An all too familiar isekai story
- Episodes : 12
- Genre : Fantasy
- Airing Date : Jan, 2018- Mar, 2018
- Producers : Silver Link, Connect
Contains Spoilers
Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku
Game programmer Ichirou Suzuki has found his work becoming harder and harder as of late. With a quickly approaching deadline for a new game release, Ichirou has been working hard to keep pushing all-nighters in hopes of releasing this game to the public as soon as possible. Despite issues with fellow coworkers and lack of sleep growing rapidly, Ichirou continues to try his best and push the bill for releasing a game he could be proud of. However, Ichirou’s life changes one night when he falls asleep at the office. One moment he remembers himself dozing off under the computer and the next he’s in a place that seems desert-like and barren.
This is where Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku truly begins its tale. Ichirou quickly learns that he has been transported into another world—though he does hold firm to the belief that it was a dream for several episodes—and begins to try to figure out a means of understanding his situation. During this period, Ichirou actually unleashes an overpowered skill that shoots flaming meteors all across the desert and it just so happens to kill off an entire lizard man army and an elder dragon sleeping nearby. This mistake gives Ichirou a super high level of 310 and gifts him tons of stat points and items that make him insanely well off.
Ichirou goes into town by episode 2 and learns his name has been changed by the game world to Satou, a 15-year-old wandering merchant—the title he himself uses to explain his money and reasons for entering the city—and even meets one of his love interests in the form of a soldier girl named Zena. Satou quickly begins to explore this new world by episode 3, and in episode 4, ends up beginning to learn that this land has its fair share of problems and dangers. Episode 4 and 5 have Satou gaining slaves—a common thing for those who aren’t fully human in this fantasy world—in the form of Liza, Tama, Lulu and Pochi. Satou will meet others that join his “party” such as Arisa and Nana, though Nana joins considerably late.
Arisa is the one person that, when meeting Satou, begins to unravel some of the mysteries of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku. Arisa tells Satou—after an attempted sexual attack on her part towards him—that she was once just like him, from Japan. In fact, there are others like Satou and Arisa who have found themselves reborn in this fantasy world or summoned for reasons such as saving a kingdom or becoming a hero. Satou wasn’t summoned in any way like the others Arisa tells him of, but it gives a semblance of understanding that he isn’t the only one who went through such a change in their life. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku won’t delve into many others like these two, but it does hint at the end that there could be hundreds to thousands of people who went through a similar experience.
The first half of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku ultimately boils down to explaining the world and having Satou gain power and knowledge as well as a bevy of girls to join him. Satou starts to gain power over magic and even learns how it works—to some degree—which advances his skills and help him overcome numerous trials in Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku. The later half of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku begins to focus on an adventure when Satou saves a young elf girl named Mia and begins to want to travel the lands for his own understanding of this strange world. The only time Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku ever focuses on a truly big plot is near the very end when Satou meets a corrupt wannabe king who wishes to abuse a contract between him and an elder witch. The actual ending of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku leaves Satou continuing his journey with his girls to see about learning more about the fantasy world he now resides in.
What We Liked About Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku
While Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku wasn’t perfect—something we’ll allude to more in a bit—we did have some genuine moments of enjoyment while watching it. We loved how Satou kept having nightly visits with other girls outside his party to avoid abusing their friendship and the fact that they were technically slaves to him. There were also some really solid fights like when Satou was transported into a labyrinth in episode 4 and teamed up with Tama, Liza and Pochi—which is when he gave them these names—to escape alive. Satou’s journey, all throughout Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku, was very fantasy and RPG-like which made for a rather fun show when things were played out correctly. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku didn’t make us groan every episode and or made us fall asleep but instead, provided a simple and okay adventure that was made better by specific episodes and themes.
Discussion Time
Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku is one of those series that will resonate with some viewers and equally be hated by others. We here at Honey’s Anime always try to take both sides of the spectrum and think of the best and the worst of a series. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku has some ideas that come off quite well while watching but it equally has some that made us groan. We won’t say not to watch Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku or to 100% binge it right away as that wouldn’t be fair. That’s why down below, we have thought up several reasons why you will both want to watch Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku and why you might want to skip it entirely. We’ll begin with the good about Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku and then end with the stuff that might annoy you.
Why You Should Watch Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku
Above, we talked about why we liked Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku and knew that won’t be enough to convince some of you readers. That’s why below, we hand picked several themes of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku that really stood out while we watched the series. These elements make Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku more pleasing to an anime viewer and might convince you it’s worth your precious free time to either binge or watch sporadically. Here are the reasons why you should think about giving Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku a try.
1. Interesting recurring RPG themes
Here at Honey’s Anime, we have played quite a few RPGs—and equally reviewed a lot—and love series that meld RPG themes into the anime narrative and presentation. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku does this spectacularly well with Satou’s actions being almost akin to leveling systems in games like Skyrim. Every time Satou faced a tough opponent/enemy, he would level up a stat and it would be reflected both with his actions changing and visually with words appearing like they would in a RPG. Seeing Satou even react to people was reminiscent of a game with text appearing on screen showing his actions like having a poker face with someone acting tough to him or bartering for an item he needs. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku feels like an RPG in an anime setting and we were pleased with how it melded so well in this series.
2. Solid animation
Studio Silver Link—known for Tasogare Otome x Amnesia and Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry—is known for making some impressive looking anime series. Likewise, studio Connect—makers of Strike the Blood—has done some rather solid anime series overall. That’s why it’s not a surprise that Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku looks pretty darn good with beautiful animation and solid character designs and set pieces. Never did we think Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku looked poor or could have looked better. Studio Silver Link and Connect joined forces to create an anime that had impressive visuals and solid animations overall. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku might not be perfect in other areas—which we will examine shortly—but we will say it’s animated quite well.
3. Unique world lore
Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku impressed us with having a world setting that we don’t see often in the world of isekai anime series. In episode 12, we learn more about Satou’s world and how others like him were transported here. Equally, the way people live in the world of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku actually can be considered quite intriguing, especially to fans of the genre. There is a lot of room for story building in Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku and we only saw a glimpse of its lore within the 12 episodes we got. If a season 2 does release, we’d really love to see more of Satou’s world and how much grander it could be.
Why You Should Skip Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku
We began with reasons you might like Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku and those themes will indeed be the reasons you might enjoy this anime series. Ultimately though, there are several reasons why Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku might be worth skipping entirely. Down below, we will run through these issues and explain our mindset on why this remove the enjoyment of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku. The issues below don’t mean we hate Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku, but they are issues that can be considered flaws which will keep you from enjoying it to its fullest. That being said, let us now look at why you might want to skip Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku altogether.
1. Another isekai story
The isekai genre is meant to make young teens and young adults imagine themselves entering another world and becoming the hero. This is why isekai light novels sell incredibly well in Japan and often pretty well in America, too. However, isekai stories are becoming more and more formulaic with their use of normal man leaving real world and becoming overpowered in another world. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku doesn’t escape this cycle of isekai narration and it really just makes the story feel typical. There was never a moment we worried about Satou or any of his girls because we always knew he would use his overpowered skills and save the day in some manner. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku is just ultimately another isekai story that won’t change your mind if you don’t like the genre already.
2. Typical protagonist
Satou starts off being an interesting character when he’s in the real world as his true form Ichirou Suzuki. However, once Satou enters the RPG landscape that makes up 99% of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku’s setting, he seems to devolve into just another isekai protagonist. There are several moments in Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku that Satou shines a bit—namely the fight with Zen in episode 9 and his actual use of smarts in episode 12—but often, he’s just another isekai hero through and through. We don’t utterly hate Satou though, let us make that clear. We just wish Satou would have been at times a bit more unique and not just Kirito-like from Sword Art Online.
3. Numerous underdeveloped and generic characters
The problem with any anime containing a dozen or so characters—even if they are all cute loli girls—is that a lot of these characters get thrown by the wayside for the more important ones. For example, we are introduced to Zena Marientail quite early in Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku—basically episode 2—but after several appearances in the series, Zena becomes a love interest who seemingly is left by the wayside for the other harem of girls in Satou’s party. Then you have Lulu—one of the slave girls Satou buys—almost never appearing outside few specific set pieces in Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku. Now we’d be okay with this if the main girls were strong enough to lead the brunt of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku’s 12 episode run, but they really aren’t. While Arisa is cute and perfect for that atypical “older than she looks” theme, she’s a character we’ve heard of before and acts that way all throughout Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku. Satou is about the same as we mentioned who just lacks a lot to really run a whole show. Needless to say, Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku has way too many characters who neither will blow you away with strong character narratives and will probably be forgotten after the next isekai series releases.
Final Thoughts
Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku isn’t going to be one of those anime that will go down in the annals of history as spectacular. Already too many isekai stories have surpassed Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku like Sword Art Online, Overlord, Hai to Gensou no Grimgar and even Log Horizon. These shows have done the isekai story better in numerous ways and thus, why they are works that resonate with even those who are just starting to enter the anime fandom. Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku ultimately isn’t horrible and unwatchable but equally doesn’t do much to impress during its 12-episode run. We recommend checking out Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku only if you absolutely love isekai stories and can see past its glaring flaws. Have you already taken the challenge and watched Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku? Tell us what you thought and if you agree or disagree with us on our review of Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukyoku. For more anime reviews just like this one, be sure to keep coming back to our hive here at Honey’s Anime.
Author: Aaron
