The premise for Uncle From Another World is better seen than explained but again let’s quickly try to summarize it so you can understand why this premise alone is one of the shining elements of the show. Yosuke Shibazaki—or just Uncle—fell into a coma and 17 years later wakes up in a hospital met by his nephew, Takafumi Takaoka, who is the only one willing to see him. Takafumi soon discovers his uncle might have been comatose in the real world but his spirit entered into another world entirely, granting him special powers and abilities. After learning of his uncle’s rather amazing adventure, the two end up sharing an apartment together so Takafumi can learn more about his exploits and equally make some money off the otherworldly things Uncle can do.

The entire set-up of Uncle From Another World is so bizarre and refreshing that every episode so far—which 5 have aired on Netflix as of this impression—has been more interesting and comedic than the last. Uncle’s personality takes center stage as he might look like a 30+-year-old but due to his coma in the current age, his mannerisms and likes/dislikes are from generations ago! As retro gamers and fans of the 80s world of video games, manga, and anime, we loved the references thrown into Uncle From Another World and felt this made our main man a truly original character compared to others in the genre.

While Uncle From Another World takes place primarily in the more modern-day world of Japan, we know that Uncle was obviously living his life in a fantasy world during the coma. We get to experience these events—like Takafumi—via Uncle’s ability to replay scenes he witnessed via a special power he obtained from the other world. These flashbacks are perfect as we learn about Uncle’s horrible yet amazing time in the other world—he was considered an orc due to his looks—and like Takafumi, we can’t deny we hang on to his every word and imagery shown during these flashbacks. Some of our favorite flashbacks are in episodes 2 and 3 which show just how bad Uncle is at dealing with girls who clearly are in love with him and also tsundere.

Uncle From Another World will no doubt polarize some viewers if they judge it based on the animation/visuals. At first, we weren’t super into the art style or animation for Uncle From Another World but after the first few episodes, we really felt it gave the series its originality and helped make it feel unlike other anime similar to it. Uncle himself isn’t your cool-looking OP protagonist but a skinny, older-looking young man and that is what the genre needs! Yes, we love the other cool-looking “Kiritos” in the isekai genre but those designs are unoriginal and Uncle From Another World is all about originality, especially with the visuals.

You might think Uncle steals the show as he’s the hero/orc from another world but without Takafumi, this series wouldn’t be the same. Takafumi is hilarious and the way he interacts with his uncle—and the various incidents because of his uncle’s life—are realistic but comedy at its finest! Takafumi uses his uncle’s powers to make YouTube videos and often isn’t afraid of showing the world true magic. The last five minutes of Episode 3 made us cry laughing when Takafumi takes his uncle—now in a female elf form—and makes a viral video of her “playing” a Sega Saturn game called Guardian Heroes. Uncle is distraught that his thoughts about the internet were so wrong, Takafumi is overjoyed at their viral hit and Sumika Fujimiya—one of the more prominent female characters who is also Takafumi’s childhood friend—discovers uncle is indeed magical. Seriously, there are even more hilarious moments to be had in further episodes and we can only imagine what lies in store for us!