Sorry, forgive me for that rant. If you've been in the AniManga scene since the COVID era, you might've caught a glance at one particular show called Kimi to Boku no Saigo no Senjou, Aruiwa Sekai ga Hajimaru Seisen a.k.a Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World (or shortened to KimiSen). Written by novelist Kei Sazane, the anime came out in Fall 2020, that tells of a Romeo and Juilet-inspired story in a fantasy world. Needless to say, I was one of a handful of people who hated the show outright for it trying to be "innovative" in its concept, but rehashing the author's tried-and-true tropes of just about every cliche known to man, so much so that the entire anime was an absolute cringefest to sit through the seasonal worth of its 12 episodes.
Come this year of 2024, and Kei Sazane is raking in more fame and (mostly bad) recognition, because this copy-paste imitation of an author has 3 of his most recent works under his belt being made into anime: the continuation of KimiSen into Season 2, last season's No Game, No Life ripoff (or more similarly of last Summer's Liar, Liar) of Kami wa Game ni Ueteiru. a.k.a Gods' Games We Play, and the work that out of the 3, that I REALLY wanted all the more to succeed: Naze Boku no Sekai wo Daremo Oboeteinai no ka? a.k.a Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World?, the most "original" work that Kei Sazane has ever done, even if it's by no means innovative in the fantasy genre. You've gotta hand it to this man, at least he tried something different for his own "unique flavour" that stands out in his copy-paste biography of works over the last decade or so, and I'm relieved that for once, by his own standards, Kei Sazane got that formula right out of the gate.
What started out as your typical war between humans and other entities of races you can only find in fantasy novels and the like, suddenly gets shifted into a time paradigm where the war that's won by the humans and led by its titular hero character, is overwritten to the point that humans never existed in the alternate world. This is the plot device of MC Kai Sakura-Vento, a soldier of the existing Urza Federation who enjoyed the prosperity after humanity's hero of the Prophet Sid did the deed to render humanity as winners of the Great War of the Five Races, alongside his comrades of Ashran Highroll, Saki Miscotti, and his childhood friend of Jeanne E. Anis, whom he fought alongside the war, with whom the latter of the 3 he's bonded quite a lot to be potential future partners. The suddenness to have his world be mysteriously distorted in no time to assimilate, forcibly leaving the comfort of Jeanne and the new world and encountering another world where humans are not at the top nor bottom, but non-existing in the Great War, he is the only one who's sane (or insane, depending on the worldview) who has an inkling of Prophet Sid, and as the title goes: no one truly remembers who Kai is in the alternate world. It's up to him to find out what tracks this perverse course of action that renders the people he knows into complete strangers, and what exactly does his alternate world have in store for him retracing the Great War of the Five Races once again, only this time with some help that could get the alternate world back on track with the events of his world.
Being the only one who remembers all that is within his old world, Kai slowly is aware of the events that he is part of, never truly got off the ground in the alternate world that knows no inkling of neither him nor the Prophet Sid at all. It's only when he meets the mysterious demon of Rinne, all chained up at what seems to be Heaven, as well as the sword that was imbued to him: Code Holder (that once belonged to Prophet Sid), Kai begins to slowly piece the sequence of events of humanity's speckle in a world where demons have truly taken over its timeline. And out of all the characters, even in the list of many "couple" MCs that Kei Sazane has put out so far, Kai and Rinne are the most passive when compared to KimiSen's Iska and Aliceliese, as well as Kami wa Game's Fay Theo Philus and Leoleshea. What's up with creating characters so backwards that you need extra characters to help progress him and her forward, This is not how you want to paint your central characters, especially for a world that's this elaborate, intricate, and, IMO, a decent sci-fi and power fantasy action series that has content to stand on its own heft. Most of the time, it feels like Kai and Rinne were forced into the alternate world just to make amends for the right course of action, as they meet characters from other races and align the correct vision against all odds, no matter how fearsome their opponents are. And one of them is Last Riser: the entity of anomaly who reacts to Sid's sword whenever it's used, that is akin to a moderator when things of Kai's world (such as Sid's name) are registered as taboo words that should not be said, and anyone who utters even just a minute of the word gets forcibly erased from the world, adding another layer into an already complex war that Kai, Jeanne and the others have to go through the same-old once again.
To be clear, the story itself is fine and serviceable (and actually worth a second look), but Kai and Rinne have a lot of ways to go and gain ground if they truly want to stand out, and so far within the anime that's part of the already completed LN that ended back in August 2020, they've just been stuck like players who need to be fed quests to progress their plot forward. As I've said, it's truly a missed opportunity to have characters just be there to service its plot and not do more on their behalf, which unfortunately is the result of Kei Sazane himself prioritizing the wrong things for the right stuff. If anything, characters can make up for the lack of story, but not the other way around, and this show unfortunately is the sum of many errors that could make a potential difference.
Oof, woe is Project No. 9 having an enigma of a Summer season adapting 2 shows in the same season, but the same 2 shows that have a very noticeable difference when compared against one another. While Senpai wa Otokonoko a.k.a Senpai Is an Otokonoko had Aniplex's backing, which allowed the anime to be marginally expressive to the point of being impressive thanks to the conglomerate's big budget, it's the complete opposite for this show where the coined "low-budget" term really comes into play. From the mediocre visuals to the horrible animation, it feels as if I have to second guess if I'm watching the exact same show of low expectations when it comes to production values to begin with. For sure, this is one of the worst produced shows of the season, and it's quite the jarring expose to watch a show so drab and dysfunctional.
The year 2024 also brings all Kei Sazane works the affiliation with musical project Sizuk and J-Pop "hybride rock band" AliA, and if you're the type to like modern rock music, look no further than KimiSen's sequel season and Kami wa Game for that. But their music is just not to my tastes, and they're replaced by symphonic power metal band Unlucky Morpheus, whose OP song while being a fit to the show's themes, sounds average overall, but I'd argue that I'll take any song that's n Sizuk nor AliA any day.
It truly pains me to say that Naze Boku no Sekai wo Daremo Oboeteinai no ka? a.k.a Why Does Nobody Remember Me in This World?, while being the best work that Kei Sazane has ever done in recent years, the manga adaptation of the LN is a much better alternative to what the anime has shown us for the past 3 months. And as someone who legitimately trashes the author for his copy-paste tactics, he may have gotten a rare case of a W in the story section, everything else is just a massive L for something that could've been a success, if only he'd cared with the rest to give it the proper treatment that it truly deserves.
If you excuse me, I shall go and read the manga adaptation instead and let the anime adaptation be just a blip that came and went with an unpleasant taste to my eyes. Only watch this if you have the sanity to suffer through all 12 episodes of unabated subpar animation.
