Isekai anime are a dime a dozen, with every anime season including at least five of these shows without fail. At a certain point, they start to blur together thanks to similar story beats, characters, and tropes that most of them share. That’s why it’s imperative for any new isekai to have something unique about it to catch people’s attention. So when I saw that Sunrise, the studio behind anime classics like Cowboy Bebop and the Gundam franchise, was taking a stab at an isekai with My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s, I was intrigued to say the least. Is this new isekai with an absurd name the best the isekai genre has to offer this anime season, or will it be doomed to be forgotten?
SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 1-4
It’s just another day in school for Akira Oda, the resident dark and brooding kid in his class. Everyone else is talking amongst themselves during their break, except for Akira, who is basically invisible to them. Suddenly, however, the entire class is transported to another world called Morrigan. Once they realise what has happened, the King of the Retice Kingdom greets them and explains their current situation. The King also explains that each of them has been given a job class (fighter, healer, etc), giving them abilities to fight the Demon King. Akira is the assassin, which wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary, except his stats are leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else, including the Hero, Tsukasa. Now with exceptionally high stats and a distrust for the people who summoned them, Akira begins his quest to defeat the Demon King and return home.
The first episode of this series got my hopes up as it seemed to be going in an interesting direction for an isekai. I was excited for Akira to be moving throughout the shadows of a Kingdom, taking on assassination jobs to get closer to the truth, maybe even start a coup. It’s a type of story not often found in isekai, and I was excited. Unfortunately, after that first episode, it wasn’t what I was expecting. Instead of doing something new, this series decided to speedrun through nearly every single isekai story trope ever conceived of.
These include, but are not limited to: training in dungeons to level up, the main character having a mentor that dies because of shenanigans and having super special powers that no one has seen since the first hero, finding an elven girl in a dungeon who falls in love with the main character, and even an animal familiar that can talk. If a trope exists in this genre, this series has it.
Hell, they even have a storyline where the elven girl, Amelia, confronts her sister, Kilika, about being labelled a traitor, only for it to be later revealed that it was a hoax. And on top of that, there’s mind control, erasing a person's memory, and Amelia just having the power to resurrect people. You’d think this would be spread out over several episodes, but all of this was in JUST ONE EPISODE! I’m desperately hoping they are just front-loading all these tropes and generic plotlines at the start, and the rest of the series will be a bit more unique.
The characters in this series so far may be a bit generic, but the actors are doing the best with what they’ve got, and they’ve kept me invested so far. Austin Tindle and Takeo Otsuka as Akira is your typical edgy isekai MC, brooding voice and all, but there have been a few moments when both actors step outside that archetype and make me interested in the character (the duel with Kilika, for example). Amelia’s character hasn’t won me over like Akira has started to, but the performances from Sarah Wiedenheft and Saku Mizuno have kept me from forgetting she exists. This is a pretty big problem when she’s the main girl of the series.
Aside from those two, we haven’t gotten much from the rest of the cast, as we are only four episodes in. Alexis Tipton as Kilika stood out the most to me, mostly due to the absurd pace the series got through her arc, but also, I just like her as a voice actor. Kazuya Ichijo as Olice Rosequartz also caught my attention with his booming voice, making the Elven King all the more intimidating. I’m curious how the next episodes develop the other characters, and I’m hoping it gives the rest of the cast their moments to shine.
While I have issues with the plot and characters, I don’t have anything bad to say about the visuals of this anime. Sunrise knows how to create a good-looking show, and this is no exception. The backgrounds are all varied and detailed, helping to immerse you in the world. The Elven Kingdom is especially nice to look at, with its dense foliage and giant, glowing tree that gives off an almost ethereal vibe. The character designs are also really well done and are a step above other isekai. In particular, the characters’ faces are well drawn and animated, ensuring you don’t get distracted by dodgy facial movements. The fight scenes are fairly decent, but nothing excellent yet. I’m not expecting top-tier fight animation, but I’m glad the fights so far haven’t been a slideshow. I’m hoping they’re saving the amazing animation for any big fights later on, as I can see the potential.
The opening “Issen” by VESPERBELL and ending “Like Gravity” by BONNIE PINK are both decent enough tracks, but haven’t made their way onto my playlists just yet. They’re decent songs and fit the vibe the show is going for, just not my cup of tea. But who knows, maybe they will have grown on me by the end of the season.
My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s has made a slightly underwhelming start, but I can see the potential. While the story and characters are a bit generic right now, I’m hoping that the rest of the season can carve out its own niche in the isekai genre. It has the visuals down, so I’m cautiously optimistic that they can pull it off.
Have you seen My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s? What do you think? Are you going to continue watching it? Let us know in the comments where we can talk all things anime.
