Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja

I'm making this review because i just wanted to recommend that those interested in this anime read the manga as a lot of the story is skipped and we only get a few details in the anime, more specifically episode 1 adds story details dedicating a full episode to it, it's not as detailed in the manga, and in fact the manga doesn't even show the story it starts in the battle where Danblf is killing the demons but it's only that part, its very short. In episode 2 and 3 so much information is just skipped, as of writing this episode 3 is the ... latest, it's just trying to summarise everything and it is not good at all in my opinion, you won't be able to really understand the story or even enjoy it unless you read the manga.

Generic. That's a word your going to see a lot in this review because that perfectly describes it.

Going into the season this was honestly one of my most anticipated shows. I had discovered this show when I had just finished reading “The boy who cried wolf tells a lie today also”(which to this date is one of my favorite manga) which got me a bit interested in the Gender Bender genre. The premise for this show sounded intriguing and I was excited to see what it had to offer. As you might have guessed I was disappointed with the result.

The show makes little ... to no attempt to take advantage of its Gender Bender gimmick. It's mainly used to help hide the MC’s identity which he didn’t have to be gender-bent to do anyways. Other than that it's just used for some bad fanservice scenes. Added to the fact that it’s really just complete generic.

Art:3
If you didn’t know already this show uses CGI. It's not good CGI like some other shows have either. It’s just really bad CGI. It's clunky and looks super awkward for the most part. Even without the CGI, the art in this show is just so bland. It does nothing to try and catch your eye. The character designs are also bland. None of them are really bad but none of them are good either.

Sound:5
For the most part, there was either an awkward silence or just are really generic music track playing. Nothing was really memorable at all. The voice acting was fine but not really anything special. The Op and Ed were pretty nice tho. But in the end, they aren’t anything special either. Just overall very generic

Characters:3
I usually find my main source of enjoyment in anime to be the characters. A good cast of characters can bring a show up from a 6 to a 9 to me. This show just didn’t have it. The only characters that I even remembered besides the MC were the MC’s maid and this weird girl who was a pervert to the MC and was in like 2 episodes. The characters are just so generic so they ended up being super forgettable. I know I have been using the word generic a lot but there really is no better way to describe the characters and really the show as a whole.

Story:4
There is no story. If there was a story I just failed to notice it. The majority of the show just consisted of the MC doing various miscellaneous tasks. Then showing other people his op skills which was almost always some sort of CGI monster. I'm honestly fine if a show is like this. This season's “In the Land of Leadale” pretty much did the exact same thing. But that show had lots of other things that made me interested and enjoy the show. This one simply did not.

Enjoyment:6
It was sometimes entertaining to watch. But honestly watching any other anime you usually give me more enjoyment. There were some nice scenes but it was usually outweighed by the show having a whole bunch of nothing to offer.

I honestly don’t really mind shows that are generic too much. Normally a show like this would be around a 6 for me. What was really disappointing is that this show could have been so much more. I think the perfect way to show what the show could have done is to compare it to fellow winter 2022 shows “Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout” and “In the Land of Leadale” which are fellow gender bender and VR MMORPG Isekai respectively. I honestly don’t think either of these two anime are all that amazing. But they play their respective roles so much better than this show does.

Starting with “Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout”. This show is generic in every possible aspect except with the Genderbender aspect. Unlike this show, it takes full advantage of it. Almost every joke in Fantasy Knockout is based on the gender-bent character. Sometimes it does get old but it has likable characters and great production values to back it up. Something that this show lacks completely. Even the way they travel is affected by the gender-bend. The majority of the obstacles and enemies they face are only there because of one of the gender-bent dude. By doing all this the show ends up transforming from something generic to something completely unique.

Going to the VR MMORPG aspect side. “In the Land of Leadale” also does a much better job than this show. Like this show, the VR MMORPG is used as the source of the MC’s op powers but it's also used to introduce the protagonist's children. Her children serve as the main focus in the earlier episodes and there are lots of wholesome interactions with them. They also have something that this show lacks: Personality. It gave me reasons to care about the show. It also was pretty easy to understand what Leadale was about and what it was trying to be. On the other hand, I am honestly not sure what this show was trying to do.

I haven’t read the light novel but I’m sure that it's much better than the anime. Defiantly in the art aspect just by looking at some of the illustrations. If you for some reason still have interest in this show just read the light novel instead. Other than that just watch “Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout” or “In the Land of Leadale” instead.

Overall 5/10

Don’t waste your time on this.

There is a lot of good and bad about this show. More bad then good, but let's start on the positives first.

Art: 7 and Sound 6
The art style and it's whole world and character looks are it's best points. The only really iffy points, is the use of the CGI. While I'm not too bothered by it, it does look wonky. Mainly when everything else looks good. Colourful, and can be good looking when it's dark.You cannot go wrong with the art style, in any sense of the world. The same can be said for the sound in general. There is nothing wrong with any ... type of sound within the show. Those are the main good points.

Character and story; 5
The issue is more with the story in itself. While it seems harsh on the characters, but when the story in itself, is going one way, and one way only. Without having any tension there for a viewer to really get enjoyment out of, when it comes to a show like this. Not to mention the most boring opening episode of any seasonal I have ever seen. Which only got entertaining wen he turned into a girl, as the rest was just a sleeper of a show. but it's a shame. The worldbuilding, and plot is actually not that bad, it's more that with everything going swimmingly, and nothing goes wrong. It just feels eh as a result. It reminds me of the 8th son. If everything goes well, for a OP Isekai like. Whats to enjoy in terms of the story? Nothing I tell you. While the plotline has it's up and downs, it's ruined by that.

I've seen so many of these shows, and they're far clear of this show. While it's not a complete pigstie. But it's not worth the watch for now.

So I watched five episodes and wrote this review. Now I've seen all of it and while I at first I thought that writing a review after only seeing five episodes that perhaps it was a bit early to make a review of the series I have retained most of the old one.
Why is that, you ask? Well...

-- Story & Writing
The premise is pretty good and has the quality of being the kind of premise you can do quite a lot with. Not much is actually done with it, however. The writing is cookie cutter and bland with a bunch of the usual tropes. Not ... enough to be off putting, but also not enough to be engaging. Most of the time we either see characters talking about things that don't really further the plot or build upon relationships in any interesting way or we see the main character using powerful magic and techniques to quickly take out bad guys. Most of what is happening seem more like low level side quests, stuff someone would do when playing a game just to clean up some side quests they missed since the game was patched. And having an OP main character takes away a lot of the suspension and drama, leaving very little stuff left for a good story. Even the main battle at the end is kinda blasé with only a single moment where there is actual danger. It quickly passes though and then the MC just pulls out her ultimate attack and it's over. The premise that the MC has been turned into a girl is really only used for a few very low effort jokes and a handful of near-ecchi scenes.

-- Characters & Setting
The characters are pretty one-dimensional and forgettable. A lot of the time that should have been spent on developing the story is spent on character interaction, but the relationships don't really seem to evolve or deepen much. I get the feeling that there is a lot of potential in the characters and the world, but so far the show doesn't really use the good things it has going for it. It's as if the creators worked hard on making an interesting world and some template characters and then went to lunch and let the unpaid interns write the rest. Some characters work a bit better, but then again they're side characters that don't get a lot to do.

-- Animation & Style
Nothing to fault here, but also nothing of note. It's good enough, but nothing to remember. I quickly found myself forgetting about it, with one exception. At times there is some obvious 3D rendering being done and the clash between that style and the usual one is weird. For the most part the visuals are uninspired general fantasy stuff that could be inserted into any generic fantasy anime. It lacks identity, but it's servicable. Some summons and other magic are kinda nice, but that's as far as I'll go.

-- Music & Sound
Like the animation the sound and music department is also generic and forgettable. The opening and closing themes do what they should, but not one bit more. Not much to add more than that.

-- Conclusion
Episodes 1-5 could have been shortened down to one, same for episodes 4-10. This is pretty impressive for a show about being in a game where noone actually really develops or grows. The pacing is all over the place and as soon as something seems to become interesting the tension is relieved within a minute. Many scenes are complettely needless as then neither further the story nor build characters very well.
This isn't a bad anime by any means, but it fails to make me feel anything and I have the feeling I'll forget about it pretty quickly. If you like isekai anime with an OP main character than this is OK I suppose, but I think you need to be a fan of the genre to really enjoy it. After watching all 12 episodes I have decided I'll keep my rating at "average".

Story (3): "A powerful magician after mysteriously disappearing becomes a cute magician, who is still powerful. Now she has to search for her missing companions all over the world." You see, this sounds like the short description of the anime, but in truth the story revolves around this narrative with vague arguments about what happens or what happened. Don't expect there to be any more plot development than this.

Art (8): The design of the world, the characters and in general the visual aspects I liked a lot. Although there will come times when you will think that the plot really does not match the ... level of animation.

Sound (7): The voice actors do it well, their roles are understood and the background music conveys the emotion of the situations.

Characters (6): I can't say they're memorable or interesting but I can't say they're bad either. It should be noted at least that comedy rescues the personality of some, but makes others simply hateful.
From my point of view, there is no development in any main or secondary character, being mostly flat but nice.

Enjoyment (5): If you don't like typical isekai, you won't like this anime and although I watched it with a bit of anticipation, it ended up being monotonous. Visually pretty and relatively fun.

General (6): The humor of this series is decent, without being anything from another world or having any expectation between chapters other than an "epic battle" that, due to the power of the protagonist, ends in one. Although the aesthetic is beautiful, it falls short of its script and is bland.

There are standouts in every season. Good shows that faithfully adapt their source material or deliver on a concept. On the other hand, there are bad shows, incoherent messes or poor adaptations that blatantly serve as an advertisement for their source material. Then there are shows like Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja.

Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja (I will be referring to it as Double Kenja from now on) is neither a good or a bad show. Rather, it’s one of the many shows that air every season that barely leaves an impression and is forgotten as soon as it finishes airing.

That is ... Double Kenja’s biggest problem, it is neither good nor bad enough to stand out among an increasingly crowded field of mediocre shows, which makes reviewing it difficult.

But one can try. Double Kenja stars Dunbalf, a player within a VRMMO with an old man avatar who is hailed as one of strongest players in the game alongside a group of players known as the Nine Wise Mages. The show properly begins when Dunbalf one day wakes up with a new cute girl avatar, only to discover that thirty years have passed, the VRMMO has somehow become “real” and that the Nine Wise Mages have disappeared.

If you were expecting that the show would then explore how a VRMMO suddenly came to life and the psychological impact of thirty years in a game world, you clearly haven’t watched much isekai over the past five years. While Double Kenja technically doesn’t fall into the category of a traditional isekai it shares much of its tone, setting and overall style of the many cookie cutter isekai adaptations over the past five years. That includes the main character hardly caring about the fact that he’s now trapped in another world with no way back to his old life, the main character being overpowered, and a general sense of aimlessness. To give the show some credit, it at least doesn’t waste time engaging in tiresome harem antics like some many others in its genre.

At this point I’d talk about what happens in the show itself, but considering I’ve already forgotten most of it, it speaks to how unengaging the whole experience of watching the show was. The overarching plot of the show revolves around Dunbalf, who takes on the name of Mira in her new form and explains her powerful abilities as being the pupil of Dunbalf, being tasked to hunt down the missing members of the Nine Wise Mages in order to ward off a impending threat to the kingdom.

What follows are a series of average, forgettable vignettes with a number of side characters who fail to leave any impression. This overall lack of anything interesting happening plot wise is compounded by the mediocre art, animation and music, all of which fail to make up for the show’s plot failings. This show does stand out in having some of the worst CG in recent memory, with stiff models straight out of the early 2000s.

Overall, this is a show not worth wasting time on. It’s neither good nor bad enough to stand out or be remembered, and will be destined to join the increasingly large pool of throwaway light novel adaptations that fill out each anime season.

I don't believe I've ever had such a strong reaction to reading a piece of written literature as I've had towards Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja – or She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man as it's localized as.

Story

The story is much like any other isekai out there. The main difference is that we're getting a man who falls asleep playing a VR game, and wakes up as a little girl instead. That is, VR isekai with a hint of gender bender – although the relevancy of the gender bender-tag is arguably more for show. Our main character has no real goal of ... his own, and will not be having one for the entirety of the first two volumes. The vague goals that he does have, are solely that which are from errands given to him by his friends that he meets; as well as his personal, incredibly vague mission of: restore the image of summoners' in people's eyes. Early on, we get a hint that the demons, which have been thought to have been destroyed, are coming back and are planning something huge. The main character does meet and clash with said demons on a few occasions during the span of the two volumes. However, no further solid information about the obvious main plot will be revealed during this span. While many long running light novel series tends to be incredibly slow to build – the reason to which is fairly obvious, seeing as the author has to pad it out for content – this series feels especially slow to develop anything in the way of plot. Coupled with a world that feel artificial and hollow, the work offers little incentive to keep turning those pages.

Characters

There's, obviously, a strong contrast between how our former male gendered main character looks like, and our newly minted female gendered character looks like. We never get to see how the real-life Sakimori Kagami looks like, but we do get a grand look at how his legendary Danblf character looks like. Likewise, we will indeed be getting plenty of chances to see how every look and cranny (almost) of how his new character looks like – to a completely unnecessary level in fact.

Fan service

Considering how the rest of the writing are done, the fan service has stands out like a sore thumb as well.

Conclusion

This is a mediocre novel through and through. The story is not something for fans of gender bender-type stories, and it's certainly not for the even slightly "nit-picky" reader when it comes to story-logic consistency in writing. The author seems to have been torn between wiring a grand and serious fantasy adventure akin to Lord of the Rings, and your everyday typical "comedic" ecchi-sprinkled isekai, which in the end they have ultimately failed both. The illustrations aren't badly drawn per se, but the fan service, in relation to the story, are hard to appreciate. An alternative series to recommend to the casual fan of laid back isekai/fantasy, would be In the Land of Leadale, published by Yen Press. Although this series isn't a gender bender either, it does a far better job of at least delivering an enjoyable ride.

Overall:5/10 MEDIOCRE

TL;DR: If you already have an aversion to Isekai plots, then don't watch. The manga is better but not enough to give a strong recommendation. I will continue to read the manga, but drop the anime.

I will try to be as vague as possible to not spoil anything

When I originally started reading the manga for this series, I treated it as another popcorn manga that I didn't have to pay to much attention and just enjoy the ride. The characters, the stories, and the setting are nothing special just generically good/ok. A solid 7/10. But.... BUT.... The anime has omitted and slightly changed several key ... plot points that should have been brought up in the first 2 episodes based on the manga's plot so far. Though the thing that I am concerned about is a couple of those plots points become relevant later on in the manga, so my fear is that they are going to have to keep omitting things to where the story won't make any sense, or they will jam it in somewhere where it doesn't make sense to bring up said plot points. The other points are to help with world building which is usually why I will give most any Isekai a chance just because that aspect of storytelling intrigues me.

I had to re-watch 2 episodes because I thought I just spaced out when I was expecting key plot points to be dropped. It was very confusing.... and I am up to date on the bloody manga ffs....

Disclaimer: This being my first review there may be a few things that may be wrong and a lot of my views may not be unbiased and just on facts.

Review:

Overall thoughts:
This anime is mediocre at best but it is not painful to watch. nor is it just straight-up bad. It is clearly a low-budget anime that more than likely is gonna be used more as an advertisement for the manga. There is absolutely no tension, some mystery elements that are poorly done, and at least some comedy elements thrown in that are also very poorly done and never really hit the mark. That ... being said it is also the type of anime that you can just watch in an afternoon and be fine with it. It is isekai trash basically that never delves deeply into any theme and thus kinda sucks at what makes any story compelling or even fun.

TLDR: The plot on paper is good the execution is shoddy. Still enjoyable to me as I am easy to please but don't expect any uber attention grabbing moments. Lacks seriousness, but very light-hearted if that's what you like.

I think the whole premise of the story is interesting and intriguing on paper. You suddenly wake up in the video game you love not knowing when or why it happened, yet 30 years have passed and another friend of yours who plays was waiting for you the whole time. On top of which the other 7 players that you used to play with are missing which ... you have to find is another interesting storyline as well.

These two separate storylines could be cohesive as finding more players not just the seven could lead to info about what happened and how everyone started living and breathing the game in a literal sense came about, but the episodes severely lack this. Even episodes that seem to pertain to the main plot points lack anything substantial in progressing the story.

Overall, it is an anime that seems like the plot is really good and may have some interesting dark or serious moments but the anime's execution is very lighthearted and feels empty. As though, I was watching filler episodes.