Otome Game Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai desu

As you imagine, a title like this will spark and make you scratch your head about what to expect. It's essentially about a guy who reincarnates into a world where women reigns supreme. Being a mob, or otherwise a background character, main protagonist Leon plays his life like a game as he's trapped in this dating sim world.

At first, it wasn't easy to figure out exactly what this anime is trying to be. An isekai otome harem? A fantasy school drama? Or one of those wild unpredictable stories carved from the author's wild imaginations? One thing is for sure is the anime follows a recurring ... trend we've seen countless times in these recent years: reincarnation. Whether he likes it or not, Leon is reincarnated and more importantly, trapped in a world where women rules all. He is pretty much a background character, a nobody like one those nameless NPCs you find in roleplaying games. Fortunately, the author decides to allow Leon to retain hs past memories so he has the knowledge to change the dating world he's trapped in.

First, the audience have every right to think this may be another cash grab at the recurring isekai tropes in today's industry. Isekai comes in all shape and sizes except this one throw in a few twists. Nonetheless, I also admit this show does justice at establishing Leon as a knowledgable protagonist. He may be a mob but he also represents far from being a useless NPC type character. On a mental level, he is virtually unmatched when he plays mind games against his adversaries. As witnessed in the first few episodes, he plays his life like a game. And for Leon, his games are how he plays by exploiting vulnerablities. He is essentially a gamer that uses his knowledge as a psudeo cheat code. A defining trait is also Leon's pride as he believes in his own superiority. Maybe we can call this a source of 'gamer's pride' as it may have stemed from his past life.

For a dating sim, there's no void for its cast of colorful female cast. These include the protagonist from the first otome game Olivia, Redgrave heiress Angelica, and the petite yet manipulative Marie. Between these characters, it's shown that some of them possesses traits you'd find in a real life otome game. For instance, Olivia is the friendly type of girl who has an inferior personality compared to her noble classmates. Angelica represents a more traditional type of heiress who has pride but does not arrogantly look down on others. And, we can't forget about Marie, a manipulate girl who uses others for her personal gain. Yeah, it would be easy to designate her as a major antagonist for her manipulative nature. However, I will say that she's less cunning compared to Leon but far more devious. This central female cast represents a typical otome game but you have to also remember Leon's role here. He knows events from the game and because of his knowledge, he can potentially change outcomes. That's what happens throughout the story as certain game events are altered or occurs at different time frames. In essence, this is like changing routes in a game with previous acquired knowledge. Talk about cheating on an unique level.

Now, I will admit that a good deal of the characters in this show are unlikale. Very few are tolerable at best such as Angelica. However, characters such as Olivia and Marie are filled with flaws. Marie in particular carries a personality that borderlines to psychotic with her childish and manipulative nature. The anime protrays it in a lighthearted fashion but who can stand someone who always tries to use others for personal gain? That reminds me that the majority of the male cast are forgetable. To me, they are the supporting cast with limited roles other than to be partnered with the female cast. Oh and of course, some of them fall victim to Marie's twisted plans so that adds bonus points for their uselessness. Leon practically carries this anime with his mental intellect and knowledge of the game world. Even if you don't like Leon, you have to admit that he is one, if not the most talented character in the show.

Composed of 12 episodes, the anime falls victim to a common trend with mediocre adaptations: failing to reach its full potential. In other words, you're missing out content from the light novel. The anime adaptation had to limit content to reach its audience and sacrifice character development with more limited storytelling. To me, it's a travesty because at some point in the show, I did show interest in the growth of the main female cast. For instance, Olivia getting bullied by her peers is an obstacle I want to see her overcome. Unfortunately, it didn't change my mind based on my initial impressions. There's so little character development in the show that I just gave up on them.

What does director Kazuya Miura and studio ENGI have in common? He literally directed four of the five projects produced by this studio since they've aired. And to me, they were produced with mixed results. Now, I'm not saying ENGI failed as a production studio because they did manage to animate this show with some highlights. For instance, character designs are lavishly crafted with beauty and elegance. The female cast has their feminine charm while the male roster are decorated with handsomeness that you'd expect out of an otome game. Only Leon has the average look because of his 'mob' status. However, animation quality with its character expressions are questionable. Almost all the characters have similar faces and at times, their expressions feels off. One of the major distractions is the female character designs with their eyes, most distinctively involving Angelica. Nonetheless, I'll give credit where credit is due. ENGI did manage to reach expectations with their work. Similarly, the voice acting in this show gives off an aura of charisma. My only complaint is Olivia, who shows far too much vulnerablility that makes me want to glue my ears shut.

In my disappointment, I have to confess that the anime felt little more than advertisement of the novels. There's just not enough to make me hungry for more unless they make an actual bold attempt at character building. It doesn't matter much really since I've grown to dislike the majority of the character cast after the final episode. Sometimes, storytelling with these type of genres work. Sometimes it doesn't. This is one of those times that it didn't.

Do yourself a favour and skip this one. Perhaps it's because I'm not familiar with the source material (which others have said is much better) but regardless of that the quality of this anime is inexcusable. Some spoilers inbound.

First things first, characters; honestly just a little too generic for my tastes. Normally generic characters don't bother me if the story is interesting or they have some quirks, but this time round it's just bad. Leon is the only one who stands out a little but even then I go from enjoying him to saying, out loud, "Wtf are you doing, are you stupid??" which isn't ... a great position for a character to be in, and you just know something is wrong with the cast when a viewer's favourite character is the dry wit AI companion with thinly veiled murderous intent. I get that to an extent they're otome game characters and are supposed to be generic, but come on man, I've seen more depth in an ash tray.

Secondly, and most damning, the story AKA an absolutely clustertruck of nonsense. The synopsis and many points in the story go out of their way to point out that "this world is a matriarchy"...um, no it isn't, not in the bloody slightest. If by "matriarchy" you mean the ladies are all nasty backstabbing ingrates then yes, but that's not what that word means. Not to mention the story also puts a tonne of emphasis on marriage, that young men are useless unless married because until then they can't have any power...except that's a lie, case and point our main character is able to get money, official status, a warship and his own private island all without the help of a lady. Nothing stands in his way, no-one stops him or refuses based on the fact he isn't married, absolutely no meaningful pushback at a bachelor obtaining all of this.
The QUEEN isn't even the one in charge, they have a KING instead, and it's the PRINCE everyone bends over backwards for, speaking of him if this story had a legit matriarchy then Julius and the noble lads around him would have NEVER gotten away with scorning their fiances the way they did, nor would Julius get away with publically disrespecting and embarrassing Angie, they got the equivalent of slaps on the wrists, it's pathetic. The whole premise of the world is so poorly handled that Leon insisting he needs to go to the academy and get married makes no damn sense, he already has riches to last him years, high status in the royal court and a place to live, he doesn't need to get married and spend time in a place he clearly doesn't want to be. I don't like dragging the authors into these sorts of things normally, but I can honestly say I wasn't surprised when I found out that this laughably abyssmal attempt at a "women hold all the power" narrative was written by a man.
Other than that glaring, lore-shattering issue it's your bog-standard slice of life romcom with the occasional low-effort battle and boring low-threat stakes that you just know will be resolved without problem or real consequence by the MC.
Like I said at the start, maybe the story is better written or fleshed out in the source material, but as I've not read it I can only judge based on the anime, and the anime story sucks big time.

Lastly, and I don't want to linger too long on this, but the actual animation and general quality are pretty bad. For your run-of-the-mill mediocre romance anime it works fine most of the time, but everything that's not characters standing around talking is janky, and a good percentage of the time the lip syncing doesn't line up. It's nice to look at for screenshots but it's clear corners have been cut and not for the better.

Overall I'm kinda' thinking to myself "You got what was coming to you" because I don't usually give these kinds of anime a try, I went in with average expectations and found even that was too much for it to live up to.

FUCKING GHTUIS FDUCKING SHWO IT AS MECHA LIKE CODE GESSEE

yungneutronMay 18, 2021 8:33 PM
-rep mean little guy threatened my life over discord message

Warning: Minor Spoilers

If I were to say anything bad (and I will have to do that as this review is not a positive one) about this anime that would not offend the hardcore fans (and I know there are a lot) is that it's PAINFULLY slow.

Even if you leave the fillers aside, still- the plot itself progresses in such a slow pace that it's rather hard to watch. Now for a younger audience it may not matter that much, but to me ... as a higher age audience, it matters greatly, after all, out of the 23~ minutes of each episode 3 are spent ...

LIKE WHAT

Bad... just bad, not bad because it's the fast-food equivalent of anime, but because of the disappointment one feels when good unique concepts, world-building, characters, etc are all ruined by one single little factor... the main character. Trapped in a Dating Sim is that anime. I will never understand what the writers were thinking when writing a power fantasy and deciding to give the MC a lobotomy operation. The loops of thought that the MC goes through to justify his views on himself and his relationships would put gymnastics to shame. Beware don't watch this in English, Jordan dash Cruz (MC's voice actor) makes me ... want to kill the nearest man. I've never heard someone's voice crack like a twelve-year-old while still staying in pitch, and god forbid it is horrifying. After this show, I will be keeping an eye out for Jordan dash Cruz to make sure I never have to hear his "work" ever again. So... the MC is a dunce and is voiced by one... my only bad complaint, other than that it's good, I would call it a rom-com but, to be honest, the MC forbids it (refer to how he is an oaf). The writing is half good, everything not surrounding the MC is good and everything entangled with the MC is dreadful. The genre of this show is everything, it's just every genre... and it suffers from an identity crisis because of that. The show would be redeemed if it was self-aware and made a comedy of just how stupid the show is. The MC is aware that everything that happens around him is on some level of meta, but no, the MC must stay in his lane at all costs, even though he sees and acknowledges the fact that the "rules" and "paths" of this world are broken. I am no writer, but even I can look at this work and wonder why. why... why is it ass trash. I know why, but even so... why. why would someone not refine this, it could have been so much better. it could have been something. but... it is not anything and it will fade like all the others before it. disappointment is my only word. I would say "potential" but even I know, we are past that.

Another trashy isekai anime, this time under the guise of being trapped in an otome game setting.

Like many poorly written light novels, the title serves as both a short summary, and to describe a gimmick to make you interested in the series. Otherwise, how else would you discern it from the hundreds of other isekai series? Just like most works that follow this approach though, the title ends up having nothing to do with the series.

This is supposedly a story about a mob character trapped in an otome game, hence the title. However, the protagonist ceases to be a "mob" character after the first episode. ... He is suddenly incredibly rich, and has some cheat AI supporting him that can basically do whatever he wants it to do. He is a typical, modern isekai protag.
So the mob setting disappears right away, even though the author likes to continually tell us otherwise. (just saying you are a mob character doesn't make it true.)

So what about the otome game setting? Don't worry, that falls by the wayside immediately as well.
In the beginning, it would appear that men have almost no rights. They just exist to be married off to women. Women as well, have male slaves and stuff. Ignore the fact that none of this makes sense when you start to think about it (how do they support their population?). Instead, focus on how this is a matriarchy that is unfair for men. Women look down on men. etc.
As the anime goes on though, we realise that this is just a typical isekai. The two main heroines are basically just regular heroines. They never appear to look down on men or anything. The 5 dudes from the otome game are still worshipped by all the girls at the school (even after they are stripped of their status).
The setting only exists to get you to start reading (or in this case, to start watching).

The story itself, I'm not really sure what it's supposed to be about. It's not clear to me what the protagonist is trying to do. In the latter half of the series, it seems the protagonist is trying to make events fold out like they do in the game, but it's not very clear why, and he doesn't do a good job about it anyway. Nothing in the series is explained particularly well. In the beginning of the series, I believe he is trying to find a nice girl to get married to, but the only thing he does in regards to that for the entire series is have a tea party in the very beginning.

The characters are very generic. There is not much in the way of character development. The two main girls just spend most of the series being sad, or being the centre of some drama. I can't tell you much about the two main girls though, because the anime never tells us much either. I sat through 12 episodes, and I still know practically nothing about them.
All the other characters in the show are just side characters. Nothing more really to them.

Outside the action, the art is ok. The show has mech battles though, and they aren't particularly interesting. It's not that the art is bad, it's just not very exciting either.

I think the show would've worked better as a comedy. The most enjoyable part of the entire series was when he was playing the otome game, before going to the isekai. Because it was funny. A series making fun of otome game tropes could've been a lot better.