Choujin Koukousei-tachi wa Isekai demo Yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu!

Oh boy, what a hot pile of garbage this one is. Let me just explain how awful of an experience it was.
First the easy and not really importaint part: it looks and sounds average, nothing stands out as particulary ugly or beautiful, it is just there.
And here comes the rock bottom, the root of problems and the bloom of despair: the actual writing of world and story.
First with premise: typical isekai, but we have 7 high-school prodigies that are great in their own field. Cause when we had just one Mary Sue it was not enough, grab a whole set of them. Ok, maybe ... they are interesting ones and have some infighting going on that leads to some interesting development? Nope, why did you even expect this? A bit more details one the main cast for you:
-Politician. Yes, a high schooler politician, and a prodigy in that. What does it even mean, to be a genius politician? A good liar? Being able to steal from treasury and never get caught? Author thinks that is includes being a good negotiator (ok), a great general (erm, what?), a crackshot with small guns and a good fighter in unarmed combat (really?). A really strange set of skills, but whatever.
-Samurai. The usual isekai protag that can cut bullets, monsters many times bigger than herself, cut anything and everything basically while being in high school, typical time spending for a teen. You can't really be surprised to see this type of character cause we are all too used to it at this point. Oh, and forgot to mention that she is fast enought to outrun a missle and strong enough to bring it to a stop (yes, it looked stupid in anime, even more than it sounds).
-Journalist. Why is she called a journalist if she acts, behaves and is in fact a ninja? Or do journalists nowadays are all able to infiltrate closed objects, kill a few guards with bombs and kunais and exfiltrate without even being seen? I have no idea so I will move on.
-Businessman. The only guy that I have nothing bad to say about. He just makes money for the party by using modern world capitalistic tactis. A pretty solid application of skills, cause I bet that modern rules are much more complicated and inventive in getting money from customers.
-Illusionist. Well, while he is called so he is just a mage that flies, glows and does whatever a magic user would do. How he is from supposedly our modern world - I have no idea. But things get much worse for the last two characters.
-Doctor. Did you know that being a skilled doctor gives you mastery of torture, medicine production and poison dart throwing? I had no clue. Nor did I know that skill can sterilise tools so your surgery patients don't die from infection after field surgery. Also she doesn't need any medicine or tools to perform even the hardest operation. I have no idea how disconnected from world the author is but this is pretty insane.
-And the worst offender of them all: the Inventor. If you watch anime, you could see "Dr. Stone", where a smart guy restarts a civilisation from stone age. If you didn't I'll give you a small summary: he works hard and long to gather resources, to make tools and when he makes somehting - it is really basic, ugly but gets the job done. Pretty reallistic. And here we got another magician: she produces modern world grade technology like trucks and missles from thin air. Mining resources, building tools to get better tools, to be able to finally cast metal, separate crude oil and advance in technology, and finally make a modern plant that produces modern tech - you will not see it here. She needs a truck? Bam, you have it. How was it build? Offscreen. Where did resources come from? From offscreen. Who managed to assemble and produce parts, fuel, electronics and etc? Someone from offscreen. Great explanation. Like being a genius was not a cheat enough, so author gave her an item spawner.
And it is just a main cast. It is already a bad one, but wait a second, there is a secondary cast! Every single non-hostile inhabitat of this world is suffering under opression of authoritarian goverment. A magical world with no rebellions, guerilla warfare and that manages to function even though the ones ruling it do everything to destroy it. And do I need to say that those from the goverment are all corrupt? Rapists - we have them. Tyrants and torturers - here you go. Religious zealots? Have one too! It is like a caricature of a caricature at this point, all those characters have one single defining trait and look like you would expect a zealot/torturer/rapist look, there was no efford put in any of those characters. And even their power level is at a mark where only our main bunch can get rid of them, cause they are HEROES you see. For nonhostiles a role of useful tools is ready, to serve as loyal subjects to someone who just appeared out of nowhere and started doing something unimaginable. Yes, we have a working society with our own culture, but if a bunch of kids says we need to abandon it all - we will do it. And we shurely will accept some "democracy" we never heared about and will go serve in army to die for it, all hail our great isekai overlords!

I really could mention a lot of stupid moments, like stupid actions or events, fanservice out of nowhere pushed into your face for zero reason and emptyness of the world, but at this point I just can't even bother. While you could use the premise to give a complex story, with ingroup problems, backward people being reluctant to accept new things, building trust with locals and slowly moving forward - it was all replaced with generic, boring and dull story. This anime is not just bad, it is horrible, it is an abomination that is not worth watching even as a joke. Don't waste your time.

[Spoiler Warning]

How to write a generic over-the-top evil villain: have them kidnap a young girl and try to rape and torture her in the most awkward manner imaginable.

That is what the local feudal lord does here. The scene is presented with all the glorious fanservice involved. (Disclaimer: Not really all that glorious, to be honest. I'd rather recommend looking away from the screen.) Of course, he always wears an obviously evil smile. How else would the audience know that he is evil? They also make him look as unattractive as possible to really drive the point home in case someone slept through most of ... the episode and missed it. They might as well just have him say "Ha ha ha, I'm evil" and save us some time.

These over-the-top evil nobles are also obviously racist, scoff at the poor peasants, steal their hard-earned money to the point of starvation, and send their thugs to loot, kidnap, and murder the populace. They also enslave cute children because why not? Got to earn their evil credentials. With villains like this, the protagonists adopt the role of generic heroes who solve all these problems. They feed the hungry, free a slave, rescue the kidnapped girl, etc. They also build an outdoor bath because generic fanservice is a top priority. On top of everything, the protagonists try to avoid killing the obviously evil villains if at all possible. Sure, let them live. Makes total sense. Many of the enemy foot soldiers are not granted the same courtesy though.

One of the main points of the premise is that these kids are in high school, yet they are the world's most skilled individuals on each field. So instead of one overpowered isekai protagonist, we have seven. However, the difference to the norm is that they were already overpowered on Earth. Think Danganronpa but on steroids. Yes, you read that right. Danganronpa apparently isn't over-the-top enough with its unrealistic powers, so move aside. Here are the truly overpowered high schoolers. The first episode opens up with an awkward presentation of our protagonists and their special abilities in a list-like fashion. They are declared the best in the world, not that we see much of their actions on Earth. We are told of it, not shown. Also, in Danganronpa the abilities are often (though not always) treated as over-glorified hobbies, kind of a joke. Here I am not so sure.

The "main" protagonist is the Prime Minister of Japan. Yes, you read that right as well. This kid is the prime minister while still in high school. He was elected in a direct election... somehow. That's not how the job of prime minister works. He is also skilled at using guns and martial arts for some reason. I thought each character was supposed to have one special ability. If they are also strangely good at random other things, it ruins the point. I guess I don't mind, but why establish their special abilities then?

What are his super-politician powers about anyway? What is a genius politician like? I suppose a person who can best increase his popularity among the public, organize his allies, and choose the correct strategy for future elections. Is he like that? Yes and no. He is indeed portrayed as the team's leader and strategist, and at one point he presents the idea of negotiation instead of brute force. However, while he does not commit outrageous mistakes, he doesn't put together any particularly interesting strategies either. Strategizing for this group is relatively easy anyway because they are so overpowered that they can brute force through most problems. He also delivers a few small speeches in which he stands up for the people, but this is an incredibly low bar when the villains are outrageously evil.

To be fair, he does not manage to gather a large harem, so he evades the fate of the most outrageous harem leads. Still, a few girls seem to love him, and we get to see some deep mouth-to-mouth action at least. (No, it didn't look that great. Looking away from the screen wouldn't hurt here either.)

The inventor seems to focus on robotics and related machinery, as well as AI, but if her intelligence is "several centuries ahead of her time," I would expect more impressive things, actually. She can also deploy more conventional technology from Earth, which is pretty much enough to curb-stomp the medieval thugs. She conveniently brought her nuclear mini-reactor along, and it survived a plane crash too. Also, she has an AI that doubles as a bear mascot for the group and a source of bear puns. Un-bear-able! (Yeah, I didn't find that funny either. Sorry.)

The businessman seems competent enough, even though not quite as cunning as hyped. He isn't too annoying either. Despite still being heroic, he is at least snarky on occasion. Having a hand in 30 % of all monetary transactions on Earth is ridiculous though. I hope they weren't trying to be serious with that one, but you can never quite be sure.

The magician can do all kinds of miscellaneous things like fly around, detach his head, and teleport people. How? I don't know. I guess you don't even need magic (the actual fantasy variant, not magic tricks) in another world if you have someone like him.

The journalist is a ninja who can glide in the air and do other, less specific things. It is great for information gathering, but I have no idea about the quality of her articles, if she ever wrote them. Should have simply called her the best ninja instead.

The doctor can cheat death... somehow. She seems to be doing fairly normal medicine but far more effectively for vague and unspecified reasons.

The swordswoman can easily dispatch a giant monster and any number of enemy troops. She is allegedly capable of deflecting bullets in midair. Probably the most standard ability of all seven as far as anime is concerned.

I am confident that this league of heroes can curb-stomp any other generic villains that head their way and save the world once again. Power to the people! They kind of need it when the local nobles are as evil as this. I would have liked to say that maybe we can derive some cheap laughs out of watching this debacle, but some of the scenes were presented in such an off-putting way that even that might be difficult.

So I wouldn’t call this a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it very much. It’s been a while since I found one I didn’t not make snarky remarks at while watching.

Not everyone will enjoy this. Why? Because it’s unrealistic, as you know if you read the other reviews. For me, I can make exceptions if unrealism is done right. Because why not? Anime has always had its unrealistic parts and we made exceptions. Dragonball, Alchemist, Sword, MHA, Little Witch, etc etc.
I came into this anime not expecting much because the author is a story writer, not an actual doctor, politician, businessman, inventor, fighter, journalist, ... nor magician. What you’re going to get is really easy to pick up if not the title, then starting from episode 1’s loaded line from Tsukasa: “Let’s enjoy the world to the fullest. Because if we were to go all out, we could end up destroying it.” (Peaceful smile). Realistically speaking, no, humans nor society does not work in a way that only 7 youths could control and rule the world. But since it’s anime, the impossible is NOT impossible!

All the characters are portrayed well and are likable imo. Their quirks, the lines they say, and interactions are the main appeal for this show. I enjoy watching them turn a medieval world into a democratic world. The ideals they speak of are very important. I find it interesting how they formed their own religion and god. Last but not least, the animal ears. Who doesn’t think they’re adorable?? The way the ears perk up and the tails wag just grabs your heart. Also, Lyrule is best girl. If not, then Tsukasa is, though he’s male. As for the villain. For now, he’s hyper cliche. I’m not annoyed at the tropes because we don’t know his background yet. I wonder how the author will decide to flesh him out.

I read the manga, but I enjoyed the anime version more because this type of casual, fight and save a world, entertainment story is better that way. Paired with the cute and expressive animations. Like the intro says, “Let’s start a revolution!”

How many isekai anime did we get this year? From the Fall season alone, we got plenty enough to add to the roster ranging from anime about saving animals, an overly cautious protagonist, and even one with a blue haired bookworm. From the author of Chivalry of a Failed Knight, we receive an anime about high school prodigies.

As the title implies, Choujin is an anime exactly as it sounds. It’s about a group of Japanese prodigies who enters a fantasy world. What’s unique about this group is that each of the characters specializes in a different field with their abilities. This anime chronicles their adventure ... in a fantasy world where they solve problems caused by corruption. And from the start, the first few episodes didn’t waste time to establish the main cast. Every main character stands out in some way or form whether it’s their personality or unique skill. As such, you really shouldn’t be expecting only one character to carry the show. From my first impressions, this anime wants to make the most of its characters. We quickly meet Tsukasa Mikogami a prime minister with heterochromia coming from a previous world. With a personality of wisdom, he stands out as a poster boy of restoring peace and eradicating corruption. Joining him includes Lyrule, the mysterious elf who seems to have feelings for him. The anime doesn’t fully commit on their relationship but it’s obvious that she sees Tsukasa as more than a close friend. It also doesn’t take long for the audience to meet the other main characters – Shinobu Sarutobi, Keine Kanzaki, Aoi Ichijiou, Ringo Oohoshi, and Prince Akatsuki, and Sanada Masato. Possessing skills such as medical expertise, swordsmanship, ninja art, magic, and among others, these prodigies stands as a symbol of hope for their world.

The main question you should ask yourself is why you should care about these characters. From first glance, there’s not much special about them. Most of the cast fits within the archetype of isekai protagonists. Even someone as intelligent as Tsukasa lacks depth about his character. However, as a collective group, they stand together as an important part of the main story. They all share similar goals and to pursue that goal require a level of trust and commitment. Many of the episodes focuses on these prodigies working together to fight the good fight. Regardless of the circumstances, they want to rid of the corruption in this new world and show that there’s a light in the dark tunnel. Some of these characters take major risks by putting themselves above others such as Shinobu. In particular episode, she surrenders herself to save an innocent woman and her child from public humiliation. Aoi is also known for her valor and fights with honor to uphold the law. Even someone as childish as Prince Akatsuki knows the morals of right and wrong. There are also other minor characters who joins in these prodigies in their quest to free corruption such as Jeanne de Leblan, Winona, and Elka. A main theme of the show is how anyone can make a difference whether you’re a prodigy or an ordinary folk. Choyoyui actually does this quite well and as an anime only viewer, it’s gratifying.

For a world of corruption, the main antagonists comes off as a stereotypical as you can get. For instance, Gustav is a corrupt ruler of a town and uses his power to humiliate the people. It isn’t until Shinobu takes a stand against his ego that they manage to restore peace. Gustav comes off as a very unlikable character. He has no redeemable traits and it’s easy for us to hate him. Unfortunately, antagonists like Gustav are easily forgettable and once they’re dealt with, you’ll probably never talk about them again. Maruis Findolf is another example who treats Lyrule like a toy. It’s despicable to know such individuals exist in their world and get away with their actions. If this anime’s goal is to get us to hate the antagonists, it sure as hell worked. But if the goal was trying the viewers into investing interest in them, then the show definitely dropped the ball.

Watching Choyoyui can also be an entertaining and more relaxed experience in some cases. As dramatic as the plot is, there’s breather moments with the characters taking breaks and enjoying their new lifestyles. These often come in the form of leisure time such as taking baths. And because the anime has some alluring female cast, you should be prepared for some juicy fan service coming. The author did work on Chivalry of a Failed Knight after all and is known for some of its infamous fan service. Comedy also takes the form of character personalities in particular Prince Akatsuki. Don’t be expecting to laugh too much but just know that Choyoyui is not all gloom and doom.

Studio Project No.9 is a questionable choice given their resume of mediocre anime lineup. Choyoyui’s art style is perhaps most noticeable for two subjects – the character designs with each of the cast’s traits and the action cinematics. Don’t expect an ufotable caliber level of choreography but do watch for some stylish battles such as Aoi’s rocket ride and Shinobu’s unorthodox ninja talents. As I mentioned before, the character designs for the female cast is alluring such as with Keine’s beautiful eyes and Lyrule’s elven ears. Fan service is conscious with some episodes being aware of how it presents them. (see the massage and bath scenes if you’re not a believer) The male cast also possess noticeable looks with Tsukasa’s heterochromia eyes and Masato’s professional business suit. To say it clearly, this is actually one of Studio Project No.9’s improved projects.

Normally, I wouldn’t talk much about voice acting in an isekai show. However, character voices such as Aoi’s accent and Masato’s professionalism is hard to ignore. Even some of the antagonists’ voices brings out their villainous traits to full fold without holding back. The theme songs features an ensemble of the prodigies in this other world.

Honestly, watching Choyoyui is probably as good or awful as you want it to be. After seeing so many isekai anime in recent years, it feels like watching the same thing over again and expecting different results. Choyoyui does carry some entertaining characters that you can’t take your eyes off but other times falls short on expectations. The main plot is questionable as it revolves around the same themes almost every episode. So in other words, Choyoyui stands in the line of average and it’s really hard to say it’s something great.

The levels of Isekai notoriety within the Light Novel medium has expanded since years recent, and more ideas are being fleshed out to give that sense of "fantasy" the genre has been all but standardly made known of. But tell me if this show has any originality to it, and even worse, coming off from the novelist of the great "Chivalry of a Failed Knight" author Riku Misora, I truly find it hard to fathom that he would try to switch things up from the genre that made his work memorable, to one that is truly undeserving, stooping low of his talents. But it is ... what it is, and I'd have to say, good ideation with a different concept, but the execution is just haphazard to say the most.

The prodigies that TRULY have it "easy" (or difficult in later stages) in the medieval fantasy "another world" are:
"Prime Minister" politician Tsukasa Mikogami, the spokesperson of "values over money", but also has special abilities to wield weapons (like why even for such a position?), not to mention that he is unknown about the ubiquitous harem of girls creeping onto him (especially elf Lyrule who repays his efforts with kisses).
"Modified DNA-borne" inventor Ringo Oohoshi, with her computerized assistant Kumausa (which most of the time, looks like a bear mascot for the group) to make and create modern weapons into a medieval world.
"Duo job" ninja-journalist Shinobu Sarutobi, who is agile and fast with any information, but if ever proves that her information scoop is ever consistent at best.
"Rintaro Okabe-inspired mad scientist" doctor Keine Kanzaki, a beautiful, miracle-working nurse with a psychotic mind to cheat death with modern medicine (that's close but not even to Dr. Stone levels).
"Passive-aggressive" samurai Aoi Ichijo, who wields the katana like a feather slaying through all enemies, the most standard and recognized ability of them all.
"Kid-sized" magician tom-girl Prince Akatsuki, who is acting the David Copperfield part to amuse people who've never saw magic before for absolutely no reason (other than "WOW, nice!" and distraction).
"Sensible and successful Jeff Bezos-inspired" businessman Masato Sanada who strives to make it big and rescue those in poverty. I mean, businessman are shrewd in personality, but that word ain't in his dictionary, and profit is always at hand with this guy.
So, unique but not so special characters with "special" abilities that doesn't impress, but will do.

From the get-go, an idea about prodigies in another world sounds like a generic can-do concept, but take a look at their ages, and that's where the whole genericness creeps unknowingly one notch higher. I mean, prodigies is a totally acceptable thing, but them being high school kids? Man, these geniuses must've been borne with talent, and yes, all these kids have worked off their asses to get to where they are, but holding positions where mainly only adults carry them? That's just stretching it to the limits where the ENTIRE world only consists of these cast of prodigies, and their "parents" that carried them the way through just either don't care or don't exist in their lives (as backstory, mind you, sad but true).

Same goes to the medieval fantasy world where its citizens can only function on a one-way "follower" street, and enemies are also treated like bad-behaved kids who need to get over their mistakes and learn their lesson against the prowess of the prodigies, and to make things even more confusing, NOT decimate them because "they should be given a second chance". It's almost baffling to the point where the people in the show do not (or rarely) have a choice in what they say and do, and most importantly, who to support against the backdrop of generic evil kingdoms supressing its people in their own nefarious attempts (which consists of only rape and murder) to reign and rule like the BS that they could. Is that what villains do when they have nothing else to conduct, really? Evil for the purpose of plot and senseless purpose? Oh, and the "prophecy" for the prodigies to defeat some "final boss" monster? Yea...hold my beer. All in all, this is where the show truly flops not just for namesake, but for even trying in the first place.

On the B-roll side, visuals, music and aesthetics have been shunned by the horrendous plotholes and storytelling so much that it has become (you've guessed it) a total generic-fest of a show. As I've said before in the past about the works of Project No. 9, every (new and more frequent) show from the studio seems like mediocre, hamfisted requests of projects that isn't made to stand out, but rather, makes it clear to go towards the popularity standings and displace all other aspects of the shows directed there without any sense of quality that's double-checked thoroughly. So, lower-than-average visuals, and the music that honestly has no substance to carry it through to the end, and what you'll end up with is a show that you'd care less about finishing it rather than taxing your way through from start to finish.

I'd wish that the Isekai genre would burn to a crisp with the many adaptations that are yet to come, and if crap materials like these just keep coming a.k.a cash-cows, there is absolutely no way that even Japan would ignore the many cries of viewers who just had enough of the bullcrap. Enough with the cliches and tropes, just don't try, can do? Just pass this show up, can be deemed as an anime that is simply uneventful, unredeeming and just smeared with over-the-top ridiculousness.

*Whew, rant done*

Okay, Choujin Kokosei, the new anime from the studio Project 9. And I'm going to be honest, I had high expectations from this one. The premise wasn't that bad and I even enjoy the first episode of the series. Actually, I thoght that the story is kind of interesting, but unfortunately, that's all this anime is, a good premise because the development of that premise and the characters go from being good, to boring and ends up being forgettable but it's not secret that it was another bad year for the isekai genre. Okay, let's start with the sections:

Story:
As I said in the beginning this ... is the best aspect this anime has. The story of a bunch of guys who are prodigies, each one being a specialist in a particular camp, and then suddenly land in a isekai world where the goverment of this is corrupt and they try to fix it, using they abilities it's not that bad I mean, there have been worst premises for isekai anime the last couple years so if you compare this one to others, it's pretty decent.

Development of the story:
And now, we have easily the worst aspect in the entire anime. The beginning could say that it is quite decent because they show us how our heroes land in the world and try to adapt to the customs of the people that live there. And they noticed that everything is wrong right there and apparently they try to revolutionize it. And after that, everything goes down, simply because what they do isn't that memorable, is so predictable, everything they do is not even interesting, also their performance are exaggeratedly executed, It reaches a point where you are simply disappointed to think what the next exaggerated moment will be, beacuse their performances don't give you a powerful, funny, interesting or even an entertaning impression. And if only the situations in which this develops were interesting but not because they are boring. The "comic" situations that happens around the animet aren't even funny, are just boring or annoyingly bad, because it feels like they do something either funny, attractive, sad or romantic they're expectating any good reaction from you but not, it's even cringy. The antogonists are weak and tasteless, the methods they use to defeat this tasteless antagonists are predictable or simply ridiculously executed (example is the episode 9, where they are fighting with the villian). And the last leg of this, is, again, boring, bland, and SOOOOOO predictable.
So yeah, all the potential this had in the story is horribly executed in the development.

Characters:
I'm will sumarize them in one word: tasteless. Seriously, they aren't the worst part of the anime but they have nothing that will be memorable in the future. Starting of with: Tsukasa, the best politic in the world, and apparently this is the leader of the team. Wow, well let me tell you that if he wasn't the leader he will be the most forgettable of all. Everything around him is overreacted, even the most "sad moments".When he is decided to help the people, and talks as a leader, am i the only one who fells inconvincent? Am i the only one who thinks is overracting every time he talks?. And if he is not overracting he is just being dramatic. Litteraly one of the most dramatic characters I seen in a while and as I said, if he wasnt the leader he easily would be the most forgettable character of the series.
Personally, I think Ringo and Shinobu are the best characters of all, or at least the least awful, because around the series they do what they are especialist in,many if it's not all the time they carried the team in the back and their cute moments are the least cringe or forced. It's a shame that they don't get the recognition they deserved it.
And I could keep talking about all the prodigies, but they aren't that deep, they are just a bunch of guys who everything around them feels forgettable and cliche.The funny part is that they just appeared a few times to grab the main attention, the rest they are just in the secundary place where they deserved to be . Lyrule is easily the worst: Overact everything, she is bland and corny as hell, her motivations are stupid. She is the perfect example of the typical cliche girl in the other world who is in the anime because she is the typical cliche girl in the other world. Oh, I almost forget her awful romance moments with Tsukasa.

Development of the genre:
As I said before the comedy moments in this anime aren't even funny, they just feel forced and painfully executed. The romance here is ridiculous, it is evident that they only did it, beacuse apparently an isekai anime has to have a romance by obligation. The drama doesn't hit you it just feel, again, exaggerated and boring, and where they are not exagerating they are just blatanly and shamelessly copying from other sad scenes. The best example is the episode 10 they are just blatanly copying the mother scene from the first episode from Kotoura-san. AMAZING! At least if you are going to be exaggerated, bland and boring at least have the decency to be ORIGINAL!! God dammit! But if there's one thing I just can not tolerate of this one are the painfully AND CRINGY "ecchi" moments. None of this "ecchi" moments are sexy or funny or at least entertaining, they only did this, because apparently an isekai anime hast to have ecchi moments too. And if it were not enough they aren't even original, it just a bunch of cliches that I'm tired of.

Music:
I'm going to be honest, I like quite a bit the opening of this one, I think that the fact of using a group of idols singing this is nice, they are least have rhythm and are good performances. An the ending is nice too, I like the sweet melody and the strong chorus. But the background music around every episode of the anime is just forgettable, and can't even remember a single melody of the music, and I'm really trying so hard in remember a melody but I just can't.


Overall:
I said it before I had high hopes for this anime, I thought it would be better than many of the isekai animes of this time. But apparently a good premise can't defeat all the boring, unfunny, bland, cringy and mostly forgettable moments of this anime and all this led by a horrible development of the story and genre adding forgettable and exaggerated characters. This is not the worst anime isekai I ever seen, even is not the worst isekai anime of the year believe it or not, but not many anime have a good premise and the development is so terrible and forgettable as this one.
I give this anime a 3 out of 10. And I just hope that the mediocre isekai anime are going to end soon. I really hope so.

OMG. PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW!!

So many people here have been talking about how this show sucks because "they're not scared even though they're in another world" or it's "just not that realistic" or "it's too average." WELL, this show isn't a so-called "deep" type of show; while some themes are displayed throughout the show, its not supposed to be a show where you ponder life questions for hours on end about. It's a show meant for your enjoyment, not for education purposes or whatever.

I don't know why people think the plot is bad, personally, it's very interesting for me.

The characters are amazing. I ... don't get why people constantly have to say "IT'S NOT REALISTIC!". OF COURSE it's not realistic! It's 7 high school prodigies who get stuck in another world! But that aside, the characters , again, are just plain amazing. Their skills and abilities are so advanced, and just watching them defeat an obstacle or opponent is just so satisfying. The fact that they are able to stand up to people who don't believe in what they do literally has me standing up and cheering for them every time they prove someone wrong.

I have yet to read the manga or light novel (whichever one is in english), but to get my fill after watching this show, I'm going to go to amazon right after this and download the book to my kindle app (and then maybe I'll come back and talk about how the manga is better than the anime or vice versa- no spoilers, though!).

If you still don't get how much I enjoy this show, I just spent an hour researching if/when a season 2 comes out.



UPDATE: I finished reading the manga. Yes, I finished all 7 books (up tp date) in one day. I know that the anime was based off of the manga, so the manga helped supplement my understanding of things that came across as confusing in the actual show. The manga was really amazing, and I'm glad I was able to see what happened after the ending of episode 12 of the anime (if you've watched the show, you know what I'm talking about). I really really hate when shows are left on a cliffhanger with no promise of another season, so reading the manga was exactly what I needed. Would recommend the anime to those who have enjoyed the manga (because there's nothing better than seeing it in color with actually movement, right?), and the manga to those who have enjoyed the anime. But reviewing the manga is a whole different review, so I'm going to stop here.

Anyway, if the producers of the anime see this review, please make a season 2!! I'm dying to see what happens next, even if I have completed the manga up to date.

So, I am only three episodes in so I can't give a definitive review. I will, however, edit the review as soon as the season is done.

First of all, it is an Isekai, very typical without too much depth. I like world building Anime or even games, so my opinion is a bit biased. I have not read the novel so I do not know what to expect in the following episodes.

So far it has a very plain and flat story line but if handled well, it could be worthwhile to watch. It is interesting to see how modern knowledge could affect culture and society ... in a medieval setting. I expect some interesting moments but this is no masterpiece.

Story: 7/10 - I can't say much yet.
Art: 9/10 - I think the art is very decent and colorful, well animated also.
Sound: 6/10 - Not impressed yet.
Character: 6/10 - There is room for improvement and I hope it will.
Enjoyment: 8/10 - It caught my attention after the first episode.

this anime is if Spanish conquistadors got to write an isekai anime about themselves minus smallpox.

in summary, seven unrealistic but conveniently talented high schoolers get isekai'd and then force democracy on everyone and kill everyone else or something.

1: you have Ben Shapiro the condescending and egotistical but somehow a female magnet politician to lead their glorious new empire. he has the same personality as every isekai protagonist.

2: magic Kaito but he got reincarnated as a very feminine male and gets sh*t for it, the obsolete but convenient magician until they develop nukes. his sole purpose of existing is appealing to shota cons and ... being convenient.

3: Jeff Bezos, the currency man. he makes money so ben can look cool and stuff. he is the most interesting character.

4: CIA kunoichi chan. she is a modern ninja or something and can do ninja things or something. she gathers ice cream scoopers. she also has a cookie cutter personality.

5: factorio chan is pretty important because she can make bombs i mean nuclear reactors. she is not assertive but she likes ben. it is painful to watch her exist.

6: female Zatoichi is female Zatoichi. she is good at cutting people. she is boring. she gets no screen time.

7: finally there is medicine chan. she is doctor i mean an actual magician. one time she sowed a person whose organs were all over the ground back into them in the middle of the forest without any equipment. people get mad when you question this. commas are stupid.

the villains are all boring. they are of two extremes, either rapey or murdery. no time is taken to flesh them out and provide an engaging conflict.

any supporting character from the local isekai world isn't even worth mentioning.

The decade is coming to an end and there is no better way to mark it when it comes to anime than to have the last season dumped with a bunch of Isekai anime. It certainly is the most defining genre of these past years gaining much popularity, as well as memage and ridicule from those who cross it’s path. And now here we are this season with seven-ish or more isekai shows (depending on how lenient you are with the term isekai), with the most terrible one being this one.

Going past the trite part of the genre, the main hook/gimmick is that the band ... of unsuspecting school students are actually world class prodigies. Each one coming from a certain subject, some of which make sense like science, medicine, and economics. While others not so much, such as the ninja and the swordswoman. Nevertheless they make use of their abilities to make do in their new nondescript fantasy world.

The idea certainly isn’t a bad one as it gives each character a clear and defined role that corresponds to their strength. The Economist using modern economic practices and game theory to overturn the established monopoly. The Doctor bringing modern medicine such as antibiotics so that people no longer have to rely on drugs with harmful side effects like opium. The Ninja and Swordswoman for how stupid it is provide the muscle to the group in order to defend them from threats. However, as with most things, the execution has a lot to be desired. While I don't enjoy comparisons, in this case i will compare this small part to another isekai anime known as Dr.Stone (don’t @ me). Dr.Stone also has the same idea of bringing modern science and ideas to a more primitive people, but what makes Dr.Stone more compelling is that you see for the most part the process in which it is done. This show however glides through it, going from making simple mayonnaise to anti-air craft missile defenses. They do give some in story reason for it, but even the reason comes off as a bit half-assed.

Not to mention that even though they are prodigies it is only to one subject which implies that they aren’t good at everything. It could have been a good way to showcase flaws or different traits in the characters, but since they are designated to their role it never happens, which could have been beneficial to fleshing them out. They just do what they are good at doing and it just makes the entire cast of characters and their actions feel flat and boring. The only thing that makes them a slight bit interesting is that they aren't all good messianic people. Some of them have thoughts and actions that can come off as outright horrifying. Yet that is skimmed across and the characters are brought up to be portrayed as righteous individuals when compared to the antagonists.

The antagonists, who mainly consists of high ranking people in a generic fantasy empire, are a joke. It's not that their weak, but more so that the are so mustache twirling dastardly villainous that it's hard to believe they it's portrayed so seriously. Sure they are supposed to be cruel and oppressive but it's so over the top. And it’s that over the top-ness that they only have going for them, as they are as disposable as they come. With each new antagonist being just a higher ranking official than the last one as a means to “increase the steaks” as the show progresses.

While the show is bad, it’s still quite enjoyable in a hammy kind of way. When a scene consists of a girl running alongside a missile and using brute force to guide it towards it’s target, it’s obvious that the show isn’t aiming for anything higher than cheap spectacle.

Honestly, I’ve been looking over quite a few reviews - ya know, expecting to find something that aligns with what I thought & experienced - and, although I understand the “bandwagon” that’s going on here (a mix between what we’ll call “Isekai’itis” - a cultural mob-like vexation and/or loathing of the Isekai genre for the ‘milk-cow’ that it is, currently - and ‘anime-elitism’ that stems from a shared desire for “just another taste from the fruit-garden of the gods”, which is rather understandable as most of us have our fair share of incredible narratives or spectacular or state-of-the-art abstract animation and art styles, or even ... just ‘something that moved us’), it’s extremely unreasonable to project such high standards unto a show that, from the very start, was only trying to be “fun”.

‘High School Prodigies blah blah blah’ is a show about 7 supposed-geniuses that get “carted to another world” (aka “Isekai’d”) and, basically, put all of their expertise to work in... well... starting a bloody (figuratively and literally) revolution unto the “oppressive empire and their sovereign liege, His Majesty, The Emperor” - a being so impressive that, it’s said, the world and all its inhabitants exist purely to be sacrifices for “his majesty” (punctuation intended).

...I’m just gonna refer to the show as ‘ProdigiesXL’ from here.

Anyways: ProdigiesXL is a show that aims to be ‘an adventure with tons of ridiculous feats going on, but with as little exposition as possible’—and it accomplishes just that. Even though ‘just about everything’ that the Group of 7 and Co. do happen to be absolutely super-human, you don’t really find yourself “sweating the small stuff” cos the show, itself, never takes itself seriously in this regard either. It’s just about ‘sounding awesome’ and ‘tying itself together (despite the “zero-exposition” policy it holds) perfectly enough that none of its “very obvious flaws” actually matter’. I think this is where many people really miss the point about this show: it’s a bit of a ‘super heroes/super humans’ vs ‘high school Isekai’ cross that wants to blend Magic/Fantasy with Modern-Day Realistic Tech (be it medicine, physics, or, lel, capitalism) - and I happen to think that it does an amazing job of doing so ‘as a Shounen’.

That’s the thing: this is a Shounen Isekai that pits a bunch of Mary Sues against Magical Forces of Nature - and it does so in a super fun AND methodical way! Throughout the 12 episodes of ProdigiesXL, every one of the 7 main characters gets an arc mostly-dedicated to “them strutting their stuff”, and it never gets confusing nor ‘feel convoluted’, ya know? It’s interesting because: here you have a show that’s trying to do an enormous amount of things in an extremely-short span of time, yet it’s simultaneously trying to be balanced, episode by episode, in being both ‘digestible’ AND ‘simple-fun’. ... THAT’S NOT EASY, YO. The pacing of ProdigiesXL is insanely good—making the ‘enjoyment-factor’ an easy 10/10.

Having said all of that: yes, the art and sound aren’t high-value. 7&5/10, respectively. The art was never ‘garbage’ or ‘inconsistent’, it just was never planned to budget for more than what it produced; and the sound was never a problem, and even the fight-scene folly was pretty good, but just like the art, they intentionally limited themselves to fit the budget - and they did so without damaging any of the ‘viewing-experience’.

On top of that: with 7 characters and 3 rather-significant extras AND a good 4-8 bonus characters, between the 12 episodes provided... although I have no idea what/how the manga goes (or... is there a Light Novel for this? Nfi - but probably) and how much it [they?] elaborate on each character for the volumes covered, it’s fair to say that Tsukasa (the ‘politician prodigy’ dude with different-coloured eyes) is the main character for this season/show. The show advertises itself as “7 kids go Isekai’ing”, but it’s fair to complain about the fact that a large amount of the story revolves around him as the protagonist - which, to be fair, isn’t unreasonable as he’s both the ‘least’ and ‘most’ talented of them all, as far as the story thus-far goes, and he’s also the (what you could call) “sheep-herder” of all the main cast.

These two points on the sound/art and the character-building are fair complaints—but I’d like to remind you all that ‘most Shounens are like this’ and you’re missing the point if you focus on ‘glass a bit empty’ rather than ‘glass pretty full’. ProdigiesXL is a really fun and light experience that manages to cram a ton of progression, characters, non-confrontational politics, and a fun blend of ‘magic meets science’ into an incredibly-digestible production.

Action, mind-games, pseudo-morality that’s hard to object to or be challenged by but isn’t mindless either (“a story of the people, by the people!”-kind of thing), armies and heroes, fun fanservice & light-hearted and inoffensive comedy, and... most of all, I mean, even if the title says “Isekai prodigies have it easy etc”, ...for once they actually don’t. The balance in this show between ‘our overpowered protagonists’ and, what would normally be “the human steppingstones”, is more of a Back and Forth of power-escalation that is almost-always seen in Shounens yet very rarely seen in Isekais—that’s what makes ProdigiesXL a fun and good show!

Yes, this isn’t “the next Fate; Zero” or “Re: Zero”, but it never intended nor was meant to be—quite the opposite in fact, as it simply had a goal of “an experience” that it knew (and budgeted) to deliver and, quite frankly, I believe it did - for me, at least.

If I were judging on facts, comparisons, objective analysis, etc, I’d probably give it a 7/10—but I’m not, I’m judging on ‘what I think it wanted to achieve’, and ‘how well I think it achieved “exactly that”’.
9/10. Bravo, you ‘humble show that’s only desire was to immerse its viewers in the “escapist-equivalent” of junk food’. ... (Second season, please)...

TLDR - Show with a lot of potential completely broken by one of the characters. Skip, unless you can completely switch off your brain.

There are shows that are brilliant. There are shows that are just plain bad. There are mediocre shows that one can watch to kill time. And there are shows that are disappointing to a point where you just shake your head in disbelief. Choujin is, unfortunately, one of those. The premise is ok for a light Isekai anime and the art is good (Hence the score). It had so much potential and, if done right, could have been such a good ... show. But writers must have received their shipment of drugs (assorted) and went on a colossal binge, because after a few episodes it just nosedives... And where it fails hardest is characters and plot. And boy do they suck.

[Spoilers ahead]

Base plot line is: 7 high school (!) students, who are best in their fields (!) survive a plane crash only to discover that they have been transported to another world where they end up leading a glorious peoples revolution against villains that are one white cat away from being 'sharks with fricking lasers' level of cartoonishly dumb and evil. There is your box standard rapey aristo lord, racist knights, casual disregard for commoners lives etc. Straight from 'How to Evil'. That I could live with, but now we need to talk about the execution of the plot and characters.

[Characters]

So, you thought Kirito was OP? Oh, sweet summer child, you haven't seen this... Here we have 7 OP characters with just enough personality for maybe half of one. Let us go through all of them (and remember, they are in high school!)

Swordsman - the least offensive of the lot. OP fighter that can take down magical monsters in no time. She can also keep up with surface-to-air missile on foot (because martial arts?).

*Suspension of disbelief takes a shot.

Journalist - She's a ninja. OP, but survivable. Almost as inoffensive as sword lady.

Politician - the vague nonsense OP character that is leader of the revolution and sort of whatever plot needs him to be. It's not clear what his specialties are, as he seems to be good at combat, politics, admin, strategy, tactics etc. So far, the most fleshed out character in the show. Also, works in the show (You'll understand what I mean when we get to the utter bullshit part of characters)

Merchant - the OP business dude. Not much to say here. He works in this show as well, since his 'power' relies on whit and experience.

And now we begin the descent into madness.

*Suspension of disbelief gets a bottle of vodka.

Medic - Who needs magic when you have bullshit? She's so OP as a surgeon, that she can operate on and revive a guy that got mauled by a beast and has been dead for a few minutes. In 15th century conditions (or there about) w/o access to modern facilities and medicine supplies. And no one uses magic to help so it was all her. She's still in high school BTW. Remember that!

*Suspension of disbelief finishes the bottle. Gets a new one.

Magician - an OP magician (magic tricks, not magic in anime sense) who can levitate, disappear buildings, teleport people etc... How, you ask. By being the greatest magician! And because plot demands it. And because explaining is hard. And because SHUT UP!

*Suspension of disbelief staggers to a corner, where physics, logic and sense are drinking heavily.

It is time for the most OP character of the show! TA DA DA DAM!

Scientist - She's an OP ex makina wrapped in McGuffin astride convenience, armed with a plot device and clad in 10mm thick hardened plot armor. And the main reason the show sucks. The entire premise of the show is these OP chumps and chumpettes dragging the world, kicking and screaming, to modernity via revolution. They start small and must persevere against lack of knowledge about the world and vastly superior foe - the empire - that has all the resources and manpower and is coming to put plebs back to their place. Also, empire has magic! Pretty interesting so far. And, when done right, can be amazing. And it could have been, if it was not for OP-chan.

All the previous characters could have worked well in this setting (with maybe a little more explanation, personality and less nonsense OP powers). Even a genius scientist/inventor could have worked. But writers could not be bothered, so we get this... She magics up aluminum, builds a power plant and by ep 7 pulls modern surface-to-air missiles out of thin air. And we don't get an explanation of how she managed that. And by ep 8 she whips out rifles for rebel military. As in, what looks like, bolt action rifles of modern day and not the muzzle loaders of 17th century. So, gunpowder and ammunition are being produced as well. And all these massive advances in technology and manufacturing happen within the span of few months off screen. It just breaks the plot. It is safe to assume that no thought or research went into creation of that character. It's like someone, so high they could stretch out their hand and touch the ISS, screamed in the office one day: 'You know what would be cool? If we show magic spear being intercepted midair by missiles!' and the rest of the office made it happen. It's lazy, contrived and ultimately the reason this anime sucks. Who can stand against them when they have all the modern weaponry one plot device away?.. Let the stomping begin...

*Suspension of disbelief, physics, logic and sense have died from alcohol and drug overdose. RIP

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're aware that isekai is the biggest trend in anime right now. It's understandable; they can be very creative, with great world building, fascinating characters and designs and you can make your own rules be "whatever" because it's not Earth. You have so much freedom to do what you want.

Choujin/Isekai is an odd creature but it interested me because while I've watched several stories with just one character being summoned to this world (usually male), I've never seen one that takes SEVEN. And the designs and art definitely appealed to me. So I put it on and watched ... five episodes in a row.

We will get this out of the way first:

This show is stupid.

People will tell you it's stupid and they're not wrong, the writing is so poor, one would be insulted to buy into all this BS about all these overpowered teenagers who can pretty much do anything they want to.

It's also trashy. From how the girls dress...to a very uncomfortable assault scene...it's pretty shameless with its fanservice or 'disservice' in some cases. Sitting through episode 4 might be a deal-breaker for you...unless you like hentai. I don't like hentai. At all.

By all rights, I should hate the show. Yet I am just unable to. Why? I kept pondering that reason for myself "indeed why do I keep watching this?" and then I realized the answers quite simple:

"If you are chill with the dumb BS, there's literally something for everyone who likes anime in this".

Yep. That's really all it is. Because the cast is so diverse and each character focuses on a different theme per episode, it works. Also every single type of character is here. Guys who like big boobs? You'll love these; most of the cast is well-endowed. Maybe you hate big boobs? Well there are lolis too. Or maybe you're like me and pretty boys are more your thing. No shortage of those! OR maybe you're into cute furries? Elves? Ninjas? Economics? Politics? Girls with swords?

BOY OH BOY, I'VE GOOD GREAT NEWS FOR YOU.

Choujin/Isekai is so jam-packed with so much to choose from...it's impossible not to find something to like in here. Probably the only fanbase it doesn't cater to are the yaoi/yuri fans. No big loss for me. Then again, the show's barely half over so I could be speaking too soon!

In other words, "the author may not know how to write...but he sure as hell knows how to appeal to a wide audience". And that's the key. I don't think I've ever seen so much variety of...EVERYTHING stuffed into five episodes of anime. Yet...it doesn't really overwhelm me either probably because the main plot is pretty simple; "help the furry folk rebel against the cruel ruler and maybe try to find a way home".

Other merits I need to point out are art and animation. It's gorgeous. Not a single character goes off model and that's impressive because there's SO MANY of them. The furry folk are super adorable and it's fun to watch their ears perk up and tails wag. (I'm a dog person can you tell xD) You really just want to reach into the screen and pet them and you'll for sure want to take one of the children home with you.

The music and voice acting are fine. I feel the OP is a little mismatched because it feels more like a CGDCT OP. I'm more partial to the slower, pretty ED song.

As for the characters...I don't dislike anyone yet...except for the ones you're SUPPOSED to dislike. Then again, you might hate all the Choujin because they're too perfect. xD But like I said, if you can suspend your disbelief, and put away thoughts of "Hey that's not supposed to work THAT way!" they are not unpleasant to watch. Even leaving them out, I'm sure you can find a native character to latch onto and make a waifu/husbando from. (Mine right now is wolf-bishie Elch lol)

Let's sum up:

Stupid writing
Good visuals
Huge variety of characters
Simple story
Lots of tropes from lots of genres


So....yeah, ridiculous as they are, things are just far more interesting with these high school kids around. So I really hope they stay for a while. I'm having a good time.

A series that had the potential to be good, but they botched so many parts of it that I am compelled to give it a terrible rating. They couldn't decide what type of show they wanted to make. They put over-the-top silly and "tropey" characters in an inekai setting, then out of nowhere brought in:
1. A stomach-turning, unforshadowed, lewd scene where a newly introduced character picks up food from the ground, chews it, then gives it to an MC by way of a saliva-filled kiss,
2. An abomination of a rape scene that lasted far too long, and was so unnecessarily tasteless that it revolted me ... to even watch it,
3. A blatantly clear predudice against anglo people, by making every anglo person in the show absurdly vile and inhumanly disgusting,
4. A stilted and forced love triangle romance that makes little sense and has absolutely no chemistry,
5. And enough fan service that it almost (but not nearly quite) distracted from the awful mess we were watching.

When the show opened I thought to myself that it was silly, but I didn't mind watching a not-so-serious show once in a while. I liked the plot of some over-powered inekai protagonists overturning an entire society by bringing them into the modern age, and for the first half of the season I actually kind of enjoyed the low-brow humor. But the bottom dropped out pretty quickly, it crammed at least four or five episode's worth of content into one awful rushed final episode, and ended abruptly.

I regret watching this, and I strongly recommend anyone to skip this show entirely.

Wow. Being someone who has read the manga, I can fully say that the anime adaptation is pretty decent but nothing special.

Story 7/10:
The story differs a bit from your regular generic isekai. 7 high schoolers get transported to another world through a giant plane crash. They find themselves rescued by villagers who nurse them back to health. so in return for their help the high schoolers help the village out whilst trying to find a way back home.

Art 6/10:
Art is not that impressive but that's a given since the anime is made by Studio no.9 (no disrespect meant).

Sound 5/10:
I am seriously not a fan ... of the music used in this anime at all. The OP doesn't fit the feel of the show and I find myself skipping it every time. Same thing with the ED.

Characters 8/10:
You recall how I mentioned the seven high schoolers? Well turns out that each of them are the best in the world(s) at their given profession. We have a crazy fast swordswomen who would put Kirito to shame. We have a stealthy ninja girl who instead of becoming an assassin decided to become the best journalist in the world cuz that's a good way to put that sneak 100 skill to good use. We have a brilliant doctor chick who could become Mercy from Overwatch if she used more than 2% of her power. We have a (male) loli magician who says he uses illusions despite being able two fly and make the statue of Liberty disappear in the middle of the streets. We also have a business man who has the most amount of money in the world despite looking like the MC of a highschool harem romcom. We have my personal favourite, a kuudere genius inventor who lives in space for literally no reason with her AI...urm...creature. lastly we have the prime minister of Japan (I think) who has no other trait other than looking cool and having a gun. We also have the villagers, A big busty elf girl, a big bust single demi human mother who is also very single and we have a cute red head beast loli, who has a better power than the prime minister. the worlds quickest one-way ticket to prison. And we have the rest of our male cast that no one cares about.

Overall 7/10:
I'm not a fan of really long reviews so i'll end by saying this - it's a good anime that I would recommend but not to everybody. Check it out if you want to.

I think i can be pretty concise about this one. Isekai genre's can be universally fun, but they've been done to death so if your intention is to actually release something worthwhile then some kind of effort still has to be made beyond the basic artwork/animation. There's actually some decent artwork and animation here so why the studio felt the need to drop to the lowest common denominator of genre's (outside of harem) with a 1 dimensional story is beyond me. It's normally the other way around with a bad or up and coming studio trying to get an entry level piece on the market.

There's ... not a whole lot to be said about the story, it's an Isekai genre piece. A bunch of kids get teleported to another world, as a group of "chosen ones". But that's all there is to it, no subversive layers or angles to it. Just a run-of-the-mill Isekai. This story is 15 years behind the times and has no sense of self-awareness which i think is the underlying crime here. The show actually tries to take itself seriously even despite the wacky characters. The only demographic i see this show being of any value to are pre-teens who may not have seen superior versions of this type of show because they're stuck watching only what's currently airing before school, missing the cultural classics from Log Horizon to, hell, even Gate for heaven's sake has decent writing in the face of powerful protagonists and weak antagonists.

Speaking of which: The characters are utterly unrelatable and unbelievable. True to form Mary Sue's, but split up into 7 characters to try and disguise the fact that that is basically what they are. They have pretty human emotions, but their abilities and overtly convenient tools with which they arrive with (nuclear reactor, bullet proof clothes and modern firearms, to name the most offensive ones so far) are just OTT enough to ruin the sense of what ever kind of challenge is being approached. We're missing the build up like we see in shows like Dr Stone where the fun is in the development of the story and characters, but these characters start with it all and brute force their way through the story. Then there's the fact that they're all archetypal tropes. Samurai, politician, merchant, scientist, etc. Literally zero effort.

The only redeeming feature of this show is its art and animation. The animation is nice, even above average. What a shame it's been wasted on such an asinine, vapid, vacuous story.

You know what we've had a lot of this season? Isekai anime. You know what else we've had a lot of this season? Isekai anime that revolves around introducing modern technology to a primitive world, and this show is probably the worst one of the season with that premise. It's not a bad show but not really one I'd recommend going out of your way to watch.

The story, concept and visual presentation are fine and there were even a few pretty dark moments where things started to get interesting but whenever they began it was almost always immediately diffused either by the show moving onto ... something else or just lazy deus ex machinas to fix things (usually they resort to "The magician/illusionist did it").

For example there's parts of the show where the main cast do things from their respective fields and explain what and how they do them (usually a bit over-simplified, but still) but at no point does the illusionist character do this. The illusionist "does stuff" but it's never explained what exactly he is doing or how he does it and the show makes no attempt what-so-ever to differentiate the tricks he does from the world's established magic system. (levitation, making buildings disappear, removing his head and having it float around... etc).

Honestly the best I've got this show is "Meh". It'll go on my list and by the end of next season I'll probably have forgotten it exists, I'd watch a 2nd season but I kind of doubt it'll get one.

Please note this review is intended to be read by those that have finished watching High school Prodigies have it easy even in another world and while care has been taken to minimise story related spoilers there may still be spoilers within character analysis. You have been warned.

Based off a popular light novel of the same name Choujin Koukousei tachi wa Isekai demo yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu which is more popularly known by its English title of High School Prodigies have it easy even in another world is a fantasy-themed anime that gives us the rather unique opportunity to see what will happen, ... if one day a plane that carried seven of the world’s top geniuses who are all masters of their respective fields despite their young age were to one day vanish from their world and be transported to a parallel world that was suffering from the same problems and crisis that they had worked so hard to eliminate within their own. Seeing the same problems that the seven had worked so hard to deal with back in their world once more manifest itself in this new world and once more cause suffering and pain to the people of this world the seven resolved to do what must be done to save the people from this world and in doing so transcend from being mere geniuses to saviours of a world as they make use of their collected intellect and use wisdom and technology to bring down an oppressive regime and in doing so deliver to the people a world where everyone is free and can perform whatever role that they so desire. A country where it’s the people that decide on where the country should be heading and not the arrogant lords and emperors that sit on the throne.

Fantasy-themed series within the anime industry can be said to be one of the most popular ones within it due to the ease of which worlds can be fashioned and expanded upon by its creators and this is even more so within the vaunted Isekai genre that had experienced a massive surge in popularity in recent years. While the concept of Isekai itself is pretty standard as settings go what served to differentiate High school prodigies in my eyes and what served to draw my eye to it was the fact that unlike the standard series that made use of only one mc that was transported to the parallel world in the case of High school prodigies there are seven of them all of which had unique skills, quirks and personalities that made them all unique. In addition unlike most common Isekai series that tend to have overall goals that centre on individual matters that focus on the individual struggles of its characters High schools is the exception in that its cast, for the most part, operate as a single entity that operates in concert with one another to go about the task of inducing change on a global scale through not just displays of physical strength but also through introduction of new tech advancements that give the people, not just a better but also a fairer and more organized society to live in but also the weapons that they need to preserve their new way of life. This combination of not just entering a parallel world but also serving to repay those that have helped them by using their unique talents to change the world and overturn the cruel and oppressive regime that rules them and replace it with one that treats its people fairly and freely was what served to draw me to the series and convince me to watch it to the very end a decision that I felt was justly rewarded here.

The overall story for the series follows the life of Tsukasa Mikogami and his six friends who despite their young age and only being in high school have as a result of both their intelligence and their own unique skills in their respective fields have enabled them to not only ascend the rungs of society within their own worlds but also create many great changes within their home timeline that’s served to improve the lives of many within their world. After being mysteriously transported to parallel world that for all intents and purposes was one that appeared to be one that was within the time period known as the medieval period Tsukasa and his friends find that not only had they been transported to another world entirely but that this world while certainly beautiful and full of interesting races that are both welcoming and generous in temperament was one that was ruled by a cruel and oppressive empire who instead of treating its people with respect, kindness and equality instead treated them with cruelty and silencing any detractors with the threat of capital punishment. While finding themselves in an entirely new world was a novel experience for Tsukasa and his friends the fact that this new world was one that was ruled by the same type of regime and whose people were oppressed by the same type of people that Tsukasa and his friends had worked so hard to displace in their efforts to change their world was something that created a sense of fury within their hearts. When the empire in both its arrogance as well as in its desire to avenge its humiliation at the hands of Tsukasa and his friends who had not only defied the empire’s standing orders to help demi-humans but also go about modernising them struck out and captured one of their own to both the villagers and Tsukasa and his friends this was the last straw and served to create a catalyst that began Tsukasa and his friends journey to go about changing the world and sweep aside the trash that had ruled for far too long within this world and finally bring salvation to the people of this new world.

Tsukasa Mikogami

Tsukasa Mikogami portrayed by veteran voice actor Yuusuke Kobayashi of Re Zero and Aico Incarnation fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main protagonist of the series. A teenage boy that despite being only of a young age is already actively serving his country as its youngest PM to date Tsukasa from initial appearances is shown to be a calm, composed and responsible person by nature and is someone that can be seen to prefer to solve problems via diplomacy rather than with action and as a result was someone that was seen to be held in high regard by both his countrymen and politicians around the world earning him the title The world’s Top Politician. However despite boasting such a formidable reputation, Tsukasa was seen to be someone that rather than being overconfident and vain in his attitude was rather the opposite in that he was a quiet person by nature that made great use of not just his intellect but also his logical nature to divine the best path forward towards his goals while taking great care to ensure that such goals were ones that were realistic a skill that few within Tsukasa’s chosen field can hope to achieve. While a quiet person and someone that can be difficult to read by others Tsukasa was someone that was seen to have two traits that served to define him as both a person and as the PM of Japan in that unlike many of his field Tsukasa was someone that had both an immense sense of responsibility to both his friends and to his allies as well as surprisingly strong sense of justice as well traits that I felt while reflecting well of his role as a leader as a country also serve to reflect the kind of person that Tsukasa really was which was someone that will do his utmost to preserve peace and protect his friends and allies while still trying his utmost to maintain his core values of justice and responsibility a struggle that I really admired about him.

As the series goes on and Tsukasa’s personality is gradually expanded upon his personality gradually starts to change as a result of the events that he and his friends helped shape. In the beginning of the series Tsukasa while noted to be someone that advocated peace, understanding and cooperation through the showing of kindness towards others was someone that can be said to be rather too logical in that he often didn’t take into account the emotional bonds that can result from their actions and the potential effects that this can have on both he and his friends and the allies that he had resolved to help a matter that is brought to the head during the height of the series first arc when a dear friend of theirs was kidnapped by the empire. While certainly an uncomfortable revelation for Tsukasa it can be seen that this revelation that while logic and being realistic about situations was an excellent skill to have it will be even so if this is paired with an understanding towards the desires and wishes of the people that you wish to protect was something that served to have a profound impact on Tsukasa as a person. While still retaining his quiet nature Tsukasa after this revelation was shown to have become more understanding of the feelings and wishes of others and more willing to consult with others on their own opinions rather than going for the most logical option that he would have done so in the past.

In line with Tsukasa’s incorporation of emotions and taking the feelings of others into his equations was the reveal of what can be said to be the main driving force behind Tsukasa’s true struggle within the series which is the reform of the world. As a result of both Tsukasa’s core nature as well as his beliefs in what the people of any given land should have it can be seen that Tsukasa was someone that viewed the needs and desires of a lands people to be of paramount importance and was someone that believed that any land should be one where a ruler rules with both fairness and dignity and treats his subjects with both the respect that they deserve and more importantly be given the freedom and choice to live their lives the way that they want. As a result of this Tsukasa, more than any of the seven was shown to be dismayed by the fact that rather than doing this the empire instead rules through fear and oppression terms that were anathema to Tsukasa on a fundamental level and doing well in creating the groundwork for his goal on changing this warped world. While largely borne out of his desire to pay back his allies and friends for all the help that they had provided to him it can be said that unlike the empire Tsukasa while certainly the driving force behind it was not trying to create a world that will have him as the ruler but rather in line with his beliefs was instead trying to create one where the happiness of the people through equality was the priority and one where rather than having centralised control was one where the self-determination of the people was most important which is best shown in Tsukasa’s preference to let his subordinates handle things despite having the ability to do so himself. As a character, I felt that Tsukasa was a well designed and developed character that can be said to represent the ideal image of what a politician should be like being both a fair and honest person that treated his friends and allies with respect and at the same time being both intelligent, far-sighted and cunning in equal measure adept at creating grand and multi-layered plans as well as anticipating and thwarting the enemies own plans before they can even commence. While shown to be and acknowledged by his friends to be the leader within the team it can be said that he’s also the foundation that serves to support the team and keep them honest and in line with their shared goal of helping the people of this land.

Ringo Oohoshi

Ringo Oohoshi portrayed by veteran seiyuu Rina Hidaka of Sao and Accel world fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of Tsukasa’s fellow geniuses and one of the seven heroes that have come to this world. A teenage girl that despite her young age is widely known as one of the world’s foremost inventors on account of both Ringo’s ability to not just visualise what is needed for a given situation based on local environments and resource requirements but also her ability to create tech that’s as deadly to the enemy as it can be useful to her allies. From initial appearances, Ringo is shown to be a quiet, calm and intelligent girl who while finding it difficult to talk easily with others is shown to a friendly, kind and caring person who tries her utmost to help her friends. While certainly gifted with great intelligence Ringo is someone that is shown to have little if any arrogance unlike many of her fellows and indeed is someone that works hard and tries to be useful to both her friends and allies something that is aided greatly by her ability to plan ahead. As a character Ringo through easy to overlook is someone that can be said to be just as important as any of her fellow geniuses for it is her intelligence that enabled not just Tsukasa and his fellow geniuses but also the members of the territories that they liberate to not just enjoy a higher quality of life but also have the means to not only defend themselves from aggressors but also fight them on close to even terms. Whether it’s the metal tools that enabled the villagers to farm more effectively, the power stations that served to give them their first taste of what comfort actually is, the rail gun and shields that enabled the villagers to storm the local lords castle to save their friend or the defence's that warded off Gustav’s assault it is to Ringo’s intelligence and her strong desire to help that the seven was so successful in their move to liberate and change the world.

While each of the seven can be said to have been affected by the charisma that Tsukasa exhibits in his personality it can be said that of them Ringo is perhaps the one that was most affected by this as to Ringo Tsukasa while a very dear friend and ally is also someone that Ringo views as her savior due to the impact that his help provided her when her family situation got complicated when she was in high school. This while keeping her from developing standard levels of depression as can be expected from such dramas also served to allow Ringo to realise that there are many others throughout the world that require the unique skills that she has managed to gain in order to improve their lives a motivation that went on to become her sole source of motivation of wanting to help others no matter the task and requirement assigned. Arguably one of the more prominent traits of Ringo is no doubt her own creation which her AI Bearrabbit. While itself an excellent showcase of Ringo’s skills as an inventor Bearrabbit also provided an opportunity for the reveal of Ringo’s own inner feelings as unlike Ringo it was not restricted in its display of emotions and feelings something that I felt added a small window that allowed us to see the kind of feelings that she may be feeling as a result of events happening around her.

Aoi

Aoi Ichijou portrayed by new seiyuu Sayaka Kaneko is one of the main characters of the series and one of Tsukasa’s fellow geniuses that have come to save the new world in which they find themselves in. A teenage girl that despite her young age is shown to possess both the skill and figure of a veteran athlete but unlike standard athlete’s Aoi’s talent is something that is not used in competitions of prestige but rather on a field that requires all of her skills and reflexes that will enable her to triumph over her opponents this field being no other than a battlefield. For unlike normal athletes Aoi’s genius lay in her ability as a swordswoman and is rightly famed worldwide for her skill with the blade that can allow her to take on entire platoons at a time when needed. However, beneath these claims from initial appearances, Aoi is seen to be a girl that’s kind, positive, friendly and loyal to both her friends and to those that have earned her trust. While shown to be extremely skilled with the sword Aoi was also shown to be someone that can be said to have both the attitude and beliefs of the ancient samurai both in terms of her strong sense of honor and her strong sense of justice and was a strong believer in the fact that no matter how powerful one is their first responsibility is to protect the innocent from harm traits that I felt really suited Aoi. As a character, while Aoi is less skilled in leadership and planning that Tsukasa or at inventing tech as Ringo was Aoi was someone that was shown to be the perfect defender as her skill with the sword while considerable was also paired with Aoi’s strong desire to protect the innocent a combination that proved not just to be a potent one but also proved to be a perfect counter to the first serious threat that the seven faced within the world. At the same time with regards to Aoi, I was also particularly impressed by Aoi’s rather unique way of speaking as she makes use of a very formal method of speaking that I felt paired well with her focus as a swordswoman that’s based off the ancient Samurai.

Shinobu Sarutobi

Shinobu Sarutobi portrayed by new seiyuu Natsumi Hioka is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the seven geniuses that came to this world with Tsukasa to save it. A teenage girl who despite her young age is known widely among the world not just for her cute catchphrases but also for her prowess as a journalist for Shinobu is known throughout the world as the world’s top journalist that’s capable of gathering info on any subject and target within the world due to both her skills as a reporter as well as her ability to seemingly materialise out of nowhere to provide both timely info and advice an ability reminiscent of the ancient shinobi something that I felt matched well with Shinobu given her skill set. From her initial appearances, Shinobu is seen to be a positive, curious and surprisingly energetic person that’s shown to have boundless levels of energy and approaches her role as a spy/journalist with great enthusiasm. While most people that are transported to a parallel world may be dazed somewhat by the unique circumstances to which they find themselves in Shinobu was not just able to take things in stride but also be able to assume her new role as a spy in this new world relatively quickly showing not just her fast-thinking nature but also her confidence in her own skills for she was able to easily convert them to suit her newfound station.

While her positive and often overly enthusiastic approach to her work may give the impression that she was a rash person it can be seen that rather the opposite is true for Shinobu was someone that was not just intelligent but also a calm and perceptive person that was well versed at not just determining the best sources of intel within a given area or situation but also able to perceive minute irregularities within an area as shown during her infiltration of Gustav’s home territory. While the members of the seven can be said to be one that operates as a unit Shinobu true to her mannerisms as a shinobi was someone that was seen to prefer to operate solo when on the field not because she was averse to being with the others but because she determined that by being alone she was able to get more things done faster while still remaining a potent source of info for her friends a result that is shown well within the series in the amount of detailed info that she was able to provide the team that allowed them to neutralise many of the enemy’s attacks. As a character, I felt that Shinobu was an interesting one as while her role as a journalist/shinobi was one that presented her with arguably the most danger she was able to not just take these in stride by masking it with her positive and teasing nature but also help secure many notable victories that aided her fellows. This contrast between her base nature and her vital but dangerous role within the story I felt suited her perfectly and served to make her one of my favourites.

AMV

In terms of animation, I felt that the individual character designs for both the seven and the people that they encountered within the new world were both well designed and showed some great variety. While the designs for the seven did well to reflect their chosen fields within their former world the character designs for the people reflected not just their social class but also their relationships with the rulers of the world on a social level. However while effective at their given role I felt that the main highlight of the series animation was on the tech advancement that the seven embarked on within the series with it doing particularly well in showing the various advancements that have been introduced whether they were advanced tools that aided the people in their lives or weapons tech that allowed the people to defend their newfound freedom from the nobility. In terms of locations and terrain variety while the series did feature a good mix of locations in which the seven began their social uprising that was paired with some unique quirks with notable examples being the lords castle that represented both oppression and retribution and Gustav’s town that represented false promises I felt that the locations featured were rather too standard and I felt that a greater variety of locations could have been used that would have allowed more expansion into the world’s social class. In terms of music, the series made use of one opening and ending theme which was Hajimete no Kakumei that was performed by Dialogue and Dear my distance by the popular up and coming seiyuu singer Akari Kitou. The former I felt gave the impression of both an unforgettable adventure to a new world with friends that will not only allow them to meet dangerous beasts but also encounter the same conditions in which all of them trained so hard to help eliminate as well as an opportunity to not just save but also help change the very social fabric of the new world by working together with not just themselves but with their newfound allies as well. In the case of the latter, I felt that in terms of feelings it provoked one of both finalities and of bonds that have been both formed and strengthened as a result of the adventures that had been shared together.

In terms of voice acting, I felt that overall the series main voice cast all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters. While this series like most animes these days featured a core cast of both veterans and new seiyuu’s I felt that due to the character roles within the series that many of the new faces were not just given an excellent opportunity to show the rewards of their labours but also get the opportunity to learn from the many veterans within the cast. In particular, I felt that Yuusuke Kobayashi, Rina Hidaka, Sayaka Kaneko, and Natsumi Hioka all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters of Tsukasa, Ringo, Aoi and Shinobu respectively. Natsumi’s portrayal of Shinobu in particular I felt deserve special praise as I felt that her unique voice paired especially well with Shinobu’s ninja and cat-like mannerisms.

Overall conclusion

In overall High School Prodigies have it easy even in another world was an anime that I really enjoyed and was definitely one of the more interesting anime’s that aired this season. Its main strong points, in my opinion, was its unique premise, excellent story, well designed and developed core cast, excellent voice acting and its focus on using multi-vector strategies so as to deal with the trials that the team comes across within the series.

The overall story and premise of the series in my opinion was one of the main highlights of the series and was one that I felt made excellent use of both the Isekai genre as a whole as well as the unique premise that comes from taking seven geniuses from the modern world and transporting them to a parallel one that was not just leagues behind them in terms of tech level but also is one that is battling the same kind of problems that the seven had worked so hard to eliminate within their own. As a genre the Isekai is perhaps one of the most popular ones within the anime industry due largely to its ease of use by both authors and animation studios but whereas the most common formula for such a series is to make use of the solo hero story type that follows the rise of a hero as they change the world with the support of their friends in the case of high schools it is different. What made High school prodigies different in my eyes was the fact that unlike its counterparts within the genre High school prodigies did not feature just one hero as its main character but rather it actually had seven people each while powerful in their own right and masters of their own respective fields were nonetheless confronted with both a task that was beyond their skills as one person but also one that required them to work with their friends in order to invoke a change that they all so wish to desire within the new world in which they find themselves in. While itself an almost impossible task I felt that the method in which the series overall story took to allow the team to instill change within the series was an excellent one that while making use of each of the seven’s unique skill sets to push back the corrupt nobility that held power within the world also did well to reflect that social advancement is not just about pushing evildoers back but also about giving the people both the power and knowledge that they have lacked to not only live their lives the way in which they desire but also have the means to defend what is precious to them as well. In this, I was particularly impressed with the fact that while Tsukasa and his friends sought to change the very social fabric of the world through both the promotion of democracy, fair rights and powerful tools and knowledge that served to improve the quality of life of its people it was done in a way that feels natural in terms of world consistently due largely to the fact that this advancement is done so via the introduction of a new religion that promotes this in the form of the seven-star faith that amusingly enough has Akatsuki as its god. While serving as an effective method in which to spread its teachings among the people of the land I felt that this also served well to show that while the seven’s skills made them formidable opponents for their enemies whether on a social, economic or military level even they cannot hope to change the world without the help of the people of this world and reinforcing the series overall theme that whether it’s the seven or their friends and allies that they are all working together to tear down the unfairness that has been plaguing this world and making it hell for those that call it home.

Overall High school Prodigies I felt was an interesting anime that featured as its main strong points a unique premise, excellent story, characters and voice acting that was paired with some rather interesting themes that are rarely found within anime’s that served to make it one of the more interesting ones this season. However, I felt that its lack of an effective central villain that could match wits and intelligence with Tsukasa and the seven made the seven’s victories rather too easy with the magic knight Gustav providing an effective but brief trial for the seven to overcome while his fellow general within the empire while certainly more cunning and intelligent than Gustav was appeared too late within the series to have much of an impact on the overall story . At the same time while the seven were more or less represented equally within the series I felt that not all of them were expanded enough to make them effective characters with Akatsuki and Keine being the best examples of this. I for one would have liked to see the kind of effects that Keine a renowned doctor within the modern world would have had on the healthcare and medical infrastructure of this new world. Overall as a final score, I would say that High School prodigies easily deserve a score of 8/10.

This anime caught my eye early on in the season, and initially, I felt like it might be more of a unique Isekai, based on the fact that seven geniuses from earth, were transported to another world. I thought, that this anime would have an interesting spin on it, because of the fact that characters transported, would have such a vast knowledge of something completely foreign to the inhabitants of this new world, and for a while, it did.

For my money, the most interesting part of the entire anime was the early episodes following "merchant." Due largely in part, because of the way he ... was able to quickly raise money in a world, where the concept of business was non-existent, it was fun to watch him basically take out the big shot that was controlling most of the money in this world

After this though, I felt like this turned into such a normal Isekai. Fighting, people using their powers to win, the whole nine yards. With the exception of "Doctor" and Ringo, down the stretch, there wasn't really any insane exploitation by the Seven Lights Faith, in terms of turning the world on its head. Doctor was able to cure injuries and illnesses which were beyond the people of this world, and Ringo, was able to single handedly build and invent defense systems, but otherwise, the other characters left a lot to be desired.

The magician acted as the face of this new religion, but, aside from a few things here and there, he was relatively lax throughout, outside of being a mysterious figurehead.

Shinobu or Ninja, more or less acted as a spy the whole show, and despite being a ninja, she didn't seem all that gifted in terms of combat. Samurai, on the other hand, had her fair share of cool moments, but still didn't seem that crazy when all the fighting began.

And then you have the president. who knows how to talk, and is a natural born leader. For the one in charge of everything though, he felt very underwhelming, but, maybe that was the point. His strength comes in the fact that he knows how to use people, and bring out the best in his team.

In the last episode, they hinted at the potential of a second season, to which I'll say, I'll watch. This wasn't a bad anime by any stretch, I just thought it had more potential than what they got out of it. Not that I dislike good ol' fashioned combat and fighting, I just don't think that was the particular strong suit of this anime. I give it a 7/10

So, this series started as completely appalling: a bunch of teenagers with absurd, godlike powers are transported to a world of magic, dumb fanservice and overly-convenient plot points. Everything and everyone is an incarnation of some tired isekai trope, but still probably how OP and kitsch the main characters are is the greatest sin – it's like each of them was another version of Deathmarch protagonist, just without any logical explanation for their world-breaking abilities outside of them being "prodigies". It goes to the levels of a swordswoman running faster than a missile, a dcotor treating someone mauled to death by a beast to health ... in 15 minutes and the engineer producing an WMD out of her ass – all just being "skills" of a normal human, apparently.

But then, beyond that idiotic premise and introduction, I've started enjoying it... Mostly because it features a fairly cool storyline of a confrontation between the seven prodigies and the insane regime governing the world they were isekai'd into. It's absolutely insane, but I kind of liked the means they use to fight it, with manipulative politics and modern technology to counter the Empire's magic and its reliance on fear. Also, the prodigies start to show flaws at this point, for example the doctor getting some really creepy and interesting scenes. It's still quite dumb and inconsistent, but in an amusing way. It's exactly the trashy charm that makes those cheaper isekais fun to watch and it's a bit of a shame that the opening of the show was so poor. It's also decently-produced, unlike some of the last season's isekais, making it a reasonable timewaster – not a good series by any definition, but an enjoyable-enough one if you know what you're getting into.