Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku

Despite being a handyman with a wide range of skills, Saitou is severely undervalued and underpaid. When he complains, his boss fires him, claiming that he is easily replaceable. As if his luck was not bad enough, Saitou soon finds himself about to be run over by a truck on his way home.

Surprisingly enough, Saitou does not die; instead, he is transported to another world. There, he meets a party composed of the female knight Raelza, the moonlight fairy Lafanpan, and the mage Morlock, who are all coincidentally looking to recruit a new member with a skill set like Saitou's.

Throughout their time together, Saitou uses his expertise to assist his fellow party members and soon comes to receive the recognition he never thought was possible. However, Saitou's presence may just be the catalyst that will connect a diverse cast of people from different places, slowly uncovering the fate that could bring a great change to this world.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Raelza Main

Fairouz Ai Japanese

Morlock Main

Cho Japanese

Lafanpan Main

Touyama, Nao Japanese

Saitou Main

Kimura, Ryouhei Japanese

Kisurugi Supporting

Kasama, Jun Japanese

Liliza Supporting

Hanamori, Yumiri Japanese

Primasse Supporting

Izawa, Shiori Japanese

Rahvella Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Ninia Supporting

Tadokoro, Azusa Japanese

Power Wizard Supporting

Morita, Ryousuke Japanese

Kikushima, Kazufumi Producer

Iizuka, Aya Producer

Maruyama, Hajime Producer

Hayasaka, Kazumasa Producer

Reviews

Mar 26, 2023

Mcsuper

Recommended

This was truly an unexpected gem of the Winter season. It was a surprisingly funny, yet emotional and epic anime for sure. It takes a while to really pick up, but once it does, it never looks back. Studio C2C have been quietly doing a great job with some of their recent works, such as Majo no Tabitabi, Tensei shitara Ken Deshita, and now this anime, which showcased some very impressive and sharpened animation and fight scenes that could make some of the elite studios quiver in their boots just a little bit. I think this show nails tonal shifts very well, and it kind ... of reminds me of Golden Kamuy, where one scene they could be making the lewdest of lewd jokes, but the next scene, people are being murdered. It’s really quite something.

The story isn’t very special, as it’s about a Handyman called Saitou, reincarnated into another world where unlike in his original world, the people treat him with much more respect, and he feels more needed. He uses his handyman skills to help out his party with lock-picking, opening treasure chests, a lot of practical things.

The first few episodes are very comedy-based, with somewhat disconnected skits to introduce the characters, and while some of the jokes hit real good, it was definitely the weakest part of the series. It shifts into a more plot-based story after that, and boy, it really got good after that. It went through a full 180, but it worked out in the end with some very meaningful and emotional backstories, along with some solid character writing in the process. It doesn’t hold back in any way, whether it’s the jokes, the action, or even the gore.

The cast is quite the goofy bunch, but they’re a very solid cast of characters. Apart from Saitou, we have an old magician who forgets his spells every so often called Morlock, a healing fairy called Lafanpan, and a strong Knight in Raelza. Their interactions can be comedy gold, but can also be very emotional. They’re a very tight knit party who clearly care about each other, and form great friendships and relationships that made for great dynamics. The side characters and antagonists also were decent, as each character had a certain degree of depth, some more than others, and it’s always a breath of fresh air when the villains have a backstory of their own instead of just being evil for the sake of being evil.

The animation is good overall, but when the plot gets serious, the animation goes up to another level. Some of the fight scenes were very well animated, and got me on the edge of my seat with how epic they were. The OST also accompanies the atmospheres very nicely, although the OP and ED weren’t all that great.

Overall, this show encompasses goofy and epic all in one package, and if there was one isekai besides MagiRevo that I would recommend people to check out, it would be this one. Genuinely, one of the better shows of the season, and it came as a very pleasant surprise. Do give this one a chance.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 26, 2023

Rhapsody-

Mixed Feelings

Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku is quite a serie. Remember watching the initial teaser PV and thinking: “an isekai that will actually focus on its fantasy elements and the development of his main character instead of just being another otaku pandering? That’s something I need to check!”, and surprisingly, it was actually like that… Well, kinda.

Saitou is a handyman, and he’s good at it, but being undervalued led him to be not too confident about his own skills and overall utility, and now, after being given another chance in another world, he has to prove to others and himself what he’s very capable of. More ... than being escapism, it’s about finding our own place where we can feel comfortable with whom we are and what we can do, so it’s normal some people can relate with Saitou in some aspect. A very interesting approach handled in the correct way.

Something very peculiar this serie has is its format, similar to short skits stamped on one single anime episode, very unexpected taking into consideration the initial impression. It’s not that every one of these skits are unrelated from each other like in an episodic serie, they’re still part of one big plot, and they actually worked out in some aspects: first, they helped to set the serie’s overall mood as a more lightweight one, with a pretty big amount of comical situations; and second, they managed to introduce the characters, both mains and secondaries, with enough simplicity to get to know all of them without feeling overwhelmed by the big quantity.

Worldbuilding is also shown in a very straightforward way thanks to this format; it’s not really that different from your typical fantasy videogame world, where levels and classes exist, and people can even die and get revived if they are on time, but the more we get to know the characters, the more we know about their roles and some of the rules of this world, again, in a very straightforward way so it’s really easy to follow.

At the end of the day, this “short episodes” format, while a little controversial, had its good things.

Unfortunately, this is also where the serie’s biggest gripes comes out, because the more we dig into the story, all these aspects start to get thicker, and this lightweight format starts to hinder all this serie’s potential. Sooner than later, after all the introductions were done, the first major threat appears, the series turns into a darker route, and the stakes start to raise, and while they managed to keep it in the correct mood most of the time, the high tension that was built fails to be constant. What I mean by saying this is that the serie was able to set a solid base to a very big plot, focused on its characters, their development and how they interact with the world, but the lack of linearity and a strong narrative prevented these aspects to be as solid as they should.

Look for example episodes 5-7, we got the first linear arc, where some mysteries were established, good actions sequences, there was space for secondary characters to stand out, good chemistry among them and the main cast, and even some character development for some of them; but at the same time we got some very short and forgettable moments of tension, some bad guys with interesting motivations we could barely care (honestly, I would’ve cared more about Kisurugi and Lavella love story, a very lovely and emotional one, if they would’ve… well… talked each other at least one time?), some forced drama, and flashbacks of a major character past… what was so fleeting it didn’t strike as hard as it should, because it feels it was placed there just to fill a quota. This is all due to the serie’s format, that was jumping from one segment to another, which avoided giving any of them the correct time to set a more solid a linear idea.

Now let’s talk about the characters, one of the strongest points of the serie, but also hindered by its problems:

>Saitou is pretty interesting character. When the serie focuses on him, we get to know more about his perspective of this new world customs in contrast to the old one, but also his insecurities and how he struggles to put his skills in service of others. Soon he becomes an important part of the team, either by being a locksmith, carrying equipment and helping with the magic, up to the point that he uses his intelligence to strategize and being a leader. Throughout the serie he goes from “I need to find a way to help my team” to “maybe it’s not much, but there are things that only I can do”, subtlety adopting a more confident yet still doubtful personality, which is nice to see. Problem is, this is not as progressive as it should; by the time episode 3 dropped, there was a skit when Saitou got sick and the rest of the party went to the dungeon without him, having a really bad time, and at the end, they and Saitou realized how important he was for them, almost feeling like the serie already fulfilled part of its purpose, even though there was still more of Saitou development to be shown.

>Morlock, the old mage, which initially seemed to be the comic relief, ended up being arguably the best character in the serie, giving him a strong personality moved by his tragic past and the mysteries surrounding him. It’s a shame that, again, those aspects were touched in a shallow way, with the flashback of his past stamped in the middle of a fraught fight more like a tearjerk than a way to strengthen his character, although it managed to do that in some extent.

>Lafanpan is there just to be a support, both for the team and for every member, either by helping Saitou to gain some confidence or be a friend and a wingman to Raelza. Nothing much to say about her, she’s ok.

>Raelza is the warrior of the group. Although she’s likable and fulfills her role well, it’s sad to say that she’s maybe the weakest character in the main group. Her personality revolves mostly about being the protective guardian and being in love with Saitou for no apparent reason. This is another aspect that got harmed by the serie’s inconsistent format, since we saw how their relationship got more serious and ended up in a pleasant happy ending, but at the same time, we never got shown how they built up this relationship, or how they even felt in love each other. This is not a romance story, of course it doesn’t need to be full focused on a slowly build up, but their interaction was almost non-existent aside for the normal party teamwork and some moments of Raelza simping for Saitou.

With that being said, I think Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku is still a good proof of how this kind of stories still work out with the correct approach. I wouldn’t call this serie “underrated” or “hidden gem” thought, because it got the rate it deserves, something that the serie itself acknowledges. The short skit format, which helps in some aspect, also limits some others, but it’s not that the serie is wasting its own potential; it preferred to keep it like that, being a more lightweight story with a deeper background, but scratching the surface. It’s a serie that is perfectly enjoyable for what it is, but hardly will be remembered except for some few punctual moments, and THIS IS PERFECTLY FINE, the serie is fine by itself…but just that, fine, which at the same time is kind of sad.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 29, 2023

jus7aguy

Not Recommended

I think this is getting such high scores based on the last 4 episodes.

This series starts off disjointed, with horrible pacing, bad character introductions, no setup, and essentially a hot mess.
It continues this way for the first 6 episodes. Then you get 2 "not quite as bad" episodes, by this point you sort of know who everyone-everywhere is but a lot of them you just don't give a damn about. Then the last 4 episodes are actually decent. Probably worth a 7.5 rating. But it isn't worth sitting through 8 episodes of hot mess to get there.

The ... animation itself is fine, there's no problem there, and the opening and ending music is generic but there's no problem with it, nothing that would detract from the show. (Not that I really note the credit sequences and music as part of the rating for a show, more as a side-note if they're really good and worth paying attention too).

I get the feeling that whoever was adapting this for animation story was dropped in at the deep end, or else they just slavishly copied a manga that allowed more exposition or a different style. Whatever they did it doesn't work as episodic anime.

For me I advise a hard pass, if you're a mature person watching this. Your 12-13 year olds might like it if they're just looking for some occasional cheap laughs and 2-dimensional characters with bright colours.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Mar 26, 2023	126 replies	by WhoRainZone »» Jul 10, 12:03 PM
	There's a saddening amount of people who want to see a proper arc in this show. Say-My-Name - Jan 22, 2023	33 replies	by Talamare »» Jul 5, 9:25 AM
	Poll: Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Feb 19, 2023	56 replies	by AnimeJunki3 »» Jun 3, 11:13 AM
	Poll: Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 8, 2023	124 replies	by Redguytom »» May 28, 6:09 AM
	Poll: Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Feb 26, 2023	84 replies	by PoLSonX11 »» May 14, 1:39 PM