TNT: Isekai and Tensei

Hey all I’m back with a quick information post on some terms I realize I didn’t explain for some readers. It’s all about Isekai and Tensei!

Isekai, Tensei?: I’ve been throwing these terms around and I really should’ve made an explanatory post a long time ago. My apologies, I do get busy with devouring enough material to keep writing this blog in addition to my book and game reviews.

Isekai is a term that the Japanese have termed for a genre, which literally translates into “Another World”. It revolves around the idea of a character, or characters, being transported in their current bodies into another world completely, often a brand new dimension. Some examples of this is Death March, Shield Hero and Arifureta. There are of course plenty of examples, some I’ve even covered in other columns, but those are some quick and easy ones.

What is Tensei?: Well Tensei translates into “Reincarnation”. However there are couple branches of the genre. These can be termed as Reincarnate and Transmigration.

Reincarnate: This is to completely be born again, from infancy. This is the most standard and typical Tensei route, but there can be some differences between stories. Sometimes characters will remember everything from their past life, other times it’ll just be hazy memories or nothing at all until an event shocks them into remembering. Mushoku Tensei is a good example of this occurring. Rudeus grows up from infancy with memories of his past life. And that influences him greatly in his new one.

Transmigration: This is a little different, as this involves someone’s soul taking over another’s body, often right as they would otherwise die. Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss is an example of this, although there are plenty of other examples out there you could find.

That’s it for this week’s Translation Necessary Thursday!

Anime Sunday: Losers of Winter 2018

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering some series I think fell flat this season. It’s my Losers of Winter 2018!

Death March: I really wanted to like this series, but it was just a bit too flat. Maybe it’s because of being adapted from the Light Novel which I haven’t read instead of the original Web Novel. There are supposedly differences between the two, and while I don’t mind all of that, I just found that Satou wasn’t as enjoyable to watch as he was to read.  Maybe if I binge watch all of it later on I’ll enjoy it more.

Märchen Mädchen: Filled with a bit too much fanservice for me, this was another series I really wanted to like, but the fanservice element was a bit too much for me. That and I had way too many things to do these past few months meant that I ended up dropping the series after the first couple episodes.

Darling in the FranXX: I wanted to enjoy this series, I really did. But it was just too angsty for my tastes. The overt sexual themes didn’t help either.

One thing I want to note is that all of these had rather decent artwork, with Death March being the least noteworthy. So most of my issues come from the plot itself rather than any other issues.

That’s it for this week’s Anime Sunday!

Anime Sunday: Death March Episode 01 Impressions

This week for Anime Sunday I’m covering another Winter 2018 series. It’s my Death March Episode 01 Impressions!

Plot Synopsis: Suzuki Ichiro is an adult programmer for a game company in Japan and is severely overworked. While on a Death March and staying at his company overnight he fell asleep. When he woke up he suddenly noticed that he was thrown into another world wearing casual clothes at level 1….

Plot: The plot is pretty good, the pacing is excellent so far. I am disappointed that the series will only have 12 episodes, but hopefully this is due to it being a split-cour series instead of just a single cour in total. There are some differences from the Web Novel, but since I haven’t read the actual Light Novel yet, I don’t know if those are editorial changes or purely due to the Anime adaptation.

Characters: Ichiro is a pretty awesome guy, although he is seriously overworked. I absolutely understand how he feels as I’ve felt that way before when in college, thankfully these days I don’t have that problem. We don’t really get to meet anyone else in the Other World, although we did get to meet a couple of his co-workers in Japan. Fatty is a bit of an ass though…

Art: The art is great, although not up to ufotable quality it’s pretty damn good. Silver Link has done a great job.

Music: The score is pretty amazing,  as a bonus the theme songs are performed by girls from the Wake Up Girls! franchise.

Overall: A great first episode, if they can keep the pacing of this first episode which seems to be a fourth of a volume long.

For those who like: Isekai, Fantasy, Magic, Adventure, Excellent Lead Character, Good Artwork, Awesome Musical Score.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

TNT: Death March Volume 08 by Ainana Hiro

Hey all, I’m back with the 8th arc in Satou’s leisure tour in another world for this week’s Translation Necessary Thursday. It’s Death March Volume 08 by Ainana Hiro!

Plot: Having defeated a demon king in the duchy capital, stopped a coup, and helped resurrect a local priestess who was used as a sacrifice, Satou is finally entering the city with his companions. But what waits inside is more than he was expecting, even after halting the recent coup attempt…

Plot: This is a fun set of chapters, we get to see Satou cement his noble status and he interacts with some really interesting people while staying in the duchy capital. I won’t spoil it, but we get a glance at some other real badasses in this arc. That being said I was amused at all the crap Satou has to deal with while trying to just enjoy a leisurely vacation.

Characters: We get a lot of new faces in this arc, but it’s still Satou’s show. Nana is probably my favorite side character at this point, if only because her way of speaking is highly amusing.

Overall: An amusing and relaxing set of chapters, not so filled with action as the last set. It’s a nice change of pace.

TNT: Death March Volume 07 by Ainana Hiro

This week I’m back with the seventh volume in Satou’s journey in another world for Translation Necessary Thursday. It’s Death March Volume 07 by Ainana Hiro!

Plot Synopsis: Satou and Company slowly enter the territory of Muno, and quickly find that the entire region is in chaos due to a demon. He encounters starving villagers and children and helps them out. A few days later he saves a couple and their child from some thieves. They agree to escort the pair, Toruma and his wife Hayuna, to the capitol of the territory, where Toruma’s cousin is the Earl. Satou quickly becomes aware that it will soon become dangerous in the area and sends the majority of his party away to safety while keeping Pochi and Arisa with him. He ends up saving the entire territory and ends up becoming an honorary knight, and is now known as Chevalier Pendragon.

Plot: This arc of chapters continues with their journey and has Satou performing some really outlandish feats again. Frankly this is probably one of my favorite arcs.

Characters: We get introduced to some new characters, but my favorite is probably Sera because of how kind she is. Satou is still Satou though and is going through his journey with as much leisure as he possibly can.

Overall: A great arc, if you aren’t reading the series yet you really ought to give it a shot.