After the death of his grandfather, 19-year-old Kazuya Souma—an aspiring civil servant—is left all alone with no one to call family. Out of the blue, he is transported to the Elfrieden Kingdom, a small ailing country in another world, to be a "hero." An ongoing war with the demon army has put the entire world in peril, and Kazuya was summoned to aid in the conflict as an offering from Elfrieden to its allies.
Dissatisfied with being used as tribute, Kazuya decides to help the kingdom revamp its declining economy—not by way of adventuring or war, but through administrative reform. Abruptly declared the King of Elfrieden and betrothed to the princess, the "Realist Hero" Kazuya sets out to assemble a group of talented citizens who will assist him in his bureaucratic battles to get the kingdom back on its feet.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
bulkyhog
Ah, isekai. What was once a promising and delightful genre has now become the punching bag of the anime community. Riddled with memes about truck-kun, harems upon harems, stupidly overpowered perfect MCs, and ridiculously long names, it’s easy to see how this genre has become one of the stalest and over-farmed genres in all of anime. But when I first read the description for Genjitsu, I was intrigued. I’ve always been a fan of realism and reform through policy, add in my economics minor which I’m studying for uni, and you’ve got me hooked on the concept of a hero saving a world through policy reform. Butat the back of my head, there was a voice warning me against setting my hopes high for this series. And as soon as the first episode concluded, I knew I was in for a trainwreck.
Genjitsu is a horrible anime, let alone an isekai, because it is predicated on never-ending, bloated dialogue and paradoxical scenarios. Not to mention the classic harem featuring all the tropes, from loli to tsundere to elves and milf-ish baddies.
Light spoilers ahead (not that you’d want to watch this series anyways).
I’ve seen better story dialogue writing from 4th-grade students. Just take a look at EP 6. A convenient mouthpiece chick shows up in the tavern, coincidentally at the same time as the MC king, and proceeds to go on one of the longest exposition dumps in the series. In general, the dialogue and exposition is just so 2-dimensional and bland, it sounds like it was procedurally generated using an algorithm instead of human hands. Don’t even get me started about the romance writing: I’ve read hentai with better writing and character development than this shit.
Genjitsu’s worldbuilding is also filled with more holes than swiss cheese. Everything we’re told just seems to contradict what we were previously told.
The entire plot of the story is centred around a supposed food shortage that drove the nation to the brink of collapse. So drastic in fact that they’re ready to sell off a hero only they can summon. Great. Except when Souma takes over, we see literally jack shit evidence of a severe food crisis. Where’s the rioting? The angry citizens? The STARVING CITIZENS? You’re trying to tell me there’s a food shortage when the overwhelming majority of the low-middle class look totally healthy. We had a whole episode dedicated to showcasing “starving people” more untraditional food options, but you’re trying to tell me people weren’t starving enough to be desperately trying to eat whatever they could get their hands on? Pathetic, and it’s a disgrace to people who have faced/are actively facing poverty, malnourishment, or famine.
What about EP 7? The new port isn’t supposed to conflict/compete with the port under the jurisdiction of the water duchess, but Souma proceeds to explain how they’ll make this port the “heart of the nation”, essentially contradicting his previous assurance to Liscia. What a joke. Also, realist doesn’t do any research into surrounding settlements or try to gain approval near the planned location which leads to this “conflict” that must be resolved. Really, this is just a masked lazy attempt at making MC seem imperfect and to apply the “plan doesn’t go according to plan” trope so his main harem girl can appreciate his “imperfect character.” Apparently, I’m also supposed to believe it costs more to mass mint medals (which are never made out of pure precious metals btw, it’s always a mix) than it does to hand out royal wine reserved for the royal family and important guests? I guess I could sell my shit and become a millionaire in this world.
The only bright spot in this anime is the relatively accurate depiction of basic micro and macroeconomic theories and laws. Outside of that, you have an anime with no inherent value whatsoever. Lacklustre plot, lacklustre characters, lacklustre writing, lacklustre animation and OST, and dog-water-ass worldbuilding. For an anime that’s trying to differentiate itself on being realistic, it sure fell sorely short of the piss-poor standards it set out for itself.
If you’re looking to downgrade your IQ and waste your time, go ahead and crank this show on. Otherwise, you’d do best to stay the fuck away.
HellLyter
I need a herooooo!!! I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the ni, ight~! He's gotta be a chick magnet And he's gotta have no personality And he's gotta be...a realist!?!? Realist Hero might seem like it's not worth your time on the surface. The premise certainly sounds familiar. Man gets transported to a fantasy world and is tasked with helping it out with his knowledge and/or power. He meets many impressionable young girls along the way, including a knight and an animal girl loli, and they all fall for him for inexplicable reasons. If this storyline sounds bland and soulless to you, thenthat's because you've seen this anime before in the form of Death March, Isekai wa Smartphone, and a plethora of others. But wait! This anime does one thing so different, so original, that it completely flips the script.
The hero is a realist.
"Pray tell, what does this mean?" Your curious mind might be wondering. Why, this essentially means that the protagonist understands basic concepts on how to manage a territory and its resources and spends entire episodes explaining these things to the stupid cast who are in awe of his intelligence because they apparently know absolutely nothing. Some even pledge their lives to him when he simply tells them rudimentary practices. And that is the entire show. Wow, how exciting! This dude is certainly flipping the switch on stereotypical hero roles!! I love watching characters stand completely still and talk about farming for 20 minutes!!!
The characters are all very memorable, they range from fat guy to girl with big boobs. The female lead dresses in a military outfit and wears her hair in a ponytail, which shows that she's a strong, independent woman. She still falls for the hero though and becomes completely dependent on him after 10 minutes because his penmanship technique is sooooo irresistible. Oh, and all of these characters have an aptitude, that one skill that makes them truly special. And when I learned about how weird and seemingly worthless their talents are when it comes to bettering a nation, my expectations were certainly subverted! Wow, stuff like this almost makes me forget about the substandard production values!
Through watching, I discovered something truly eye opening. The two leads are voiced by Inori Minase and Kobayashi Yuusuke, who are the seiyuu for Rem and Subaru from Re:Zero. This has led me to conclude that the casting director is a RemXSubaru shipper. This is clearly the most important piece of information that has come out of The Realist Hero. And now that I've told you, you don't have to bother watching it!
KANLen09
Y'know, I really wanted to believe that this show had at least a calibre of doing things "same same but different". But as it stands, Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki (or its short form "Realist Hero" I'll be referring to from now on) just sorta went downhill as the series progresses for me. Maybe you'd like it, but personally I have watched shows that have similar settings, but just executed a lot more better a.k.a Log Horizon. And also, while I appreciate that there's a variety of Isekai in the Summer season, there's hits and misses, and this sadly falls under the latter. To befair, what novelist Dojyomaru has on hand is quite the interesting story plot about an Isekai where politics and power play come into mind: it's basically Kingdom Administration (or more appropraitely Re:Construction). A story about an Otherworlder (Kazuya Souma) who got Isekai-ed to not just play the role of the hero, but instead, to be the next king in a kingdom where it's falling apart at the seams against all odds of threats coming both left and right. It's not just the usual typical trope of the Demon Lord's army's uprising, but also internal problems that leaves a kingdom incapable of supporting itself. With some words of wisdom from Kazuya's grandmother that "A man needs to make a family and never fail to protect it no matter what.", he is summoned into the fantasy world as a hero first to help solve a crisis. But here's the twist: the humanities student Kazuya's no OP character, but he has his knowledge of realism and machiavellianism at his disposal to make whatever calls he desires as the roles are consequently handed down to him to help a kingdom come out of its deadly course, from a hero to a realist king. It's very similar to Civilization if you've played the game before.
This series starts out really slow and boring, because that's where the magic happens for Kazuya's crusade to save the Kingdom of Elfrieden that equals constant development over the course of its run. Nevertheless, even if Kazuya's new at the job of being king, he has to constantly decree numerous amout of reforms, conduct negotiations and do everything a king is supposed to do to win the war against the demons and other kingdoms that could wipe a developing kingdom. In order to understand this series generally, it hinges on these words: "Slow but interesting". As far as I understand the pacing of the anime, as compared to the light novel of the same name, it can drag on for episodes with the rhetoric that to "wait until something happens". And while that may be the series Achilles' Heel, it's also the backbone of how some people would come to enjoy the series for what it is: consistency, that plays a major part of how Realist Hero is written to be that slow-burner, easily droppable, but fascinating work if you can stick it out "for just one more chapter" (that sadly, people don't have big brains to understand that it also is a creative concept of some authors who don't like to infodump all at one shot).
The world-building of Realist Hero does not only kick its legs at the intended story plot, it has to include characters that drive its narrative together with Kazuya's realism mentality of kingdom administrative reforms. I have to say that the Elfrieden Council of advisories to the current king are quite the livid frustration, because kingdoms in the past ages can be a lot authoritarian with its leadership and regime, and in this case, they are the last ones that could help save the kingdom of what's left. But to summon a hero-turned-king such as Kazuya to solve their issues, it's a huge demand on his shoulders to pounce on all that at once, and him using his avaliable powers and resources to save that which is and could be lost is truly a godsend.
There is also the traditional tropey Isekai formula of the harem to help Kazuya, and in this case, a mixed bag of execution of some good and some bad. Kicking things off with the Elfrieden crown princess Liscia, she is the one who stood by Kazuya's side the most ever since the position takeover, and is quite the amusing character to see. I mean, sure, getting forcefully engaged with Kazuya is not necessarily the right move from a family such as her's. It really looks like her royal family just gave up all hope and passed the baton onto Kazuya, which her father King Albert just approves and abdicates the throne to him, making Liscia the next queen in the process to this unequivocal guy who is both IQ and EQ smart to handle. This forces Liscia to a corner, but what choices does she have than to go with her hopeless father's wishes. Eventually, her relationship blossoms with Kazuya becoming the typical boy-girl relationship, but on a much higher pedestal being king and queen of Elfrieden. And for those who like your waifus, Liscia can bear a polyamory relationship, so that's a first if I've ever heard of someone who can accept being a concubine, but of course adamantly wanting to be 1st place (like any other true wife),
Alas, there are just too many characters in this show that while each of them makes useful contributions to Kazuya's kingdom reforms, this move is generally good for such a fantasy world of historical origins. But I'd feel like that the adage of "too many cooks spoil the broth" is prevalent, and this is a series that awfully needs that lot in order for the story and plot to work. As mentioned of the harem, there're some potential waifus that make up the bulk of Kazuya's ministerial team (Aisha Udgard who acts as Kazuya's bodyguard, Juna Doma who acts as Kazuya's peace-time minister-cum-idol symbol to name a few) plus some men (Hakuya Kwonmin as Kazuya's strategist; Poncho Panacotta as Kazuya's literate "Shokugeki no Souma", it's in the name), it's equivocally hard to get invested in most characters if they're just serving their purposes, and regrettably the anime does that a lot which results in loss of focus. It's a shame, really.
Also, J.C.Staff, I should give you a new nickname: from "Justifying Creative Staff" to "Just Crap Stuff", because Realist Hero does feel decently produced. But it's clear where the budget is centrally focused at: the wonky 3DCG camerawork, which I don't know if going by in-house veteran director Takashi Watanabe's direction to include that does make the anime at the very least interesting to give a perspective. If all this was just an experiment for a guinea pig test of sorts, then I'm not sorry to say that it is weird to see such disparity in the face of inconsistency against the backdrops of the half-assed visuals and bad animation. This guy has done a lot of classic J.C.Staff shows from the mid-2000s, but as well as I want to trust that this director knows what he's doing, this just contributes to the miniscule side of failures.
I've always said this: even if the anime fails outright, the music aspect can be its saving grace. Dolorously, this aspect is worse than so-so. I've heard a lot of songs from Inori Minase over the years, and the OP "Hello Horizon" is a good ol' catchy song, but compared to her repertoires before, this can be placed into the bottom of a B-roll double-sided CD. What I find absolutely offending is the ED song and its visuals, which can be very comparable to a PowerPoint presentation, just add some animation of its lyrics in there to complete the song. Just pure laziness. What the hell?
All of this begs the question: "Why then contribute your work to a show where there's clearly no passion be to shown?" Realist Hero overall, can be a better show if given the right talents and a production staff team who are truly dedicated to the work. But as it stands of the current state of the anime industry, it's just rolls over to us the audience to pick up the original source material, because it's a promotional work first and foremost. We've seen big-hit works get phenomenal because of the anime doing justice to the source material (e.g. the most recent being Tokyo Revengers), but this just saddens LN fans (like a certain Typecero) and anime-onlies who wanted more from a political Isekai show such as Realist Hero.
This show could've been a decent potential series, but the anime just squandered it to insensibility and pure stupefaction. Good thing Season 2 is coming in Winter 2022, so at least the story has a continuation to cure that disease-ridden mindset.
Stark700
Quality trumps quantity and I'm sure most of us prefer to watch an anime that is enjoyable than something with tons of never ending episodes or seasons. In the anime industry today, we have countless isekai that adapts all sort of tropes. It's become so common that once you've seen a few, it felt like you've seen them all. What does that say about How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom? For starters, we have to understand that the show is somewhat atypical with its storytelling standards, at least for an isekai. Rather than presenting a plot with a hero trying to save the world orgoing on some fantasy adventure, he's trying to save a kingdom by rebuilding it. Think of the series as a kingdom management game where the protagonist is the player and controls assets, resources, and followers. When watching the show, it became obvious that our protagonist has a lot to learn to deal with the civil unrest and rebuilding of a kingdom. Meet Kazuya Souma, the man whose life changes forever after being transported to Kingdom of Elfrieden and becomes its ruler.
At first glance, Kazuya doesn't come across as an unique individual. He looks like an average man but with a passionate personality and realist point of view. As a realist hero, he is also human and that means he makes mistakes. Being a ruler is no easy task and he learns the hard way when dealing with his followers. At the same time, he's an eager learner and always seeks solutions to problems. Luckily, he's not alone. Kazuya is aided by a diverse group of foreigners with different backgrounds and skills. These include the crown princess Lisica, songstress Juna Doma, dark elf chief Aisha, among others. What's important to understand is not how Kazuya treats them but how he develops relationships and use them to build his kingdom. And trust me, it's a complicated journey.
Describing the character roster feels like trying being in an RPG game where each party member is an important asset. Perhaps the most prominent one is Lisicia, a strong willed girl but also somewhat inexperienced in her role. With Kazuya's guidance, she learns the way of the kingdom and supports him during his travels. From politics to military experience, Lisicia's character has a lot of potential and this season explores some of those aspects. Juna Doma represents the mature character of the show as she demonstrates virtue and elegance. She's also fairly intelligent, wise, and loyal to Kazuya, which are all traits imperative for her role. In contrast, there's the dark elf Aisha who serves more as a muscle. While she can be airheaded, Aisha is also very couragous and isn't afraid to fight for what she believes in, regardless how challenging it can be. To me, that represents the heart of the Kazuya's group for she is able to stand strong when a situation gets rough. Finally, we have Roroa and perhaps the odd one from the main character roster. Honestly, she stands out less compare to the others but is known to be cleverly manipulative at times. We don't see her often until the latter stages of the series, when she put her plans to motion.
As a fantasy drama that combines military politics, management, relationship building, and character studies, it's not easy to flesh out the anime in just 13 episodes. Luckily, the anime itself knows what it needed to do to establish its main premise from the beginning. By throwing an ordinary guy like Kazuya in a fantasy setting, it tests his intelligence, integrity, and ultimately, showing us what type of ruler he can really be. When king Albert and prime minister Marx took the risk to assign Kazuya as a kingdom ruler, they made a calculated choice. To further more, he is offered by Albert to marry his daughter, Lisicia. Yes, you can bet that will set off some red flags as the romance element of the show can feel forced at times. Kazuya's humbleness and determination also draws other female characters to him such as Aisha. However, don't expect this any sort of Cinderella-like romance. This anime isn't a love story.
Despite the limited amount of action, we do see combat at times when the call needs for it. One of the most prominent threat to the Kingdom of Elfrieden is Castor, as he presents to be a military challenge during the civil war. Gaius also proves to be a troubling individual to deal with especially when he declares to kill Kazuya. it isn't until Kazuya's clever thinking as a ruler that he stops the invasion and ultimately comes up with a compromise to save the kingdom. The war drama and battles often feels like old school fantasy mixed with magic and technology. Remember, this show takes place in a world where science is absent and Kazuya realized this from the beginning. It's just up to him to make use of his skills and be the voice for the voiceless.
Adapted by studio J.C. Staff, they handled this show with care and tried to adapt the characters as they should be. The word here is 'tried' because at some occasions, it doesn't hit the bullesye. Characters such as Juna looks less appealing compared to their light novel or manga counterparts. Kazuya himself may be hard to accept as a king due to his average looks. Still, the anime maintains a fantasy level of credibility. It looks like a world built on the Unreal Engine with an acceptable level of technical quality. Still, if I was being honest, I'd say the show could've improved more in the art department.
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom is the type of anime that crafted a premise with kingdom management and building around a protagonist with his followers. It's a show that encompasses military drama, political topics, and character relationships. With 13 episodes, it did manage to capture the essence of the show. It's far from a masterpiece but stands above the endless amount of isekai shenanigans we see every season.
Shingster
Please be advised that while care has been taken to minimize story related spoilers that there might be spoolers within character analysis. You have been warned. Rebuilding a kingdom not through might but through words, change and diplomacy Based on a popular light novel series of the same name Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki which is more popularly known among both anime watchers and readers of the light novel as How a Realist Hero rebuilt the kingdom is an action, fantasy and romance genre anime that gives us the unique opportunity to see what will happen if one day Kazuya Souma a 19-year-old collegestudent is suddenly transported to another world after the death of his most cherished grandfather. However, what if instead of being summoned and granted the combat ability of a battlemaster or the power to use supernatural powers that allows users to use the knowledge that they accumulated in previous lives to enact plans of action that our hero was one that while having neither instead possessed an extensive amount of knowledge on economics and governance and most importantly a desire to rebuild a country from the ground up. In this we have our hero Kazuma Souma who while lacking brawn and powerful magic that characterizes the Isekai genre is one that’s every bit as equal in his ability to use his knowledge to not only change the country but the world as well.
On the surface, while the series itself has much of the trappings of the Isekai genre what served to differentiate it in my view was the fact that much of the plans and reforms that he enacts over the course of the series overall narrative is a result of not unmatched combat ability nor mysterious magic that transcends even death as other Isekai shows featured but rather simple replication and application of modern-day economic and governance practices that allowed him to readily reignite the embers of a declining nation and rebuild it into something that its people are content with living in. This combination of a desire to rebuild a nation from the ground up with modern-day techniques when used in combination with Souma’s innate intelligence, charm and ability at foresight I felt really served to make the show stand out from among its peers within the genre as these served to make the series narrative and premise that much more interesting and unpredictable and serving well to draw me to this series. The series opening episode I felt while doing a great job of introducing the main character of Kazuya Souma also did well to showcase not only the dire straits the world and the kingdom of Elfriden kingdom is in thanks to the demon lord’s domain but also the daunting task of governing it as its newly crowned king after being given the role.
Kazuya Souma
Kazuya Souma portrayed by veteran voice actor Yusuke Kobayashi of Re Zero and Our Last crusade or the Rise of a new world fame is one of the main characters of the series and is the main protagonist of the series. A 19-year-old student that lived in modern-day Japan prior to his summon to the kingdom of Elfriden and appointed as its new king Kazuya from his initial appearances was shown to be a quiet, calm and composed person by nature that while intelligent and well versed in a wide variety of topics was also someone that was capable of not only analyzing its teachings but also applying it in practice as well as shown in the many reforms that he had enacted after taking charge. While a kind and understanding person by nature Kazuya was also a realist and shown to be particularly adept at determining the hearts and personalities of men both in terms of his kingdoms social classes as well as his own people aspects that served to not only allow him to determine the priorities for rebuilding the kingdom but also determine the best ways in which he can win the trust of the people a combination that I felt served to not only establish himself not only as a new king but one that while readily admitting his own inexperience as a ruler was someone that cared little about either tradition, social classes or races and was someone whose first priority was in improving the quality of life for its people by modernizing both its infrastructure and economy even if it meant placing himself in opposition to powerful nobles and ever-ambitious foreigners who would love nothing more than to seize control of a kingdom that has a rookie king at its helm. On the surface, while setting himself to face not only the task of rebuilding and modernizing his country but also planning to unite it against any foreign invasion may sound like one that will be impossible for one man to achieve I believed that the twin tasks served as an excellent means to create the foundation to which Kazuya can use to stand upon as he sets about improving the country’s tech level and allow his people to live safely and in relative comfort.
As the series progresses and Kazuya’s efforts to modernize the country are complicated by opposition from not only the nobles but also natural disasters and foreign interventions from opportunistic rivals Kazuya’s personality slowly begins to change as he is forced to adapt to an ever-changing world that is found in no book he’s read. While Kazuya was someone that was kind and honest by nature and was someone that possessed guile and intelligence in equal measure he was not someone that believed that his view should be expressed via forceful means unlike his erstwhile neighbor's in the principality of Amidonia preferring instead to be open with his people and listening to their concerns and discerning measures that can be used to help them overcome both their short term problems but also address it in the long term as well an act that is best shown in him trading their national treasures to repay their debt to the empire and the televised address to the people where he set about outlining his plans and asking for any who think that their innate skills may be useful to join him. This sense of openness for a newly crowned king while doing well in showing his humility and determination to change matters also showed well to the people that young as he is perhaps Kazuya was someone that they can finally place their whole trust in after years of having an ineffective king at the helm. In my eyes this speech while serving as an excellent means to introduce himself to the people also showed well Kazuya’s skill at foresight as he had correctly predicted that while his plans will go a long way in improving the kingdom he cannot do so without the willing support of his people and only with their blessing would he be able to change their lives an aspect that I really admired about him.
While the business of running a country even with a staff of handpicked retainers was certainly a daunting task that involved making some heavy decisions both domestically and internationally Kazuya nonetheless was someone that had a more empathic side to him and while not shown often was quite capable of expressing strong feelings openly as shown in the sense of regret, devastation and sadness that he expressed on seeing the impact of the landslide on the dark elves village a side of him that I felt made him more human and relatable as few rulers would spare thoughts for such minor events. While the negative feelings expressed above showcased well his desire to protect the people from all manner of threats Kazuya was also someone that had a surprisingly fun sense of humor within him that he used to excellent effect both to inform the people of new developments but also in showcasing his own creations as shown in the cooking program in ep4 a development that while doing well in creating new food items also showed to them that their king wasn’t afraid of getting his hands dirty when it came to solving the food shortages aspects that were complemented greatly by Kazuya’s friendly, easy-going and optimistic nature. While the event itself was certainly one that had a functional goal in mind, I felt that they also served to allow the characters to have some fun, unwind and bring some welcome comedy to both them and us something that I felt was accomplished quite readily.
Overall, as a character Kazuya Souma I felt was an excellent one that while possessing neither skill with blade or magic was one that was able to take to the new role of being king easily via both the recruitment of skilled subordinates as well as his own innate intelligence, knowledge and cunning that allowed him to not only overcome fearsome odds with not brawn but rather with words, ideas, plans and budgets that showed the world that one does not need to be a despot to make their country strong. One that rules with a firm but gentle hand that takes and considers the advice of his most trusted subordinates while always thinking of the people can also create a country that’s strong and united. His development from freshly summoned hero to king I felt while making effective usage of his intelligence and ability to adapt to given situations quickly also in my opinion served to streamline the overall narrative which within the genre often gets itself slowed due to the need for the mc to realize this is a new world whereas in this case Kazuya simply took it in stride and dealt with one thing at a time. After his lengthy stint as Subaru in Re Zero it's nice to see Yusuke Kobayashi portray a character that while similar to Subaru was someone that can be said to be the total opposite of him in both temperament, maturity and ability to think long term.
Liscia
Liscia Elfriden portrayed by veteran seiyuu singer Inori Minase of Re Zero and A Place Further than the universe fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the primary heroines within the series. The sole daughter of the former king and queen of Elfriden and its former princess Liscia from her initial appearances was shown to be a confident, kind and honest person by nature that nonetheless also possessed a surprisingly fiery and haughty side to her that I felt complimented her character well. As a former member of the kingdom’s royalty Liscia was someone that while polite and courteous was one that trusted others warily and as a result of her fiery nature tended to misunderstand situations and the intents of others as shown in her first encounters with Kazuya who she viewed as a cheater or fraud that had usurped her father’s role.
However, beneath the surface, Liscia can be seen to be someone that while wary of outsiders and those that haven’t proved themselves to her was one that appreciated hard work and results that have been earned from it and was shown to be very loyal towards those that have earned her trust. While Liscia at the beginning of the series was shown to be somewhat of an idealist that believed perhaps too strongly in the belief that age-old traditions should be maintained, when possible, she was someone that was shown to be rather adaptable with her thinking when sufficient facts are shown to her. Though Liscia’s fiery and stubborn nature can often make people think that she’s a difficult person to interact with Liscia beneath her base nature was actually someone that was honest and caring by nature and was quite capable of reflecting upon her judgement and apologizing when needed a fact that I felt really served to complement her character’s desire to find the best way possible to rebuild her country by allying with Kazuya a person though she suspected as a fraud at first soon become the shining beacon that they needed to help her beloved home.
As a character Liscia I felt was an interesting character that was designed and developed relatively well as the series progressed. While Liscia’s first encounter with Kazuya was not the most pleasant experience for either of them Liscia’s innate qualities of being a stubborn and fiery yet intelligent and rational person over the course of the series served to establish her as not a princess but a dear friend and confidant for Kazuya that was always on hand to give him not only practical advice on the world but also emotional and combat support when needed. While her knowledge of how an economy works and how these will affect the kingdom’s people is not as refined as those of Kazuya her ability to self-reflect and expand upon ideas that have been proposed allowed her to not only keep in sync with Kazuya relatively easily but also served to keep him grounded as a person a relationship that I felt served to remind us that while being a king is a hard role it will be even harder if you did not have someone that you can be frank with in both your feelings and your plans to rebuild the land a role that Liscia managed to fulfil excellently.
AMV
Animation wise I felt that the animation used within the series was not only clear and detailed but also made great use of colour and environmental variety within its settings. Character design-wise while the series featured your standard variety of humans and elves or in this case the dark elves it also featured some interesting races that were unique to the series such as the Lion Beastman, Sea Serpent, Dragonnewt and Mystic wolves all of which featured designs that I felt while making them all unique in terms of race qualities also served to expand upon the lore of the kingdom as well with each of their traits serving to enhance each of the respective military branches and giving each a unique capability when their service is required as was demonstrated by the air force during their relief of the forbidden army . While the number of locations that the cast visit throughout the series wasn’t especially large by any means the ones that were featured I felt served to showcase well not only the reason for Kazuya’s reforms but also showcase the kind of division that existed within the kingdom even before his arrival and appointment as king as shown in the abundant cotton fields who are unable to sell because of supply exceeding demand, the tired and hungry civilians across the land who aren’t getting supplies due to inadequate road networks and lastly the decentralized military whose cities and domains while impressive in scale did nothing to help the kingdoms people and whose independence while itself initially a safety measure ended up causing issues with chain of command when their strength was needed the most. While the locations shown were indeed few the impact that they had allowing us to see how dire things were within the kingdom were certainly more than enough.
Music-wise the series made use of one opening and ending theme which was Hello Horizon that was performed by Liscia’s seiyuu veteran seiyuu singer Inori Minase and Kazanear that was performed by Aimi who portrayed the character of Carla. Both of these songs while excellent ones served to represent different emotions and feelings when used in conjunction with their accompanying visuals with the former being able to inject a level of tension within it as it introduced not only how divided the continent of Landia was but also how tough of a job Kazuya and his trusted allies have as they set about rebuilding Elfrieden when faced against the might of hostile nations and ambitious warriors and dukes that are determined to take advantage of the new reality being presented to them. On the other hand, the ending theme can be said to have the opposite effect in that it conveyed the feelings of hope, determination and a desire to forge a new path and future for your people by implementing change without compromising one’s own values and morals a contrast that I felt complimented both the series central theme and the feelings conveyed by the opening.
In terms of voice acting, I felt that overall, the series main voice cast all did an excellent job at portraying their assigned characters whether they were main or support ones. In particular, I felt that Yuusuke Kobayashi and Inori Minase who portrayed the main leads did an excellent job at portraying the characters of Kazuya Souma and Liscia Elfriden whose character chemistry really served to make them a delight to see on screen. Backing them up were a host of talented seiyuu’s who did well both to support them in their endeavors or frustrating them as their opponents with notable ones being Ikumi Hasegawa whose portrayal of the powerful but surprisingly gluttonous dark elf Aisha was as inspiring as it was amusing, Reina Ueda whose portrayal of the beautiful and graceful angel Juna was as elegant as it was awe-inspiring on account of her ability to combine her singing talent with mc and her duties as an advisor and lastly the trinity of dukes of Excel Walter, Castor Vargas and Georg Carmine who were portrayed by veteran seiyuu’s Yui Horie, Jun Fukuyama and Taiten Kusonoki who managed to convey into their characters a level of maturity, stubbornness and a desire to test Kazuya Souma’s mettle of king that served to make them formidable obstacles for him in the first days of the rebuilding and really make him pull out all the stops needed to overcome them.
Overall conclusion
In overall I felt that How a Realist Hero rebuilt The kingdom was an excellent anime that had among its main strengths an interesting premise, narrative, excellent characters that were both well designed and developed, stellar voice acting and creative problems that had to be addressed by the cast all of which served to introduce a welcome change to the Isekai genre by creating a tale in which the hero solves problems via intelligence, knowledge, words and creativity rather than with swords or magic a change that I felt served as an additional reason for this series popularity.
While the Isekai genre despite being one that has been in existence for just over 2 decades continues to move from strength to strength its focus in providing narratives that are easily relatable to its intended audience of teenagers have in my opinion started to make animes of this genre somewhat predictable in its ideas. However, in the case of Realist the series while having the standard trappings of the genre represented something of a unique case due to the fact that Kazuya did not take up the role of a combatant as most series of the genre would have but rather take up the role of an administrator or in Kazuya’s mind a caretaker king who would take up management of the kingdom of Elfrieden until a new and worthy king arrives to take over. Although Kazuya Souma was quite capable of taking upon the blade and becoming a warrior as many Isekai before it had done so with their mc’s the narratives decision to place him as a king who fought with words, plans and knowledge I felt really served to differentiate him while also allowing the usage of his impressive knowledge on economics and governance to full effect. While the series itself is indeed a relatively slow-paced series on account of its reliance on diplomacy and problem solving I felt that this resonated well with the overall goal of rebuilding the kingdom from the ground up that served to allow us a unique insight into the kind of goals and milestones that are necessary for the management of a kingdom that ranges from practical issues such as addressing food shortages, infrastructure, optimal crop placement and talent recruitment to more sensitive issues like liaising with the different races and social classes within the kingdom to inspire loyalty and unity against threats both internal and external. Though the reforms extensive as they were are not revolutionary by modern standards their implementation when combined with Kazuya’s skill at innovation proved to be both entertaining and a valuable lesson to learn as well a fact that was bolstered by the excellent usage of Kazuya’s skill at breaking apart complex knowledge into easily understood info that can be easily understood.
Overall, how a Realist rebuilt the kingdom was an excellent anime that provided a fine balance of entertainment, tension, comedy, heartfelt bonding moments and a level of unpredictability in the form of Kazuya Souma’s reform plans that left me eagerly waiting to see each episode as a new week began. While there were admittedly characters that I felt were underused within the narrative that I wished could have seen more expansion overall the series’ adaptation from its source material I felt was a resounding success. Anime’s that require the cast to actually think and consider all angles of a problem are a rarity these days and I for one would like to see more of these types of animes over ones where violence and OP superpowers have become the norm. As a final score, I would say that it easily deserves a 9/10.
Rakdos72
I made a bet with a friend that I would watch one season of an isekai, and I happened to choose the most flavorless one. "Realist Hero" has got to be the isekai of all time. The main hero is such a self-insert that at times the show plays like an Adam Sandler flick. The show meets so many stereotypes of the genre, it practically feels AI-generated. Let's go through the list: Overpowered MC? Check. Contrived harem plot? Check. Terrible exposition and lore dumping? Check. Emotionless dialogue and tone-deaf voice delivery? Check. Soft magic system that empowers the characters when needed? Check. Demon lord? Check. The gimmick of this show is,the main character has the power of basic social studies knowledge, so instead of action sequences and dramatic battles, we get extremely boring dialogue about farming and resource management. But somehow, every single female character is in love with the MC by the end of the first season. "Male power fantasy" doesn't even begin to describe how Realist Hero is written. Kazuya Souma, the "hero" makes zero mistakes throughout the first season, since everyone in the world he was isekai'd to is worse at understanding basic management than a late Roman emperor. I put "hero" in quotation marks since an actual hero has character flaws and undergoes a defining arc in the form of the hero's journey. But Kazuya spends his entire time on screen being perfect, making his character impossible to become invested in.
I have nothing else to say about Realist Hero. It sucks. It doesn't even fit the bill of "so bad, it's good," because at least those shows aren't boring, just bad. Nothing about Realist Hero deviates from a tone-deaf wish fulfillment fantasy.
3/10.
ElAyVee
A good idea, a poor execution. Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki is plagued by poor pacing. For those who don't know, pacing is one of the most important things in this medium. When adapting a series or movie, be it live or animated you are going to have to cut stuff out or adapt the plot, it's one of the hardest things to do and some fans of the original source will be unhappy no matter what, I haven't read the source material but it's clear to me that the choices made of what to cut are... debatable at least. There is romance, I am fine with it,it's integral part of the story and enhances the plot, or at least it should, it doesn't, it steals screen time from the main plot, the issue with the series is that too much time is given to the building of these relations, with the main plot dragging on because more than half of the episode is given to the romance, if at least that plot went forward it would be more forgivable, but it doesn't, a good chunk of that subplot is skippable, where nothing noteworthy happens.
So now we come to the main story, as I already said it moves slowly, the plot itself and idea behind it is fascinating and has real potential, which makes it even the more tragic for me. The protagonist is put on charge of a nation plagues by issues and threats, our hero must lead the nation out of this sinkhole. The plot revolves around political decisions and reforms and the fallout of those decisions, again great premise, but since the subpar romance takes the lead in the series we don't see much of it, instead of being shown the progress made by the protagonist we are often told it happened off-screen and we don't hear anything from those particular issues anymore, they are dealt with, the end. This is, again, thanks to the fact that the building of romance and friendship took the lead, thus important stuff is skipped, so we can have an episode dedicated to our MC day off.
We also see very little in the way of international politics and relations, only at the end of the season we see a little, and the season ends before we can really see anything getting done due to the pacing.
While I really enjoy the idea of the anime and would love to see how the MAIN plot progresses I don't think I would waste my time watching a second season after a first one that went nowhere.
At the end of the day I give the story a 4, great potential in the main plot, forgettable romance subplot and bad pacing. Due to the wasted potential tho, I find it even more frustrating, enjoyment is thus, only a 3.
Characters: Better than average, they aren't completely stupid, like in most anime, they have flaws but are intelligent, capable of making not asinine decisions, which is refreshing and doesn't break my sense of immersion like most anime, at the same they aren't anything to write home about, I haven't found anything particularly unique or outstanding about them, may be because they spend more time talking about food and praising the MC rather than doing anything noteworthy, very little development in anything but the romance. Again above average, I give it a 7.
Art: 5
Sound: 6
Both average and forgettable.
Overall 5: Wasted opportunity, boring.
MetaAmbience
This is an anime that promises one thing then delivers another. Don't be fooled by the nation-builder premise; it's quickly evident after 3 or 4 episodes that this anime is mostly fantasy slice of life, and aside from a brief 2-episode story arc it stays this way throughout the whole series. That combined with an incredible amount of talking head scenes left me incredibly disappointed. ---- The overarching plot is fine, and follows the premise of a man transported into a fantasy world and using his earth knowledge to help improve the kingdom. However this really only happens in the background. He declares that he will doone thing, and then the anime shows some filler scenes of people scribbling on sheets with pens and such, then two episodes later we all find out it worked to perfection. What happens in the middle? Things like putting on a cooking show, going out on a date, taking acquired fox-daughter shopping, and going on a dungeon raid in a body double are actual things that happen in this anime and take the majority of some episodes, often spanning multiple episodes. Sometimes they are plot related or lead into plot, but they last for so long and drag on so slowly that when the plot goes back on course it's jarring. There's a nice arc of two-to-three episodes towards the end that actually sticks with the premise throughout the entire arc, which is refreshing, but this is the exception, not the norm.
Art is lackluster. It's pretty evident this is low budget. Not only that but the vast majority of this anime is talking heads in front of bland backgrounds so it is very visually dull. The few action scenes were okay but in line with what you'd expect from a low budget adaptation. Sound is fine; the voice acting is actually pretty good but the music is reused repeatedly and gets old. You don't notice much else in the sound department because of (again) most of this anime being talking head pieces.
A big irritation that quickly developed for me is that the main character is incredibly dull looking. The outfit he comes in - blue slacks, a white button down shirt, an open blue sweater - is the one that he wears in *the entire series*. This guy is a king and he literally sits in a throne talking to subjects like he just came out of a sale at Target. What's disappointing is that you see him wearing a slick military style fantasy outfit in the thumbnail but he only wears that in like one episode then quickly returns to his thrift store outfit. That combined with a head that could be literally any isekai protagonist combines to make something very uninspired and boring, and frankly something that does not belong in a fantasy world.
Other characters are actually pretty visually interesting and varied in their designs in contrast to the main. Each character has their own color palette, their voice actors nail their roles, and they fit great with their setting. However character growth is not a thing in this anime, and what characters we get are pretty one dimensional.
Did I enjoy this? Eh? I don't know. This show doesn't leave you with any lasting impact, but it's a nice time filler I suppose. That leads into my massive disappointment though, because I expected more out of a plot which was actually consistent and interesting but really only takes up about 20% of the airtime. If you come into this anime with the same expectations I had, for a nation builder with an isekai hook, you will be frustrated with this plot's potential. Adjust your expectations carefully before watching this.
AnimeEnjoyer420
Realist Hero primarily sets itself apart from the unwashed isekai masses by focusing on international diplomacy and politics over adventuring and slaying demon lords. Does it work at making the series comparatively interesting? Well, it's complicated. On the one hand, there is an undeniable novelty to treating statecraft as more than an afterthought in a fantasy series like this. It's a largely untapped vein of storytelling that only Tensura has really explored in a satisfying way to this point. The plot moves along nicely rather than being mired in generic dungeon adventuring, and the focus of the story necessitates a more built-out and interesting setting thanyou get from almost any other isekai.
The downside though, is that if you're going to make a series about diplomacy, you need to actually know something about diplomacy, and it's apparent that the original writer doesn't. Instead, it's clear that he thumbed through a copy of The Prince to reference a few quotes and called it a day. What he calls "realism" is actually just politics, not the Realist philosophy of international relations. Souma, the "Realist Hero" of the title, is not a Realist but an idealist who believes in keeping everyone safe and minimizing casualties as an end unto itself, an emphatically non-Realist idea. I realize this seems like nitpicking, but when the selling point of the series is its comparatively serious treatment of politics and diplomacy, it matters that the writer is flubbing all of the references to political philosophy. The use of Realist in the title and the constant references to Machiavelli would probably prime you to believe this is a brutal series where an amoral protagonist has to make a lot of hard choices, but in fact he's not like that at all and almost never encounters serious problems or resistance. One of the worst things about the writing is that when you get right down to it, it's just a different flavor of isekai power fantasy about a guy that has everything go his way while he amasses a large roster of girlfriends.
More than the writing though, the key problem with Realist Hero is the production by JC Staff. Watching isekai anime generally comes with the implicit promise of bad animation, but this is on a different level. Characters are off model far more than they're on, and not in a charming way. The simplest cuts of animation melt like a chocolate bar in the desert. The few action scenes in the series are simply not animated at all and are presented PowerPoint-style instead. The CGI and digital backgrounds look like puke and the compositing is incompetent at the most basic levels, like not lining up people's feet correctly with the surface they're walking on. It almost feels insulting to watch, that they thought this was an acceptable final product to put out into the world.
Overall, I do think this is better than most isekai anime, but I can't fully recommend it. The plot has a certain propulsiveness that makes it pretty binge-able, and the political gimmick makes it feel comparatively fresh and distinct in an ever-more-formulaic genre, even when it indulges too much in those formulas itself. On the other hand, the treatment of politics and diplomacy is pretty shallow and uninformed, which makes it maddening if you're actually passionate about those topics. The dreadful standard of animation tips it into "don't recommend" territory for me, but you may feel more positively about it if that doesn't matter as much to you
aurora_aeterna
tl;dr makes for a great soporific The first two episodes had me hooked. The premise is unique or at the very least specific; while other isekai have economic reforms or geopolitical maneuvering, Genkoku presents itself as focusing specifically on that aspect, with a main character that presumably has no physical talents. As the show goes on though, its faults become evident. Firstly, the supposed administrative reforms are rather hollow. What little is actually done strikes the viewer as common sense, and it's never properly explained how Souma manages to round up and punish corrupt officials. The feeling you get is that someone took Civics 101 and decidedto write about it but never considered the full implications and results of reforms and political positioning. It's as if the creator learned the Sicilian Defense and tried to write a show about chess grandmasters.
Additionally, the show spreads itself too thin. The main plot about reorganizing the country and the subplots of each duchy are rather rushed and not well fleshed-out. After a while the "reforms" start playing second fiddle to what can only be described as a food expo, where new foods are introduced to the people which certainly can be effective in curbing a famine but took up too much screentime in the show. Last but not least there's just too much harem+clueless MC in this show for my liking, especially when the MC is supposed to be a very perceptive civil genius.
So yeah. Started out hot, ended up not. Would not recommend.
IsekaiAficionado
TLDR amazing show if you're into Macroeconomics and City management otherwise eh There's a subgenre of Isekai that's popped up recently called kingdom building, stuff like slime isekai and Dr Stone. and i love the shit out of it since i love seeing the march of progress in very tangible structural ways and have a passing interest in economics and political science. i was completely enthralled by Realist Hero from start to finish just because i think it's hyper-specific to my interest. absolutely loved how the main character was making the most out of his 21st century sophomore college education to fix the shit outta that kingdom even ifyou're not into the same things as me you'll probably still have a decent time
the writing is slightly above average but nothing amazing, the characters have good chemistry but the cast gets slightly bloated by the time you reach the end of the second season and the show does drag if you're not into the same things as me.
but I'm into the same things as me so those were the best parts
if you're like me then you'll have a blast every time they mention tax reforms
i give it a 9/10 , i fucking love tax reforms
Proto57
I was exptecting, reading the summary, a story about a king taking pragmatic decisions, harsh ones, kind one, good ones, bad ones etc... A good king has never been someone who could act kindly towards everybody. As such, i was believing that this story could show me mean decisions against people to enable the kingdom to become stronger because the main priority isnt to do social reforms but to be prepared against the demons. I was wrong. It isnt pragmatic nor deep at all . The MC does random reforms using basic knowledge from his world to help the kingdom with a touch of kindnessin it. None of his decisions as a king has ever backfired to him. None of them were double edged sword which is a shame for a story about a king. Even the decisions are just basic choices without any cruel dilemma, hard choices or else...
That's the main issue. Everything feels so generic I feel like a 11 year old kid watching a kid anime.
I could have accepted the terrible setup (classic isekai, transportation to another world for no reason, terrible story about demons coming to destroy the world) provided that the king part was great but in fact it's not even near decent or acceptable. It's shameful. I could have imagined a deep story with a cynic point of view taking inspiration into some famous books like "the prince" from machiavel but there isnt anything. It's a story for kids.
I mean sure they tried to do something decent showing basic economics and more but everything is so romanced and kid friendly that it feels fake and unreal.
Moreover, there isnt any plot. Okay demons will come destroy the world later on but what are the characters doing ? Reforming different things over and over again. There isnt any hardship, any plot, any other antagonists. Episodes are just a succession of reforms. It's boring damn i feel like i'm reading a 4 koma. It's not normal for a normal manga or for an anime.
Regarding the characters... Well generic generic generic
The MC is uninteresting honestly i didnt even know before watching this show that it was possible to make a smart protagonist uninteresting. He has no identity. He reforms things and it's his only trait I guess. He doesnt even feel smart or clever he just feels like an idiot who took hours to learn by heart his lessons. I dont feel that genius vibe i can feel from other interesting protagonists like Lelouch for instance.
The main girl is useless. She's cliche aswell. She just reacts to what the MC does. I dont even know how to describe her she has never done anything.
Other side characters are terribly bland aswell. No interesting characters, a few women show themselves and are impressed by the MC. It's full of fanservice, they blush at him etc... They're just women to create a sort of harem feeling. Even the worse harems Ive ever seen had better harem girls than this too.
The art is random at best, if not it's just bad. The MC is disgustingly generic and ugly. Random haircut, random eyes, random clothing. Girls are terribly generic. No original traits nothing.
Finally even the sound effects are bad. The first episodes are filled with background songs louder than the voices. It basically means that without the subtitles, I wouldnt even be able to hear what they say. Even this much has been rushed.
Overall this anime could have been an original isekai with a deep plot and a really good protagonist but instead we've got a terrible isekai with the worst smart main characters I've ever seen, the most generic girls i've ever seen and the most pitiful scenario aswell. Everything has been ruined by lazyness. Too lazy to make good characters, to create a deep story, to read books about kings, even the economics notions seen are more than basic ones. Dont waste your time. Nothing can be saved from this wreck.
algoPotaku
It is a medium type isekai but it is very overlord or log horizon style, that is to say that they are more political, this does not mean that it has really entertaining action parts. I love the protagonist is gentle, at the same time he knows what he wants, he does what he has to do I would have liked him to be alone with one girl but why choose one when you can have them all. The ending sucks because the truth is, you want to see much more but they have already announced a second season so I'm happy. If you arethinking of seeing it, look at it, it is very entertaining and interesting. It's kind of predictable but it doesn't take away the charm.
En español:
Es un isekai medio tipo pero es muy del estilo overlord o log horizon, es decir que son mas políticos, esto no saca que tenga partes de acción realmente entretenidas. Me encanto el protagonista es gentil, a la vez sabe lo que quiere, hace lo que tiene que hacer me hubiera gustado que se quede solo con una chica pero para que elegir una cuando podes tener a todas. El final es una mierda porque la verdad quieres ver mas mucho mas pero ya anunciaron una segunda temporada así que soy feliz. Si estas pensando en verlo míralo es muy entretenido e interesante. Es medio predecible pero no le saca el encanto.
westhom
Reasonably interesting plot but contrived in its execution. Story reveals were entertaining but the characters and world reacted unrealistically for a show with "realist" in its title. Interesting enough and reasonably-likeable MC but what little growth he has seems inexplicable and poorly conveyed. The supporting cast tends towards harem with little development individually; the more interesting the side characters the less interaction we get. The art is bare minimum, but the music and sound design was fair. Overall the show was enjoyable enough but left a lot to be desired. I don't regret watching it but I won't be recommending or re-watching it in earnest.
LelouchRoronoa
Just go read the Light Novels. Please All emotion and character development is lost in the Anime. This was moving pictures but it's not worth your time. If the Light Novel is a 10/10 the Anime is a 1/10. I gave it a 3/10 because the voice actors are great, but Japanese Voice actors are always amazing.I would not recommend the anime to anyone, but rather the Light Novel.
I feel bad for the author, their story was destroy turned into "Milk Toast"
Just go read the Light Novels. Please
All emotion and character development is lost in the Anime.
This was moving pictures but it's not worth your time.
If the Light Novel is a 10/10 the Anime is a 1/10.
I gave it a 3/10 because the voice actors are great, but Japanese Voice actors are always amazing.
I would not recommend the anime to anyone, but rather the Light Novel.
I feel bad for the author, their story was destroy turned into "Milk Toast"
Opal-Sin
Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki, also known as How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom is a simplified isekai that is centered around the protagonist's management of the kingdom rather than his ability to slay and combat monsters or whatnot. Visuals: Visually, it's refreshing to the eyes yet simple. You won't find many extraordinarily pretty scenes if any, though I also don't recall any moments that particuarly hurt my eyes. [Rating: 7] Music: In some cases, the sound tracks of an anime tend to increase it's enjoyability dramatically, but in this case it's neither appealing nor horrid. The ED is fine, and the OP is good-- thoughapart from that, the music isn't too much of a deal breaker. If not for the OP my score would be one point lower.
[Rating: 7]
Characters: Rarely from what I've seen do isekais dive deep into character development, the few that do, neglecting, if only slightly-- everyone except the protagonist. This would be a good example of an anime that only just barely scratches the surface of such things. While you see characters obtain some miniscule fraction of growth-- it's ultimately not exaggerated. In comparison, the main character shows his intellect from the start without actually "growing," or "developing," with only a moment of self reflection near the end of the show.
[Rating: 7]
Conclusion: While Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki falls into the just "Good category," I can't help but prop it up a little higher. Throughout the thirteen episodes I enjoyed my time watching them, likely because it's refreshing to see an isekai lean more so on the world building rather than the generic qualities of a protagonist or other characters. Learning more about the kingdom and continent's state of being is if only slightly more entertaining than having to learn in depth about the past of a side character introduced in a single episode for a plot device or the likes. You're given near minimal for character development, but in turn you receive a simple yet decently invigorating plot and setting within the duration of thirteen episodes.
[Rating: 8]
[Rating: 29/40 = 0.72]
momentie
How a Realistic Approach Could of Saved This Anime - Whatever Happened to Good Old JC Staff?(SR); 'Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki' is an isekai anime that has seen some success in the midst of a fairly unremarkable season. Despite garnering decent attention there's little being said by the larger names in the community and here on Mal the scores seem bizarrely split between bemusingly high grades of 9's and 10's, contrasted by those scoring exceedingly harshly in the 1 to 3's. Today I'd like to take after the show's namesake and take a slightly more balanced vantage point. First lets cover the spoiler freeitems-
Music, Animation and Direction - With this being a new show the OsT has yet to be realised to my knowledge meaning I couldn't listen to it independent of the show as per my usual routine. With that said the Ost should by rights be this show's strongest selling point, studio JC staff have some great in-house artists and no doubt both the intro and outro are wonderful, further there's some simple but nice insert pieces and many of the backing tracks are grandiosely packed with percussion instruments, fitting solidly the medieval aesthetic of the story. With all this said I'd be loath to give the score top marks as the actual usage of the tracks is a bit clumsy. This could be attributed to the direction segment but some of the less creative tracks are the ones that get the most use and by the end of the show it was monotonous to hear the same 'every day' and 'tense contemplation' pieces used multiple times in an episode, there's also really nothing here to get you pumped up during the triumphant moments of victory which also feels like a missed opportunity. So while on paper the score is fitting and well made, it's execution could certainly be improved.
The animation was something of a disappointment for me. While stills can look quite beautiful and the shots of each major city are nicely composed, generally speaking the show looks bland. Not bad, just bland which is strange coming from JC who generally have a track-record for making a show recognisably modern and 'light novel' based but with enough vibrancy to still stand out(Ala Toradora, Pet-Girl, Aria, Danmachi, Railgun, etc). As for the backgrounds their mixed, some are more then adequately detailed but the location by far the most time is spent in, the throne room, has been designed by someone who I can only imagine was actively out to ruin this show. The large room is all shades of grey, epically behind the actual throne where there is a monotonous slab of flat grey that can't help but draw the eye. It's as though they'd never heard of the negative space principal.
As for the movements, the fights are down-right awful with shaky transitions and a complete lack of weight or impact. The general movement of the characters is as you'd expect, much like the artsyle it's fine but unmemorable and a bit of a let down.
Speaking of poor choreography we have the direction which is maybe the show's biggest pit fall. The story is very exposition heavy so how does the director chose to compensate this and keep the visuals interesting? With the use of dynamic 360 degree camera shots and characters walking superfluously to and fro across rooms. Again it could be worse and the first time I saw it I was actually a little impressed by the extravagant camera work but overall it's exceedingly boring to look at more often then not. When Souma explains some basic functions of nature in baby terms to the other characters, the best you can hope for is cut aways to completely still images which really isn't much. As for battles and such like, the director is clearly cutting as many corners as possible, generally showing a commander talking, while something more interesting is implied to be happening off-screen. Finally you have the structuring which is straight-up abhorrent - We spend an entire episode's worth of time on a cooking programme, half an ep on histories' least interesting adventure ever, a whole half on a shopping trip and another episodes worth on a minor domestic quarrel between two side characters. Now don't mis-understand, all these things have their places and can greatly help with the worldbuilding of any good fantasy story, but not only does much of it feel like padding but this poor management of time forces the 'War' arc of the show to be barely 2-4 eps long, making it feel ham-fisted and almost giving the impression that the production is just un-interested in that part of the show. They don't even cut the OP and ED (A JC staple across many of their shows) of the final episode to try and desperately scrap back some much needed time.
I especially find all this strange as the director is by no means an amateur, Takashi Watanabe is down-right prolific and has done work I've absolutely loved for many works by the studio in the likes of 'Shakugan no Shana' and 'The Slayers' to name his most famous credits. As such I'm left to question weather they simply had a remarkably small budget for this show or if Covid and time-constraints were the cause of all this egregious corner-cutting and laziness.
Story and Characters - In terms of story alot is hampered by the aforementioned structuring and visual elements. The goal of the story is to fix the dire financial straits the Kingdom finds itself in and for Souma to find himself a family and it sort of accomplishes these things, however it's not exactly mind-blowing television. Now to be fair I've said on occasion that drama is highly subjective and you may indeed find this a griping tale, however generally speaking the show lacks any real driving force - while fiscal idea's are mentioned we're never actually told how much money the kingdom has or needs, further it's impossible to tell how much time pass's between episodes and because we don't have any characters with the perspective of the average citizen it's hard to tell if anything that we're told about has actually worked. By the end of the show you'd be forgiven for thinking barely a month has passed, something which if anything the characters seem to reinforce.
Said characters are fairly standard fare. They fill out regular isekai troops, with the only attractive males of the group(aside from the protagonist) being conveniently off-screen for almost the entire run of the show. Even calling them characters seems a little much, The Princess Liscia at first seems intriguing as someone who migth oppose Souma becoming acting King and then gradually fall in love with him over the course of this first series, creating a classic arc and pay-off to follow, as well as giving a great excuse for Souma to show off his knowledge, but before the first 2 episodes are even done she has already swooned and proceeds to do nothing of note other then get a haircut for the rest of the show. This strikes me as a great shame as what small, tiny hints we get that she and Souma migth actually be a supportive team are never really given any limelight and by the properties close they act the same as they did when they first met with no progress friendly or romantic what so ever bar one single conversation and a few blushes on Liscia's part. Now mind you I don't hold it against anyone who found her endearing, she is no question cute, I just wish they did a little more with her characterisation as the female lead.
The bureaucrat Marks whom actually seems somewhat interesting gets conveniently side-lined for being old or something(?), similarly the Queen and King are irrelevant past ep 1, not even being used for episodic comedy relief or such like - and the others aren't of any note except maybe Aisha and Souma himself. These two share an interesting trait, where-by something traumatic will occur and then they it just sort of has no impact on them what-so-ever. Aisha suffers most here as after a terrible incident her reaction is pretty much just to ask if her uncle could of been less of a fool and then she never brings it up again. It doesn't seem to weight on her mind or spark any change in her out-look on life, despite the dark-elves seemingly being a very family and tribal orientated people(something they could of easily tied back into Souma's Grandfather's words or wisdom....but just didn't). Same with Souma who seems to be nearing a revelation that he has the power to affect the lives of thousands in strategic warfare but then in the next episode seems to of forgotten this temporary moral dilemma and returned to sending off armies to brutally murder one another, before sort of remembering it maybe in episode 12(?). Put lightly I'm not really sure you could say anyone has a character arc in this show, however with that said none of this is quite as big a problem as it migth sound. Indeed considering the type of story this is and it's purpose as light-hearted entertainment, it certainly does function with this type-cast of static characters, however it would of been nice to of seen some sort of development implemented for the main duo at the very least, in order to give the show a much needed emotional core (which one would imagine would be obvious consider the 'find and protect a family' mantra).
A Realistic Solution;
As I see it, it wouldn't actually take much to vastly improve the story of '"How the Realist Hero Saved the Kingdom"'. Some small changes like making the throne room more interesting and breaking up the exposition with actual animated cutaways to farmers working in fields and so on, along with a re-organisation of the already quite good OsT could easily push this show up to a 7.5 out of 10. However the sad fact to me is that really I think this one has some potential beneath the surface to be a truly heart-warming and wholesome little tale about found family, unfortunately it seems like JC or the financers behind it just didn't care all that much as if they did I don't think we'd have this bland art-style, shockingly bad action, atrocious structure and ultimately cheap feeling product. To me it feels like realist hero is a bad adaptation in-spite of my not even having read the books. It's the sort of half-as*ed cash grab that have become all too frequent which I think is a real da*n shame.
With just small changes this could improve and with a bit of care I think this could of been a really good watch. For an example of what I mean take a look at the original 'Zero no Tsukaima', an isekai by JC staff from 15 years ago with an original set of 13 episodes. It's action is by no means brilliant, nor is it anything mind boggling narratively and yet despite it's age it's backgrounds are still gorgeous, its character have far more depth then is required for the story being told, the Ost is an absolute delight and always used sparingly with one off tracks for speical occasions and character themes for the leads - but most of all it exudes passion and heart. You can't help but smile at how much the creators clearly cared about every aspect of their funny little light novel adaption (Rest in peace Noboru Yamaguchi). It's for that sort of love and attention to detail and caring sense of fun put into what migth otherwise be fairly mundane or forgettable stories, that I loved JC Staff for, it's why I'd of once called my favourite studio.
But here it feels like we get none of that, there is no heart in most of these visuals, no passion in the editing room or the producers office. The voice-actors do a good job at the least and again its not bad it's just...meh, bland, unimpressive. Hopefully with the advent of a second half we migth see it gain an increase in it's somewhat shaky production and with the establishment of the world out of the way we may even get some better structured arcs to come, we can atleast hope so anyway. So to conclude, while you may enjoy this show for what it is, you also won't be missing out on much if you decide to give it a pass and as such I'd advise most readers to go and try other classic isekai like the prior mentioned "Familiar of Zero" or alternately "Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash" (which takes a different sort of realistic approach to the isekai genre) - and only to watch the realist hero if your board and simply looking for an easily digestible and relatively pleasant way to pass the time.
I hope you enjoyed. If you liked this short essay please press the 'helpful' button below (turn phone browsers to 'desktop mode') and if at all interested feel free to check out some of my other mostly longer reviews her on Mal or via YouTube. With that said,
Thanks for reading.
Garbagepickles
Ok so Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki, is not your stereotypical isekai, it's premise, like the name says, a dude that rebuilds the kingdom. So I'll make this short. Story is good, not that many downsides and no real hook, just good overall. The mc is pretty likeable, he fits his role, he's calm, rational and a realist (lmao). Heroine is fun to watch, especially her interactions with mc. The plot is actually very good, the pacing and story is fun to watch. However, imo it's kinda lacking for me, like I said, it lacks that hook factor that pulls us in. It focusing incounty problems, feudal wars and large scale battles and tactics, is really refreshing to watch. Anyway, just a pretty good anime overall, but it doesn't have it's problems.
So my only concern for the show, is lack of character focus, it only focuses on like 3 people, I know it's supposed to put emphasis on mc, but the op had all of the characters and their names, so I thought they would put some emphasis to them. But all they did, was let them solve problems, and that's about it, they're kinda just there.
So yeah, if you want a refreshing isekai, watch this anime.
partialtoanime
I really enjoyed this anime. It was fun and incredibly easy to watch, and I was devastated as I neared the end. As my second isekai anime, I found it to be quite unique, though my opinion may change as I watch more. Nonetheless, I found it to be a truly enjoyable experience. The main character is highly intelligent, and I appreciated being able to hear his thought process throughout the series. It added an educational aspect to the anime that I found quite engaging. This anime is great for fans of politics, warfare, history, magic, and economics. Additionally, all the characters were fun and interesting, eachwith their own unique personalities that enhanced the overall quality of the anime. The story-building was fantastic, keeping me hooked from beginning to end.
Easy 10/10
- for reference, other animes i like: zero no tsukaima, spice and wolf
