Yuusuke Yotsuna has a hard past and a formidable future. After moving to Tokyo, and its cold, uncaring crowds, time has stopped still for him. He goes to school, doesn’t speak with others, and goes home. Until one day, something happens.
After school, Yuusuke is cleaning the blackboard until he and two other girls from his class are transported to another world. Immediately, Yuusuke receives new member instructions and a quest from someone called Game Master. Game Master, it seems, will send Yuuskuke and his new party members home once they complete the quest they are given. According to Game Master, they will amass ten players and complete ten quests. At this point, Yuusuke learns that he is the new player for quest number three. He rolls for a character to help his party fight and gets… *drumroll, please* … a farmer.
Why You’ll Love It
An Unusual Premise
I’m Standing on 1,000,000 lives has many commonly seen characteristics of isekai (transported-to-another-world) anime involving video games. This anime makes a fundamental difference, though, in that it has some unusual consequences.
In almost all isekai video game anime, the consequences take one of two paths. A character can either be killed and come back, or they lose their video game life and die in the real world. In 100-man no Inochi, if someone dies, they resurrect after a timer counts down. But if everyone dies? They all die for real. This twist causes characters to behave in some unusual ways that are usually meant to be teamwork.
Such an Unlikable Center of this Harem
Nobody in the story seems to absorb what it means for a person’s own death to be meaningless like Yuusuke does. It takes Yuusuke no time at all to realize he finds his life value is nothing to him. He resurrects in a matter of seconds, and so long as someone is alive, what’s it to him if he dies again?
Though realizing it sparks some moments of bravery, this type of thinking makes him an efficient and unlikable person to the rest of his party. When his comrades are in danger, Yuusuke considers whether it is “worth” saving them, rather than jump into action because he is even a little bothered. Especially for the usually invalid Kusue. She is too sick to do much in the real world and thus places great value on using her strength to protect others. Yuusuke puts himself first again and again. He is right at the center of a harem, but just so difficult to like!
A Dark Future and Mystery
While the current tasks have only just been enough for our heroes to handle, something genuinely terrifying lays ahead. Yuusuke learns that after his death-ridden and violent quests, the “after” of the ten quests is a grim scene. Yuusuke and the other nine heroes will find themselves up against their video game’s big boss… in their world. Is there any amount of fighting and dying that can give these heroes a chance? We can assume that their video game resurrection should no longer be tested.
Beyond all of this chaos, the characters keep asking the same questions. Why are we here? Where and WHEN are we? And who wanted this for us? Through diligence and a rare opportunity, Yuusuke and his party are starting to learn more. If you like shounen anime, with a theme of mystery, this is for you.
Final Thoughts
100-man no Inochi has so far been a collection of an unlikely group of students who have been transported to a world where the lines between reality and fiction are not so clear. With fight scenes that are not for children, this shounen harem asks its characters to grow in ways they never expected. It also asks, very directly, what it means to save a life.
With an indication of an ominous future, the stakes are high. What are you looking forward to most about the upcoming episodes? Is it the unfinished harem recipe? The next boss-monsters and fight scenes? Let us know in the comments!
Author: Mool Basil
