensei who who definitely has some secrets to hide behind that lively personality. By the end, I was interested to see what would happen to them and if they make it through alive. Although I will admit, I don’t remember all of their names but their personality (as well as their designs) do help them distinguish one another.

The star of the show though was obviously Kumoko (mainly helped by a great voice acting performance by Aoi Yuuki). Being alone and no restrictions with the harsh environment she’s in and well, being a spider, she does a great job at being entertaining and try to have a positive outlook on things. What I like about her character though is her growth but not by sheer luck or by just being born overpowered. Through strategy and thinking quickly on her feet, we see how she progressively gets stronger, both mentally and physically. While she does get really strong as we go through the show, she’s always having to go against characters and monsters that are clearly stronger than her or not being simple pushovers and having to adapt and stratergise makes her fights more enjoyable than the ones in Shun’s story because of them being well paced and fleshed out to be more engaging. In fact, more attention was put into Kumoko’s fights and Shun’s fights but I will get into that in the animation section.


Animation: 5/10

Okay this is going to open some unnecessary can of worms because I actually do think the CG looks good. Not top tier but good enough. Monster designs look good and some of the human looking cgi models like Ariel look good as well. And then there are the fight scenes which look fun, fast and has plenty of action without it looking jarring at all; making for the best fights of the show. Kumoko looks great as well, skittering along like a spider and her expressions are quite funny. What I also like is that while Kumoko’s perspective, she is a cuddly little spider, but from everyone else’s perspective, she is a scary ass spider that has the ability to kill you just by looking at you. Though that being said, they kind of phoned it in at the end, especially during Shun’s story segments. It looked rough and did not have the same polish as before.

That’s where I think the animation budget went to because the traditional animation just looks really sub-par with the exception of the character designs as they do look good and do transition alright into CG. Compared to the CG fights, the 2D fights don’t have near as much attention put into them and sometimes boils down to still images that seem to be poorly ordered as well as to how the fights transpire. Episode 14 is the peak of this. Anyone who’s watched that episode can agree with me that the main fight scene looks janky as all hell and was difficult to keep up what’s going on. It’s weird that that the CG animation looks better than the traditional animation.

It was clear near the end of this show that there were some major production issues going down relating to this show. And while we did get confirmation about what happend, it didn’t change the fact that it caused the animation to suffer by the end.


Sound: 6.5/10

I didn’t really care much for this show’s soundtrack in all honestly. It’s not bad but it’s the usual standard fantasy orchestra you hear from other shows with little to make it stand out on its own. The only exception to this is any ost that relates to Ariel as it does help with her menacing and overpowered presence. It’s the only part of the ost that stood out to me because it does help set the tone of dread that Ariel has her sights set on you. In fact, all of the haunting tracks do a good job at being, well, haunting and setting the tone. So it ain’t all that forgettable.

Really, the standout thing when it comes to the sound department were its OPs. Both, "Keep weaving your spider way" by Riko Azuna and "Bursty Greedy Spider" by Konomi Suzuki are both very similar as they both have great songs, great visuals and are chock full of spoilers. Considering both seemed to be tailored for this anime, they both nailed it out of the park for getting you pumped and ready to go to watch the episode. So it really comes down to personal preference as which one is the best and I would give it to “Keep weaving your spider way” because I like the fast craziness the OP provides with a little bit of a dark undertone to capture what the show is like from Kumoko’s perspective.

I would group both endings together because they are basically the same and something I would believe Kumoko would do given the opportunity and are appropriately sung by Aoi Yuuki herself. "Ganbare! Kumoko-san's Theme” and "Genjitsu Totsugeki Hierarchy,” are both fast paced and crazy EDs and relay to us how Kumoko feels about her situation while still acting like her usual self. I actually did like them because they do rub off Kumoko’s personality well and they are fun to listen to and watching them as well.


Conclusion

I really liked, “So I’m a Spider, So What?” The way the narrative is structured combined with its solid cast made it turn from a show I was ready to dismiss to a show that I want to see more of. It gave me incentives to keep watching and to find out how the two narratives connect to one another. It was the main hook that kept me going and wanted to find out what happens next and to see if I was right. As well as actually having good CG; which most modern anime out there can’t really say. Yet despite that, it still has some noticeable flaws. The narrative was slow to begin with and it started tapering off in its last few episodes, Shun’s cast of characters could be better but are thankfully not bad, the 2D animation was sub par and the ost could’ve been better. It’s a show that has plenty of flaws that prevent it from being a truly great show. But it didn’t truly affect my enjoyment of the show. Again, the interconnecting narrative was the core of what made this show so enjoyable and thinking about how this relates to that while waiting for the next episode made this show so engaging to watch.

There is clearly more to be told and more that is going on so I really want to see what happens next. But given this show’s past production issues, we might not get it and if we did, it might not be for a long while yet. Which would be a shame because there are plenty of things to work with here that could lead to one of the best narratives for any Isekai anime. One that actually gets you to think about what it all means instead of it being strictly another bog standard power trip fantasy or light hearted comedy (Not to say they are all bad, but there are quite a lot of them). It is an imperfect show, I will give you that, but I found this show better than I thought it was going to be and something I would eagerly wait to see if we get any more of this show (Or you know, go read the light novel or manga but where’s the fun in not waiting with anticipation?)


My Personal Enjoyment: 8.5/10

Overall Score: 7.1/10 Recommendation: Watch it

I honestly don't know why I am watching at this point, it is pretty infuriating to watch.

Like this show is bad, but I need more new shows to watch on Fridays this season so I stick with it for now. However, dropping this show is not a bad option.

6 episodes in and I'm not seeing the goal. There's a difference between having the skill development happen like the slime reincarnation one (I know some people don't like the comparison, but come on... they are pretty similar. Atleast conceptually) but this just takes too long. The show is too slow, the classroom characters are pretty bland, ... and since they are not even the main focus of the story their worth just goes down.

The comedy isn't great, the action isn't either, the CGI is not something I really care about, but even I can tell it's laughably bad. Overall I really don't really get what this show is trying to achieve.

All I can say is I'm not enjoying it a lot, it's boring. Although it seems to be picking up it does not seem great. In my honest opinion, whenever I try to sit through an episode without using the 5-second skip normally, I honestly might break my headphones. It is too slow for too little enjoyable content.

I was about as bored by this anime as I am stunned by the positive reviews. I am a massive fan of spiders, being an arachnologist myself, and I've enjoyed cutesy stuff in the past like Welcome to Demon School, so should have been an easy sell. The problem is... everything. I found myself fighting the urge to sleep.
The dialogue is generic, boring and uninteresting. The story is split between the spider and the other classmates who were reincarnated as humans. There was no introduction to these characters before reincarnation so what the point of this reincarnation is I don't know and yet the ... characters constantly make references to their old relationships with each other that we haven't seen and so don't care about. By the fourth episode I chose to start skipping the scenes with the other characters because there's nothing of value there, just nonsensical character developments and cliches.
The scenes with the spider can be genuinely fun as she is forced to fight strategically and there is a sophisticated skill tree levelling system. However the actual animations and creature designs let this down. The art style is trash.
I do not understand the score of 7 at all. I've watched many anime in the past with much lower scores that I've enjoyed. The most memorable moment of this anime was seeing the bizarre 10/10 reviews.

Kumo Desu Ga Nani Ka, for me, is one the best isekai out there. Kumoko, our mc, is such badass character. Upon realizing she's been born as a spider monster in the world most dangerous dungeon after her dead in previous life, she didn't wallow in self-pity, but instead took everything in stride and quickly learn how to fight, kill and eat anything and everything that move (even her own sibling). She knows her strength and weakness well and in more than one occasion, we were shown how she took down far stronger opponents by using her wits and meager skills. I cannot help but ... applaud her character because I'm sure I'll be dead in a second if it's me in her place. The evolution line is also very interesting because of how varied it is, similar to Digimon in a sense. Some evolution can only be unlocked if you met a certain criteria. Day after day, she kept grinding and honing her skills in order to survive another day.

At the same time, we were also introduced to Shun, one of the reincarnator and a prince. We were shown that most of the students got reincarnated as human and were either royalty, nobles or vvip. They definitely live on an easy mode. The reincarnated students may look like cookie-cutter stereotype character at the first glance, but as the story progress and more mystery unveils, these characters begin to doubt and question the world they live in, and later on, they may or may not started to oppose each other as their morality began to clash.

I love how there're two different viewpoint at the same time and how different their lives are. The fighting scenes are quite good actually even in CGI. It may look a little janky in some CGI scenes, but to me, it didn't detract from the story at all. The choreography in some fighting scenes are very good actually. The story is so good that 30 minutes flew by just like that. And then it's another torment to wait another week for new episode. There're no filler scene at all, even scene that may look boring to some are used to establish worldbuilding and to explain more about the world they live in. And the episode keep getting better and better, and some plot twist are so well done that I didn't expect it at all. It make me very excited to wait for new episode every week.

Epsiode 12. Midway. How is the spider isekai going?

It started off with very slow pacing in the first few eps, but it's been picking up the story quite quickly in the last few eps. Though it may be slow to begin, but that's what makes it more believable. That's how the grind works. Perhaps a bit too slow for regular anime pacing, but there is still a lot of development going on with the world and Kumoko in the first few eps. The skill system is quite unique and extremely detailed - it's hard to follow at times but all easily understood in the end ... (albeit with a bit of telling instead of showing).

The human half of the story was quite uninteresting at the start, with many cookie-cutter characters. However, as the two story halves begin to converge, the anime is starting to make a lot more sense. Still not much has been developed for the humans though. There are times when context would be very helpful, but they just throw the story at you and only slowly explain later. It can be a bit jarring at times, but much of the context can be implied. Either way, I am expecting a lot for the second half of the show.

CGI is a bit weak for the first few eps but manageable. The animation, particularly during fights, has improved significantly over the past few episodes.

The main character is a huge redeeming quality of the show. Huge props to the VA, her emotional expression is fantastic, particularly pride and frustration. Main character development is quite fast; other characters, not so much. Not a lot of plot armor which is good - if there is, it is reasonable/justifiable.

Overall, this is quite an enjoyable isekai. The leveling and grinding is something many can relate to. MC is portrayed excellently. Some work can be done on the human side, as well as the way the context and story is relayed in some parts. Nevertheless, a fun isekai story to follow along. Lots of possibilities for character growth. High expectations.

I watched a lot of isekai anime, because I really enjoy the genre and I also get why people usually don't like it. But this one is different.
This is an opinion, I should add, but it has a really good story so far.
There is a detail, which I won't spoil, that kinda lurks in the back and as you watch and watch you keep getting more and more suspicious, and at around the 6th episode, you realise what is going on, if it went the same way for you, as it did for me, than your mind gets blown, and even after that episode, where ... it gets more clear, it is still not said outloud, and you have to piece it together.
I think it's absolutely fantastic the way the story was done. I really hope it wasn't just me missing a dialogue, or something like that, because my mind was actually blown.

I cannot fathom, how much I recommend this show just for that one twisty detail.
That's enough of that, ama talk about one big thing, I saw others say or point out:
Yes, it has CGI.
But d onot run away. Tell me, when was the last time you saw good cgi in an anime? Never, I'll answer for you, so the argument, that the CGi looks bad, is invalid, because it can't look good it seems, and only if you could tell me an anime of this level which has beautiful cgi, then your argument could be valid.
CGI is used to hasten the production, so I do not care, and even if I admit that it doesn't look good, it's not as bad as you think.
For example, Arifureta, at what I am really angry, for getting so much attention despite how awful and vague the story was, had sooo bad CGI, that when Hajime was running from the monsters, he wasn't afraid of them, he was scared of the worst animation I've ever seen in anime to this day.

So, yes, it has cgi elements, but the main character is very rarely that, and even if she is, you can't really see it, because the cgi animation is decent in this show.

I expect great things from this, as I am writing this there are 14 episodes out, and I can't wait for more

Would recommend to anyone who likes an isekai done good

Have a nice day and thank you for reading.

I felt the need to write this review because I saw far too many 10s and 9s and 8s around here.

As others have mentioned, half of the anime is about the spider-girl, the other half about her classmates.

The second half is definetely bad. Not unwatchable bad, more like so boring and uninteresting that you will likely forget everything that happened one week later. There is a lot of killing, intrigue, elves, demons, church fanatics ( why is the church always evil in isekais? ), dragons and pretty much everything you could ever think about when someone mentions "fantasy". But it just does not come ... together well, I would say the worldbuilding is incoherent and the story lacks any remotely interesting characters. The plot itself is kinda melodramatic and, 21 episodes in, a lot has happened, but it is still makes little sense and I personally could not care less.

The spider-girl half is better. Most people around here say they watch only for this part and I believe them. It is enjoyable to see her win tough fight and level up. Still, you could find her annoying, as she talks all the damn time that she is on screen. Her rants are either funny or stupid, funny in as you will have some laughts and some smiles, stupid as in she is explaing every stupid shit she is doing at the moment and if she would get rid of this I would like her character a lot more. I guess the target audience are 10 years old that don't understand simple stuff that happens on screen. I am sure I would enjoy this show more if I was 7 to 12, so most of those high ratings are probably from kids.

The animation is kinda bad for 2021, in episode 21 it was downright horrible. Low budget comes to mind. Music is passable I guess, I can't remember anything about it, so at least it never annoyed me.

Putting it all together? I am definetely watching this only because I am bored and I finished pretty much everything else that is good. It never annoyed me so much that I would drop it and I am curios how everything will turn out for spider-girl. It's direct competitior would be "That time I got reincarnated as a slime", which is better in every was possible and I would not rate that show higher than an 8. If you have not seen it, go watch that instead.

In conclusion, I would rate this 5/10, mediocre. Thanks for reading.

Okay for those who are fan, don't hate me for my reason not enjoying this anime. I gave this a try hoping it was good but it wasn't for me and if you're a fan, then I hope you enjoy it. I was curious about it but honestly I couldn't stand the main character and the overall story wasn't terrible, but not interesting enough for me to continue.

I can sit here and complain about the CGI but that's not only one of the few reasons I dropped it. The CGI isn't terrible at times but boy it does bother me at times so it ... wasn't something I enjoyed at all.

I don't need to hear comments or message about why I don't get the show and stuff, it just didn't really peak my interest to continue. I often drop anime depending on how I feel about the main character and she comes off as one of those type of character that annoys me.

Well I just couldn't find much enjoyment watching this when there's so many other shows airing in Winter 2021. I'm not a big fan of Isekei so that might be another reason I dropped it. But I mean I am enjoying Jobless Reincarnation, so I can't say that's the main reason I dropped it.

Plot seems like your loser character getting a second chance to get better and becomes powerful by overcoming obstacle and the only difference is she's a spider. So she uses her knowledge from the other world to help her in this world that she is more familiar with as she was a outcast in the other world. I mean I'm not gonna say "generic" as I don't believe we can really create new idea or concept that doesn't relate to something that's been done before with the amount of anime out there. It really comes down to your personal enjoyment of either the plot or characters or whatever you watch it for.
I don't mind those kind of plot I just mentioned about there, but I watch mainly for characters when it comes to those type of plots. If I can't enjoy the character then I can't really enjoy the anime. Because the plot is pretty obvious already so it's not like I need to pay attention to detail. It's one of those more like if you like those type of character, then you'll enjoy this show. Which I don't, I often find them more annoying. And I'm sure I'll get some hate comments or message, but I'm just stating how I feel.
I don't think the plot is bad at all, because it's your underdog story and who doesn't love a good underdog story? So yeah, if you enjoy those type of anime and story and like the character and don't mind CGI... give it a go. I couldn't do it so I dropped this anime. I gave it a try hoping it got better... but yeah don't bother messaging me or giving me comments about it. I mean I'm not gonna criticize anyone for liking this show. As I can see why some people would enjoy this. And that's perfectly fine, because different anime for different people. This way we can enjoy the vast variety of stuff out there.

One of the unpopular opinions about this anime is that it is boring and that the story is progressing quite slowly.

My Otaku sister also says that she don't like it cause of Futaba, eating another monster after defeating them.

For me I quite enjoy the anime, I always look forward to the next episode and for the slow-progressing storyline, I quite like it actually 'cause there is actual character development going on, most anime's that are in this same genre especially the ones who have 12 to 13 episode, they tend to start with the characters turning point and then show the character progress along the ... way. That is good as well, but I think the advantage of Kumo Desu ga, Nani ga? is that it didn't follow that same structure.

It made the first 12 episodes into the development of the characters, telling their stories slowly and now at episode 13, everything is now moving to the battle. Now we have a clear picture of almost everyone. What kind of characters they are and why they are in that situation.

And I think for these reasons, this anime deserves a 10.

I really like this anime, the story is generic isekai 7/10 if you follow the people but it becomes good with the spider girl. It's like the RPG/videogame ones where you see a character that is weak get stronger which is one of my favourites, the pacing is pretty good in my opinion - it's closer to the manga.
The art style is great and it uses a good CGI that doesn't take away from the story but enhances it with the types of shots taken that would be hard to do with traditional 8/10 (imo).
I really like the main character because she is ... well written and actually has personality (rare in the world of isekai) but the other characters so far are really generic but they're not the main point so eh.. 8/10
I overall find this really enjoyable and highly recommend to anyone who likes the levelling up reborn genre or wants a good comedy.

also it doesn't matter if you don't like spiders.. I don't but I still love this anime because it's not the creepy realistic one its a cute one

spiders? spiders!

Kumo Desu is going to be one of those highly slept on animes brought up only in whispers when discussing newer shows, and honestly that's a huge shame. There are two major complaints when it comes to this show:
Bad CGI
ANOTHER video game isekai

allow me to clear up the first point: I won't lie and say the CGI is great, sometimes it can be closer compared to Envy's monster form from FMAB more so then the characters in Beastars, BUT this does not mean all the CGI is ex-arm levels of garbage. The team does a wonderful job mixing large rig CGI monsters with ... wonderful textures, flowing movement, and interesting camera angles. There were only a handful of times when i seriously noticed some annoyances in the CGI but that did not subtract from the overall enjoyment of the series.

the story: It's especially tricky to talk about the story because its a twin narrative. for most of one episode you may be following the main character and her rewarding growth as she fights tougher and tougher monsters, outwitting her opponents using every skill at her disposal. Next episode you may be following the students as they learn more about the nature of the world and how they are adapting to their new powers. the show is very effective at weaving these two narrative along, being careful not to overlap them (too much) in order to avoid them becoming repetitive.

I would recommend this series to any isekai fans. it takes the tired cliché of overpowered hero doing overpowered things and instead focuses on telling two story's of people learning and growing in two very different environments. The mystery behind why the world is built the way it is and when/if the two story's will converge is a powerful driving force within the anime.

I would not recommend this to someone without an open mind, like i said earlier there are moments of bad CGI and if you already have a hate boner for the Isekai genre this show might not do enough to subvert it for you; however, if you think you might be interested in watching a twin narrative with great world building, mystery, and a delightfully fun to watch main character, then this is a show you should definitely take a look at.

If you like Isekai, Action, Fantasy Elements, and a good Story you will like this anime. The only bad aspect of this anime is the CGI and few direction choices, but you will get used to it as the episode progresses.

I don't usually write anime reviews although I have watched much Anime until now. I wrote this review just to show my appreciation to the VA of Kumoku i.e Aoi Yukki. She makes every episode of this anime enjoyable. Because of Her godlike voice, I really enjoyed even the bad CGI and animation.

I am a huge Isekai fan and like to read many Isekai ... with new Ideas and cool stories. I first stumbled upon the source material of Spider when I was looking for Stories similar to Slime. I was bored so, I started with the Manga but then after reading few chapters I dropped the Manga. When I heard the anime announcement, I thought I will again give it a try. The Anime did not disappoint. Aoi Energy was too good that I fell in love with the Anime.

The anime is soo good that it helps me release all the fatigue and stress of the day, I really enjoy it from my bottom of the heart. I'm always looking forwards to every episode.

The Story is 10/10 for me, Up until now in the anime, everything has been so damn good. Although anime has skipped some content from the source material according to light novel readers, It always happens with every adaptation.

The Art is 6/10 for me. Animation sometimes looks like a PowerPoint slideshow and the CGI is not polished properly but is tolerable due to the Sound of our goddess.

The Sound is 10/10 for me. The sound of the goddess and amazing soundtrack makes this anime really powerful, I never skip the opening and ending of this anime. It's so damn good.

The Enjoyment is 10/10. Like I said before, It releases my stress and I'm always looking forward to the next episode.

Character is also 10/10 for me. The way they showed different aspects of the characters, their development is really good.

Overall this anime is 9.2/10 for me.
I won't be reading the source material after the anime ends, but I will surely watch Season 2 if it ever airs.

If you are looking for an anime to watch if you like Fantasy Stuff then it's the anime for you. If you are really a hardcore CGI and Bad Animation Hater, you should at least give the first 3 episodes a try and then decide to watch it or not.
This much from me.

Have a good day and keep watching anime!

As someone who absolutely adores the source content this anime is like getting kicked in the balls, the studio behind it started off with alright visuals with some very good moment but as the series went on its clear there was no way this anime was going to improve, the visuals get so bad that you could find better stuff on newgrounds 10 years ago. Alot of the fight scenes look like they took a single drawing of a character and moved it around a back ground like they were using MS paint. Which really blows because once you get past the awful visuals there ... is a really solid story with incredibly likable characters, but this just aint it chief. The voice acting started off fantastic with Kumoko literally stealing the show Aoi Yuuki took a great character and then made her feel alive putting tons of emotion into scenes. Its honestly a complete joke that this studio managed to take such a solid show and dive it face first into the ground with poor visuals and awful pacing. I can only hope that if we get a season 2 that they change studios or that the studio currently working on it put the proper amount of effort and time doing the source material more justice.

If I read another complaint about "bad CGI" I will explode. There is a lot of CGI in this series, but IMO this is it done well! There are some monsters that are weirdly shaded, but the MC looks great, and it melds very well with the non CGI. I would still say Houseki no Kuni has better CGI, but this isn't far behind. Animation overall in this anime is really good.

But, yeah, I haven't read the light novel, so I will say this as someone who has only watched the anime - I think it does everything right. It is a silly and fun, ... quite morbid tale about a girl who absolutely rocks her spiderness.

If there is a stereotypical spider in this world, it ain't this one. The light-hearted and energetic comedy in the spider-adventure is counterpointed by a more somber telling of the non-spider characters that are also reincarnated. "How did we change, and where are the other people from our class?" There is a lot of set-up and I don't know how it might pay off in the future, but I think it's interesting. I hope it won't drag out too long. Honestly, I'm happier the more spider I get in my life.

One thing I appreciate with the writing is the meta narrative. Typical of isekai is that the gamefied aspect of the story is more or less accepted as is. There are some hints that the very nature of the reality they have been reborn into will come into question - quite interesting. I will likely read the light novel going forward, the setting is intriguing.

But to be clear - this isn't a philosophical exploration of what it means to be a spider - this is a really idiotic premise done right. I don't want character development - I want spider-guitarsolos and spider-interior decoration. And that's what I got! If it sounds fun, watch it!