Story: Meikyuu Black Company is a story about a rich asshole by the name of Ninomiya getting zapped into a fantasy world, where he immediately goes deep into debt in their society of predatory ultra-capitalism and is forced to work as something like an indentured servant. This sounds like the setup for an excellent satire of Japanese work culture and capitalism more broadly, but it never quite gets there. As a story, it seems unfocused and unsure of what it's trying to be. Ninomiya himself is the biggest issue here, as the show seems unsure of whether he's good or bad, and if his actions are worthy of praise or condemnation. He treats his friends like shit, but they all seem to like him. He does some pretty indefensible things, like mind controlling his coworkers to work extra hard so he can relax, but he's often treated like a hero in spite of his narcissistic sociopathy. The message of the series is very muddled as a result. Is Ninomiya's "the strong should dominate the weak" ethos the message of the series, or a satire of it? The show doesn't seem to know, and that thematic inconsistency really takes the wind out of its sails.
Audio/Visual: A strong performance by Konishi Katsuyuki in the lead role of Ninomiya here, his comically over the top voicing of the character fits like a glove. Most of the other VAs are just there, but I also want to call attention to the collection of sound effects that I've termed "Rim noises", usually involving her eating or doing something distracting in the background of a scene. They're a small thing, but always entertaining and used well. Visually, well, this show just looks bad. The character designs are poor, faces are too pointy and too samey, often just looking like they swapped hair colors and styles on the same body and face for a new character. The animation is unimpressive as well. They undoubtedly did the best they could with the budget, but the result is not very good.
Characters: Without repeating everything I said about Ninomiya above, he's both the biggest strength and biggest weakness of the series. Those issues aside, he's usually the funniest character in the series, and you alternate between wanting to see him win and wanting to see him get owned by his own selfish behavior. This is not a strength from a storytelling perspective, but it means there are plenty of opportunities for comedy, and he can play both the straight man and the butt of the joke when the situation calls for it. Most of the other characters are just okay, the later addition of Ranga is notably cringeworthy however. That said, the food-obsessed dragon girl Rim often makes this series worth watching singlehandedly. She's cute and funny and almost always steals whatever scene she's in. The problem is that she's often in the background and not the focus of that particular scene, so her background antics prove distracting for whatever you're supposed to be paying attention to. In the end though, that probably says more about the lack of appeal that the other characters have by comparison.
