Anime Review: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Episode 1

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest

Studio: Asread, White Fox

Genre: Action, Adventure

Streaming: Funimation

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest is supposed to be an isekai with a light novel as its source material. Based on this first episode, you would never know that it was an isekai. The episode is structured in a choppy way with nonsensical flashbacks that will leave viewers wondering why they are watching this. According to the series synopsis, this is supposed to be about an entire classroom getting sent to a magical world to be heroes. Unfortunately, there is a very little indication in this episode that sets up that plot. So what went wrong?

This episode does a poor job at introducing its characters and acts as if the viewer already knows all the characters. I don’t know if this was meant to be a middle episode, but it isn’t working here. An anime shouldn’t assume that its viewers read the source material, and this is why. At no point does the viewer actually din themselves invested in the protagonist, and won’t care how his episode-long encounter goes.

I’m not sure if it is just an issue with the adaptation, but the protagonist seriously lacks depth. He comes across as an edgy kid that constantly whines, and that’s about it. His internal monologues are repetitive and simply annoying to listen to. I’m sure this series is unique in the source material, but this adaptation seems to just be trying to imitate what made Shield Hero successful. The nihilistic protagonist just about mirrors Naofumi but lacks the goodwill and charm that the Shield hero has. The fanservice is there just to be there too. I don’t mind revealing outfits, but multiple scenes open with a shot of a characters bust for just about no reason. Even the OP is guilty of random gratuitous shots.  Overall, Arifureta just tries to draw upon what makes other anime successful and doesn’t do anything to make itself worth watching.

The production is disappointingly subpar, with poor animation, and bad CG. Multiple animated scenes are really just moving pictures. Almost every enemy is CG, and it looks about as choppy as can be. The 2D characters fighting 3D monsters is distracting and removes from the overall experience. The music ranges from overly dramatic to just the right amount of edgy. A few scenes are enhanced by the music, both most are either damaged or unaffected. One track is well done, but the weak scene makes it lack a punch. I’m hoping that an exciting scene in the future can be complemented by this song because it will instantly make it memorable.

Arifureta is a disappointing entry in an already crowded genre. I guess for every gem we need a couple of duds, and that’s what Arifureta is setting itself up to be. Sure, there is potential, but I can’t find much reason to recommend this series based off of the first episode alone.

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