Original Run: July 10, 2019 - September 25, 2019 Number of Episodes: 12 Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy Based on the Series Created By: Takeru Uchida and Nardack
***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Isekai Cheat Magician. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
One day, best friends Taichi Nishimura and Rin Azuma (voiced by Kohei Amasaki and Rie Takahashi) are suddenly transported to a strange and mysterious world. The pair are confused and have no idea what to do. Fortunately, they come across an adventuring guild, so that way, they can have a source of income. Before they can join, though, Taichi and Rin must register their magical abilities.
To everyone’s shock, both Taichi and Rin have unprecedented power. Rin quickly becomes the most gifted mage there is, and Taichi turns out to be the strongest sorcerer in history. Soon, their names have spread across the land.
However, this fame has brought unwanted attention to the duo. They are now the targets of villains who seek to undermine the current peace. Be that as it may, everyone who faces Taichi and Rin makes the same mistake:
They foolishly underestimate them.
Series Positives
Isekai Cheat Magician.
Isekai Cheat Magician.
Isekai Cheat Magician.
I feel the need to mantra this series’ name because the moment, and I mean the very moment this review goes live, I will have completely forgotten its existence. There was nothing, absolutely nothing memorable about this show. It was the perfect, picture-included, textbook definition of the word “unoriginal.”
What possible reason is there to watch Isekai Cheat Magician?
That wasn’t rhetorical. If you can think of a single reason why this series is worth anyone’s time, please let me know in the comments.
Out of everything – a troublesome phrasing given it implies there was a lot of something instead of nothing – I can only think one aspect of Isekai Cheat Magician that wasn’t a complete rehashing. Except, it was sort of a rehashing because No Game No Life (which you should watch instead) did it too. But since this is a rarity, we’ll count it for the sake of argument.
Isekai Cheat Magician had two people who were summoned to this story’s parallel world. Typically, it is just a lone hero, and that lone hero is often overpowered to a ridiculous degree. For this series, it had both Taichi Nishimura and Rin Azuma, and each of them was near god-like with their abilities, although Taichi was significantly more so.
Having a pair of close friends – and love interests, because who are we kidding – deal with the shock of being forcibly taken from their world did add a thin layer of uniqueness to this series. Unfortunately, that wasn’t that impressive because literally, nothing else did.
Lastly, let’s give Isekai Cheat Magician the credit that is due to it.
Taichi was so powerful he could have solved every problem this series threw out. While he did handle all the big obstacles, he had a team that was capable of taking care of themselves. Along with the not-as-strong-but-still-stronger-than-the-rest Rin, the main party included the swordfighter Muller and the mage Lemia (voiced respectively by Minami Tanaka and Sayaka Ohara).
These four were supposedly the best warriors in the entire land, and from what I saw, I can believe that.
But though that is one point in Isekai Cheat Magician’s favor, that’s nothing when you consider everything else going against it.
Series Negatives
Where should I even start?
I suppose the best place would be for me to say, “I didn’t hate Isekai Cheat Magician.” It wasn’t good, nor did I find any enjoyment from it, but this show didn’t make me angry. In a purely technical sense, this series worked. Assuming you ignore the lifeless animation, generic dialogue, and paint-by-numbers story.
Yeah, I could talk about how safe everything stayed. I could mention how there was zero threat or tension. I could bring up a painfully long list of shortcomings, missed potential, and wasted opportunities. Yes, those are all things I could do, but I am not going to do any of them.
Why?
Because you are never going to watch this show.
Let’s assume you have never seen an isekai anime before. Hell, let’s assume you have no idea what an isekai anime is. In short, an isekai tells the story of a protagonist who is summoned to a parallel fantasy world, and these sorts of shows are far too numerous in occurrence, especially in recent years. I have lost track of how many came out just in 2019 alone.
Trust me; there are good isekai out there. From 2019, I highly recommend either That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime or The Rising of the Sheild Hero. Alternatively, I will also suggest the previously mentioned No Game No Life, as well as Youjo Senki or Drifters. Or, if you want to go for broke, why not check out what I consider to be the best of the genre, KonoSuba.
Any of those other choices are a phenomenally better use of your time than Isekai Cheat Magician.
Now, let’s assume you are an actual fan of the isekai genre, which I am. If you are anything like me, then this show’s pretentiousness is going to piss you off. This series was such a carbon copy; it was more insulting than it was pathetic. Isekai Cheat Magician didn’t even try. Every moment was beat-for-beat predictable. Nothing was ever a surprise, and never was anything unexpected.
Also, I didn’t need an in-depth explanation of the difference between mages and sorcerers. That level of lore building was grossly unnecessary. Either the people watching (which you shouldn’t) are avid RPG players and/or have seen any other isekai anime ever, or people are not watching at all because they don’t give a crap.
Finally, Isekai Cheat Magician, please take your head out of your ass. There will not, cannot, and should not be a season two to this show. This series had one shot to say everything it needed to say, and that has come and gone.
Final Thoughts
Not even out of sheer curiosity should you watch this series. It was so magnificently bland that no enjoyment – good or bad – can be extracted from it.
If you ever need a reason why the isekai genre needs to stop, this is your reason; and this is coming from a fan. There is a difference between trying and failing, and being a shameless rip-off of the bare minimum.
I’m not mad. I’m not disappointed. I’m just done.
Isekai Cheat Magician is one you can skip.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise Isekai Cheat Magician? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
And if you’ve liked what you read and want more anime content, please follow me at LofZOdyssey Anime Reviews or on Twitter @thelofzodyssey.
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I’m LofZOdyssey, and I will see you next time.
