Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout (ep. 1-12 SUB)
WARNING: SPOILERS!
I should warn the prospective reader that there’s definitely SPOILERs here! I consider myself spoiler proof. After all, if it’s ruined just by someone telling you what happens, then it couldn’t have been very good to begin with, right? However, there are plenty of people out there who’d be very angry if they read on only to find a series spoiled for them. So here’s the warning…read at your own risk.
What would you do if you were put into a situation where all your deepest secrets were revealed? A blazing light showers down upon you and exposes all of your insecurities including how you feel about your role in society, your failings, and even your love interests. What if these secrets aren’t accepted in the society you live in? What if you just can’t live up to the expectations of marriage and family because you don’t fall into that perfect spot assigned to you? What if you were gay? Or Transgender? Or simply just a guy who can’t get a date, thanks to your woman hating friend who insists on tagging along with you to the bar in order to “protect” you?
Plot
The astonishingly handsome Jinguuji and his girl-crazy friend Tachibana are about to have their secrets exposed. Jinguuji has been chased by women all his life while Tachibana has struggled to get anywhere with a girl.
The taller, more attractive man becomes resentful towards women in general when he witnesses their jealous and petty behavior as they pursue him. To Jinguuji, Tachibana is the childhood friend he could always count on and a breath of fresh air from all of this drama.
Tachibana, on the other hand, is insecure around his friend’s good looks and ability to attract women. He goes out of his way to be as masculine as possible, or at least what he thinks is masculine. Despite being sociable, grating even, Tachibana is a completely average guy. He’s shorter than average, with bangs that hide his eyes. When he tries to pick up women in bars, he usually winds up drunk with Jinguuji stuck dragging him home.
On one particular night, however, Tachibana is lying drunk on the ground with Jinguuji standing over him attempting to revive him. The drunken man then quietly mentions that he’d rather be the perfect woman and have people fawn over him.
Before they know it, a window opens in the sky and a shining woman zaps them away to another world. There, Junguuji awakens in time to see Tachibana melt into a green goo, then reform into a blond haired, blue-eyed, beautiful young woman. The Goddess of Love and Beauty, who transported them here, explains that their mission is to defeat the Demon Lord. However, after they insult her, she curses the two heroes with completing their quest before Tachibana will return to normal and they’ll return home.
The “curse” winds up being the “Charm” effect similar to that of a video game which appears over a character’s head. The two aren’t completely defenseless, as Tachibana is gifted with various social skills and Jinguuji is granted super strength.
The duo soon find out Tachinaba’s particular social skills all have a different effect, depending on the person involved. A group of bandits attempt to propose to her,
a village props her up as a goddess, and the beautiful elven chieftain, Telolilo Lilili Lu, displays homicidal jealousy. However, Lilili Lu’s anger might also come from the fact that our heroes burned down her sacred forest,
cut off her sacred braid,
and killed, cooked, and ate one of her sacred beasts.
The new hero, Schwartz von Liechtenstein Lohengramm, sees Tachibana as a fair maiden to be courted, that is until she reveals the truth about her origins.
Even with a magic tiara that keeps her hidden, Tachibana, now going by the name “Hinata,” still keeps running into trouble.
Jinguuji, traveling with Schwartz, Hinata, and a town guardswoman named Lucius, manage to defeat a giant metal knight: a robot piloted by one of the Demon Lord’s child-like henchmen, Vizzd.
It’s through this series of events that we learn Schwartz von Liechtenstein Lohengramm is actually a Japanese high school student who refuses to reveal his true name. He explains that extra dimensional travelers such as himself are marked by the goddesses that invite them to this world. In his case, he bears the mark of Goddess of Night.
With the help of the sleazy tradesman Shen, Jinguuji and Hinata manage to find the temple of the Goddess of Love and Beauty: a place with a lot of assumptions attached to it and, in the end, winds up living up to those assumptions.
After making a mad escape from the temple, the two wind up invited to a royal party by Shen, who reveals himself to be a secret agent of the King. While at the party, Hinata witnesses the Princess Yugraine try to throw herself from a window and saves her.
Hinata runs away to join Princess Yugraine’s rebellion after getting into a fight with Jinguuji. It’s here that Hinata comes over the spell of Kalm, another of the Demon Lord’s henchpersons. They were the one who freed Vizzd from prison with the intention of using Hinata to pilot a megaweapon created by the Goddess of Love and Beauty. It’s up to Jinguuji, with the help of Schwartz, to stop the giant robot and free Hinata.
It’s only after an incredibly long string of compliments pointing out everything he has admired about her that Jinguuji is able to convince Hinata to stop her attack.
The Review
This show has a lot to say about different social issues, such as friendship versus love versus lust, society’s expectations of men and women, and expectations of different classes and occupations like royalty, law enforcement, and “heroes” in general. However, most of the characters eschew their societal expectations. Hinata is the “ideal” woman, but still drinks heavily and talks to Jinguuji in a coarse masculine tone. Yugraine is a far cry from a polite, law abiding, demure princess. Lilili Lu is psychotic in her rage against the heroes, rather than cool and collected like you’d expect from an elf. And the stoic Japanese salaryman, Jinguuji, has deeper motivations than what is assumed at first.
Conversely, the show also reinforces some stereotypes and tropes surrounding female characters, such as when Lucius is summarily left naked and humiliated on the battlefield. However, when these concern Hinata, they are turned to comedic effect. Jinguuji ties Hinata up in a cloak after stating that she was showing too much skin. A group of bandits make the assumption that the duo is especially weak because one of them is a woman. Hinata must wear a costly magic tiara that subdues her powers of attraction. And, at one point, she tries to use her Charm ability on Jinguuji in an attempt to get him to buy her something, but he places a paper bag over her head as a defense.
The men of the show use physical powers, like Jinguuji’s super punch and Schwartz’s magic sword “Gram ” to fight; almost all the women are left to use deceit, magic, and/or technology during combat. Vizzd relies on power armor, Kalm uses magic to disguise herself and control others, and Yugraine uses deceit and manipulation on Hinata in order to use her beauty to inspire the rebel troops to keep fighting.
I was very happy to see that Yoshiki Fukuyama was responsible for the opening theme Akatsuki no Salaryman (“Salaryman at Dawn”), and has also worked on the excellent Makka na Chikai from Busou Renkin.
Like with other shows such as Tiger and Bunny, the relationship between the two protagonists is left ambiguous. Is it a budding LGBTQ+ centric romance? A comedic misadventure between heterosexual buddies? The audience is left to decide for themselves. For the most part, I felt this was more of a gay romance due to the fact that Hinata is also affected by the curse and able to be Charmed. At different points during the series, both Jinguuji and Hinata fantasize about marrying each other and starting a family. Only for these reveries to end in a comedic slap to the face.
Amongst all the social commentary, the viewer should remember the most important aspect of the show: it’s a comedy, but a smart comedy. It’s not afraid to explore, and make fun of, gender roles. Regardless of their nature, our heroes know when to beat a hasty retreat. No, our heroes aren’t evil. They’re just a bit careless and self centered enough to be enjoyably horrible at this whole adventuring thing. In fact, I’d even go so far as to say this is the most hilarious show I’ve seen in a long time. Watching Hinata sometimes not-so-inadvertently enchant an entire town, then seeing Jinguuji scramble to get her away before she bankrupts the peasants or is kidnapped by bandits is just incredible. It’s also something you should check out when you have the time.
Editor: Rickie Paszek
Mystikk Tales 