Isekai Ojisan

After a fatal encounter with a truck, Takafumi Takaoka's uncle, Yousuke "Ojisan" Shibazaki, lies comatose for 17 years. When he finally regains consciousness, Ojisan begins to ramble in a foreign tongue and reveals that he had been transported to a magical world called Gran Bahamal. Takafumi dismisses his uncle's claims as nonsense until an incantation makes a cup of water hover in the air. In a flash of brilliance, the pair creates a YouTube channel to showcase Ojisan's magical abilities.

The responsibility now falls on Takafumi's shoulders to acquaint Ojisan with everything that has transpired during his absence, including getting him up to speed with the internet, new technology, and surprisingly, the outcome of the '90s console war—the result of which was especially distressing for a hardcore SEGA fan. With Ojisan's wisdom from his other world experiences, they grow their YouTube channel and tackle online comments and trolls. The journey of this uncle-nephew duo promises to be anything but conventional.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ojisan Main

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Takaoka, Takafumi Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Elf Supporting

Tomatsu, Haruka Japanese

Rayveil, Mabel Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Fujimiya, Sumika Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako Japanese

Edelsia, Alicia Supporting

Toyosaki, Aki Japanese

Sawae Supporting

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Striga, Raiga Supporting

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Crosstruger, Edgar Supporting

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Greyler, Mira Supporting

Uchiyama, Yumi Japanese

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Sotokawa, Akihiro Producer

Tokumura, Kenichi Producer

Yoshikawa, Tsunaki Producer

Reviews

Mar 11, 2023

Uji_Gintoki_Bowl

Recommended

A gloomy boy glances at his phone before crossing the street, unyielding to and unaware of the truck speeding towards him. Experience has led viewers to believe that the boy is fated to live on in another world, blessed with special powers and surrounded by sexy ladies. The scene cuts away, only to show the boy unharmed and the truck innocent. Alas, this story isn’t about the boy. It’s about his previously comatose uncle, who actually *did* get hit by a truck 17 years prior (and experienced all the aforementioned shit). That motherfucker is awake now. And oh boy does he have a story to ... tell…

What Isekai Ojisan does best is subverting the viewers’ expectations in a genuinely amusing way. Every few months, I hear something about an isekai that “breaks the mold”, only to usually see for myself that it relies on a cheap gimmick to set itself apart from its predecessors. Isekai Ojisan, in my opinion, is that rare isekai that actually does break the mold. Because its premise thrives on the retrospective of having “finished” the isekai part already, the show makes no explicit effort to avoid the usual tropes. It embraces them and cleverly uses them to set up its jokes.

I’d be exaggerating if I said Isekai Ojisan is the funniest isekai I’ve ever seen, but I simply can’t get enough of its dry, meta humor. Paired with a relatively drab setting and a daffy soundtrack (complete with the goofy ukulele bend), the timing and delivery of the uncle’s lines are just awesome. He manages to look extremely incel-y but has the most dawg-esque personality you could ask for. Despite being infuriatingly dense, unintelligent, and kind of creepy, that man is certainly the star of this season. In fact, the livelihood of the show thrives on this fact, making use of the uncle’s utter stupidity and inability to read social cues to set up funny and interesting situations.

Though the rest of the cast is relatively flat (even the uncle can’t be called dynamic), they’re all quirky and fun to watch. Considering that the main focus of the work is on its comedy, any and all lack of development is completely passable in my opinion. On a similar note, I would comment on how the “story” is lacking (with little of note having really happened), but considering that the aim of the work is to narrate a chill retrospective on the isekai shabang, I see no outstanding issues there.

The art style is very attractive in its grainy feel, and it manages to capture the isekai action + slice of life comedy well in their respective parts. The animation itself is relatively conservative, saving sakuga for the punchlines, magic spells, and heavy action scenes in the show. While it’s unfortunate that the overall product’s visuals weren’t more fluid, I think that whatever we got is certainly up to par at the least.

If you want to watch an isekai but you’re tired of the usual tropes (and… setting?), this show is perfect. While maintaining the same you-know-I-know feel that isekai demand in their setups, Isekai Ojisan breaks the mold in a mundane but fun manner.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Mar 28, 2023

Tablekun

Mixed Feelings

In a nutshell, Isekai Ojisan is mid. Is it good? Comedically, yes, it is. Is it good beyond that? No, its mid. I've seen praises like " As good as Konosuba or even better". Just no, get off the pipe. I've seen people say the same thing about trash anime like Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Douchuu. Everyone wants the next Konosuba, I get it, but no isekai has even come remotely close to dethroning it, comedically speaking. Did I enjoy Isekai Ojisan, yes, but like so many other isekai lately, it goes nowhere, it has zero ... stakes. There are no baddies, it's just story telling for 13 episodes, okay cool, when did anime become so absent of basic plotline that adventure anime should have, like Konosuba has, like Slime has, like Re Zero has. The powerhouses of this genre are on top because they actually have basic story lines that drive the show forward. Isekai Ojisan would be so much better if it just gave us something to care about. By the end, we were just going through the motions to finish it and be done with it. That's bad story telling.

Animation 8/10
- Unique to a degree, and beautifully drawn at times, with no CGI I believe? If so, very hard to notice. Mabel scenes were peak.
Sound 7/10
- Decent OP, forgettable ED, with good voice acting.
Story 5/10
- Beyond episodic storytelling, there is no plot. It's an uncle watching TV of his past with his nephew and the nephews' friend for 13 episodes.
Characters 8/10
- Really enjoyable characters through and through, but without something at stake, Mabel, Sui, and Uncle are wasted IMO.
Enjoyment 7/10
- Enjoyed the comedy, but the series as a whole fell flat due to a lack of any story development.

At the end of the day, the series gets a pass, and will likely be enjoyable to a wide swath of people. If you want more than comedy through, you might be disappointed.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Nov 20, 2023

samyugoburg

Not Recommended

This show snatched defeat from the jaws of the passable. It is a HUGE disappointment. Initially, the uncle and nephew's banter was pretty good, and the uncle in general was hilarious. I enjoyed having a different perspective on the classic garbage isekai story up until episodes 5ish: halfway through the show I fully internalized that it is not a slow burn towards the uncle's self-actualization or part of his journey to perhaps return, or bring his companions to his world, but is instead a watch party for a boring story about a man refusing to grow up.

Is this perhaps a commentary on garbage isekai? ... Certainly there is dialogue to support this interpretation. Does this make the garbage isekai any better? Not really. The increased focus on the "adventures" and the lack of follow-through on reconnecting threads across the show were a huge bummer. I skimmed it after deciding to drop it because it'd been such a disappointment; but even in the last episode we were stuck with a non-committal and gag-filled bundle of status-quo. Lastly, the ongoing focus on the fantasy world does present one other thing: the animation in the real world is in many ways better than what we see in the fantasy world.

I think it had the potential to be something much more interesting.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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Overpowered Main Character (Isekai & more). ▌#04▐

by 1List2RuleThemAl

46 Entries · 92 Restacks

Watched w/ Hayden

by Tunes

46 Entries · 3 Restacks

new season please pt 5

by Idk5008

44 Entries · 13 Restacks

Broadcast of 'Isekai Ojisan' TV Anime Postponed [Update 9/9]

The official website of the Isekai Ojisan (Uncle from Another World) television anime announced on Friday that the broadcast will be delayed from episode eight onwar...read more

Sep 2, 2022 12:13 AM by Vindstot | Discuss (45 comments)

Summer 2022 Simulcast List [Update 8/25]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of television anime acquired for simulcast release during the Summer 2022 season. Anime series licensed for hom...read more

Jul 2, 2022 1:16 PM by Snow | Discuss (38 comments)

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