The viewer gets dropped into this world without context or background information. From the way events progress it’s also clear that this doesn’t matter – you’re just along for the ride. Things will make more sense as the series progresses, but you have to get there first.
So the series has a unique plot pacing and episode set-up. Each episode consists of several mini-episodes, some of which are connected in an arc of sorts, while others are just loose pieces. While refreshing, this also made it very difficult for me to get into this anime.
What made this whiplash worse is that some (mini-)episodes are very good, while others are very bad. Often, there is a massive tone switch within the same episode multiple times. There is no consistency and this really bothered me.
While overall the series tries to go for a cozy dungeon exploration isekai vibe, it mixes up things in the blink of an eye – a cozy scenario has sudden gore, we go from humor to serious moments without a pause, and their attempt at romance gets interrupted by ridiculous events. You’re constantly being catapulted from one extreme to another.
Now, the series is not without its merits. It has an interesting party composition and there are plenty of quirky side characters. Especially Morlock and Lafanpan are cool characters with a lot of charm in their own way. The characters and their interactions really drive the series, even though not everyone is really all that interesting. The worst offender of them all, however, is the main character Saitou. He’s bland, boring and generic.
Either way, what got me to not recommend this series in the end was a childish insistence on some sort of retrieve-a-dick quest and the constant unwarranted gore. None of it was funny nor did it make much sense. It ruined the cozy vibe they had been aiming for. I felt surprised at every turn while watching this series, but near the end I just felt deceived instead.
This series could have been great with its unconventional episode structure and focus on short, bite-sized chunks of entertainment. A different anime that did this well, for example, is Way of the Househusband. Unfortunately, Handyman Saitou in Another World doesn’t even reach the standard of mediocrity. It’s a failed experiment gone wrong.
