Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s no secret that isekai anime has taken over the anime industry. It’s gotten to the point where some people dread seeing them. Personally, I welcome them. I’m a sucker for the isekai genre but even I have to admit there are some isekais out there that suck and with the Four Horsemen of Isekai along with the Three Wise Isekai (Shield Hero, Slime, and Jobless Reincarnation) setting new standards on what we can expect isekai to be from this genre it’s starting to become easy to separate the good from the bad. However, there a few isekais that fall down the middle. Sometimes they have good ideas but don’t properly execute them and that in turn leads to disappointment. One of these animes is Spirit Chronicles. Also known as Seirei Gensouki in Japan, this was a web novel series written by Yuri Kitayama from 2014-2020 and then later turned into a light novel in 2015 where it’s still continuing to this day. The anime was produced in 2021 by the last studio you would think would throw their hat into this genre, TMS Entertainment (Detective Conan and Lupin the Third). This was an anime that fell down the middle of the isekai, but is it on the good side or the bad side? Let’s take a look at this anime to find out. This is Spirit Chronicles.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening is “New Story” by Marika Kouno. The beat of this song sounds familiar to another song I’ve heard before, but the real selling point is Marika who sings the song wonderfully.
The ending is “Elden Flower” by Aguri Oonishi. Okay, this ending is pretty cool. I like the instrumental, the singer, and the emotion sung throughout the song. This song is easily better than the opening by a long shot.
Episodes 1-4
The anime starts with a young boy named Haruto about to move away from his childhood friend who doesn’t want him to leave. However, he promises to come back one day and marry her so that they’ll never be apart again (and white flag has been raised). Years later, Haruto voiced by real life harem MC Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Kirito from SAO) returns to get his childhood friend only to see that she already has a boyfriend and moved on from him (how did you not see this coming?). As he leaves on a bus, his bus goes out of control and gets hit by a train (Train-kun: Not today Truck-kun. Scene here: https://youtu.be/6kV3UwfpUDk). Haruto wakes up only to find himself in the kingdom of Beltrum in another world and in the body of a boy named, Rio, who lives in the slums. As their minds fuse together and they inherit each other’s memories, we find out that Rio’s mom was murdered in front of him and now he wants revenge on the people that killed her. After the fusion it seems like Rio is the more dominant one (it’s kind of hard to tell. At some points it seems like Rio is in control but then at other times it’s Haruto) and has inherited the memories of Haruto. While out washing himself up he gets approached by some young noble ladies looking for a girl who was kidnapped where they discover he has the potential to use magic. They give him some silver for his help and heads back to his home where he lives with others. Once he arrives, he sees everyone was killed (they were assholes anyway) by a masked intruder. After learning how to use magic from a mysterious girl, Rio enhances his physical capabilities and is able to defeat the masked intruder (breaking his arm in one of the most brutal ways possible. Scene here: https://youtu.be/fWUuh9HfgIA. (Seras: Badass). After knocking out the masked intruder, he looks into the bag of the others where he sees they kidnapped a girl named Flora who just happens to be the second princess of Beltrum. She passes out after seeing a dead body (lightweight) and Rio decides to do the gentlemanly thing and carry her back to the palace but Flora’s sister Christina and the guards accuse him of kidnapping her. He gets arrested and unlawfully tortured by the knights before Flora awakens and clears up the misunderstanding (scene here: https://youtu.be/J8X36T34czg?t=39). His wounds get healed by a girl named Celia where the two seem to hit it off well with each other.
In episode 2 Rio gets enrolled into the kingdom’s most prestigious academy (woohoo, full ride scholarship!). Naturally, the rest of the class looks down on him because he’s from the slums (let’s see them look down on him when they have two black eyes). His teacher is Celia who despite being 12 years old graduated from high school and has a degree in teaching (and you don’t think the students find it strange that someone their age is teaching them?). We see that thanks to Haruto’s memories, Rio knows how to do arithmetic and after studying with Celia learns how to read and write. When exams come around, Rio actually tied for the highest score in his class along with Christina which pisses off a few of the other students (get good). 5 Years go by and Rio continues to go to the academy where he excels in academics and sword fighting. He gets picked as one of the students to participate in some tournament where in the first round he goes up against Charles, the man who tortured him 5 years ago (hey~ time for some good old-fashioned payback). Because of how harsh he treated Rio in the past, Charles was demoted (you tortured a child unlawfully, what did you think would happen?) and he wants revenge. The two have their match where Rio manages to win (scene here: https://youtu.be/1032MrbCYcs, don’t call it an upset) and even gets an admirer which makes Celia jealous.
Things go bad for Rio in episode 3. While he and his class are on some extracurricular assignment, they get attacked by orcs near a cliff. Flora accidently gets pushed off but gets saved by Rio who pushes her back onto the cliff and he lands safely at the bottom of the cliff (scene here: https://youtu.be/7r4ESdH-NMo). Once the kids get done defeating the orcs, the jealous nobles make up the excuse that Rio tried to assassinate Flora and label him as a criminal (it’s Shield Hero all over again). Another monster attacks where Rio returns and saves Flora once again (this damsel in distress act is starting to annoy me) and takes his leave knowing that no matter what he says he’ll be labeled a criminal and locked up (Mira: Or worse, expelled. (Nitsuj): You really need to get your priorities in order). Before leaving the kingdom, he does say goodbye to Celia and decides to go under the new name, Haruto, to hide his identity. He decides to go to Yagumo, the birthplace of his parents and promises to write to Celia along the way.
In episode 4, Rio (or Haruto) makes it to a lively town which seems to serve food from his world (some home cooking. I like that). After shopping and getting supplies he leaves the town where he’s attacked by a beast human named Latifa. She was sent by the nobles to kill Rio to cover their tracks as they don’t want him to come back. They have a short fight (scene here: https://youtu.be/AXvy36yJNzM) where Rio manages to win and knocks her out where he sees she has an enslavement collar. Rio dispels the collar and we find that just like Haruto, Latifa was also merged with someone who died on the bus with Haruto (well that’s new. Usually in these kinds of situations it’s just one person who gets reincarnated and everyone else gets the shaft). Naturally, she was tortured by the nobles and has a deep fear of people. After Latifa regains consciousness he asks her simple questions such as who sent her, if there are others coming after him, and if she intends to keep on fighting. After answering his questions and verifying that she won’t fight anymore, Rio lets her go and tells her to travel east to a place known as The Wilderness, where beast humans live together. However, Latifa wants to travel with Rio which he’s against as he’s not sure if he can trust her or not. Latifa swears she won’t attack him and even volunteers to become his slave in order to travel with him. Rio allows her to travel with him and the two continue on their journey together (scene here: https://youtu.be/s-wt60M-y8Y) where they come across a forest and their camp gets approached by a mysterious wolf.
Episodes 5-8
At the start of episode 5 the wolf disappears and Rio gets attacked by some demihumans for entering their sacred territory. After a misunderstanding with Latifa, Rio gets knocked out and wakes up chained to a bed (well I’ve seen enough hentai and read enough Stephen King novels to know what happens next). The misunderstanding with Latifa gets cleared up, the demihumans apologize for their mistake, and Rio is set free (scene here: https://youtu.be/xM2szY7xMys). The next morning, we find out that Rio has entered the domain of the World Tree, a domain that’s usually hidden by a powerful illusion, but Rio was able to find it with ease. We see that the village by the World Tree is run by three elders: an elf, a demihuman, and a dwarf who welcome Rio into the village and agree to take Latifa in, but they ask that he stick around a little while until Latifa gets accustomed to the village. Since he’ll be staying in the village for a while, Rio decides to learn about spirits in the hopes of one day using magic where he gets approached by Dryas the spirit of the World Tree. Dryas reveals that there’s a powerful human-shaped spirit dwelling within Rio which is a big deal (so big that the elders want to start calling Rio a saint). Time goes by (about a year) as Rio spends time in the village training and learning magic (I wonder if he’s told Latifa that he’s going to leave her behind?).
Not much happens in episode 6. At a village festival Rio finally breaks the news to Latifa that he’s leaving her in the village and of course her reaction is what you would expect (it’s like telling someone you’re dumping them the day before a wedding). The forest soon gets attacked by wyverns who were hunting down some egg thieves with one of them being the man who conducted the kidnapping of Flora. This man abandons the other thief to return to the empty wyvern cave for something and then kills off the other thief to cover his tracks. Rio manages to defeat the alpha which forces the other wyverns to retreat and saving the forest (scene here: https://youtu.be/bbDlsuuFCxA, well that was much easier than expected). The next morning Latifa reveals that she’s Japanese to Rio and he tells her the same thing bringing them closer together. After having some closure, Latifa agrees to stay in the village and Rio leaves promising to come back for her.
In episode 7 Rio has reached Yagumo. In fact, he’s been in Yagumo for 2 weeks now, but hasn’t found any clues about his mom and dad. He finally gets to speak with the village leader named Yuba who we find out is his grandma (wow, what are the odds?). Yuba shows him their graves and says that due to circumstances they were forced to leave Yagumo. She invites Rio to stay in the village for a while and he accepts. He’s quickly accepted by the village with girls blushing over him and making a few boys jealous (no matter where you go there’s always someone out there wanting to flex over you). Things start to get interesting near the end of the episode where Gon (the Gaston of this world) comes from a neighboring village and starts trouble (scene here: https://youtu.be/Nd22fwjaZog). He tries to rape Rio’s cousin Ruri at night, but Rio stops him and comes close to killing him before he’s stopped.
Episode 8 sees Rio go to the royal capital. It’s here that he learns that his mom, Ayame, was part of the royal family meaning he’s royalty (wow, your dad slept with royalty. Impressive). We learn that Rio’s dad, Zen, started off as a volunteer soldier and quickly rose up the ranks to become a warrior-noble (a very prestigious title). He soon became the bodyguard of Ayame where the two got along quite well, but a neighboring kingdom’s prince fell for her and tried to abduct her. Zen stopped the abduction but the prince denied any allegations and the abductor was found dead. The prince claimed that Zen killed the abductor, demanded that he be executed and Ayame be named his wife or risk a war. The king wanting to protect his daughter arranged for Ayame and Zen to flee the country in secret. To keep themselves hidden they made no contact with their home country or family for years. He gets to meet the king and queen (hi grandpa! Hi grandma!) where we learn about the man who killed Ayame (scene here: https://youtu.be/T03KAbtPLU8). While Rio doesn’t seek revenge he does hold a deep hatred for the man and won’t hesitate to kill him. After that, not much happens. He has a sparring match against his mom’s old attendant (scene here: https://youtu.be/TQ5XNFbPPbo) and then returns to the village where he’s done running away and is prepared to accept the ugliness in his heart (what ugliness?).
Episodes 9-12
In episode 9 Rio returns to the village where he reveals to Ruri that they’re cousins (thankfully there was no romantic feelings between them) and says he’s going to be leaving the village in one year. Once Ruri’s friend Sayo hears of this she finally confesses her feelings to Rio who politely turns her down (tough break kid. He’s got like three other girls waiting for him). A year soon passes and Rio leaves. He returns to the World Tree where Latifa has grown up and he says he’s going to stay for a few months before heading out again.
At the start of episode 10 Rio wakes up with a naked woman in his bed (well it took him long enough). This woman is actually a spirit that is bonded to Rio. She has no idea why or how she got here and the others don’t have an answer either as spirits don’t normally appear in physical form. She does know about Haruto though and can speak telepathically. Rio names her Aishia after Haruto’s first love (you seriously need to get over that). Rio takes her to meet Dryas the guardian spirit of the forest who isn’t sure what kind of spirit Aishia is either. After a small exhibition fight, they do learn that Aishia is proficient in using all the elements and has combat abilities that are on the same level as Rio (scene here: https://youtu.be/vgZjBj673OI). After spending some time in the forest, Rio and Aishia leave where his next stop is Celia which means we’re returning to Beltrum. Once he returns he finds out that Celia is about to be married off to Charles from the House of Arbor.
So in episode 11 we find out that Beltrum suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of a neighboring kingdom called the Proxia Empire. The Arbor family stepped in and brokered peace negotiations to save Beltrum from being destroyed. The power and authority of the royal family was stripped, and they all fled the capital (fucking cowards). This gave way for the Arbor family to take control and now they want to bring Celia’s family under their rule. Rio wants to know how Celia feels about this political marriage but she’s stuck in the castle and no one can see her (physically anyway). Aishia investigates on Rio’s behalf to help him find a way in and she succeeds. Rio and Celia finally get to talk to each other (man Celia didn’t grow at all during these 4 years) where Celia not wanting to get Rio involved in her issues puts on a brave face and tells him everything is fine (don’t lie to him woman). On the day of Celia’s wedding we see that Charles has 6 other wives (normally I’d be jealous but those women are ugly, and I’m not just talking about physically). As the parade for the ceremony begins, Aishia forms a telepathic communication between her, Celia, and Rio where Celia can no longer hold back her tears and doesn’t want to go through with the marriage (that’s all we needed to hear). In the final moments of the episode, Rio finally springs into action and becomes a wedding crasher.
At the start of the final episode Rio fights his way through the guards with ease and delivers a heart punch to Charles. He then takes Celia (scene here: https://youtu.be/6zB3LO18vbg, uh Rio I think you got this whole wedding crasher thing mixed up). Speaking to her telepathically, she finally confesses that she wants Rio to take her away from here and he complies. Rio takes Celia to Aisha where they’ll both escape while he acts as a decoy. He distracts them long enough and makes his escape where he’s reunited with Celia and Aishia outside of the kingdom. As they prepare to take off they see a light shine from the sky signaling the arrival of new people from our world entering there’s. Rio goes to save them from slave traders where we see they’re kids except for one who just happens to be his old crush, Ayase (scene here: https://youtu.be/tANRRadH2pg, well things just got interesting).
Final Thoughts
Spirit Chronicles is a pretty meh series. As far as adaptations go it’s decent. There’s a lot they left out from the novels, but to be fair a lot of the stuff they left out was filler, so no big loss there. Sadly, the series really doesn’t do anything to make itself stand out all that much. I like that Rio started off weak only to get stronger as time went on to become OP, but he doesn’t have much of a personality to speak of. I was kind of hoping he and Haruto would talk to each other, but nope it never happens and I have no idea whose personality is the more dominant one. Is it Rio? Is it Haruto? I don’t know. The rest of the characters don’t give me much to work with either and while there are a lot of things going on not much is happening that you haven’t seen before. The animation for a TMS anime isn’t really all that good. Not sure if it was because of the budget or a majority of the animators focusing on another project (most likely Lupin Part VI), but the animation pales in comparison to their other work. The music is generic as is the action and magic, so no big spectacle there. The one big positive is the ending as Ayase re-enters the picture which will bring into question Rio’s relationship with the other girls who have surrounded him. Will he move on or does his heart still burn for Ayase?
Final Score
My final score for Spirit Chronicles is a 5/10. Despite my bashing I really don’t think this is a bad anime. There’s just nothing in here that grabs my attention or interest like other isekai animes I’ve seen before. With the way the anime ended it does seem like they’re setting up for a second season (which has been announced) and I’m all for it. Maybe the second season will be better and show something that grabs my interest. It’s not one of the best of isekai, but it’s better than some of the others I’ve seen and if it has a chance to improve I say we give it a chance. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.