Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!

For as long as he can remember, Minoru Kagenou has been fixated on becoming as strong as possible, which has led him to undertake all kinds of rigorous training. This wish, however, does not stem from a desire to be recognized by others; rather, Minoru does everything he can to blend in with the crowd. So, while pretending to be a completely average student during the day, he arms himself with a crowbar and ruthlessly thrashes local biker gangs at night. Yet when Minoru finds himself in a truck accident, his ambitions seemingly come to a sudden end. In his final moments, he laments his powerlessness—no matter how much he trained, there was nothing he could do to overcome his human limitations.

But instead of dying, Minoru reawakens as Cid, the second child of the noble Kagenou family, in another world—one where magic is commonplace. With the power he so desired finally within his grasp, he dons the moniker "Shadow" and establishes Shadow Garden: a group whose sole purpose is to combat the enigmatic Cult of Diablos, an organization born from Cid's imagination. However, as Shadow Garden grows in both membership and influence, it becomes increasingly apparent that the Cult of Diablos is not as fictional as Cid had intended.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Kagenou, Cid Main

Yamashita, Seiichirou Japanese

Delta Supporting

Fairouz Ai Japanese

Alpha Supporting

Seto, Asami Japanese

Beta Supporting

Minase, Inori Japanese

Kagenou, Claire Supporting

Hidaka, Rina Japanese

Midgar, Alexia Supporting

Hanazawa, Kana Japanese

Epsilon Supporting

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Gamma Supporting

Mimori, Suzuko Japanese

Aurora Supporting

Nazuka, Kaori Japanese

Zeta Supporting

Asai, Ayaka Japanese

Kikushima, Kazufumi Producer

Watase, Shouta Producer

Maruyama, Hajime Producer

Mizuguchi, Takeo Producer

Reviews

Jun 4, 2025

Turtezin

Recommended

I'm no stranger to isekai, action, fantasy, or comedy anime—and The Eminence in Shadow hits the mark across all of them. It delivers an overpowered main character, a harem, comedic twists, and an engaging storyline. The fact that it spans 20 episodes is a huge plus, giving time for world-building, deeper character exploration, and expanding the lore beyond surface-level tropes.

What really makes this anime stand out is that, even if you removed the comedic elements, the core fantasy narrative would still hold strong. It's not shallow or generic—there’s substance behind the humor. And while some comedic moments might border on cringe, they usually land well, ... especially on a rewatch.

Despite being nearly three years old, the anime still looks great. The visuals hold up well, and the variety in locations keeps things fresh. Compared to other isekai series, the art direction is definitely above average.

Overall, I’ve rewatched The Eminence in Shadow two—maybe even three—times, and each time it’s been a fun ride. I can confidently recommend it to fans of the genre looking for something that balances absurdity with real narrative weight.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 17, 2025

xptify

Mixed Feelings

On the isekai tier list, its safe to put this in low B, high C. No, this does not have the most interesting plot, nor the best animation. What it does have is a few peak moments, a little bit of solid comedy, and a main character who actively tries to not be the main character.
What is dislike is that the uniqueness gets heavily outweighed by the genericness. Harem of females, all with generic personalities. Extremely OP main character where literally no one else stands a chance. And the same 3-4 things happen everytime a new "arc" starts. Worth the watch? Yes. But you ... watch this to quench your thirst for comedic, power fantasy, not to question your life and search the wiki for hours on end.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 20, 2025

owogirll

Not Recommended

Disgusting. Just gooner anime. I finished it by force There's too much fan service and the story is empty. The main character is just good
so overrated I do not recommend .People argue about whether this is a parody, a deconstruction, or just bad. Here's the basic premise from the first few episodes.A kid with a very specific delusion about being an unkillable overpowered anime character, secretly ruling the world from the shadows trains in martial arts and larps in front of people. Then he gets isekai'd when he gets hit by a truck. He gets reincarnated into a world with magic, becomes powerful, and hides ... it while doing things in the background just like his fantasy. He's really doing this, and the world is played straight too, meaning the people interacting with him.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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'The Eminence in Shadow' Interview: The Serious Comedy of Cid's Story

Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! (The Eminence in Shadow) made its TV anime debut in Fall 2022 and—much to the surprise of its staff—quickly amassed...read more

Jan 18, 2024 10:06 PM by Kineta | Discuss (5 comments)

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Oct 10, 2023 6:34 AM by Aiimee | Discuss (1 comment)

	Poll: people who don't like 'The Eminence in Shadow' – are they pretentious or just don't like having fun? ( 1 2 ) removed-user - Oct 28, 2023	69 replies	by Sayan_Pal »» Jun 20, 8:03 PM
	When I met Delta deltalover - May 21	17 replies	by SoloNecromancer »» May 23, 5:17 AM
	Poll: Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Episode 20 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Feb 15, 2023	789 replies	by Rithic »» May 22, 5:07 PM
	It's the male version of Chuunibyou but in Isekai JCDRANZER - May 7	19 replies	by JCDRANZER »» May 12, 2:45 AM
	The eminence in shadow is a parody of code geass? SantyOwO - Dec 21, 2022	42 replies	by JCDRANZER »» May 7, 4:27 AM