Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!

I came into this series having read the manga and avidly anticipated what was my favourite satire of the most saturated genre in anime. It's easily evident from minute one that this series does not capture the same tune as the manga attempts to; a lot of the jokes, though present, are toned down or played in a way that better resembles the classic isekai 'cool mc' without any of the irony. A good example would be Cid's knife toss in episode 2, which was a really well-done gag in the manga, but is quickly glossed over during the anime's run.

The thing is, I ... wouldn't call this an error of comic timing on the part of the creators, the way this series is produced and tied together it's obvious that the more serious tone is their explicit intent. The darker colour palette, the toned down comedic designs and the emphasis on blood and gore paint a world taken far more seriously than the comedic manga and feels somewhat mismatched from what is a really funny premise. The anime production team likely went for isekai-standard adaptation when they saw the popularity of the source material without really connecting with what distinguishes this series from so many others.

For what it's worth, the anime adaptation of Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute features relatively impressive animation for the genre, and a solidly-paced plot that will keep you engaged, but make no mistake that this is a 6/10 series with a stronger lean toward generic isekai antics than the material that sold me on it to begin with. If you came from the manga, expect solid animation and small chuckles re-experiencing the jokes that weren't cut. If you're an anime-only don't let my thoughts discourage you, as this is still a reasonable watch if you've got a lot of free time, though you ought to pick up the manga if you end up liking this series since you'll likely enjoy that even more.

Note: I am aware this series is adapted from the light novel and not the manga, but the material in the manga is what sold me and a lot of other viewers on it, and it feels a shame they didn't dedicate themselves to capturing those elements as effectively.

Edit: Thought more on this series, felt like 7/10 was too generous.

Stop me if you’ve heard a line like this before – “It’s just like in a manga / anime!”

Being meta is more in vogue than ever. Ever since DreamWorks took it upon themselves to poke fun at the Disney company and the Disney brand with *Shrek* back in 2001 and became a monumentally-successful franchise financially, animated film had more or less entered the realm of metacommentary. It didn’t take long for Disney to follow suit; starting with *Enchanted* in 2007 and then expanding that into the soul-sucking exercise of their live-action remakes of the recent years (if not also including choice lines in others like ... *Frozen*). If there is any takeaway from this, it’s not only that animated properties being so overtly meta is here to stay, but that it is also a highly-profitable venture. After all, no company is going to change their course if it affects their bottom line. To the company, there’s a simple credo to follow: whether it be about specific properties or about an entire genre’s convention, give the audience a wink. Let them know that you “get it.”

And in the realm of anime, metacommentary also has its home. I’m not only referring to overall productions that have been regarded as having some kind of meta remarks or supposedly-deconstructive genre assertions like *Neon Genesis Evangelion,* but even the casual remarks that characters make in any kind of story, like the above quotation I left. These kinds of remarks get chuckles for the basic reason that we like to pat ourselves on the back for recognizing a pattern and having the thing we watch acknowledge it as such. Considering the sheer degree of prevalence the isekai genre has enjoyed ever since the early 2010s, no doubt because it provides publishers like Kadokawa a lot of money, it makes sense that isekai too would become susceptible to these kinds of remarks from its own works.

But *The Eminence in Shadow* makes the mistake of assuming that being meta is the same as being funny or a worthwhile piece of entertainment. Glimpsing the greater picture, or making casual reference to things that viewers would recognize, is perhaps a short-term solution. But that does not guarantee that the inner substance of the story will be able to stand on its own two feet, either. Within its audience-conscious asides, it attempts to fashion a fantastical story of Cid Kagenou, a fashions-himself-as-the-ultimate-warrior man who attempts to make the best of both worlds, so to speak. Treating his reincarnated situation as the chance to live out his ultimate fantasy, he adopts the moniker of the background everyman archetype on one hand and the “Eminence in Shadow” in the other. Getting involved, investigating, and dispensing his own form of justice when he sees fit, he treats his new environment as a playground rather than being full of actual people with consequences.

Therein lies its initial draw, and its first real gag; take the common thought that many isekai protagonists have (that they’re either dreaming / don’t take their new situation seriously enough), and have it last for the entire show. This gag quickly devolves into overreliance; *The Eminence in Shadow* spends so much of its time with Cid making jokes about the isekai world, drawing upon his knowledge of its conventions and general structure. But the show is confusing its meta remarks for comedic cleverness. Cid is seemingly incapable of going ten minutes without making a remark akin to, “At a time like this, X would happen!” or “Doing Y would be so awesome!” These moments are meta humor at its most flaccid, requiring no creativity to make its point. The goal is to be funny and double down by committing what’s tantamount to beating a dead horse, when being unfunny and doubling down only succeeds in compounding the problem.

The show’s insistence on its meta humor tries to function both comedically and dramaturgically. In having Cid make all these remarks, it attempts to paint him as being more keenly aware of what is transpiring, both in the heat of the moment and in the overarching saga that plays out in the overall world, bolstered by his sheer magical and physical power. In emphasizing the brooding aesthetic, punctuated by its dark colors and mood lighting, as well as the occasional action phrase (I will indeed give props to the line “I am atomic,” as it was as grand and dumbly epic as Cid himself thought it to be). Cid is portrayed as being consistently “cool” and slick. The “Rule of Cool” is fine for an occasional indulgence, but to make it a part of the show’s framework is a dangerous game. Cid Kagenou is *The Eminence in Shadow’s* attempt to make the “Rule of Cool” personified via the main protagonist.

Yet in all that time focusing on him, most of the ensemble gets left out in the lurch. The “Greek chorus,” or the series of women who serve under Cid in Shadow Garden, are the prime example. They are caricatures rather than characters, a harem in principle and occasional sexual connotation, though not with Cid himself. No chance is given to develop many of them into substantial beings—they don’t even get names beyond Greek letter designations, hence why I referred to them as “Greek chorus” before—because the show’s structure deemphasizes their own relevance. Throughout most of the story, they appear for brief moments and then vanish for long stretches of time, and their contributions to Cid’s shadowy operations do little more than deliver messages or background information. There’s a bizarre fixation on several of them being either competitive, protective, or envious of other members’ breasts. Even when they fight, the moments themselves do barely enough to give the women a sense of dimension. It took nearly one dozen episodes of their sporadic appearance before I finally learned who was named what.

The more-prominent side characters of each arc do not fare much better. Sherry is reduced to little more than buttshot eye candy despite the great intelligence we are told that she has, all the while the show decides to relentlessly dump tragedy upon her. Rose has her character more or less centered on her adoration of, and personal history with, Cid and an involvement with cultist Perv Asshat (yes, that is his name in-universe). Annerose, introduced as a warrior of high caliber, becomes a complete no-show for the last few episodes. Each new arc introduces more and more characters who become little more than blips on the show’s radar, unintriguing toys for Cid to use for whatever fantasy kick he’s on at the moment. They are constantly janked around by forces they don’t understand, which does little to make them compelling players in the larger game.


But within the desert of characterization stand Alexia and Iris, sisters to their own Midgar throne, as the exceptions to the material’s obsession with Cid being detrimental to everyone else. Their early introduction plot-wise and the fixation both on their personal status and relationship to one another and the larger-scale circumstances more-cohesively set off their personal journeys. Both are perplexed by both the antagonistic forces in their world and Shadow Garden’s mysterious presence, unsure what to make of them. Alexia especially acknowledges her own lack of understanding of what is transpiring since she’s not privy to her sister’s circle of information among the knights or overall skill; she takes the first step into becoming more proactive in the grand scheme of *The Eminence in Shadow’s* shenanigans. Her resolve, and the resulting alliance she forms, is one of the show’s shining moments for developing its intrigue.

I’ve used the word “moment” more than once throughout the course of talking about *The Eminence in Shadow,* and that’s because it’s the show’s ultimate flaw. Underneath the choking meta humor jokes, the occasional bits of good action, mediocre characterization, and the show’s aesthetic managing to capture the balancing act it’s trying to perfect, the show is propelled by moments, not narrative. The good moments come too few and far between; it leaves the rest of the experience pertaining to the Cult of Diabolos (or “Diablos,” depending on who’s translating it) and its actual world lumbering along until it gets to the next meme-worthy instance. It comes in both the form of emphasizing things that don’t really need to be emphasized, or blasting through things when it should stop and catch its breath. The result leaves *The Eminence in Shadow* as an organizational mess, which diminishes its bright points greatly.

With its second season being announced, I do not doubt that there will surely be more masturbatory indulgences in its own supposed cleverness.

I would not, however, find that “atomic.”

The Eminence in the Shadow is probably the biggest disappointment of this Fall season. It is really sad to see an anime failing to establish the genre it is supposed to be. As a manga, it has pioneered a new genre of comedy that other popular manhwas and manhuas have since then followed. In this setting, the protagonist thinks he is making random stuff up and everyone else is guilable for believing them, but they actually turn out to be true. In my opinion, it would be incorrect to classify this as an isekai anime, in a similar way that One Punch Man is not ... stricly a superhero anime. The main aspect should be the parody and the anime does a TERRIBLE job of conveying that.

Studio Nexus has instead opted to depict Cid as a Lelouch/Overlord character. The two weakest aspects of the manga, in my opinion, isekai and harem, are at the forefront even from the first episode. The anime takes itself too seriously and as a result none of the jokes really land. In Studio Nexus defence, they are probably basing this adaptation to the novel that the manga was based on, but evidently that does not translate well onto the screen.

The saddest thing is that everything else is okay. The animation is good, the fighting scenes and the slime suit look decent and the pacing is okay, considering this season will have 20 episodes. It is really early to judge the anime but my expectations for the rest of the season are set on a very low standard.

I've no clue about any LN source material so going in blindly like I always did with their anime adaptations is a choice I never regret until this series happened to give me mixed feelings on what it's trying to convey in its storytelling. I admit that I've used the 10-sec forward for scenes that were predictably boring or monotonous in order for me to stay awake fully. In other words, it's a tolerable watch that the only redeeming quality on why I didn't drop it is the action scenes being animated with great quality from a "sometimes rarely heard" anime studio called Nexus.

Somewhat a ... parody that semi-endorses the tagline of "Don't take it too seriously" and that it's maybe a "so bad, it's good" story that embraces the campy side of chunnibyou traits being turned up to eleven, Eminence in the Shadow follows an obvious chunnibyou protagonist who gets reincarnated in a fantasy world of swords and magic and whom begins his quest of fulfilling his bucket list of doing the most chunnibyou stuff he must do without suffering any consequences in completing it.

The dark comedy elements fall flat, if not unfunny since it's trying too hard to make fun of its own story that the tone shift balance feels out of place at most times. The characters' chemistry with each other is absent, if not feel monotonous that I couldn't care less on whatever any main or supporting character are doing or saying; even the ones who has a dark, bleak backstory was unable to make me change my monotone feeling about the story's overall plot.

I don't recommend this series to those who are expecting a serious story that is balanced well with appropriate comedic elements or the usual isekai story of a dark-toned protagonist who seems to not have a typical moral compass. Those who are normeeb (a person who is in between a normie and a weeb) like me won't like this anime adaptation that requires so much "Don't take it seriously" attitude for focus on its storytelling. In the end, it all depends on how strong the weeb status resonates within you that may help you overcome your disliking the uninteresting chunnibyou protagonist triumphs over slightly hammy villains and his one-dimensional harem.

Plot: 7.75
- Chunibyo, 8th grader syndrome, or whatever you may want to call it. The MC is insufferable as the anime moves forward, Overpowered from ep 1 with little to no difficulty faced. No matter what situation or conflict arises, poster boy sings the same tune and saves everyone.
- The story overall is pretty good, lots of development shown by side characters, villains are interesting but have no time to develop because of peter pan reigning on their parades.

Animation: 8.25
- Fight animation although repetitive is done very well.
- Choreography is amazing throughout.
- Heavy fan service, but otherwise character design is great.

Voice ... acting: 8
- One of the better points about the anime, voice acting is mostly believable and adds more to each characters emotions.

Music: 7.75
- OP is good
- ED also good
- General sound is very good.

Execution: 6.75
- Hate how there was 0 explanation for how MC got his powers, lots of unnecessary fan service and frozen frames. Too many instances where characters were speaking but the animation didn't display that. Unless you just want to watch another cakewalk isekai with harem elements, I side heavily on the not recommended option.

Enjoyment: 7
Overall rating: 7.6
Adjusted weighted Rating: 7.91

P = 35% - 2.71
A = 30% - 2.48
V = 20% - 1.6
M = 10% - 0.78
E = 5% - 0.34

This series is entertaining mostly for the Comedy factor and less so for the fantasy / action elements.

We get to follow Cid, the main character, during his isekai journey as he lives the fantasy dream he has always imagined himself having, and he does it well. The action scenes are animated nicely but most of the fights are over in 5 seconds because Cid is so OP he just man handles everyone he fights or just plain toys with them.

One aspect I think they could have flushed out a lot more were Cid's "Shadows" or his "harem" if you will, his deadly personal ... team of assassin girls. They are each pretty unique in their own right, but the anime doesn't give them much back story at all or let us know their reasons for joining the shadows. Cid pretty much has Alpha just go do her thing and Cid pulls the ol Aiz Oowl Gown "Ah, I see, That's what I had in mind". Which is fine but anyone who enjoys waifus I think can agree with me that they needed more screen time and backstory.

Comedy aspect is easily an 8/10, but plot I'd have to give 5/10 and animation 7/10. If the whole series was as good as the last episode it would be an easy 8/10 but I'm going to have to give it a 6/10 for the reasons mentioned above.

It's an entertaining watch, but it wont be for everyone. It's definitely worth checking out though!

my opinion:

Weaknesses of this anime (-):

1. All bear, serious bear, comedy bear.
2. Monotonous battle scenes, always starting with Dash/blink, repetition.
3. Important detail but not shown in the anime, like in episode 20.When Shadow vs Beatrix & Iris, the people of Midgar looked normal and didn't panic, even though there was a fight.

Plus points in this anime (+):

... 1. Visual, this anime's visual standard when compared to other isekai anime (anime fall 2022). Pretty good.
2. Successful anime original scenes, some original anime scenes have succeeded in highlighting characters, or situations. For example in episode 20, Sherry really "want revenge on shadow,The ones in the LN/manga are not made clear.
3. The main character, (cid) is a character that is completely different from other isekai anime. You could say unique.


Visual:8
Music:7
Story:7

The best episode of this anime is in episode 20. If you want to continue the story, you can start vol 3 LN or chapter 27 of the manga.

Well, It's supposed to be a parody, but I think a parody has to be particularly clever to work. And, apart from a handful of instances throughout the season, The Eminence in Shadow in not. It's more of the "haha, jk. unless?" approach, where any criticism will be deflected by people saying it's supposed to be humorous, but then you have scenes that shouldn't be in a humorous setting.

To me, the main problem is the lack of tension. From the start, the protagonist is the most powerful by far, so there's never a chance of things going wrong for him. When stories do that, they ... generally compensate by threatening the things the powerful character cares about. But in this case, Cid doesn't really care about anything or anyone other than himself looking cool (in an edgy teenager sort of way), so there's no tension on that angle either.

The other noteworthy thing is the copious amount of fan-service. You have it all, the camera angles, the skintight clothing, the cleavage, the bouncing physics. Some people love that, I think it could do without. But probably the target audience will respond positively.

I can see why people like this, but I can also see why some would hate it. In the end, The Eminence in Shadow is exactly what it wants to be: a kind-of parody power trip isekai. I'll probaly watch a second season, though if no tension is introduced, that'll probably be it. After all, if the protagonist doesn't care about anything, why should the viewer?

This anime sucks, and I don't know why it became like this.

You guys who either want to start watching this series or have watched 3- episodes of it may feel like this anime is another B-tier one: overpowered mc who was hit by a truck and build a harem in another world.

In fact, no it is not, It's a comedy-focused anime. They even made the episode 1 a complete joke (I don't like the idea) by started it like a modern, serious romcom.

They tried to entertain us, I appreciate that. However, they did it in a wrong way and turned a masterpiece into a ... mess.

I highly recommend LN/WN and manga versions of this series, they're much better

Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!


At least 2 out of 3 children had a very lively childhood in which we constantly played superheroes or other nonsense. Didn't you also feel from time to time that if you found a perfectly shaped stick, it would make a good sword or weapon? This was the imaginative past possessed by most of us.

This Anime is exactly what I'm getting at with this. Eminence in Shadow is simply cringing and edgy. If I were 14, I'd probably say this is the best anime I've ever seen. Now, however, it was just an amusing comedy isekai for me, which brought ... up a lot of nostalgic memories. And honestly, no matter how the anime has been, I have to at least give it credit that the humor was relatively decent, the action satisfying, and "I am Atomic" is pure fanservice for any Edgylord.

And that's why I come to the following conclusion. ONLY watch this anime if you are truly aware of what you are watching. It's on a very thin line between "you'll like it" and "you'll hate it". It just depends on how you interpret the protagonist and his behaviors. Without Cid, the anime is your usual generic isekai with a relatively poor story, simplistic supporting characters, and a very standard flow. Cid Kageno contributes to 99% of the entertainment and is the ONLY reason I could watch the anime. Remove Cid and then all you are left with is a snore-boring subplot.
If you like Cid's edgy, sociopath personality, then you'll like the anime.


[Story 3]

As the usual isekai has to start, Truck-kun was an inescapable force, no matter what a defined and attractive bastard the protagonist had been. This resulted in him being reborn in a new world. With his fondest dream of being practically a walking atomic core. His wish for power was fulfilled and from then on began his usual protagonist life. Only with one serious difference. The protagonist wants to use this entire world just for his pathologically stupid script, just to check off his lifelong to-do list. To become "The Eminence of Shadow" he has to be a complete loser, hanging out only with losers and presenting himself only from the most embarrassing side so that no one will ever suspect him. And at the same time to entertain himself.

And to be honest, most of the protagonists in Isekai or Shounen, are exactly those losers as Cid tries to be. But the fact that he tries morbidly makes the whole thing delightfully amusing. I'm going to have a big problem taking other protagonists seriously after this kid steals my heart. No homo of course.

As mentioned, the actual plot is comparable to series like One Punch Man, where the side characters get more of an appearance, and the opponents get hype, until Cid ends everything short and sweet. The story is practically just for simple entertainment.


[Characters 4]

Really...not much to say here.

Cid Kageno is the ONLY character in the anime that has any worth at all. Not because he's deep or well-written. But because he feels pretty realistic. A lot of people who would end up in a world like that, with the powers he possesses, would honestly act something like that. Which makes his nature seem very rational. Not heroic, not evil, just curious and playful.
Practically all the interesting and funny scenes are thanks to him.

The rest, I can hardly put into words otherwise. While it's nice to see characters like Alpha, Beta, and Gamma have their personalities, their screen time is so ridiculously small that it's hard to talk about. Characters like Rose or Alexia possessed minimal development. These characters are not bad, however, they are unpolished and too average.


[Animations 6/ Music 7]

The animations are shaky. For example, the fight in episode 20, showed relatively good choreography, dynamics, and explosive animations. In some other fights, decent animations were also seen. But it always remained just above average aside from that.

However, it is a satisfying result.

In terms of music, the anime possessed several good osts, and the scenes were lifted well by it. Intro was relatively odd but fits the anime.


[Verdict 5]

A very conflicting anime and you can understand it this time. I find Eminence of Shadow very amusing and I liked this anime. But in terms of quality, it's an average isekai. The jokes were average, the fights average, the characters weak, and the story weak. There is nothing more to say about it. You should just know what you want to deal with here. Eminence in Shadow is an anime that is just good entertainment.

[Enjoyment 7]

The most interesting thing about this show is Nishino from the first episode, and she isn't even in the rest of the show. Our actual protagonist is only interesting by using Nishino to draw parallels - and that goes immediately. Kagenou is your run-of-the-mill black-haired cool anime protagonist who just gets what he wants and solves everything because he's cool. It's not because he's talented, or has trained, or has unlocked the powers he wants - it's because he's the main protagonist. This show tries to disguise this fact with monologues and exposition, but in reality it's all a cover-up.

This show is a poor ... deception of tropes, and not a clever set of them either.

Rating 4, and only that high because it's lacklaster. Didn't even have the creativity to be bad, just boring.

UPDATE: Upon watching further, I now realise what this anime actually is. Episode one somewhat tricked me as a first time watcher and everything I said above stands. However, if you want a fairly good ironic trope isekai to watch, this anime works. It has fairly good humour and a likeable cast. There are parts that feel odd, and some episode I think can be skipped altogether, but ultimately not bad.

I must say I was surprised to see an Isekai with such a high rating when I had never heard of it before so I decided to give it a go. I did enjoy it quite a bit, rating it as a 7, and yet I have some mixed feelings about this one.

First I think it's important to understand that this is indeed a parody, but perhaps not as one would expect. This anime is categorized as a Comedy, but I don't think I laughed a single time while watching. The anime takes the most cliche elements on purpose and make a story out of ... it. What comes out of it are some of the most cringe lines and moments in anime I have ever seen. If it suits your humor then perhaps you will enjoy it but I didn't find it funny at all.

Another point that I didn't enjoy is the misunderstandings. I'm generally not a fan of misunderstandings between characters in anime but it can be funny when it's well done. When it's badly done however and runs for too long, it just becomes painful to watch, which is exactly the case in this anime. A misunderstanding starts in episode 2 between the main character and the support characters. I would have been ok with it if it lasted for a few episodes. Except it doesn't, it runs from episode 2 to the last episode without ever being resolved. Perhaps the reason is explained in the LN, but I fail to understand why the author decided to write a brainless idiot as a MC given the number of opportunities and hints he had to understand.

The main reason I decided to rate this anime as a 7 despite those problems is simple: the action. This anime has some really great fighting scenes that I enjoyed watching. I'm also a sucker for OP MC, which is definitely the case in this anime so I would probably recommend you give this anime a go if you enjoy it as well.
I would also like to give a special mention to the Opening which I really loved.

TLDR ~ Not funny, with some annoying/cringe moments but some really good fighting scenes and an OP MC. Fire Opening as well!

I went into this show with fairly high expectations. I was told it was a compelling comedy and effective genre parody, and in many ways, I do agree with this assessment. However, I feel like it falls short in several important ways, which reduced my enjoyment of the overall work. But first, I would like to praise the visuals of the show-- they are quite good, which is by no means a given in the sort of low-rent, crass, fantasy and/or isekai comedy space that this show inhabits. Both action and *character physics* are rendered in a pleasing visual style and with plenty of motion. ... I'm less positive about the show's comedy, although I think a fair enough number of the gags do end up landing. It didn't quite sell me, though, on certain aspects of the whole "genre parody". Ultimately what left me most unsatisfied was the inconsistent and paper-thin world building, and the oversized cast of colourful but flat characters. So much time is spent on cid, who, despite being the crux of the genre-parody part of the comedy, is really quite a boring and predictable character. On the other hand, the more interesting "background" characters get only a little screen time each, which limits the depth they can have and the stories that can be told through them.
I'm making an argument here that is not something you the reader should take for granted. What I'm trying to say is that for the "satire" of the delusional cid to really be effective as a joke, the stories and characters that are played straight need to take more of a centre stage. I've seen some reviewers argue that this show ceases to be genre parody on account of the sheer amount of time it spends being, well, pretty much the same as every other power fantasy Isekai story. Sure, cid is cynical, but a cynical protagonist, or even a delusional one, does not satire make. I have mixed feelings on this position. On the one hand, I agree that the joke looses it's poignancy when the straight man is relegated to the role of passive observer. On the other, I do feel like there is a lot of comic potential in the juxtaposition of the unserious and lackadaisical protagonist with the more grounded characters. But this doesn't really work if most of the time is spent focused on cid and his delusions.
What I want out of this show is for it to give much more time to the "real" characters, the ones who face real challenges and can experience real stories. I want to see much more world building, I want to spend more time with characters of questionable motives and morality, and I want all of that serious and compelling storytelling to be occasionally punctuated by a one-man circus who has the power to radically change the direction of plot lines and even the state of the world. Cid has the potential to be both a joke character who brings comic relief and to throw a wrench in the plans of these "real" characters.
Instead, the world changes around cid, and the most interesting characters spend most of the show either "up to something offscreen" or as set dressing, doing very little. There are a few exceptions to this rule, of course. But it hardly ever feels like cid is far away, or that a story arc will progress meaningfully without his intervention.
One might say, "but it's a comedy, it's not here to tell serious stories with emotional weight, to develop interesting characters, or to build a believable world that feels lived in. In fact it's pointing out that isekai almost never does those things! it's parody! it's parody!" But I think this argument falls flat on it's face. A good joke, a good parody, is all about subverting expectations and creating unexpected or interesting juxtaposition of conflicting ideas. A story that feels predictable isn't a parody, at least not a good one. And maybe that's what's frustrating to me about this show: it's mostly predictable and formulaic, but every once in a while it will do something genuinely unexpected. This review doesn't have spoilers, so I won't mention anything in particular, but there where a few moments that did do something interesting, or subverted my expectations. Unfortunately, I found these moments to be heavily front-loaded, and got less frequent as the series went on. I also found that the more time I spent watching, the less I wanted to see cid. The show sets up other characters with potentially much more interesting motivations, but insists on doggedly following the cid, who is the least interesting character. Sure, that's "intentional" when he's in incognito mode as Cid, but even as shadow, he's mostly still predictable and rote. Occasionally his flair for the dramatic makes for good visuals, but vapid spectacle is unfortunately no substitute for compelling character writing.
Parody or not, anime is a storytelling medium. You can use parody as a tool for comedic effect and even plot contrivance, but it does not excuse a fundamentally weak story. Eminence is full of characters who show up, do or say one interesting thing, and then fade into the background again. It's full of surface-level world-building details that are never important to the plot or tied together in an interesting way. It's full of places that feel more cardboard than the bridge of the starship enterprise. It's full of lore that is both uninteresting and unimportant. It's not a good story, but it could have been. There's a lot of good jokes. The cast is huge but they are, generally, interesting. There are many independent plots running all at once, and there should have been many chances for all sorts of characters to have plot agency and internality, but that's where it all falls apart. I wish Eminence had been a better show, because if it had been, it could have done very interesting things, new things that I haven't seen other shows do. If this show hadn't almost been good, I probably wouldn't be so upset that it's actually just ok. There are many shows that are, in objective terms, easily much worse than this one, that I came away from feeling much more satisfied with. This one whet my appetite, but never delivered, leaving me all the more frustrated and disappointed .

One of the main problems with this anime is that it is plagued with fanservice which could and does derail the overall atmosphere of the anime especially after first few episodes.
There are many missing links between subplots and the main plot.

This is a parody that was done better in manga, the anime felt like it was trying too hard that it became its own poor illustration of the novel which resulted in the main parodical theme of the show turning into a cliché itself that should be the one being parodied not the other way around, rather satiric.

The anime is still somewhat enjoyable if ... you really like the isekai genre or you are just watching for the animation/fights.

It's one of the "Damn, I've seen/read the novel/manga version and this didn't match the expectation" animes.
Maybe it's the budgeting that couldn't fit in all the funny scenes or perhaps it's just poor decision-making on what to alter in general despite it having 20 episodes, but once watching the anime, it definitely cooled my excitement a lot right from the get-go.

The gist of the story is centered around a boy who never outgrew his chunnibyou-phase, but miraculously managed to obtain powers that transcend human limits after his truck-kun isekai to pursue a higher and ultimate version of edge lords.
It's intentionally cringy, that's what makes it ... hilariously amusing to watch but the anime just didn't quite hit the mark for me in this case compared to the other medium.

TL;DR:
If you're new to the story, it definitely wouldn't deserve the score I'm giving out, but if you've read the other mediums, it'll most likely disappoint.

The protagonist is disconnected from reality, is not interested in anyone, does not make friends, does not relate to his sister, or any of the girls from the shadow garden, his friendship with his two colleagues is completely false, he does not care about anything or anyone , is only focused on his fantasy of being an eminence of shadows, he achieves his feats by pure chance.

The shadow garden girls are obsessed with the protagonist and worship him as if he were some kind of god, failing to see through his facade.

Worldbuilding is poor, with little information about how magic works and the world in ... general.

The story is weak, moving without the protagonist, who only appears at the end to defeat the villain, reminiscent of Saitama from One Punch Man, but without the comic and fun aspect, which practically does not exist in this anime, the whole comedy focuses on something perverted or the protagonist pretending to be a loser.

The best part is the animation of the fight scenes which doesn't fail, but the rest is pretty average.

When I started with anime, there was novelty. The bottom of the barrel was an easy 8/9 for me with this show probably being the same. Now I am slowly becoming more and more critical, still not truly there. The TLDR once the novelty wears off the show just gets boring.

I honestly feel sad because the concept of this show, at least in my opinion, could've been a made into a 10/10 fun show to watch, I explicitly say fun as for me there are two types of shows. The fun shows like Bleach and the deep shows like FMAB/LOGH. I also have guilty pleasure ... shows like HS DXD but as I mentioned the novelty is quickly wearing off. The reason I even mention this is there is a need to split between the fun and deep shows as putting both on the same scale would be impossible.

People like novelty, quickly jumping on the band wagon because this show is a bit more unique than others. My favorite word being "deconstruction" as it tells me everything I need to know, it will quickly get boring and repetitive. This isn't always a fact but when all the show has going for it is taking the stupidity of other shows and bringing it up to max, it's pretty hard to keep it fresh and interesting and at times the authors intention is confusing is it a parody or serious. This is exactly what I felt with Eminence in Shadow, the first 6-10 episodes I was going wow, this is amazing and hilarious, then it got stale and became boring and repetitive.

(Spoilers Below, there isn't much to spoil)

My biggest issue was the show had so many ways to keep it exciting but didn't bother. When you think of it this show is the same old overpowered MC power fantasy. My problems is with the fact that this OP MC is never at any risk, he has not a single vulnerability which just kills the show for me. There is a difference between Godly and overpowered, at least the latter still feels human. Eventually, the over powered battles and Cid's antics get boring as it's the same thing over and over again. I actually enjoy a magic/strengh wise over powered character but he has to have a weakness, whether, it's love, friends or in Cid's case the fear of his real identity being revealed.

Putting him at risk or revealing his identity to some of the main character was something I was begging for whilst watching the show, not really because it would be a "wow he is so strong" but instead would create much needed drama and tension which the show is missing due to the characters over powered nature. There are other issues however, this is the one that really glared at me because it killed much of the excitement, it was always tense when Lelouch in Code Geass despite his OP power had to think of ways to avoid being exposed.

There were so many times I lost count, rose's fight at the competition, apparently a very skilled fighter, realize the guy is taking wasting time and if he can dodge her blows so effortlessly, there must be something suspicious, but no she falls for it. I don't hate overpowered I hate infallibility. Then when shadow shows up the exact moment when Cid is called up to fight, not suspicious at all, this could of been an exiting no escape situation. The absurdity of Baldie being like oh this is some random kid who wandered here defo isn't shadow. I can't believe I am saying this but the most outlandish ecchi shows I've seen have better logic. When Beatrice notices elf scent on Cid and his power but doesn't link the two together. Finally, rose literally saw his face close up and has a better idea than most what he looks like without the suit but doesn't link the two together, it's like how dumb do you think everyone is.

As it stands this show is a solid 5 until it gets some new character and story development.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad show. But I've seen enough anime to where I can tell where the plot/schtick of the series was gonna go, and a quick google search confirmed it as well. If you're lookin for a brain-off gag anime based on the guy being a chuuni and OP and hiding his identity while accidentally building a harem, go for it. It sticks in that pocket and doesn't try to be anything else, which for some people might be a good thing. For me, it just got boring real fast.

Animation and whatnot ain't that bad though rather generic. Soundtrack ... is whatever.

But yeah, if you feel like you've heard of this premise a million times, skip it. You'll get bored and drop it like I did.

Personally, I love any isekai anime that tries to give a new vibe on its theme, so if you're not into any generic isekai anime with op mc, lot of girls that all soon become part of the harem. Then this show isn't for you, because it is basically that, but the mc is delusional but not so delusional (I'll talk about that later)

And this review will mostly filled with rant by how dissapointed i am for spending some time watch 8 episode hoping it'll get any better.

Animation: 6/10

It has a good animation, the dark tone fits well with the bloody scene this ... show offer, it also had a lot of cool battle scene that goes well with this animation. Till you remember that it was supposed to be comedy, so the show gave a serious vibe making you turn on your logic while watching it, but it just doesn't goes well with that as the joke mostly defying it.

Character: 4/10

I don't understand, i see people cheering everytime they see one of the 7 shadow as if they're more than background character. They basically just there, admiring the mc. You could see them as 1 character and it won't change anything.

Other side characters are also problematic, not just they're just there for the plot, but they're really lack diversity, you see female characters? Dw she'll join the harem, you see male characters other than 2 mob cid pick? That's a villian, cid will beat them later.

Cid on the other hand, take all the stage for himself, he's delusional, he's op, he's edgy, he's playing to be mob, he's playing to be shadow, he want to be shadow and he has some weird awareness about him being delusional and think that his harem are just playing with him making him not so delusional and more like generic main character that just being forced into the situation which also part of his trait. Not to mention his unnatural plot armor, something that added for some reason even though he's already op af he doesn't need it.

He has too much trait, almost like he should be 2 or 3 different character in one because some of those trait just doesn't fit one and other.

Plot: 4/10

It's repetitive, problems come, cid buldoze them, harem admiring him done.

"Wait you should see it as opm, because it similiar show" no, just no, One punch man work because we see side characters actually struggle there and the show did amazing job to make us feel empathy for them, this show only focus on cid, so you feels nothing other than seeing him saying edgy punchline and win.

And all that plot problem might be acceptable if the show actually make a good joke, which this far, mostly only filled with generic isekai joke about cid unintededly making harem, and a plot armor joke. The mob joke was supposed to be funny, but cid himself being too confusing as a character, i just can't tell either he just playing around or not.

Conclusion:
Yeah, i see some peoples actually like this show, maybe they're a fan of generic isekai anime so the joke hits well for them,no hate tho, everyone got different taste and i respect that . Not for me, i feel like it's not necessarily a terrible show, but 8 episode and i still don't even know the main charm of this show, other than cid being a complex confusing character and a bit edgy.

This anime depicts what chuunibyou see when they are having their delusions of grandeur: main character is basically a god (he is literally all powerful, all knowing - at least for his followers - and all present), he has 500 elf waifus of all ethnic backgrounds and the whole late 2000's emo vibe to it thinking he is the last cookie of the package.

The show has this recurrent gag of having the main character in the main spot even though he says that he wants to be a background character. Sometimes it even feels like he is auto sabotaging, because how can he be so ... dumb?

In the end , this show is dumb fun, if you can look over this whole chuunibyou-esque behaviour, you might enjoy it, otherwise you can pass it, there is nothing new about this show.