Have you ever wondered what an isekai would be like if, instead of a Kirito lookalike, we got an ugly bastard? That’s the experience that Uglymug, Epicfighter is selling, and I’m happily buying it. A side-hurting comedic take on the overpowered MC isekai stories that litter every anime season, Busamen Gachi Fighter wholeheartedly embraces the absurd.
A White Fox adaptation of Ryo Hiromatsu’s light novel (web novel), Uglymug, Epicfighter is the isekai you should watch this season! This anime promises to be a truly absurd take on a tired genre.
Synopsis and Social Commentary
The more beauty you possess, the more enjoyable life tends to be. This has been true since time immemorial and will remain so until the last human falls into the grave. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. The less attractive you are, the more difficult life becomes. Your appearance influences your opportunities, how others treat you, and, most importantly, how truthful others perceive you to be. This is the harshness Shigeru Yoshioka has resigned himself to.
Born with a face that even his mother would disown, Shigeru got through life thanks to his sheer resilience. Despite his permanently unremarkable appearance, he lived a fulfilling life. At least, until a false sexual harassment claim ended his career and social life, turning him into a home security officer (hikikomori).
However, opportunity unexpectedly comes to Shigeru-san in the form of a computer-based isekai. Shigeru-san discovers that he can use his laptop to create a new version of himself and start a new life. However, due to his trauma, he deliberately gives his alternate self a significant appearance debuff along with other self-deprecating traits. While these debuffs and attributes carry over into his new world, they come with an unexpected twist. By making himself the ugliest man in the land, Shigeru-san buffs his abilities so much that he becomes a god!
Uglymug, Epicfighter — Not Your Usual Isekai
As a creator, you need to pander to your selected audience. This is true, especially for isekai creators. How they present their main character heavily influences what people think of their work. Since authors often aim isekai stories at the tired, overworked, and discontented masses, the safest approach is to have a main character who serves as a stand-in for the average otaku or normie viewer (or reader). Because of that, Hiromatsu-sensei’s decision to make Uglymug, Epicfighter‘s MC look like he came from the depths of a Wisconsin trailer park and ate only cheese curds and butter burgers is a bold move. Usually, characters who resemble Shigeru-san only star in NTR hentai featuring blackmailed waifus. Yet despite Shigeru-san lumbering on the screen like a Shin Godzilla, the show is setting him up to be a relatable and affable protagonist.
But It Does Have Usual Isekai Poo
If isekai is anything, it’s conformist. Imagine writing a story about a fantasy world and placing the same tired tropes in it that saturate isekai. I’ve watched hundreds of isekai anime, and none of their writers picked up a book on speculative biology.
As a former marine biologist, I am familiar with how convergent evolution is prevalent and influences creative works. Think of sharks and cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). Despite belonging to different classes, they developed comparable features due to similar habitats. I mention this because the bulk of isekai anime never features anything truly odd. That’s lamentable. They could create some truly bizarre life-forms and be well within reason. The life-forms of the Cambrian and Ediacaran periods were so strange that you’d think they were extraterrestrial in origin.
While I find Uglymug, Epicfighter’s MC, somewhat novel, its world-building is not. If the first episode is any indication, this anime will have all the usual isekai clichés. This is unfortunate, given that an isekai creator could imagine outlandish organisms and settings. However, like many other isekai, Busamen Gachi Fighter features goblins, magical dragons, and kawaii tsunderes. You could use those three things as a synopsis for every isekai known to man. Don’t even get me started on pop-up stat screens and gameplay-based mechanics, I’ve had my fill of those. I don’t even want to talk about them.
Uglymug, Epicfighter Overall Thoughts and Deets
Studio White Fox is adept at making praiseworthy adaptations (Steins; Gate, Super Sonico, Re: Zero). That makes the fact that the first episode of Busamen Gachi Fighter lacked White Fox’s high-quality animation quite unfortunate. But it’s not a total loss because the kawaii art style they used suited the show’s vibe quite well. That said, nothing about the first episode suggested that we’ll see White Fox’s best work later in the series. While that doesn’t diminish the show’s overall enjoyability, it will leave future action scenes feeling dull and slightly uncreative. Shigeru-san and Seika’s voice actors, Junichi Suwabe and Konomi Inagaki, made a strong impression, but the OST itself was forgettable. Likewise, the adventuring aspect of the show is something we’ve seen more than a hundred times. Hopefully, it kicks it up a notch later on.
Uglymug, Epicfighter began as a Shōsetsuka ni Narō web novel. The original work ran from February 2015 to October 2022. Monthly Big Gangan (Square Enix) later serialized a manga adaptation with illustrations by Osamu Kozuki, which ran from November 2017 to December 2020. They’ve also published the sequel, Busamen Gachi Fighter SSS, since December 2024. The web novel also received a light novel adaptation.
Crunchyroll is simulcasting Uglymug, Epicfighter.
©︎ Ryo Hiromatsu / Uglymug, Epicfighter Production Committee
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