What happens when your train crashes and you find yourself reincarnated in another world? Of course, you rise from nothing to become an overpowered and on the run! Join Rio on his journey of self-reflection to learn about his family's history and help those who need it along the way.
The Breakdown
Criteria
Grade
Summary
⭐⭐★☆☆
Slightly Below Standard
⭐⭐★☆☆
Slightly Below Standard
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Standard
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Standard
⭐⭐★☆☆
Slightly Below Standard
⭐⭐☆☆☆
No.
Seirei Gensouki Cover art from MAL
Summary Review of The Breakdown
Despite its popularity, Seirei Gensouki fails to deliver in terms of animation or story. It lacks any outstanding features and unfortunately feels more standard than most other shows, following a very similar template pattern to other shows in the genre. Voice acting also fails to push character's to their limits, sounding uninspired and trope filled. Overall, the show ends up as a standard, if not substandard, experience and I can only wholeheartedly recommend the light novel form more.
As the main studio credited for animation, TMS Entertainment has storied history in the Japanese animation industry with their creation in 1946. However, as far as Isekai is concerned, the only show of this genre they released was Seirei Gensouki and later I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too.
Criteria
Grade
Summary
⭐⭐☆☆☆
Below Standard
⭐⭐★☆☆
Slightly Below Standard
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Standard
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Standard
3D
Unfortunately, 3D in this show sticks out like an incredibly sore thumb. Poor usage of 3D animation pops up mostly in the latter half of the show, but with an entire action sequence using weird 3D elements for magic and other magic effects crops up in episode 6. The first half of the series ended up relatively fine for 3D however. Use cases varied for it, but it was mostly seen in background objects and very rarely, if at all, was ever the center of attention at any given point.
Seirei Gensouki Episode 6.
The bar was low but somehow you still walked right into it...
Special Effects
Special effects appear in many different scenes throughout the entire series. However the most prominent usage of it appears when Rio uses his magic and abilities to overpower his foes. Despite it showing up so often, you'd think they'd put real effort into showing his aura and magic by animating it to seem grandiose and epic. Yet, all it ends up being a blue flame outline effect surrounding his entire body and very obviously rendered from 3D software. Other characters can also have this flame aura when using physically enhancing magic. It's disappointing to see such lazy use of this effect so frequently and detracts from the entire show. Other than this, other special effects are standard use and basic to most fantasy anime.
Seirei Gensouki Episode 4.
Odd flame aura creating a clashing visual style.
Neither good nor bad, Seirei Gensouki's character art doesn't differentiate from the crowd. Female characters have big, well-detailed eyes, while male characters typically have narrow eyes that feel as if they don't fit the face. Characters like Celia Claire, Rio's mentor and savior, have very well drawn eyes and well proportioned faces. Although Rio himself has a very odd mix between the big eyes but also slightly narrow to show manliness, creating an inconsistent look. Fortunately, its not the biggest issue in the show, and female characters are typically well detailed to balance out scenes.
Seirei Gensouki Episode 2.
Celia Claire with big blue eyes and detailed irises.
Backgrounds in the show are extremely standard for an Isekai. Nothing new here.
Combining a zero to hero style story with the reincarnation style of Isekai, Seirei Gensouki's anime adaptation frustratingly fails to find its mark in the genre. As a main character, Rio loses much of his personality despite his tragic backstory from episode 1. Furthermore, the supporting cast all end up buried beneath the "romance" subplot and practically end up going, "Save us Rio~" at any chance. Despite the misgivings with the show, it actually doesn't break away from the genre's standard templates too often. As a reincarnated Japanese person would, you save anyone you can with your ultimate powers, and always remain humble despite the tough life you faced. And for that, you're rewarded with cute girls at your beck and call. As much potential Seirei Gensouki had at the beginning, most of it ends up reduced to simple tropes like, harems and self-insert protagonists, repeated across Isekai and anime in general. The original light novel form of Seirei Gensouki also paces itself much better when compared against the anime, with the last arc of the show being much more fleshed out and further built up in the novel. Here, it feels incredibly rushed, as if the producers believed that the show wouldn't receive another season and wanted to add a climatic ending. For more comparisons between novel and anime, see here.
Voice Acting
Despite an extremely experienced cast well versed in Isekai, Seirei Gensouki's voice acting feels very bland and uninspired. Most of the issue comes from Rio sounding almost too subdued, showing little emotion in most of his lines. Outside of Celia, the female cast unfortunately have very few lines of importance and become one dimensional characters both in writing and voices, as they mostly repeat similar reactions.
Soundtrack
With opening by Marika Kouno, and ending by Aguri Oonishi, neither break barriers in terms of anisongs. Neither do sound effects or backing tracks.
Criteria
Grade
Summary
Opening
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Standard
Ending
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Standard
Background Tracks
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Standard
Sound Effects
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Standard
If you've already watched Seirei Gensouki, did you enjoy it more than other shows? Leave a comment down below!
Thank you for reading!
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