Unwanted Undead Adventurer is a role model of an anime "playing on the safe side". There was absolutely nothing unpleasant or controversial - the anime just focused on telling the story of a nice guy (and nice people around him). The risk, of course, is that the anime may come across as boring or forgettable for some viewers. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an easy-to-watch and relaxing adventure anime, but not to those who want an adrenaline-filled experience.
(preliminary review at ep.3)
This is a distinct adventure anime compared to other light novel adaptions.
Right from ep.1, main character Rentt’s made extensive amount of inner monologues - he was basically a narrator who directly explains things. It felt like a lazy narrative device initially, but created the feeling of reading a novel once the audience got used to it. In addition, after other characters gradually enter the story, the amount of monologue and dialogue became more balanced.
How does it feel to become an undead (or skeleton)? It’d be quite challenging for the audience to imagine, and _Overlord_(2015) didn't explain it to us lol. The staff seemed to recognize this as well, and intentionally added interesting scenes for viewers to “feel” it. For example, they showed the blurry and colorless world from Rentt’s perspective during his first fight with another skeleton, effectively conveying the initial struggles Rentt had to face after the transform.
My favorite aspect of this anime is Rentt’s personality - diligent, persevering, calm. The audience wouldn’t be surprised by his survival and growth; all his actions were logical and coherent. So far I’ve never experienced a "what the heck?!" moment yet. I'd appreciate that the author was treating the readers as people with normal intelligence. (Given there are so many light novel authors who don’t...)
Up to ep.3, it feels to be a solid and engaging anime that’s worth watching.
