One isekai series I’ve enjoyed over the last year has been The Eminence in Shadow. It tells its story with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek, almost as a parody of isekai hero stories. Yes, the lead character is ridiculously overpowered compared to his enemies and allies. He has a growing harem of beautiful girls yearning for his companionship. And that hero is the main character in every scene, whether he is there or not. But that guy is an overly dramatic chuunibyou who wants to “broker power from the shadows.” The Eminence in Shadow is a comedy, and I eagerly await each week’s episode. Why is Cid Kagenou and his Shadow Garden so much fun to watch? Read on to find out why!
Eminence in Shadow Crowbar Batman Origins
Fans of the light novels and manga source material already knew Cid Kagenou’s past life as Minoru Kagenou. But anime-only watchers thought they would spend more time with him before Truck-kun sent him to the next world. We had the start of a Batman origin story: a vigilante who used crowbars! That looked cool! But the audience suffered a bait and switch. We caught up suddenly to Cid Kagenou, Shadow Leader, fully formed and at full power, with his Shadow Garden.
Only through sparse flashbacks do we catch glimpses of Cid growing up, developing his mastery of Black Slime, and how he collected seven childhood friends. He cured them of demonic possession by granting them control of the Black Slime he gave them. These girls became the first seven members of Shadow Garden — the Seven Shadows. During that time, Cid went on solo adventures, wearing a sack on his head. The Unknown Hero would be the savior of many side characters we eventually meet.
In our world, Minoru Kagenou wanted to fight crime and affect the world from the shadows. But in the other world, where Cid Kagenou commands unimaginable power through magic and Black Slime, he still wishes to “shine from the shadows.” But “eminence” sounds better, would you agree? It has a dramatic flair that can only come from one personality type. Yup. Cid is a chuunibyou.
Chuunibyou Prophet
The first episode of The Eminence in Shadow hinted at Cid’s odd thinking patterns. He explained to a girl (someone he would eventually rescue from a kidnapping plot) that he didn’t remember her name because she was an NPC. The signs were already there, but they exploded in the next world. Cid Kagenou’s realm was one of magic, beast kin, and demons. Naturally, a chuunibyou would be in his element. And here is where The Eminence in Shadow bases most of its humor. What if everything this little kid made up about a world’s historical background conspiracies were true? Everything! When he took in his seven playmates, and they asked him questions about books in his library, he invented stories to hide his ignorance of his adopted world. He cobbled together formulaic conventions of fairy tales through his chuunibyou lens. His friends received them as gospel.
Following the flow of Cid’s chuunibyou flavor, the world has odd naming conventions for background characters, martial arts techniques, and magic spells. The translations from the Japanese are just as hilarious, specifically a gladiator with the brave name of “Imma Try Notta Lose.” Cid himself falls into the chuunibyou trap of puns derived from multiple languages. Phonetically, Cid’s name is かげのうしどう (kagenou shidou) in Japanese. Kage means “shadow,” but do you know how many words there are for “shidou?” At the top of the list is “leadership,” but it can also mean “art or field of study,” “chivalry, samurai code,” or “duty of a teacher.” Then add the Spanish “El Cid,” a bastardization of the Arabic “al-sid” from when the Moors controlled Spain. That means “lord, master.” Cid Kagenou, 陰の指導, is the chuunibyou derivation of Shadow Leader. かっこいい (kakkoii, cool)!
Dangerously Gullible Harem
Cid and his chuunibyou dramatic flair make The Eminence in Shadow a giggly delight. But, come on. We’re here for the waifus! Cid drew inspiration from a foreign ancient alphabet to name his seven childhood friends after the first letters and numbers of the Greek alphabet. Each one suffered demonic possession, but they also had unique destinies based on their circumstances. We have a clone of the last hero to slay a demon lord, a descendant of an elf princess, and the heir to a ruling wolf clan. Cid is not aware of any of this. But each girl loves him for rescuing them from their dire situations. And the friends all possess distinct talents for creating an underground organization to dominate the world. They are Shadow Garden.
Cid did not become smarter when he reincarnated into this fantasy world of heroes, demon lords, evil cults, corrupt churches, and cat and wolf girls. He is still a master of one-on-one combat and short-term strategy. On the other hand, Shadow Garden has built economic empires and become a bestselling author, a famous musician, and a groundbreaking research scientist. He can’t keep up with them. Which is why he lies and fabricates dramatic scenes and vague plots. But his childhood friends follow the code of comedic improvisation, using “yes, and…” to interpret his actions as code for grander plots. Cid merely wants a pile of gold so he can disappear from his noble family obligations and become Crowbar Batman again. He hasn’t accepted that Shadow Garden already made him Bruce Wayne.
Swimsuit Episode — All Elements of The Eminence in Shadow
Now, we come to the eighth episode of the second season of The Eminence in Shadow. It’s the perfect episode for this anime! Once you know that 1) Cid wants gold coins to become Crowbar Batman, 2) his friends are dangerously gullible and capable, and 3) he’s a chuunibyou prophet whose invented ramblings always come true, then everything about this hot springs resort fanservice episode makes sense. Let’s take this step-by-step.
First, Cid, like Bruce Wayne, is the secret identity to his true one as Shadow Leader. That means he only makes “friends” with background characters. Unfortunately for him, background characters always start the ball rolling for the events of a story’s next chapter. Cid should ask his bestselling author friend Beta how that works. Second, Shadow Garden believed Cid’s friends’ lies about stealing his VIP tickets to a hot springs resort’s grand opening. The girls only found hot springs there because the chuunibyou prophet assumed golden dragon tears meant hidden treasure was at that site. The dangerously capable Shadow Garden organization built a moneymaking factory there. Then, an elven princess’s tears mixed with a dragon’s tears of mineral water, fulfilling a legendary prophecy. The chuunibyou prophet was right again.
The best part of all these events? Shadow Garden wore revealing swimsuits (and less) the entire time! We saw the elements of The Eminence in Shadow at the apex of its enjoyability: harem fanservice. Plus, we saw an action scene with different outfits. Secondary retailers rejoice!
Shadow Garden’s Perspective
One thing I appreciated about The Eminence in Shadow swimsuit episode was its perspective exclusively without Cid’s presence. This is how it is almost all the time for Shadow Garden and the damsels in distress that Cid has saved as the Fancy Hoodlum Slayer and the Unknown Hero. The Seven Shadows never understood that when Cid asked them to lead their separate lives, he wasn’t in charge of them anymore. They were independent, capable young women. Evidently so! But they’re still beholden to the Unknown Hero who rescued them, whose explanations about the stories behind history always come true. Will their perspectives ever synchronize? It wouldn’t be The Eminence in Shadow if it did.
Both seasons of The Eminence in Shadow (陰の実力者になりたくて！, Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!) stream on Hidive in English and Japanese audio and multiple language subtitles.
Are you watching The Eminence in Shadow? Who’s your favorite waifu? I bet Cid ends up with his number one fan, Beta. What’s your prediction? Let us know in the comments below or online on Facebook, Twitter, or Discord.
Do you want to share adventures with a Shadow Garden Elf Princess of your own from the J-List store? Beta is available at an affordable price! Pick up the Beta TENITOL Figure — The Eminence in Shadow figure for Christmas soon! Her Shadow Garden sisters have already sold out!
