Naofumi, your ordinary Otaku, gets summoned to a fantasy world against his will. Instead of actually voicing his opinion on the matter, he accepts it instead, unlike the 3 other heroes who immediately frowned after being teleported, or should I say "abducted" at this point. At first, Naofumi seems your typical self-insert protagonist who gets all the waifus and lolis while treating them as they were mere "prizes" he can collect and show off to the viewer, without actually making any move. But then we get to the "twist", which this time is a false rape accusation that was randomly thrown away without any actual context or motive. Apparently, almost all the characters in this show victimize the protagonist and treat him like garbage because of rumors about the "Shield Hero" being a horrible person. Then why exactly did you summon him in the first place? Why not execute him after falsely accusing him without any evidence whatsoever?
Needless to say, Naofumi, who was first presented as an atypical protagonist who doesn't do any of the cliches mentioned previously, becomes your typical protagonist who does ALL of the cliches mentioned previously in just 2 episodes. But this time everything is excused, since he was victimized and everybody who doesn't side with him is immediately labelled as villain. No matter what he says or does, it makes sense to the viewer who immediately sides with him without actually taking his actions and decisions into consideration.
Some of his decisions are questionable as they raise some serious ethical questions, like his idea of buying a loli slave. Why exactly does it have to be a loli? Couldn't be something less pathetic and more adequate for a fantasy world, like an animal companion? Later on, he decides to buy an actual animal as means for transportation. But that exact animal turns into a loli too for no other reason than to pander people's fetishes. There is nothing wrong with having a harem, loli or any other type of fanservice element as long as its relevant to the genre. When I decide to watch a fantasy anime, I'm not exactly expecting constant arguing between the waifus over the protagonist. I'm also not expecting random lolis who add nothing to its story and development. In fact, the only reason why I decided to watch this show in the first place was because everybody was saying how different and refreshing it is. Is it?
As the story progresses, Naofumi begins to feel like any other overpowered, know-it-all protagonist since he never looses, even when the enemy is clearly cheating or way beyond his level. Not to mention the fact that he was presented, from the very first beginning, as the weakest among the heroes since he can only use a shield. Apparently, this shield turns out to be a devastating plot device he can use to heal, damage, trap or block enemies.
Everything and everyone is in Naofumi's favor, since he is the victim in the story for poorly explained reasons. I'm guessing it has something to do with a devilish curse, but it all feels too contrived. From the false accusation to the slave loli to the typical harem.
You might as well call him "Kirito, but this time its more tragic".
The pacing is absurdly fast sometimes, like when Raphtalia turns from a weak, shy and sensitive loli to a tsundure, jealous and badass 20-year old girl in just one episode or when Filo rapidly grows up in just one day. And all of this fast progression is shown using a slideshow of images, which honestly felt more like a PowerPoint presentation to me. Really? That's not character development. Its more of a skipping in order to rush Naofumi's harem.
Other times, the pacing is purposefully dragged out for the sake of fillers. You have a fight between Naofumi and another Hero over who gets to keep the loli, and it is used to victimize Naofumi even further by making EVERY single character in the episode hate him. You have a risky pointless adventure where they go looking for magical crystals just to make a special dress for Filo (She constantly transforms into a loli, remember?).
World building is almost non existent. Everything is presented as a video game even thought it isn't (the protagonist gets summoned after opening a book that describes the fantasy world he's trapped in, and not after playing a video game or something). The protagonist even has an interactive UI at his disposal he can use to upgrade his weapons or view his stats. So it actually is an alternate reality video game after all. Moreover, the world is a copy-paste of what you'd expect to find in any Isekai anime. If I took a random screenshot of this fantasy world and showed it to people next year, they wouldn't be able to tell which Isekai anime it is. In fact, they will probably think its next year's Isekai anime. That's how dull, unimpressive and repetitive the world seems to me.
"Everybody Hates Naofumi" is no different from any other Isekai you've seen for the last 5 years. The only reason you feel like its different and refreshing is because the writer tries his best to convince you that it is, while pouring the exact same elements scavenged from different Isekais over the years into the mixer and calling it a day. He's the perfect example of a seller convincing you to buy a product you already have and seen (OP protagonist and his harem) by telling you its different (victimizing the protagonist for the sake of plot armoring everything and everyone around him). But this victimization which was too exaggerated to the point that it became irritating is more than enough to fool the average viewer into thinking this time its different.
It's not.
