Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu

Isekai by itself is a huge genre spanning lots of good and bad iterations, but parody series like KonoSuba's are really far and few in-between just to shake up the AniManga scene by sheer, pure undulated mockery of its tried-and-true genre of many sorts. And Kei Azumi's Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu is one of those works where strangely, there isn't any amount of hype and marketing prowess behind it. But if there's one thing I want to make it clear about this show, is that I can guarantee that this is one of the low-key better Isekai shows of the Summer season.

Rightaway, put off ... everything that you've seen of the same Isekai repetitive tropes, because Kei Azumi wants to make that point clear to us that this is a parody, first and foremost. Through the series' central MC Makoto Misumi, he is anything but your typical OP MC, anything and everything about him is for a reason. He isn't as good-looking as many others in their own series, gets ridiculed by those who summoned him to only then be banished to the farthest of lands to pick up his own pace, to then settle issues with "ugly-looking" species because Makoto is just that: he's ugly by his looks alone. Makoto is supposed to be branded as the titular hero, but the Goddess deity has no compassion and judged him as such to rid of his "ugly" existence to be capable of all languages except the human language. While the Goddess lacks all sympathy for Makoto, there's Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto (Tsukuyomi for short) the moon god to provide him with the basic essentials of being OP in another world just for survival reasons on his own adventure. On that note, it's really fascinating to see a parody series like this work so well, something that's different from the tried-and-tired regular "Demon Lords battle" or outrageously evil, revenge stories like Tensei Slime and Shield Hero.

The real reason behind Makoto's conviction is this: his parents are from the Isekai-ed fantasy world, so you can count this show as a reverse-Isekai of sorts. And going back to the fantasy world to seek answers for Makoto is neither easier said nor done, as mentioned that the Goddess pays no heed to Makoto to drive him off to the far wastelands of the world, and Makoto must find the answers by himself whilst travelling in lands uninhabitable. Thankfully, Makoto's not alone in this gruelling "task" of a mission. The characters in Tsukimichi drive the show's world and nation-building narrative to areas unforeseen, and with the monster "overlord" heroines of the dragon kind (Tomoe) and a somewhat comical psychotic yandere of a spider demon (Mio), together with the backing of the "ugly" orc race that Makoto first met (under the charge of Emma), Makoto's long journey to trace the remains of his familial roots. Honestly though, every single one of these characters shown in Tsukimichi, whether they are Makoto's memory reincarnations or purely inhabitants of the fantasy world, they're amusing and amazing to see (not because of the ugliness, mind you). I like how as much as both Tomoe and Mio are constantly thirsty for Makoto's affection with absolutely no hints of fanservice at all, try to mess with these power-laden girls, and you have trouble incoming to the point of struggling between life and death. At most times, Tsukimichi strikes the perfect balance between comedy and action, so there's some semblance of uniqueness right there with the comedic awkwardness and moments of turmoil, such a good time of enjoyment.

Weirdly enough, studio C2C doesn't a reputation for producing action shows, with the closest reference being 2017's co-production with Satelight on SukaSuka (y'know, that obscenely long title). While the adventure and fantasy genres go hand-in-hand being the studio's current production bread-and-butter landscape, it's nice to see some action animation flex, even if it's not the best, and still manages to look as nice as it should be. It's typical Isekai production values done marginally decent.

Speaking of the music, I've never heard of syudou or Ezoshika Gourmet Club before, so if anything, these Anisong theme songs being the gateways to their music biography serves as a good eye opener. syudou's OP is a certified banger, but IMO I liked Ezoshika Gourmet Club's ED much better, and that comes with a growing repetitive listen and garnering interest since this Summer season felt very dry. And as you would expect of a typical Isekai show, it checks all the right boxes and served good complements left and right.

This show to me, resembles the literary fairy tale of "The Ugly Duckling" in its ugly, yet "at the end of the tunnel" beautiful surrealism that I come out of Tsukimichi feeling satisfied, anf awaiting the sequel season in the future (to which the manga version of the LN is readily available to all for read continuation purposes). If you're looking for something very similar to KonoSuba, look no further than Tsukimichi for an alternative communal side of Isekai that's like Tensei Slime but without all of the action-heavy pizzazz.

An enjoyable isekai that makes you think of the good aspects of other shows. Imagine the comedy style of Konosuba, world building of Slime (on speedrun), power fantasy like Overlord, and a bit of dark aspects like Re:Zero.

The MC has a meme harem with a couple of waifus that have unique and quirky personalities. The plot progresses rapidly and the world is established quickly. Supporting characters are added to the story without having to wait a full "arc" on them.

Production wise, the animation has good quality, the art style is nice, the character designs feel unique and you can perceive the artists put a lot ... of attention to details. OP and ED songs fit the show nicely as well.

If I had to be nit-picky, my only grips with the show were that the running gag of the MC considering himself "unlucky" (in a world where he's basically revered as a god) dragged for too long and perhaps that the dark aspects could have been explored deeper. Maybe next season?

Overall, despite using tropes that we've seen before, it still managed to feel refreshing by combining them in an original way. It seems to take the nice aspects of those tropes, while leaving outside the boring and cringe low quality features we're sadly given constantly in seasonal shows (like bland MCs, harem-filler dull waifus, pedo pandering content, etc).

Looking forward to next season!

Isekai parody can be huge, some of us already know why,

Plot : reverse isekai + isekai since some of the MC family is actually from the isekai world you will know when you watch the first episode what I meant. It is more light-hearted and fun and adopts from major isekai hits for example the MC is put on a pedestal by his people like slime, the MC is overpowered and has similar overpowered subordinates as in overlord, He is given the short end of the stick when it comes to abilities like in shield hero , And the girls seem like they would be ... an HIT in KONOsuba.the end goal is also very much better than most isekai ie its not defeating evil or demon lord or some shit , its just to trace the movements of his family (some of who are from this world )

Characters : the only redeeming factor since the story thus far hasn't taken shape, they are beautiful , quirky , funny and full of flaws xD. The main girls clearly resemble the Konosuba girls and you can tell.

VA: Not much to comment on a lot of popular VA sare in this one especially the orc girl and they haven't had a chance to show off yet

Animation and art:It can go to the standard Isekai power fantasy level but not as high as Mushoku tensei . but definitely no CGI like overlord xD. The fantasy world is nice and has all the standard D&D races beautifully drawn to look as they would be expected to look.

I LOVE THE OP Its totally my type.





Come on if you are visiting this one you already have heard of (if not seen) konosuba?

This is something you can watch while we wait for the new konosuba anime project to come out, since it has been announced. And honestly you might even find a new isekai parody favorite with this one it's great :D

Tsukimichi is a very messy anime. Yet, it works. It's funny, it's enjoyable, it has good twists on the tropes in it and relatable characters. It's actually pretty damn good. The only complain I have would be the possessive harem trope, which I really hate, but that's not such a big problem given all the good parts about it.

The premise sounds interesting, and altough it's not really something new since it's more like a mashup of tropes with ocasional twists, it isn't boring at all and it actually lives up to the expectations. The MC ends up in a different world (yet not after dying, ... like the usual), but the goddess of the world in question ends up hating him and trying to torment him because he's "ugly". She sends him in a deserted place full of monsters only, and he has to work his way from there on his own to find humans (they won't accept him anyway, so his main companions end up being non-humans).

What I really appreciate in this anime is the good comedy, good story, good use of the mainstream elements and interesting character(s?). I'm not sure if I can really say that a lot of characters were actually interesting, but the MC and the (former) skeleton guy sure were. Speaking of which, the main charcter was also way more relatable and funny than most of the characters in isekai anime, and he didn't need to be a pervert that only dreams about fucking lolis (or women with big boobs) for that. See, it's not impossible! (altough saying that would be invalidating some big titles that also achieved this, but well... the bar is low so I had to).

I have to say, comedy part aside, it also got me enjoying myself big time from the story. It has a good pace, not always rushing into action, yet not leting the show become boring either. It's also kinda chill, so you're not always on your toes to see what happens next. They show the MC's nation's development troughly along with his own development and growth, yet, as the same time, not forgetting to let us see a little bit of a fight there and there (should have said this the other way, the fights are the highlight lol). Well, fact is they handled it well.

The only other "complain" would be the OP, which I don't think suited the anime at all. I didn't like it either, but that's subjective.

At the end of the day tho, a great anime. Give it a try.

Countless isekais have been pumped out of the anime industry over the years, and this is no exception.

This anime includes:
Overpowered main character: ✓
Heroines that are also slightly overpowered: ✓
Moe and dere: ✓
Saving lolis: ✓
Making monsters into cute anime girls: ✓
Gods and deities: ✓

... This anime does not include:
Truck kun: 𐄂
Ridiculous amount of fanservice: 𐄂


Now to the real review (May include very minor spoilers)
Story: 7/10
This anime as said follows the isekai formula very closely, however it has its own twist and turns. Overall the plot is very simple and some messages are unclear.

Art: 5/10
The art and animation isn't bad nor is it good. Its just your're generic art style.

Character: 7/10
There isn't much depth yet to the characters nor would I expect depth to them, however this doesn't make it bad. The characters are funny and relatable. And most importantly the characters are unique to other series. They have characteristics that no other major characters have bringing a wide variety of jokes and action.

Enjoyment: 9/10
I really enjoyed this series and I am genuinely surprised.

"Tsuki ga MIDchi" (Anime Onlys)
Butchered. C2C's adaptation here just doesn't cut it for what the author deserved.

The Big Problem - How the Plot and pacing was handled.

If you watch it for yourself, read the reviews or even read some of the source material, the general sentiment is that, the show's best moments lack emphasis, or any staying power. 12 episodes were simply not enough to flesh out the breadth and depth of this story.

The pacing is just awful. Too fast, too many cuts too many plot points left hanging unexplained. Poor pacing breaks the golden immersion factor. The type of captivation which abducts the ... viewer forcing them endlessly through scores of episodes. The best examples for me are shows like FMAB, or Death note. Which I finished over 2 days, completely neglecting the outside world.

It's so bad it just makes moments seem empty which were meant to move you, There seems to be holes in the story where things feel like they should have occurred. They move from one traumatic scene to another, completely anti-climatically. The emotion borne from long stretches of well written conflict that keep you captivated are just lost to advance the story. Some of these half episode scenes, needed a full episode or perhaps 2 to truly do justice to the plot. There are character developments completely absent which left me puzzled upon being introduced to certain scenes.

Simply put,
12 episodes are not enough for the Arcs they intended to animate. They needed perhaps double that amount or more.

There are so many interesting plot devices used but wasted due to not enough time or tact to allow them to blossom.

I'm reading around that they skipped a lot of the meat in the manga/LN to cover the all the Arcs they wanted, Important character development removed. A lot of this stuff blossoms in anime when done well, but they did their own thing not respecting the chronology of the source. It's a shame that they made such decisions.

I'm very fond of their other works but this, to me, had the greatest potential. The poor overarching direction ruined it. Nevertheless comedy of the show still retains most of the author's original charm.

Broken but still works - Characters

The MC is very enjoyable his potential development looks to be enthralling, somewhat logical. It's a proper character done aptly, however there are some abrupt incoherent changes in character, but this didn't ruin the experience for me. Pivotal flashbacks are left out which explain his character more cogently, in favor of worthless fanservice flashbacks. These flashbacks arouse a spark in a relationship which makes zero sense. He also constantly apologizes for something that no one should ever apologize for, it's rather annoying to be honest. It provokes unpleasant memories of some of the detestable omnibenevolent garbage isekai MCs that we have received so frequently from other works. It never ever reaches that territory, thankfully.

With the other characters, while they're quite believable overall there's again a lack of consistency. Important moments and dialogues are left out to jampack the experience inside of 12 episodes. General soundness of their behavior is absent. There certain outbursts stitched in an attempt to salvage the broken plot.

Decent - Sound

They fill most of the experience with ample music and sound design. There's not much dead air in the show. Of course dead air can do wonders for immersion in special moments but it wasn't utilized here.

The soundtrack isn't Fate, It isn't AOT, it isn't Eminence in the Shadow. But it does the job, enhancing the general experience of the show.

C2C's standard but no greater - Animation.

C2C delivers very good animation, this is one of the show's strong points. They really give the fight scenes and general movement some attention to detail, so much so, that he sound design tends to lag behind it.

If I have any complaints, it's about how the story butchers the coherency of the fights.  The fights come out of no where clearly shoehorned in to try to appease the viewer but it doesn't work. You don't even understand some of the fights properly, the intensity of the fights is traded for comedic value which just destroys immersion and blocks any sort of phenomena from developing.

Towards the end of S1 the fights and special moments just are devoid of any underscoring there's almost no weight or impact felt after the fact. While, this is more a problem of pacing and the story, it lacked a lot of the spark that makes them memorable and replayable. Especially the grand fight in E12, it's hard to understand any of it, the choreography doesn't give you a good sense of positional awareness the villains seem out of their depth and out of place. Well to be honest, the last fight shouldn't have been here altogether. Without significant explaining of the events which were skipped through and cut out, the whole thing becomes lacklustre.

An example of this done almost perfectly is Tensei shittara Slime Season 2 Part 1. Where there was a slow but careful build-up of Plot and Characters through episodes of clever and engaging dialogue which allowed you to understand the nature and motives of the important conflicts at the end of the season. Though some may find this boring, many others revere it. This kind of direction magnifies the gravity of the experience, making it memorable and thoroughly satisfying. There was care in following the chronology of the manga so it was all understood fairly well. Slime's success is a testament to the fruits of good direction.

Conclusion

I don't think it's a mistake, C2C probably expected to do only a single season of 12 episodes so they chopped up the product after underestimating it's scope.

Pacing.
This is mistake is common within the Industry. I have never dropped a series because it dragged on too long. If the Author wrote those events into the original, they must at least try to adapt it. Of course you can never do a 1-1 adaptation certain changes must be made according to the type of medium. Certain things work better in anime than in written form. The writers source material must be respected, If you skip over parts you must fully flesh out what is remaining. Then cover the skipped parts in an OVA or the next season. The type of person who is bored by your work it's in entirety, won't be fruitful for you in a chopped up form.

At this point if you're an anime-only. I think it's time to retire that position.
There are an ocean butchered works and it keeps getting deeper. The best way you can experience these creative pieces, is by reading the source and then watching the anime for the best moments. Only a few shows get legendary 9/10 and 10/10 adaptations.

The editors/directors constantly underestimate the source material, disrespecting it and warping the message and lessons conveyed through the narrative. They focus on money-making tactics like fan-service, injecting in fights well before their time, cutting development in favor what they perceive as more fruitful for their wallets. Speeding through the content like it's a summary. It's utterly infuriating if you took any interest in the source.

I recommend you Read the manga or Light novel.
If you don't care for those mediums then, perhaps pick this up as one of the mid-tier isekai anime experiences. Only watch it after you have watched all the better isekai out there.

Obviously this season hasn't gone as well as they hoped so consequently S2 has been passed on to JC.Staff a company with a lot more experience. Works like Toaru, Dan-Machi, Niehime(underrated), Kono-Suba, Bakuman, Saiki Kusuo etc. So a company which may show better competence here. JC are apparently doing a 2-cour (20-24 episodes) for Season 2 so it may drastically improve on this.

If the story intrigues you, I recommend not waiting for S2 and jumping straight into the Manga/LN to experience the tale told at it's best. I won't give you a jump off point. Just start from the beginning as you have missed a lot of the content told within each chapter which properly explain the events.

Final Rankings

Sound 7/10
Animation 7/10
Story 5/10 Manga (9/10)
Characters 7/10 Manga (9/10)
Enjoyment 7/10 Manga (9/10)
34/50- = 6.8/10 = Anime 7/10 Manga(9/10)

Hope this helps.

Normally I wouldn't be too fond of these types of shows. But there is just something about this, that has it's own charm. Hell, the description of the show, honestly gave me a fair few laughs. While it still follows certain Isekai tropes, it's still pretty fun in it's own right. If you're looking for that kind of show, then this might be for you!

The story is basically the main interest of this show, which really drives it. After all, this isn't some quest to fight the demon lord at the end, Imagine being moved here, only to be kicked away cause of your looks. ... Only to pick up some fucking weirdos along the way, as you push on forward through your journey, but with mountains of issues piling up, stopping you in your tracks and make you go about it differently. That's basically a sum of the story, going off on your own adventure, after being cased away.

It reminds me of a mix of a more light toned Shield Hero, Slime Isekai, and Konosuba. Not all of it, but at least bits and pieces from each of those. As if the plot points, and how the characters interact, really show that in a better light then what describing words could do such within a review. Speaking of which, they pretty much carry the show. As if they basically just said to all of them to go have fun with it. The MC is far from bland, Tomoe is just out there and fun. While Mio seems like a crazy bitch, but can be more calm at times when she wants to. All tree are great characters, of which I can't wait to see more of.

The art style is great too. Being good when it needs to be in certain situations, such as when it's more light, or when it's more dark. Even the battles in the show look decently good animation wise. Some really good stuff for sure. Much like the sounds are, can't really put a foot wrong here, wonderful stuff.

If you're looking for a wild and fun show this season, this is surely one of them. Start watching now!

"Do the popular girls at your school reject you? Are you tired of this world not valuing your existence? Want to feel like a chad for a short while? Oh boy do we have a solution for you.
and you thought only Solo leveling can fit in that statement.

This anime follows pretty much the same setting as any other isekai and creates mildly entertaining scenario for the MC to keep getting new 'Strong' females for which the watcher/reader can insert themselves to get some wish fulfillment. I mean thats the only reason anime like this sells anyway.

IN terms of story, we have the same old isekai ... story.

IN terms of characters we have the same old characters from majority of isekai-harem, which follows pretty much the same traits i.e being a bit dense, happy go lucky and too innocent to know any better.

I just don't like when the writer tries to bait kids into liking stuff like this with women. Its not that explicit with ecchi which i respect but a dull story in the end.

I tried giving isekai genre a shot after a very long time and i guess i won't be coming back to isekai train for a long time.

tl;dr: An anime that’s a lot of fun but is moving really slowly in progressing or fleshing out anything of substance.

Tsukimichi is an isekai that’s plays with a lot of the standard tropes of the genre, though not quite to the point that it becomes a parody. The protagonist Misumi Makoto, in standard isekai fashion, was summoned by the goddess of another world to serve as a hero to fight against demons. However, upon the goddess actually seeing him, she calls him hideous and punts him off to the edge of the world. Thankfully, even though the goddess of the new world he arrived at ... turned out to be a bitch, the god of his old world had his back and gave Makoto all the power he could muster. That combined with a few other factors result in Makoto fitting quite well into the typical overpowered protagonist role you often see in the genre. As such, the anime is full of the standard scenes you would expect from such a protagonist, such as always appearing weak but shocking everyone in how powerful and capable he is.

As he journeys through the new world he finds himself in, he finds various allies. Most notably the two that he forms contracts with, Tomoe and Mio. Tomoe is a Greater Dragon with the power to manipulate memories, who upon examining Makoto’s memories quickly becomes enamored with period dramas and becomes a wannabe samurai. Mio is some sort of super spider that loves eating and getting hit, and seeing as Makoto is one of the few that’s strong enough to actually hurt her and apparently tastes quite good, she becomes his loyal servant. It should be noted that both of them turn into beautiful women that are incredibly in love with Makoto and aren’t afraid to show it, especially Mio with her constant jealousy. It should also be noted that while the two of them aren’t anywhere near as powerful as Makoto, they’re still incredibly powerful in the context of the world, and thus have a lot of overpowered moments of their own.

The plot of this season involves Makoto building up the demiplane, a subspace outside the bounds of the world that Tomoe can create that was originally small nothingness, but due to the power from her contract with Makoto turned into a vast forest with ecology resembling Earth’s. Makoto recruits a number of demi-human species to begin living there and ultimately plans to form a trading company that’ll set up trade with human cities. In the process he gets involved with various situations that have decent, though incredibly simplistic, plots. But what really carries the anime is the comedy that’s pretty constant and amusing throughout. There’s also some action, but other than the final battle, it’s played more for humor than for the actual action. Still, the last episode is pretty epic and felt like a good way to end the series.

While this anime is a pretty fun ride, what felt lacking was how it doesn’t really seem to have any depth, or at least not yet. The thing is that it does have a lot of aspects that seem to have a lot of complexity to them that it’ll likely tackle eventually. For example, it touches upon the themes of racism and religious zealotry resulting in bigotry against demi-humans but doesn’t really do much with them yet. There seems to be some deep seated trauma or complex in Makoto involving a girl from his old world named Hasegawa, but beyond showing that it exists nothing is really explained yet. Furthermore this seems to be a roadblock that’s preventing him from any relationship development with Tomoe or Mio either despite their best efforts so there’s no depth there either. There’s some major conflict starting up between the humans and demons, which is after all why Makoto was summoned to the new world in the first place, but that too is essentially just background noise for the most part without really being fleshed out at all. Now, slowly building up to things is perfectly fine and at an individual level I have no problem with the storyline taking it’s time to progress on any of these aspects, but holistically not moving anything at all results in things feeling somewhat hollow.

The art and animation are pretty solid. The character designs are for the most part just okay and pretty generic, but there are a few that stand out pretty well, mainly Tomoe and Mio’s. The OP has a great song and visuals, and the EDs are okay in both regards. The soundtrack works well enough but wasn’t particularly memorable.

tl;dr konosuba but worse. A lot worse.

There are a few tried and true formulations for a good isekai. For starters you can have an OP main character like Tensura or Overlord, relatively balanced MC with some special skill like Log Horizon or Danmachi, or a completely underpowered MC, like Konosuba or Kusoge. Your second choice is the difficulty, from pushovers such as Demon Academy Misfit to impossible difficulty like Grimgar and Re:Zero. And of course you choose overall tone of the show, then the size of your harem, those on a serious/comedy axis and a loner/ottoman axis. I digress.

In the first 10 seconds Tsukimichi tells ... you that it's unique. Let's examine this claim. In this show we have an OP MC, basically Rimuru but human. We don't have a lot of real challenge; most everything goes down easily when MC gets "serious" so somewhat like Kenja no Mago. We also see an odd focus on becoming a merchant/adventurer similar to Kamihiro. The two main harem girls are OP but also a royal pain so a hybrid of Konosuba and Slime Isekai.

All that to say Tsukimichi is simply an agglomeration of different tropes from existing isekai. That's not necessarily bad per se, but it's all mushed together so oddly. For example, the tone is lighthearted most of the time like Konosuba, but then you get these moments of slasher anime what with fingers getting chopped or people being killed in cold blood.

As far as plot goes, there really isn't any. MC is a hero called to save the world but is cast aside instead, like Shield Hero, so he decides to become a merchant??? instead like Kamihiro. It really feels like most episodes are just filler. There isn't a clear villain yet, nor a clear goal besides "learn more about parents."

Character development is not there. We start with somewhat clued in MC and cookie cutter side characters, and we finish with the same. Some moments you think that he's going to make an important character change but he just goes off and does more town building and ware selling.

Overall there really isn't much substance. It's not bad enough for me to say don't watch it, but it's also definitely not good enough to be on any must-watch list. It's just a Konosuba+ Slime Isekai + Shield Hero frankenstein's monster that didn't come to life.

You ever got into trouble at school and put into detention for something ludicrous? First phase is the denial, then comes the anger. That sort of reminds me of the reaction I got after watching Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu. Yes, this show is a ludicrous anime adaptation.

To the surprise of probably no one, Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu's anime announcement was about as inevitable as any other popular light novel in these years. Kei Azumi's light novel takes place in a fantasy world inspired by the endless isekai trend. Here, we have a boy named Makoto Misumi who gets summoned to a world by ... the God Tsukuyomi. After realizing his ugly appearance, he gets banished into a Wasteland realm. The catch is that Makoto is gifted with powerful abilities and it doesn't take long to start gaining companions. The most prominent of them is a dragon girl named Tomoe and the Black Spider of Calamity, Mio.

It appears from the start that Makoto has the average humble personality of an adventurer. There's nothing distingushing about his characteristics although his humbleness leads to gain Tomoe and Mio's trust. This form of trust quickly develops into affection as the two swears to serve him. Watching the three on their adventure almost translates to an JRG-like game with a party of members taking on quests together. The catch is that Makoto starts strong as a protagonist while his companions are also no short of being powerful in their own rights. A supposingly draw for the show is the relationship between these three. However, that ends up being a degrading experience for us. The fact is, these three lack any real chemistry. Makoto's naiveness holds back the trio's character relationship. When you see Mio fangirling over Makoto or expecting some sort of intimacy with him, he rejects it without even realizing. For a protagonist, Makoto is nothing short of being plain and uninteresting.

However, I am almost certain that the author had fun writing the series. You can see how playful the humor works with each episode while also adapting the fantasy drama you'd expect to find in isekai anime these days. Furthermore, the characters he adds such as Ema, Rinon, or Shiki adds some flavor in the show. These include Shiki's character debut that seems to come across as a meme (the 'oh no, he's hot!') or Ema's pig appearance. With each progressing episode, it became more and more obvious they wanted the show to be strictly a fantasy and ditch away its real world references. Does it succeed? From the surface, it looks like so but in reality, the world fiction is what you can find in just about any damn light novel you open these days.

So what does Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu have that other isekai anime lacks these days? Well, we do have a naive straightforward protagonist who takes everything for face value. But, the core relationship in the show isn't carried with a degree of solid writing. There's hardly any creative development between the main cast. I already mentioned about the fantasy world and it's nothing really distinguishable from others. Then, we have the God Tsukuyomi who was the one for Makoto's transportation to the fantasy world. As a divine being, we hardly learn about his main purpose in the show or his background. It appears the show just decided to drop the audience into the story just like the protagonist. It just wanted us to get started right away and absorb everything all at once. With just 12 episodes, it also shouldn't come as a surprise that the anime serves as an advertisement of the novels. Let's face it, the main material far exceeds in length than what we see on TV.

Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu is advertised as a fantasy isekai and the art style reflects as one. The promotional materials and character designs are what you'd expect for a cast of non-human characters. Tomoe has her dragon form who can become a busty woman with cyan hair. Then, there's Mio in a black silky yukata and sly attitude. When the two are near Makoto, they act as devoted companions who wants to please him physically and emotionally. Don't believe me? Just watch their expressions ranging from jealousy, embarassment, to anger. The fact is, if Makoto ever gets harmed in any way, you can expect hell to break loose. On the other hand, the show is incredibly straightforward to adapting Makoto as a plain-looking guy. He's not a hunk or has any princely characteristics. Physically, he looks like an average male with the same stoic look 24/7. And to me, his face lands a spot on a character list I want to punch this year.

I won't deny that the show is fun to watch for some giggles and popcorn entertainment. It didn't take itself seriously as it should and you shouldn't either. What did ultimately hold this anime back from being a success is the lackluster storytelling, its mediocre character cast, and a world that was made without much of a plan. Do I enjoy the anime? Sometimes. Do I recommend this show? Definitely not.

Recommendation: A solid comedy series for most of its runtime until one of the most ill-conceived dark twists you'll ever see burns an entire season's worth of goodwill in half an episode. Almost worth watching just to see what a mess the writer turns this thing into by the end of the season, but I can't actually recommend it just for that. Contains spoilers for the final 2 episodes

Story: Tsukimichi follows Makoto, an ordinary high school kid, as he is taken to a standard isekai fantasy world to fulfill a contract that his parents made with the goddess of that world when they ... went to the human world. Only the goddess decides that he is too ugly to be her champion and banishes him to the wasteland, where he picks up allies and harem members among the demi-human residents. And that's kind of the end of things. There is very little that can recognizably be called progression in this series. After being joined by his 2 monster wives, he kind of just fucks around, goes to a human town, starts a merchant shop, and just hangs out basically. There really isn't much going on, but it's reasonably fun and the characters are entertaining.

Then comes the 2nd to last episode, and you can skip down to the next section if you don't want spoilers, but it's impossible to talk about the problems with this series without getting into the details here. To give a very brief summary of events, a group of malicious adventurers comes to Makoto's city and try to rob his storehouses, setting off a chain of events that leads to one of his mana-absorbing rings exploding and killing a friendly orc and a Mini Me version of Tomoe. Makoto finds the woman responsible, and coldly cuts off both of her hands, then knifes her in the throat and watches her cough up blood until she dies. I have to emphasize that this is a COMEDY series with a tone similar to Konosuba up until the moment this scene happens. It is the single most jarring tone shift I have ever seen in television, only to be immediately followed up by an equally jarring tone shift right back to the banter and antics of Makoto and his monster wives like the murder scene never even happened just a few minutes later. There is no transition here whatsoever, it's straight back to goofball comedy after the commercial break. Frankly, I am stunned that any editor could let a writer do something like this to their own story. It is so mind-bogglingly pointless and edgy that it almost has to be seen to be believed. My only thought after watching the trainwreck unfold is "how could anyone write something like this and think it was good?" I have never turned on a show so fast and so hard in my life.

Audio/Visual: Solid VA work here all around, including a memorable turn as an orc from the angel-voiced Hayami Saori. I am not as positive on the music, which isn't that good overall and the OP specifically is simply bad. Visually, things are very inconsistent. There are some impressive looking effects during battles in the first and last episodes in particular, but the character designs aren't very good and middle section of the story looks cheap and is full of cut corners and low quality animation. It's obvious that they were working on a very limited budget and put their resources into a few showcase scenes, but the visuals of the rest of the series are unimpressive to say the least.

Characters: This is the strong point of the show. Makoto's samurai-obsessed dragon wife Tomoe carries this show in a lot of ways, she's highly entertaining and her various antics drive the show in a lot of ways. I am not as complimentary about Mio, Makoto's yandere spider wife. She isn't always bad and does have some funny moments, but more often she's annoying and her obsession with Makoto and being recognized as his girlfriend gets old very fast. Emma, the aforementioned angel-voiced orc, is really the highlight when she appears, but unfortunately she spends long stretches of the series on the sidelines since she stays behind in Makoto's city to run things while he's away. There are some decent secondary characters as well, but the series has a bad habit of introducing characters only for them to just leave without being part of the story at all. Presumably this is a pacing issue that results from trying to translate a very long light novel/web novel series into a 12 episode anime and these characters will be returning in the already-announced second season, but that doesn't make them feel any less superfluous when you watch the series.

Another Isekai anime where the protagonist is practically a God, he can do and destroy whatever he wants; after being summoned to another world because of his parents, he gains supreme abilities, but the Goddess considers Makoto ugly and banishes him to a desert region, where he begins his journey in this new world, after his encounter with Ema.

The protagonist is a character with superficial development, without any enemies that put him at risk, he also follows the cliche of the hero who arrives in the other world and builds his own city without any difficulty, and the harem that cannot be missed, with two ... beautiful waifus and other options available, Makoto is not interested in any of them and the interaction between them is terrible; the comic relief comes from the interaction between Tomoe and Mio, both super powerful, who fight over who will get Makoto first. The plots of the secondary characters are full of suspense and mystery, which in my opinion surpass the main plot, one of the reasons why my rating is reasonable.

For those who like animes without much development of the main character and full of cliches, you can add Tsukimichi to your collection; I'm only commenting on the anime, I haven't read the Light Novel; the visuals are beautiful, most of the scenes are full of details. Tomoe, Mio and Akina are part of the group of beautiful waifus, unfortunately for those who are looking for fan service and ecchi, they won't find it here. Many compare Tsukimichi to KonoSuba, I don't agree; you won't find the parody and humor of KonoSuba in Tsukimichi; in my opinion, there's nothing new in the anime, so I don't recommend it.

For context, I'm writing this after re-watching the series after watching the first half of the second series.
I will preface this by saying I like this anime overall however for Season 1 it is a poorly executed adaptation, so much so that Season 2 had to go back and try and fix many of the things that Season 1 messed up.

Overall the series is fun, it has interesting concepts that allow it to stay fresh and stand out from the masses, the characters are likable, however season 1 doesn't give enough time to develop them, this is a common issue with season 1, it doesn't ... give time to anything.

The story is horribly paced, everything is so rushed and even without reading the source material I can tell that huge amounts have been skipped over to 'save time' which is such a baffling decision by the studio as you need that development to give context to events within the story, in fact you can tell much of it was needed by the way Season 2 had to go back and put back in a lot of that missing context.
A Second season should exist to progress the story, not be there to fix the mistakes of the first season, and the fact that they are having to do this is a condemnation of the first season.
The problem is that story arcs seem to be condensed into single episodes, sometimes two episodes if you are lucky, the worst case of this is the ending where we go from Point B, to Point D, to Point H, to Point M, to Point W, to Point Z and every other letter in the alphabet is left out. I wish I was exaggerating but huge amounts are just cut out for no good reason.

Season 1 is a hot mess, it needed 24 episodes, or it needed to cover less material, it's not like they needed to get to a certain point in the story for Season 2, because as said, Season 2 spends a lot of time going back and filling in gaps.

With this anime, I like the world, I like the characters, I like the overall story (what butchered fragments remain) but it is hard to recommend Season 1 to the point that I almost feel like saying skip it and go straight to Season 2, however Season 1 still provides some context that is needed

After watching the first two episodes of this anime. I was like, "Oh this is getting pretty good" and decided to start reading the manga. I enjoyed the manga so much I caught up to it within 3 days. After a couple of months, I think, "Let's compare the anime and manga". Now, after giving it till episode 6, I regret that decision. Comparing a manga to an anime is usually a terrible idea since there is such a difference in what you can do with manga compared to an anime. But when it comes down to it. The storyline is very rushed between the ... manga and the anime. Some character development and scenes are rushed making it feel as if you aren't connecting with the characters and in some scenes, they change how OP Tsukimichi really is. If there's one I can remember of the top of my head, the red wasps from I think episode 5, were all killed in one shot in the manga. In the anime though, Tsukimichi shot them one by one. All in all, I am pretty sure you guys get this everywhere, read the manga. It is way better than this rushed adaptation.

Also please do reply with any rebuttals. I may not read them but if I see them I'll take your thoughts into consideration.

Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy is a isekai anime that tries to be different and eventually falls into incredibly predictable tropes. Don't get me wrong, this anime hasn't been bad, I just have a lot of issues with the writing that makes me lower the score from a 7/8 closer to a 5 or 6.

First and foremost, this anime, summed up, is just a Temu/Wish version of another isekai anime called "That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime". It is so blatant, that by episode 2 or 3, I immediately realized it. The plot follows the exact same structure down to a T, and it isn't ... shameless. Basically, it's just:
#1: Dude spawns into world
#2: Get's a dragon friend.
#3: Become really overpowered.
#4: Make a town
#5: Become so rich that you start making shops and start a trading company.

Originally, the premise was that the MC, Makoto, was transported to this world, and wanted to follow his parents footsteps and see what they did while they were there. Instead, that plot point has been forgotten, and the anime has just turned into TTIGRAAS but without the Slime.

To further shed light on this point, the monsters/races in the world are DIRECTLY the same, even the design and the jobs that they do. You've got orcs and ogres, humans, the water lizards, (I forget their name lmao) and something unique: spiders.

Anyway, overall, there are some things that I do like. I think the animation and visuals are nice. I like the SFX and music as well. Character design wise, the main characters stick out and you can tell who is supposed to be memorable, so that's good I guess.

However, the writing itself has so many flaws that I cannot let this anime go above a 6 as of now. I recommend watching TTIGRAAS instead of this anime. There aren't as many plot holes, there's more to the story, and it's just overall a more well-written and thought out anime compared to this.

Would I recommend this?
I mean maybe, it isn't exactly the worst.

Am I planning on watching S2?
I dunno. I don't have anything better to watch right now, so I guess.

Overall rating:
6.4/10

Loved it!! So very much so!
I stumbled upon this by accident so I went in without any expectations and goddamnit, it got me from episode 1! The world-building, power scaling, and power systems were brilliant. And props to Kei Azumi for giving the character the ability to name ad create variations of his own powers - thought that was a brilliant touch actually. Also loved how meta Makoto gets.. and how he trolls classic isekai tropes. But above all, my favorite thing about this anime is badass moments of my dude, Makoto dispensing kai, GODDAMN! And the fact that there's so few battle scenes of ... him showcasing his bad-assery makes it even more enjoyable cause it leaves you wanting more. Season 1 ends on such a high and badass note, I can't wait to see the second season. Truly can't recommend this one enough! By far one of my favorite isekai animes of all time right up there next to the likes of KonoSuba

Tl;dr I am both glad and frustrated to say that this series came out very well for what it is. You don't need to read the manga or LN to thoroughly enjoy this series.




Story: 7.
It's your typical Isekai trope setting but with the mind about what it is, taking itself seriously but still throwing jokes and gags at you. Our protagonist takes a dig at the setting being an isekai in the first 30 seconds of the first episode and the self aware but not 4th wall breaking serious humor doesn't fail to come at you right when it needs to. The ... author took the isekai trope and turned it on it's head giving you a kind of antihero who you won't mistake for a villain while pushing awkward tropes into escalating circumstances of their own making. Rip city of Zetsuya. But being a reader of both the manga and the LN, I'm acutely aware of what is missing from the series, a lot of it is character context or humor that fills out the personalities of the characters but that's just one of the restrictions of the Anime format, time is at a premium for a 24minute/12episode series so things are naturally going to get cut.

Art: 7.
C2C did a great job with the art direction, it's very similar to the manga and avoids falling into the basic, common, uninteresting designs that some series can fall prey to(lookin at you Realist Hero). As a long time Manga reader it took a bit for me to get use to some of the subtle differences but viewers going into this completely blind most likely wont notice anything odd.

Sound: 8.
C2C really did fantastic on this one with only a few minor places that just didn't sound right but those were very short and only happened once so it's not that big of a deal. Natsuki Hanae, Akira Kitou and Akane Sakura all perfectly fit their rolls with the only oddities in audio being when Tomoe and Mio are still in their Dragon and Spider forms. The audio mixing sounds odd but again, those are very brief moments so they don't hurt the series too much being there. And while the OP credit animation kinda gives away a large part of the content of the season, Gamble by Syudou is now a resident of my playlist.

Characters: 8.
Makoto Misumi, this guy is mostly mysteries obfuscated with a very rational person. Why is he so physically different from the rest of his family? How did his parents to get to earth from this other world? What about his monstrous magic power? This one actually gets an answer eventually. You watch him try to adjust to this new life as any high school boy would and end up forgetting how many unknowns make up this antihero.
Tomoe, her boredom finally ends when she has her first fight with Makoto. After which she takes up a subservient role to him, which really is just for show because her tomboyish nature has her running the show the majority of the time even though Makoto is suppose to be the one in charge. And her obsession with Japanese period dramas is so intense that Makoto eventually just straight up calls her a Weeaboo, which gave me a good laugh.
Mio, the almost yandere character. You can never really tell if she's more romantically interested in Makoto or if she's just hungry as her apatite and propensity to put literally anything into her mouth tends to obfuscate her motivations. Keeps her character interesting but eventually comes to classify her as a glutton(by Makoto) before anything else. But she's still playful enough to take Tomoe's challenges and chiding over levels and power.
Many many more characters, both already seen and yet to be seen but C2C did a really good job keeping their personalities intact in the transition to Anime.

Enjoyment: 8.
I went into this with an expectation based off reading the Manga and LN for a long time. Knowing what is going to happen doesn't really ruin a story for me if the story was good to begin with so often times when I'll go in reverse with Anime to Manga to LN(when applicable) but in this instance it was forward as was created. And I still find myself enjoying it quite a lot. even with what I know is missing, I still get that same enjoyment as I would with a new chapter of the books.

Overall: 8.
This series if given more time to fill out the story, 16-24 episodes, it could easily be a 9. But with the content I know was cut I can't really enjoy this as much as I do the literature, and still that doesn't stop me from enjoying it to the point where the VAs are now the head voices for when I read the series. It stands on it's own merit and doesn't actually need anything to supplement it and make it better. It lampoons the Isekai trope in a way that even people who are tired of the genre may enjoy more then expected and while it still could be better, but it really doesn't need to be. It's light and funny with a serious story and serious characters. Solid recommendation.

Behold the cosmic spectacle of Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu, a realm where the mundane meets the marvelous in a whirlwind of isekai enchantment!

Picture this: our protagonist is not your typical chiseled hero but the epitome of... aesthetically challenged. Yes, he's the diamond in the rough, banished to the fringes of the realm with a band of merry demi-humans.

But fear not, for in this tale, our hero doesn't wield swords or summon thunderbolts; instead, he wields the power of... bureaucracy! He builds his little town secretly, rubbing elbows with monsters and forming contracts like a fantasy real estate mogul.

And let's talk about his harem, shall ... we? It's not your run-of-the-mill assortment of swooning maidens; it's a menagerie of formidable creatures that would make even the bravest knight quiver in his armor. The contracts they form are as amusing as they are... well, monstrous!

But here's the twist: despite the grandeur of the setting, our hero isn't out there duking it out with dragons or slaying demons left and right. Nope, he's more of a town planner, a city councilor in the making.

In the grand tapestry of anime, Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu may not be the shiniest gem in the treasure trove. Still, it's a hidden jewel waiting to be unearthed. While it may not set your soul ablaze with fiery passion, its quirky gimmicks elevate it from mediocrity.

So, on the Okabe scale of anime brilliance, I bestow a respectable 6 out of 10 upon it. It may not be the hero we deserve, but it's the hero we didn't know we needed!

The main character is an ordinary otaku high school student.
The main character is stronger than everyone else, has a harem.
The side characters are self-righteous, shameless, and brainless.
Events occur suddenly and the story lacks smoothness.
It's extremely boring and has clichéd comedy, with the music making the events even more tedious.

Ordinary event :
Bad Person: "I am a very evil being who has lived for hundreds of years; my magic is extremely powerful... Taste my magic."
MC: "Hmm, this magic doesn’t work on me because I’m immune, and so on..."
Bad Person: "Aaaahhhh, who is this, so powerful, it can’t be... (dies)"