What happens when a fat, unattractive male character is paired with popular seiyu Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, who voiced Kirito from SAO and Sora from No Game No Life? If you guessed that he would find a doorway into an isekai world and would get transformed into a super handsome guy, you guessed correctly! Isesaki de Cheat Skill, aka IseLevel, is a ridiculous isekai trash anime that nevertheless has me entertained, and coming back for more each episode.
The Story of IseLeve is Ridiculous
Yuuya Tenjo is an overweight high school boy who gets teased not only by his entire school but by his own family, including his evil younger sister and brother. The only respite from Yuuya’s torment is his eccentric grandfather, who traveled the world bringing back exotic items. When he died, his grandfather left his house to Yuuya. Inside the house, Yuuya discovers a doorway to an isekai world where he gets “cheat” level powers including the use of magic. Best of all, his cheat skills work in our world too!
Welcome to the world of Isekai de Cheat Skill wo Te ni Shita Ore wa, Genjitsu Sekai wo mo Musou Suru: Level Up wa Jinsei wo Kaeta, aka I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too. Before you even watch an episode, you can guess what the character will encounter:
- He’ll find he has super strong powers of combat and magic in his new world, allowing him to “level up” quickly.
- His ugliness will immediately be replaced by handsome features, as in the far inferior Fruit of Evolution.
- The hero will assemble a harem, including an elf princess with a bubbly personality.
- He’ll acquire a cute animal sidekick.
Where IseLeve breaks the mold somewhat is that Yuuya’s cheat skills work not only in his magical world, but in our world, too. So he’s able to charm an entire shopping mall full of women with his handsome looks, protect cute girls from soccer balls that are about to hit them in the head, and wrestle bears to the ground. It’s another example of the classic OP anime hero, but it’s so self-aware that I don’t even mind.
Things get even more interesting when the female lead Kaori discovers Yuuya’s secret world, and he shows how he’s been able to do so many amazing things.
Why Should You Watch IseLeve? The Waifus!
Without a doubt, one of the best reasons to watch the show is the female characters, who predictably fawn over Yuuya in almost every scene. The girls include Kaori, daughter of the director of Ousei Academy who Yuuya saved, classmate Kaede, who’s gunning for Yuuya romantically, elf princess Lexia von Areelia, horny teacher Sawada-sensei and cute assassin Luna, who becomes Lexia’s guard.
All the characters look great and were designed by popular artist Rein Kuwashima, who also did the art for the light novels. Honestly, I think I’d be compelled to watch Isekai de Cheat Skill even if I didn’t enjoy the story, solely based on the intense effort that’s gone into the character designs, as well as the beautiful animation by Millepensee. This studio brought out such fun titles as Cop Craft, I’m a Spider, So What? and, er, Berserk 2016. Let’s ignore that last one.
The anime isn’t exactly loved by My Anime List, with a score of just 6.62, placing it below Arifureta and Youjo Senki but above Isekai Meikyuu de Harem wo and Isekai Smartphone. Naturally fans of J-List have way better taste than the average MAL user, and can make up their own minds whether this show is for them or not.
Based on a Light Novel Series
Isekai de Cheat Skill is based on the fantasy light novel series by Miku. You can tell from the chaotic organization of the story, with Yuuya flipping between both worlds with some randomness, that this started out as a web novel. Compared to an anime based on a popular romance manga, there’s less structure to IseLeve, for fans who care about such things.
Thanks for reading this blog post on the Isesaki de Cheat Skill anime, which is surprisingly fun to watch, if you’re okay with a show that embraces its tropes like this. Are you watching IseLeve? Tell us in the comments below!
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