Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Well it’s been a minute since I’ve reviewed an isekai. If there’s one thing I’ve noticed with isekais lately it’s that authors are starting to add a bit more realism in their stories. That’s not to say they haven’t been doing it already it’s just becoming more prominent in their stories. Take the Shield Hero for example. In an idealistic situation Naofumi wouldn’t have trust or mental issues after being betrayed and would have forgiven the Bitch when she begged for help and she would have changed her ways for the better. However, the author chooses to go with a realistic route and showed the effects this betrayal had on Naofumi’s mentality, how he still holds a grudge even after getting his revenge, and the Bitch is still a lying bitch. So much so that he still has trust issues. Realism in stories does help the reader build a connection with the story and characters. It makes you put yourself in the shoes of the characters and makes you say: yeah, I could see myself doing that. Such is the case for today’s anime, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom. Written by Dojyomaru in 2014 and still continuing to this day as a light novel, this series asks the question what would happen if a realist character entered another world? This is another one of those novels that breaks the isekai norm and tries to present something new. A few months ago J.C. Staff (Food Wars, Prison School, and Danmachi) turned the series into an anime and with the second season set to come out next month now seems like a good time to review it and see if its deserved. Let’s take a look.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening is “Hello Horizon” by Inori Minase. This opening was rather enjoyable. The flow of the song is great, Inori sings it wonderfully, and the instrumental is impressive. It really does capture the fantasy aspect of series and embraces it.
The ending is “Kazanear” by Aimi. This ending has a lot of energy that I wasn’t expecting. There’s this sense of accomplishment whenever you listen to it. Like you just got done resolving a major issue at your job or you finished your homework and got an A on it. Still, despite its energy and upbeat tempo this is a song I couldn’t see as an opening. It works better as an ending.
Episodes 1-4
The anime starts with our main character Kazuya voiced by Yūsuke Kobayashi (Subaru from Re:Zero), getting some lasting wisdom from his grandpa before his death. We then cut to another world where a kingdom is in trouble and decides to summon a hero to save them (it’s like using the Bat Signal to summon Batman and have him settle your problems). Naturally, Kazuya gets summoned to their kingdom where he discovers he’s on the continent of Landia (yeah, that’s not a lame name) home to various races, kingdoms, and countries. 10 years ago, monsters appeared from the demon world and began taking over the continent where they now control 1/3 of the continent. The remainder of the continent is now in a deadlock with the monsters trying to come up with a plan to defeat them. The kingdom that summoned Kazuya doesn’t want him to fight, but instead offer him as a financial aid to the Gran Chaos Empire who are leading the efforts against the monsters. Kazuya calls this plan stupid and instead proposes a new idea to raise national strength so that they can refuse imperial demands. To do this, his first task is to raise money (scene here: https://youtu.be/kHZa246k1gA). After 3 days and nights of studying the other kingdoms, it has been decided that Kazuya will be the new king of Elfrieden and even gets married off to Liscia the daughter of the former king (he will also have your wife). Liscia voiced by Inori Minase (Hestia from Danmachi) returns home believing the throne was usurped from her dad, but he assures her it was his decision to make. She then goes to meet Kazuya where she finds out he sold some of their national treasure to get the aid money which she wasn’t against and they can continue to chat where we see that Kazuya is a realist and he intends to run the kingdom in a realistic manner.
In episode 2 Kazuya gets a magic check. Usually when heroes are summoned they gain the ability to use magic, so they want to see what kind of magic Kazuya has. Kazuya gets his magic checked where he finds he has some kind of psychokinesis that can copy his consciousness. He uses this power to write through paperwork faster and names it ‘Living Poltergeist’ (that’s actually a pretty cool power. Kind of wish I had it to write stuff faster). For the rest of the episode, Kazuya focuses on the food shortage. He quickly discovers that the country has too many cotton fields (I mean they’re pretty, but they’re not putting food on the table). He plans to eliminate some of them and replace them with crop fields (be sure to teach them crop rotation) as well as find a new cash cow for the kingdom besides cotton. Kazuya also wants to do some job recruiting as well as fix the education of the kingdom seeing as only 30% of the population can read and write (how is this kingdom still standing?). Kazuya sends out a message throughout the kingdom calling people with talent to apply at the castle for a job and while everyone is excited we see a few characters stand out who will obviously be chosen (scene here: https://youtu.be/6j6VJONwa2c).
For episode 3 we get to meet the exceptionally gifted individuals who believe they can help the kingdom. First up is Aisha a dark elf voiced by Ikumi Hasegawa, who specializes in martial arts making her perfect for military might. While she wants no reward she instead asks for advice to save her forest that seems to be slowly dying. He tells her about thinning out the trees which amazes her (you just blew her mind) and she pledges her loyalty to him right then and there (sexy elf girl acquired). Next up is Juna voiced by Reina Ueda (Mira from Dimension W), a beautiful young woman that would make any girl jealous (as well as make any man tight in the pants). Her talent is a songstress making her perfect for entertainment (it’s important for people to unwind and re-energize themselves. Scene here: https://youtu.be/uLyPjSLCnug). After her is Poncho voiced by Masaaki Mizunaka, a chubby man from a small village who is the most nervous out of everyone. He’s a lover of food and has traveled all over the place eating specialties and rarities wherever he goes. Kazuya is ecstatic to meet him as he holds the key to saving the kingdom (we are gonna give, so many foodgasms). We then go to Hakuya voiced by Kazuyuki Okitsu, who is easily the smartest of the ones there. His knowledge and memory are said to be unrivaled in the kingdom. He was recommended by his uncle and at first Kazuya wants to make him the royal librarian, but Hakuya insists on serving as the military strategist/prime minister (ohh~ big role to fill. Hakuya is basically saying he wants to be his right-hand man). They have a war of words sizing each other up and Kazuya decides to give him a test later to measure his skills. The final person is Tomoe voiced by Moeka Kishimoto, a wolf girl from the slums (instantly hired because she’s adorable). Her special talent is that she can speak with other animals. While Kazuya likes this ability he’s not sure how to use it and Tomoe tells him something quite shocking to end the episode.
So in episode 4 it gets revealed that Tomoe can speak to and understand the demons, something that was thought to be impossible at this point in the story. Kazuya and his inner circle decide to keep this information a secret from the public because of how valuable it is and because there’s no telling what the neighboring kingdoms will do with this information (they may all be fighting against the demons, but once they’re gone it’s back to fighting each other). In order to keep Tomoe safe and in the castle, Liscia’s parents adopt her as their own on paper and this allows her mom and little brother to move into the castle (it was either that or Kazuya takes her as a consort and I don’t want to call the FBI). For the rest of the episode Kazuya and Poncho introduce new foods to the people with Liscia, Tomoe, and Aisha as the food tasters (scene here: https://youtu.be/-ow_fE8p8cE).
Episodes 5-8
Not much happens in episode 5. Marx, the old prime minister finally steps down from his position and hands it over to Hakuya who tells Kazuya to take the rest of the day off (you’re working too much. Take it easy). Kazuya goes on a date with Liscia and Aisha accompanies them. During the date we find out that Liscia is okay with Kazuya having up to 8 wives if he chooses (and Liscia just became best girl just like that. Does this world have stamina potions?).
Episode 6 builds up to major conflict on the horizon. While eating at the café Juna works at, Kazuya, Liscia, and Aisha overhear two young knights named Halbert and Kaede (a fox girl) arguing with each other. Halbert is considering defecting to the Three Dukedoms army who are opposing Kazuya because he took their funding and exposed their corruption. Halbert doesn’t have much faith in Kazuya’s leadership and now Kaede is trying to get him to reconsider how stupid his actions are. Kazuya steps in to the conversation (sure, join this public conversation) where in a funny moment Halbert doesn’t recognize him as the new king at first (I can tell this boy is as sharp as a bowling ball). Kazuya informs Halbert that if he does decide to defect then that means he will have to fight against Kaede and kill her (scene here: https://youtu.be/Bami9W9FVc0). This gets him to reconsider defecting (he seriously didn’t think about that? (Mira): Like you said, sharp as a bowling ball). In the second half of the episode we get a little romance between Kazuya and Liscia. In the past episodes Kazuya has said that he’s keeping the throne warm for Liscia and has no intention of marrying her as he knows she’s not in love with him. However, it seems like Liscia is falling for him and isn’t all that opposed to the marriage (do it man. Not only will you become king but you’ve got the greenlight to have 7 more wives). Later on, Kazuya receives a visit from Glaive the father of Halbert who has come to apologize for his son’s stupidity and beg forgiveness. Naturally, Kazuya already forgave Halbert and then Glaive tells Kazuya some heavy news in private to end the episode.
We start episode 7 on an interesting note with Kazuya going an adventure with other adventurers in the kingdom’s passageways. Instead of traveling with them in person, he instead uses his living poltergeist abilities to bring a human-size doll to life and travel with them (it’s clever, cool, and I like how the other adventurers are totally okay with this life-size mascot character joining their party and having conversations with it). Surprisingly the doll is a very skilled fighter and they come across a powerful salamander which forces them to retreat (scene here: https://youtu.be/atP5cB_Nrx0). Moving on from that story, we find out that Kazuya has finally secured the funds to open up a new port town. He does change up the location on where it would be built because of the possibility of a tsunami that could occur in the area. There’s also a cute scene where Lisca sneaks in a kiss on a sleeping Kazuya.
In episode 8 disaster strikes Aisha’s home forest. Severe weather has caused a landslide burying many elves. Kazuya organizes a relief party to go to the village and rescue the elves. He even joins in the search where they manage to rescue a few of the elves but sadly a lot of them were already dead from the landslide (scene here: https://youtu.be/fwnl6U3Z3qk). Despite Kazuya’s best efforts he does feel that he failed this time around as he felt there were so many things he could have done to better respond to this disaster (scene here: https://youtu.be/-OEf9SA9wIM, this is why hindsight 20/20 is such a bitch).
Episode 9-13
Things start to heat up in episode 9. The three dukedoms are finally taking action against Kazuya. They don’t accept him as a new king and are staging a revolt to remove him from the throne (this is what happens when you introduce radical changes to a country). Kazuya goes to meet the three dukes, Castor, Excel, and Georg (who is a lion) to give them an ultimatum (surrender now and live. Fight and meet your destiny). Once Excel learns that her port city will be fine and thanks to Juna who just happens to be her granddaughter (who was sent to spy on Kazuya so everyone’s playing dirty here), she sides with Kazuya handing over navy control to the Forbidden Army, but Castor and Georg are determined to fight. They all agree that if the leader gets captured or falls then the armies will immediately surrender and swear loyalty to the other side in order to avoid a complete bloodbath of citizens. Liscia also shows her resolve in siding with Kazuya by cutting her hair short (scene here: https://youtu.be/zx6QW_eU_Dg).
In episodes 10-11 we see Kazuya take on Castor and Georg. He takes down Castor first and then Georg in pretty quick and successful fashion. In a rather good twist Georg was counting on Kazuya to win, so he gathered up all of the corrupted nobles in the kingdom under his banner and when he lost they too would be forced to fall in line (thus ending any corruption or backstabbers that Kazuya would face. New level of respect for Georg). Meanwhile, while Kazuya was outsmarting everyone, Excel was busy stalling for time. It turns out that the neighboring country called the Principality of Amidonia decided to take advantage of this civil war and invade the country. Thankfully, Excel stalled them long enough for Kazuya to end the civil war and now he can start focusing on Amidonia (lucky them). He declares war on Amidonia and sends his troop to conquer their capital, Van. The Amidonian army quickly retreats home only to be greeted to a field of Elfrieden soldiers.
Episode 12 opens up on a big battle between Elfrieden and Amidonian soldiers. It’s clear that Elfrieden will win as the Amidonian soldiers are too exhausted from retreating back home. Gaius (the leader) realizing this, orders his son Julius to retreat in order to keep the royal family safe. Gaius then plunges into battle and Kazuya heads out to face him as well. The two kings meet where with the help of Castor’s daughter Carla, Kazuya is able to defeat Gaius and kill him (scene here: https://youtu.be/9mtclF5T1Lk). Van soon falls under the rule of Elfrieden where the people are scared but Kazuya has a plan to make them feel better and let them know they’re not here to invade. He puts on a show where people sing and even ending the show with one of the soldiers of Amidonia singing the country’s national anthem.
In the final episode not much really happens. Kazuya has completely taken over Amidonia and given the people their freedom back which wins them over. While out on the town with Juna and Tomoe, Kazuya gets approached by a knight from the Gran Chaos Empire who tells him that their main army will be arriving soon and they will be negotiating for the principality (that sounds like fun. A king who’s a realist negotiating with an empress who’s an idealist. Can’t wait to see that). The season wraps up with Kazuya giving his harem all gifts and getting prepared for negotiations.
Final Thoughts
This is another interesting isekai anime. If you were expecting big battles and action you won’t be getting that here. The anime remains true to the title of the series and shows how a realist rebuilds their kingdom for the better. There’s a lot of economic and political discussions that can be boring, hard to follow, and go on for too long but that’s kind of how running kingdoms works. War was only used as a last resort or when another side’s hand was forced. Kazuya does a good job playing his role as the new king to this struggling nation. I like how he cares about Liscia and doesn’t fall head over heels for her. They have a good friendship and respect for each other. Kazuya likes Liscia but will not force her or any girl for that matter to marry him if they don’t want to and I respect that about him. I also like the powers he gets and the way he uses them to get more work done and control a puppet. I honestly wish I had those powers. As far as MCs go he’s a breath of fresh air. The rest of the characters are decent but really don’t have enough screentime for development. Liscia is the strong princess, Hakuya the smart right-hand man, Aisha the strong and beautiful elf who cares for her people, and Tomoe the cute little sister character with a secret power. The two characters from Kazuya’s inner circle that stand out to me are Juna and Poncho. Juna because instead of just making her the girl with the pretty face and voice who flirts with Kazuya to make the others jealous, she’s actually an undercover assassin who if need be can fight and protect herself and others. Poncho stands out because they actually use his knowledge to fix the country and make delicious foods for everyone in the kingdom. They don’t just use him as a throw away character, his character and knowledge have a purpose for the story that Kazuya can use. I was a little mad that they push Tomoe to the side and really don’t do much with her. Hell, we don’t even get to see her family or know how they feel about the situation they’re finding themselves in.
The animation while not high quality does look good. I like the various character designs especially on the demihuman characters. The music is decent, but not really all that memorable in my opinion. It has a fantasy vibe to it. While this series may not have a lot of fight scenes the fights they do show are good and the strategies the characters use are smart. If there’s any real downside with this anime is that they don’t give us a chance to really explore the world all that much and they toss the demon world threat to the side as we never get a chance to see them or get an idea of who they are, what they’re like, how they operate, and what their end goal is.
Final Score
The final score for How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom is a 6/10. While not the most action-packed isekai it does seem to have a good story, lead, and cast to go along with it. Here’s hoping the second season is an even bigger success. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.