Hello everyone! Justin here and welcome to the Otaku Mind, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy today and ready for a fun read. It’s no secret that I love isekai anime and have praised the hell out of Konosuba, Re:Zero, Overlord, and Youjo Senki as being the Four Horsemen of Isekai that made isekai as popular as it is today. Since these 4 animes, other isekai anime have tried to capture that same magic and while some have been good and others bad nobody has been able to capture that same fire, but two animes that come close are Shield Hero and Reincarnated as a Slime. Now, as much as I love these animes I don’t consider them to be on the same level as the Four Horsemen, but rather a level that’s closely beneath them. The reason for this is because they didn’t really bring nothing new or invented to the genre like the 4 Horsemen did, if anything these two animes are like fusions of the 4 Horsemen. However, these 2 animes are so good that they deserve a closer look, so for this Otaku Mind we’re going to take a at these two animes to see what makes them so good and puts them on a level that’s close to the Four Horsemen.
Main Characters
Let’s start with the main characters of these two animes, Naofumi and Rimuru. Naofumi’s story begins with betrayal as the world he gets sent to is determined to make him out to be the villain. This is rare because usually when a person gets isekai’d they’re usually seen as heroes or good people, but in Naofumi’s case he gets automatically labeled as the villain despite doing nothing to deserve such hatred. Because of this Naofumi gains a pure disdain for this world and even develops his own mental issues from how traumatic the betrayal was that he pretty much goes through the anime trusting no one except a few people he comes to call allies. He’s also not your typical hero. While he’ll do good deeds like fight off monsters, protect people, and even help the sick he’ll only do it if he gets something in return. Even a rogue hero would do something for free from time to time and expect nothing in return, Naofumi on the other hand always expects something in return whether it be money, information, or material that will help him in the long run. Even when his name gets cleared and he’s proven innocent, he still has a distrust for this world and almost wouldn’t mind seeing it destroyed. However, because he’s made good friends here and because deep down he’s a good person, he won’t let this world disappear and will continue to fight for it.
Rimuru on the other hand is kind of the opposite of Naofumi. While Naofumi is a young man, Rimuru is a fully grown adult which adds a whole new perspective to the formula. Unlike past characters in isekai who enter their world and go off on a journey that will change them for the better, Rimuru doesn’t do that. He goes off and has adventures, but he doesn’t change as far as character development goes. When we first met him he was a bit of a goofball adult who was reliable, easy to get along with, a bit of a pervert and a good person deep down. When he gets isekai’d he remains the same because he really doesn’t need a character development arc. Like I said in my review he’s an adult, he’s lived his life as a teenager and has had his trials to discover what kind of person he is and wants to be. He’s essentially an adult version of Kirby. He’s not looking to change, he’s looking for a place to relax, have fun, and enjoy life. Another way that Rimuru is different is that whenever he does a good deed, he doesn’t really expect nothing in return from anyone. He just does something good because that’s the kind of person he is and because he has the power to help others. While he doesn’t know why he was bought to this world, it’s clear that he loves it, the people in it, and wants to keep on living and exploring this world.
So what makes these two characters so great? Well for Naofumi it’s because we feel sorry for the guy and understand his pain. We want him to overcome this unfair treatment and get revenge on the people who mistreated him. For Rimuru, it’s because we can relate to him on an adult level or at least I can. If I were to get isekai’d to another world I would want my experience to be like Rimuru, a guy who goes on adventures but doesn’t change that much from a character perspective because I’ve had my arc and know what kind of person I am. After working for a number of years all I want to do is just have fun and enjoy life with my friends.
Learning to adapt to their worlds
One of the things I do like about both Naofumi and Rimuru is how they’re both able to adapt to their world and gain the knowledge they need to survive in them. Naofumi has a hard time adapting to his world because he has no knowledge of it whatsoever. The other heroes can’t be trusted and even when Naofumi does talk to them they’re pretty useless or the stuff they say can’t apply to him. So, Naofumi has to learn everything himself such as reading, figuring out how to use his skills, and even training someone else to act as his sword since his attack stats are low. If I had to describe Naofumi’s situation it’s like everyone has a pair of skates on while Naofumi only has one skate on and he’s doing his best to try and keep up with everyone. Yet despite this, Naofumi not only manages to keep up with the other heroes but when he gets his second skate, he manages to surpass them because he took the time to understand and study the world he was in. He put in the hard work to make himself better prepared for what dangers would come his way while the other heroes treated this whole experience like a game. Everything was handed to them and they didn’t take the time to learn about this new world or how it works. They’re just idiots playing heroes and don’t know the first thing about being one. Rimuru’s experience is a lot easier to Naofumi’s experience. Thanks to this all-knowing system in his head, Rimuru is able to quickly grasp what he is, how his powers work, what he can do, and gain any other information he needs. Rimuru quickly figures out and understands what his powers can do and he uses them wisely. On top of that he takes the time to understand the world and the many inhabitants he comes across in this world. He doesn’t blow anyone off, he tries to understand them and if possible find a solution that doesn’t involve fighting.
Surrounded by the unlikely
Both Naofumi and Rimuru are surrounded by unlikely circumstances/people. For Naofumi he’s surrounded by idiots who cause more trouble than they do help. Naofumi spends a lot of the anime cleaning up the messes they make and even starts to carry them in battle because they suck so much. The one character with the lowest attack power and is pretty much the team’s healer is fighting the bosses himself and beating them over the other heroes who have the better weapons and attack power. Hell, he actually manages to beat the guy with the highest attack power in a straight fight all by himself. This is what Naofumi has to deal with on a regular basis and I feel sorry for him because he’s stuck with these idiots who will continuously keep making mistakes and messes that Naofumi will be forced to clean up because these guys refuse to learn anything about the world and how their weapons work. Rimuru also finds himself surrounded by the most unlikely creatures you would ever consider to be allies. He becomes the ruler over a tribe of goblins, gets ogres to act as his elite guards, becomes the ally to a bunch of lizardmen, welcomes orcs into his village, has a world destroying dragon living inside of him, becomes the master to a pack of wolves, and is best friends with a demon lord. All of these are creatures that we have been trained and conditioned to believe that they are evil and can’t be trusted. Yet here they are, friendly and kind creatures who are all allies with each other and consider a slime the weakest monster in any JRPG game as their leader that they will follow without question and said slime is OP. It’s one of the craziest scenarios I’ve ever seen and one of the greatest scenarios as well because it adds a whole new perspective to these creatures and makes you reconsider your stance on them.
Fusion of the Four Horsemen
Like I said before these two animes are like a fusion of the Four Horsemen. Shield Hero is like a fusion of Re:Zero and Youjo Senki. The anime isn’t bright or cheerful. The main character gets put in an unfavorable position where he’s seen as the villain by everyone and misunderstood. He goes up against the odds that were put before him and manages to come out on top. Naofumi carries an anger that’s on the same level as Tanya and Subaru against the situation he’s in but continues to fight for his survival and the survival of those he holds dear to him. For Slime, it’s like a fusion of Overlord and Konosuba. The anime can be light-hearted and funny, but not afraid to dive into the dark stuff such as death. Rimuru is the leader of his own village like Ainz is the leader of his own army. Both guys are clearly in over their head and have no idea what they’re doing but continue to press forward while keeping control of the situation and doing their best. Rimuru seems to have more control over his situation then Ainz, but nevertheless it is funny to see them get put in situations and remember that deep down behind these overpowered beings they’re just normal people who were once salary workers.
Conclusion
So while I don’t consider Shield Hero and Slime on the same level as the Four Horsemen I will say they come pretty damn close and are entertaining animes that everyone can enjoy for their story, characters, action, and setting. I consider these two animes to be the Wise Isekai, animes that were smart and clever with their ideas and gave us something fun and entertaining to watch. I look forward to seeing their next season when they drop and now the big question, who’s gonna be the third Wise Isekai? At this point I don’t know I haven’t seen an isekai that impressed me as much as these two anime did, but when I do I’ll be sure to let you guys know. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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