Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu

With the amount of anime increasing every year, there's bound to have ones that are overlooked or unrecognized, for instance, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement. Appearing in the low-middle side from Winter 2023 shows and being perceived as "one of those generic isekai" we get in each season, what some people may not know is how the concept's distinctive from most out there.

From the beginning, we get to learn that Mitsuha Yamano, our main character, has the ability to transport between worlds at will and at any given time. And from this information she obtained, she plans on saving 80,000 ... gold (which is equivalent to 2 billion yen) for her retirement where she'll preserve 40,000 gold in each world in case Mitsuha loses the capacity to go back and forth. Now while i wouldn't call the story amazing or anything close, it certainly manages to keep me entertained in every episode. Seeing the different methods she comes up with and the various items of her world she brings to the other world to sell's a pleasant sight. With the mix of fantasy, slice of life, comedy, adventure and even action at times, it brings a nice amount of variety to the table.

As for the characters, the only notable character in this entire series' Mitsuha. Where the enjoyment largely depends whether or not you like her. In my case, i do a lot. Even though she appears to be a cute little child, she's actually shown to be an intelligent, calm and a rational person. She's also good at acting and can even be cunning at times. I appreciate how Mitsuha isn't some one dimensional character or how she isn't those kind of self-insert protagonists we see very often within this theme. On the contrary, the rest of the cast have nothing to write home about. Some people may call them to be unremarkable and bland and while i wouldn't necessarily disagree with that, it doesn't take out the overall entertainment we get from this anime. As long as you like Mitsiha's antics, you will most definitely enjoy it.

I admit however, that the animation and music are pretty average, which can be considered barely passable. The former being plain and unexceptional which doesn't make it stand out from any other series, whereas the latter are pretty forgettable and underwhelming. There were no soundtracks that wants to make me jam at the music which is a bit unfortunate.

Overall, while this anime's not necessarily outstanding, it certainly is far from being horrible. Its' fresh concept is a nice change of pace we see from the numberous isekai anime in recent years. If you simply want an fun, cozy and joyful anime, then i'd recommend this anime.

Heyo

I'm not going to start this review with some pretentious quote to try and look smart.

So the anime is about gathering 80 000 gold coins for retirement. Although I'd say it could be more appropriately named "Tax Evasion in Another World," it brings something we've never seen before to the table.

Ultimately, the concept feels fresh and quite funny. It follows a very simple writing flowchart of giving the main character a goal and damn right she's going to achieve it. After the rather underwhelming 1st episode, I genuinely had fun watching her endeavours in the 2nd and 3rd one. Too bad that it's bedridden with ... plot holes or lack of knowledge on historic facts. Namely on the topic of crop cycles (ancient practice on Earth), presence of synthetic materials in the goods she sells, conflicting fashion styles with time periods and so on. Pacing is also painfully bad, quite unfortunate really.

On the topic of characters: Your opinion on Mitsuha is going to make or break the show to you. If you find her fun to watch, you'll feel right at home. If you find her annoying or deplorable, you'll feel annoyed. A big issue arises when you consider the fact she's kind of difficult to cheer for due to how manipulative she gets. Besides her, there are no notable characters, mostly pretty basic side characters that just...exist.

Conversations and dialogue generally feel clunky or inhuman. Arguably one of the bigger issues. Check how oddly dialogue is delivered in episode 2 (interaction with Wolf Fang) and 3 (Count dinner conversations). Mitsuha's inner monologue is also just...weird. Like, they're trying to use her dead brother as an infodump device, but it's also how she genuinely thinks inside her head? The show tries taking on a comedic tone and it's not the worst but absolutely nothing to write home about.

On the topic of production, I'd like to note that this is by no means anything close to a big budget anime. In fact, this is barely the studio's 5th anime and barely the 3rd one without co-production. Looking at it that way, the visuals are mostly fine, but often very lacking. Backgrounds especially often feel very wonky (take the wolf chasing scene in episode 1 for example) or that teleportation scene on her bed.

Sound design is fine. No big names in the VA list from the main cast except for Kaori Maeda who also got to sing the OP and Fukuyama Jun. None of them do a bad job and I have to admit that the background music slaps pretty hard. Unfortunately, no insane stand-out performances.

Conclusion: The show is depressingly average. It brings a fresh concept to the table executed poorly, plagued by terrible pacing and filled with unnecessary tropes. It can be a fun watch at times but nothing to write home about. If you're in it for pretty fight scenes or art shots, stay far away from this.

Just watched Episode 4 , and it felt like the first Episode I actually enjoyed, made want to write a review.

The first 2 episodes seemed just awkward . I tend to not like Isekais where the MC can go back and forth between worlds so that was part of it but it also felt kind of all over the place. There was no flow. It felt like the creators were like “ Ou this would be cool let’s throw that in there “ “ Actually let’s add this too it will be even cooler!” And throwing a bunch of ingredients they thought were “cool” ... in the pot without thinking about if it will actually blend well together. All That bad stuff being said I did keep watching, and I’m glad I did. If I did not , I would not have gotten to episode 4.

Episode 4 , was way more enjoyable to me then any other episode so far. For the first time I was like “oh so this is what this show is going to be like” . There was actually a flow and a some good humor ! I really like misunderstanding or miscommunication humor so I’m glad there was some of that in there. But finally it did not seem all over the place and actually felt like it had purpose. So I’m hoping the future episodes will be as good as this one, IF IT IS, I think it will turn out to be a fun , decent, slice of life , isekai that’s worth pushing through the first 3 episodes 👍

Animation: 7
Sounds: 7
Concept: 7
First 3 episodes: 5
Episode 4: 8
Overall: 7

"Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu" is an anime adaptation of a light novel series by FUNA. The story follows a young woman named Yamano Mitsuha, who is transported to a fantasy world through an accident that made her fall from a cliff. She soon discovers she has a way to go between this world and her original world. Hence starts her misadventures of collecting and saving as much gold as possible for her comfy retirement.
The premise of this series explores Mitsuha's journey as she navigates through this new world and makes friends (business partners) along the way. While it ... may seem straightforward, the simplicity provides a unique twist to the popular isekai genre. As this series is not really made to be taken seriously, it presents an interesting concept of financial management and planning in a slapstick comedy format. Which is not often explored in other shows. The story is filled with various comedic moments, such as when Mitsuha tries to pursue her desire to live up to her dear late brother's love of everything related to otaku culture while struggling with her own greed for saving gold for her retirement.
Personally, I find the similarities with the GATE anime fascinating. Both shows feature a modern-day protagonist being transported to a fantasy world with access to modern technology and knowledge. In both cases, the protagonist uses their knowledge and skills that impact the world they find themselves in. The shows also explore the political and societal differences between the two worlds, highlighting the struggles of adapting to an unfamiliar and new environment. However, while GATE is more action-oriented and focuses on military and political conflict, "Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu" is more of a Mitsuha's slice-of-life story with a focus on economic and financial management. Despite these differences, fans of GATE may find similarities in the concept to be worth a watch.
The show's strength is it balances serious themes with comedic and light-hearted moments. The series tackles the topic of negotiation and networking, which is an important life skill. At the same time, the show is not afraid to have fun and inject humor into the story. This balance makes the show enjoyable to watch while still providing valuable lessons.
The animation is admirable as it fulfills the comedic timing needed for the visual gags, with bright and colorful visuals that capture the whimsical nature of this fantasy world. The voice acting is also impressive, with each actor bringing their characters to life with passion and emotion. Special mention, of course, goes to our protagonist, as she manages to exceptionally represent Mitsuha with her voice acting.
While the show may not be for everyone, it has a promising start with a strong ending for this season. The story is engaging, and the characters are likable. The series does a significant satirical play on financial management. Overall, "Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu" is a worthwhile watch for fans of the isekai genre.

Refusing to die after falling off a cliff, a woman ends up grabbing the nuts of a divine being, and leeching off some of their powers. With those powers in hand, she obtains the ability to jump through worlds, and uses it to make a profit selling modern day conveniences to a backwater Isekai civilization.


Animation / Art / General Visuals - 5/10
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There is no animation. This is a slideshow with sound. Most of the time, the only thing moving are the character's mouths. Occasionally a limb or two. Background characters don't move. Half the scenes are replaced by cardboard chibis and effects made in MS ... Paint.

There's a lack of detail in all designs. There's not a speck of originality or even attempt of drawing something cool or exciting.


Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 7/10
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I guess it's not terrible. JP voice actors put in solid quality performance as usual. Sounds and music are bare bones though, but the show's setting doesn't make many demands either.


Story - 7/10
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The premise isn't terrible as far as Isekai go. In fact it's one of the more interesting ones. Freedom to teleport back and forth between the Isekai world and our own, is a cool concept you don't see done often. However, there's a serious lack of ambition and epic storylines involved, it's nowhere as developed as for example "Gate" which took the concept to far higher heights.

The entire story essentially follows a young woman coming up with very mundane ways on how to get rich, selling modern day stuff to a medieval civilization. Her only motivation being a vague desire to retire early and do whatever she wants. As if her powers don't make it stupidly easy to begin with.

But it's not a TERRIBLE story if you like such wholesome, fantasy, slice of life with some comedy mixed in. I got a few chuckles out of it.


Characters - 6/10
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There really aren't any others than the MC who hogs all the screen time. Which is probably for the best. It would be hard to flesh out any side characters with the obvious budget limitations this show has.

The MC is luckily quite nice. A young woman who's quite intelligent, competent and decently confident. She has her damsel in distress moments and some "pon" here and there. But as a whole, a better and more reasonable MC than most.

Still, having to carry essentially the entire show by herself is definitely a negative for the show as a whole. It's hard to care about much that happens when there aren't any people you care about to begin with.

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Total - 6/10

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A passable story and a good MC isn't enough to properly salvage this anime which is suffering from a serious lack of production values. Be it low budget or inexperienced studio, the end result is poor. It just barely justifies calling itself an anime. It's dangerously close to being beaten by a manga turned into a Gif with background music.

Still, if Fantasy Isekai is your jam, and Slice of Life your guilty pleasure, it's probably decent entertainment.

Give it a chance. I know this audience can be patient AF. Just look at Steins Gate ratings (which I don't get, but it's a different story)
After a few early episodes, the story normalizes. Is it trash, Isekai? Sure, it is, but it does have a twist and humor. The awkwardness of differences in culture is entertaining. The protagonist, Mitsuha, sets a seemingly simple goal - gathering 80k gold coins to be enough to live a carefree life after the goal is achieved. But vast cultural and technological differences make everyone too suspicious, like her first blunder of trying to sell jewelry early on.

I ... don't know why people complain about animation - looks fine to me. The forest could've done better, but it was a minor issue.

After 8 episodes, It's a strong 7 from me, though early episodes were only worth 4 or 5 out of 10.

It's not a bad anime but it's not wonderful either, it's more the kind you can relax and watch without thinking too much. As for animation, there isn't much to talk about, there aren't many action scenes, but even the final fight with the dragon wasn't bad.

And it depends a lot if you like the protagonist, after all, she carries the anime, Mitsuha is a different type of protagonist from Isekai, she can be very manipulative for things to go well for her but at the same time she is a very empathetic person, If someone needs help, Mitsuha will be there to help, ... regardless of whether it will bring you profit. I also feel that the anime dynamic could be better if her brother were alive, them as a duo would be a really nice extra to see.

TLDR
This show isn't without its flaws, and if you're not into Isekai this won't convert you. It is, however, fun with a (mostly) likable protagnoist, a slightly different spin and a silly plot that rarely takes itself too seriously.

Further thoughts
Mitsuha is the protagonist. She's a go-getter, likable but somewhat mercenary in her convictions. While there is a fun supporting cast don't expect any found family stuff, despite the premise. She's looking out for herself mostly. This isn't a negative, but it is worth considering if you like the found family stuff.

There's no real world building here and the final arc comes out of no-where. Again, ... these aren't negatives for me but it all leads to a final confrontation which is magnificently stupid. I loved it, but it is the peak of ridiculousness. If you want a deep and compelling story this really isn't the show for you.

Honestly if you want to follow a compelling, but not angelic, protagonist with a few fun side characters this is for you. It is, by no means, a must watch but it's a fun way to kill time if you like your Isekai.

All I really need to say is damn Mitsuha is fine as hell.

The premise, jokes and overall quality is completely acceptable and the English Dub is awesome as most Dubs are these days.

If you find the main character appealing and the you like Isekai's then you'll enjoy this show.

If you need to read an in-depth review to decide whether or not to watch this, it's probably not for you. Spend the time watching the show and learn to love how Anime pulls you into the world and gives you the chance for your own opinions on characters and whether or not they deserve your criticism.

Back ... to the basics, my friends.

This anime is really good just for passing the time, don't expect anything more than killing time.

I have to admit that the concept of this anime seemed extremely interesting to me—the ability to travel between dimensions, the mystery of the 'God' who gave the power, plus the relationship with his brother and the tragic story of his family. But definitely, the execution of this anime was really mediocre. It gives the impression that a group of writers got together for a brainstorming session to create this anime, and after having the original concept, they handed it over to an AI to automatically generate the episodes ... one after another.

With better direction, surely a better budget, and definitely much better screenwriters, this anime could have been one of the best—perhaps even approaching 'Overlord'. But as I said before, it is possible that this was written by an 11-year-old child or an AI with a 7B capacity.

I recommend this anime if:
- You finished watching another anime that is really heavy and want to relax with something light.
- You like isekai made with an IQ of two.
- You have very low expectations.

I don't recommend this anime if:
- You think the idea is good and it will be properly developed.
- You tend to think things like... 'doesn't anyone think about the effects of this?'

This anime is very good imo and I do recommend you watch it, it's just a very unique premise. mc has the power to travel between the modern world and the fantasy world and
Uses it to make money for her retirement, it's something I've not seen before and I like that.
I'm loving the main character so far I just have her personality she's, spunky, upbeat and fun the other characters so far Great also animation so far is decent not amazing but decent. So yes once again I recommend you all go watch this one it is a great show and one of the ... most underrated so far this anime season.

This show honestly surprised me, in a good way. The story was fun, surprisingly realistic (for an isekai or sorta-isekai), and it didn't follow all the tropes (yay!). There were a lot of things done in this story that I have not seen portrayed anywhere else in anime, and that originality made this so much more enjoyable. The art might be lacking some, but a solid story is present with plenty of comedy and thoughtfulness. The realistic choices and reactions by characters are such a relief in the OP-MC Isekai story and for that alone this makes the show worth a watch within the genre.
Hopefully ... this story gets more followup but even if it doesn't, this season ended on a good note. Closed up the important parts of the story and opened the ability to add so much more.

Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu (2023)

You have a generic isekai here with the helpful god bestowing amazing powers, a character who has basically lost everything but has a modest inheritance that seems to make them stinking rich and also has access to things, not powers but things that allows them to become part of high society in an extremely short space of time.

The show is basically GATE with no magic but mercenaries instead of the Japanese Self Defence Forces. Unlike GATE which was a fantastic time not just because Rory Mercury was awesome. Essentially it's an isekai where a ... rich girl manages to hire mercenaries and get hold of weapons and everyone just believes her without question. She puts solar panels on a building with no question to it at all and runs electricity through buildings and everyone is just sat like fair enough.

The art at times is average and at other times is dumpster quality. It honestly feels like at times I am watching a static comic telling of a show with flat characters.

The sound has no depth and is cheap. The characters all sound like every other character from anime.

You get some situation with the poor girl Colette that seems to be part of the show but isn't really at all. You get everyone from maids, to royals to kings and princesses loving the character after 5 minutes and giving no suspicion just because she has stuff. She wins over a chancellor in less than a few sentences!

Ultimately, the show is trying to be something it isn't. The show itself isn't the worst show going but it is nothing compared to what it wants to be. 5/10.

"Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu" is a fun isekai anime that is perfect to watch during your free time. The story is lighthearted and entertaining, making it easy to follow. Unlike most isekai shows, Mitsuha Yamano is not trapped in the isekai world but can move easily between the different worlds. Realized by her unique ability, she started to "money laundering" (I dunno the correct term but she basically discovered the money glitch) by selling normal items to the isekai world.

The issues I had with the anime are the pacing is somewhat weird especially between episode 9-10 which escalated very ... quickly and the bgm somewhat being cut off suddenly like huh.. it just ended like that. However, it is still an enjoyable experience to watch as there are plenty of funny scenes here and there throughout the anime.

Writing a review for this anime is hard. It has decent character interactions like the princess + MC. But everything else is just pandering. The plot goes way out of its way to make sure MC always wins. MC's intelligence is also inconsistent.

example:
She can get a realtor + carpenter to make her a shop, but doesn't do the most basic research before selling items. She displays hot water shower heads, hair driers, lighters, stoves etc.. to the first customers in her shop. This should raise questions, but customers think of it as magic. this show never actually shows *ANY* magic at all being used ... by other people, even royals/military. The plot will bend over backwards to make sure MC always wins no matter how dumb she gets. things are conveniently skipped over more often than not.

If you cannot skip over such inconsistencies or bad writing, ignore this anime. otherwise (and if you don't have anything better to do), it maybe worth a watch.

Plot
Family dead accident. MC graduated highschool and lives alone. has insurance money. gets powers and the ability to transfer (including things/other people) between isekai and our world. starts climbing up in influence using modern world equipment and services like private military. Most of the entertainment comes from fluffy moments like MC and other characters talking.

Characters
Most characters are not worth remembering. But i love the brother of MC. he's dead, but pops in our MC's imagination/memories to give her little bits of wisdom. He is just a big bundle of energy and always fun to see.

TL;DR: Watch this if the premise appeals to you or if you want a main character who is good at social engineering. If you don't like plot devices being handwaved away, you might not like this.

RouKin is evidence that the Isekai horse hasn't quite been beaten to death yet. The whole genre has been stumbling around, bouncing between increasingly off-the-wall premises for the past eternity (we're not that far off a decade now) as writers try to find something that both hasn't been tried yet and isn't mind-numbingly stupid. Most of the time they fall at this second hurdle. Which is ... why it's honestly shocking to me that RouKin's premise wasn't picked up on earlier. After all, the idea of setting up a shop in another world where you sell our world's items sounds pretty obvious once you say it out loud. But coming up with a cool and unique premise is not enough on it's own to stand out in this saturated genre.

Fortunately, RouKin is very solid overall. It's a goofy comedy built around fish out of water humor, which you're probably expecting. However, it's clear that more than just surface-level thought went into the humor here. Mitsuha isn't just some teenager selling knick-knacks in another world, she's carefully selecting items based on usefulness, what her target market would actually want to buy. And that's only a small slice of the amount of planning that went into this. There are entire episodes dedicated to it! These early episodes show off one of Mitsuha's most engaging traits, her ability to socially engineer her way into and out of situations to suit her own ends. The character is excellent at persuasion, and this comes across as surprisingly believable in the dialogue. The complications of these misadventures is another great source of comedy in the series. Not only that, the episodes still retain a sense of tension arising from Mitsuha's imperfect knowledge of the other world, as she overlooks important facts, helping to round her out as a character and keep her believable with some flaws, setting up more good comedy scenarios along the way.

There are flaws, of course. Most notably, there's a lot of handwaving of plot details at the beginning. The circumstances of how Mitsuha travels between worlds and how she got these powers to begin with are written off as a joke, which, while understandable (and pretty funny, at least to me), I can definitely see this bothering some people. The show takes its worldbuilding and premise seriously, but the plot devices that make everything work get a lot less care, and will fall apart under scrutiny, as I have no doubt there are inconsistencies related to this somewhere. If you're not out looking for them they'll probably pass you by as they did with me, but, again, this is an understandable and valid flaw with the show.

This anime has been a welcome surprise for me overall. I expect there to be more of a focus on Mitsuha's backstory in later episodes, as it's been intentionally left vague. My hope is that this will be better handled than the other main plot elements. Definitely excited to see where it goes regardless. If you think you might like this based off this review, then I strongly recommend you take the time to give it a shot.

I'm grudgingly giving this a 7, because it's definitely worth more than a 6, however I feel they could have done a lot more with the show.

Don't get me wrong; it's quite enjoyable as a watch, but I feel both politically, and character depth wise, they could have gone deeper. A few times it feels like "okay this switch is flipped, this person acts this way now". The animation was okay, opening and ending themes and soundtrack were enjoyable, voice acting mostly on point. But it shows that it's adapted from a light novel, parts of it just come across as shallow ... or flat. I'm not sure if that's a failing in adaptation or in the source material.

Those negatives aside I found it to be an enjoyable low-stress watch, I was just a little frustrated because I felt that it could have been better than it was, not that it was "bad" in the first place. Unrealised potential in a show/story irritates me.

Over-all I'd recommend for anyone not wanting dynamic action watching, and just wanting to enjoy a decent story, without getting to invested in it. 6.7/10 for me, rounded up to 7/10.

Your mileage may vary.

an Interesting Isekai Hindered by Low-Budget and Pacing Issues

as you can see from the title of this review, i'm very familiar with the source material both novel and manga i even considered it as one of my favorites because the protagonist are quite unique and weird
i already knew the anime gonna be low-budget but holy moly, i really didn't think it's gonna be that "low"
from episode 1 you can already see the struggle on the animation, a lot of the shot are either still shot, badly framed or just have a weird proportion when they are moving
although episode 2 have a lot better animation and ... consistency, the same problem appeared on Episode 3
and it's probably just me, i felt like some scene look out of focus and a bit blurred.

aaaand now the pacing, episode 1 suffer a lot because in the manga and novel the introduction are quite a slow burn so they probably trying to get everything packed and done in 1 episode but it's not quite working and felt like the whole episode are pace really weird
so far Episode 2 have the best pace and getting a lot of information through without hinder the story progression so much, episode 3 only suffer a bit with pacing with some scene quite literaly removed and use that runtime to another scene that more important and need to flesh out more

i'm still very much enjoying the adaptation and looking forward for all future episode, although i hope the anime adaptation atleast a bit more consistent and have less pacing issues in general, it'll be quite a challenge for the studio since the source material are always a slow burn and moving quite slow from 1 story line to another
but it'll be quite an achievement if they able to deliver them all in 12 episodes, one can hope

7/10

Fun premise for an anime. What if someone could freely travel between the modern world and an isekai world, what would you do? What the protagonist does is decide to sell goods from the modern world in the other world, and then exchange the currency back in our world for a heafty profit to save up for a retirement in either world. However, due to sometimes not thinking things through she sometimes gets the wrong reactions from the other world people.

Fun characters of course and decent animation, though I will doc points for them somewhat often falling back on CGI for wide shots in ... some of the crowd scenes and stuff.

Man, finding a new great isekai to watch after consuming a lot of it is really a challenge these days. Frieren set the bar too high for me, so trying out overlooked animes like this one always pays off more than the consequence of wasting your time. First of all, the MC is just perfect. She's someone you will enjoy to watch going through different challenges. She's a dependable girl and fits perfectly for the plot laid on hand. The way they deliver jokes is great, animation is solid. I'm just a little bit sad that there's no plan for s2 but hey, it ended ... pretty well.

If you're just tryna find a light-hearted show to watch after work or on your day offs, then this is what you're looking for. Give it a shot :)