When a new anime season starts, it can be hard to choose which shows to watch, with more than 40+ new series angling for our attention. So here’s another “battle” post highlighting two new shows: Reincarnated as a Sword, and Noumin Kanren: I’ve Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills! Keep reading to see which fantasy anime you should watch!
Should You Watch Reincarnated As a Sword?
A quick glance at the MAL shows me that there are nearly 250 anime series in the isekai genre. Some of these (TenSura, Mushoku Tensei) are outstanding, while others (Isekai Meikyuu Harem, How Not to Summon a Demon Lord) might have less complex and nuanced stories but still be a lot of fun. Reincarnated as a Sword, about a man who dies and gets reincarnated as a powerful sword in a magical land, falls into the latter camp.
The story of TenKen is this: an unnamed protagonist is killed in a car accident in our world and finds himself reincarnated as a sword… because all the other good “reincarnated as a…” ideas were already taken.
Happily this is an isekai, which means our hero has been granted various cheat-level skills, including the ability to fly, kill enemies and (naturally) make detailed observations of all the new skills he’s acquiring. When he gets stuck in a mana-stealing patch of earth and is unable to move, he waits and waits for someone to pull him out. Then along comes a poor catgirl named Fran, a member of the black cat beastkin race, who is a slave. Determined to become strong and one day Evolve, Fran agrees to become the sword’s wielder and is able to win her freedom.
The anime is pure fun, similar to So I’m a Spider, So What?, although so far lacking that show’s ridiculous attention to detail when it comes to the RPG elements of the story. Sword-kun (now named Shishou, meaning Master or Teacher) will no doubt go on many fun adventures with his adorable new catgirl owner!
It’s common for Japanese creators to put established tropes in their stories without thinking about them too deeply. Like How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, The Rising of the Shield Hero and Isekai Meikyuu de Harem Wo, Reincarnated as a Sword deals with the topic of slavery, showing us the terrible abuse poor Fran-chan is subjected to before she becomes free. But unlike the above shows, which are part of the Wish-Fulfillment Slave Harem But in Another World So It’s Totally Okay light novel genre, we get a more wholesome story of Fran on her journey to be the first of her race to become strong and Evolve.
What are the best isekai genre anime series based on their MAL score? Blog post here!
We hope you give the Reincarnated as a Sword fantasy anime a try. As with all things, adjust your expectations ahead of time, and have fun!
Noumin Kanren is a Fantasy Anime About Killing Monsters and… Farming?
Now let’s take a look at Noumin Kanren no Skill bakka Agetetara Nazeka Tsuyoku Natta, or I’ve Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills. As you can tell from the impossibly long title, it’s also an anime based on a popular right novel. Were you surprised?
The story is set in a fantasy anime world that isn’t an isekai (since no one has transfers in from another world) but in which the characters can call up Sword Art Online-esque data panels showing their stats and skill levels. The hero of the fantasy anime is Al, a farmer who’s been working on increasing his farming-related skills. When the kingdom comes under attack from evil forces, Al is able to use his skills to save the day. It’s basically Bofuri but with farming jokes.
I’m often critical of some of the generic anime stories we get from light novels that started out on the Syosetsu ni Narou! (“Let’s become a novelist!”) website. While some of these series are outstanding, others are a hopeless mess with no chance of telling a high-stakes story that gets resolved to fans’ satisfaction. If given a choice, I’d rather watch anime based on the works of a veteran manga-ka like Tatsuya Endo, creator of SPY x Family, or shows by professional screenplay writers like Ichiro Okouchi, writer of Code Geass, Planetes and the new Gundam: Witch of Mercury series.
That said, I found the Noumin Kanren farming-and-adventure anime to be quite enjoyable, with a relaxing story that caught my interest. Why is Al such a strong hero despite only having only farming skills? What’s the mystery with Helen, the guild receptionist who lost her memory in a sad event 15 years ago? And most of all: how many farming-related jokes can they fit into each episode?
Thanks for reading this post on the two fantasy anime of the current season, Reincarnated as a Sword and Noumin Kanren. Which show are you going to watch? Post your comments below, or reply to us on Twitter!
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