Enticed by its rumored wealth, Cid Kagenou happily tags along with his sister, Claire, on a trip to the infamous Lawless City. The region is ruled by three monarchs: Yukime, the Spirit Fox; Juggernaut, the Tyrant; and Elisabeth, a dormant progenitor vampire known as the Blood Queen. Hunting Elisabeth down serves as the perfect opportunity for Claire to prove her true mettle. On the other hand, Cid has different objectives—sneaking away from Claire's sight, collecting as much loot as possible, and making Shadow's glorious entrance at the perfect moment.
As Elisabeth's awakening draws near, her subordinate Crimson enacts a treacherous plot, sending the town into a frenzy. Searching for her now-missing brother, Claire finds an unexpected ally in Mary, a vampire hunter, and the pair hurry to the Crimson Tower—the home of the Blood Queen. Meanwhile, Beta and a small team of Shadow Garden recruits also arrive at the Lawless City. As the key players converge on the Crimson Tower, the stage is set for a grand confrontation under the crimson moon.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Mattotsuo
"We only have so much time, and so much effort. So I dedicated all of my time and effort to what mattered, and got rid of everything else." These days for me, I tend to lose interest in a lot of shows after their first season (maybe because it was rushed or maybe it was simply that the concept was good but the progression got stale or boring). We all only have a limited amount of time, some people more than others, so should you spend your own precious time watching this? In short, yes, assuming you have watched season 1 this season builds upon theprevious season perfectly in its own way. Usually I will give every season a chance and just stop watching it if I lose interest, however for me the Eminence in Shadow season 2 was just as fun to watch as season 1.
Does it deliver on animation?
Yes
Does it deliver on world building and story progression?
Yes
Would I watch any of it on the plane ride while the 10 is sitting diagonally behind me?
No...
Everyone's sense of humor is different, so some people will enjoy the cringy things Cid does and others might find it repulsive. However in my opinion the execution of the stereotypical events and tropes are done in a way that feels fresh and enjoyable especially when compared to many other shows in the genre. Not only that, but whenever I watch an episode, it doesn't feel like there are excessive wastes of time even during the filler episode.
One of the things I was most surprised about was that the animation remained consistently clean and story pacing remained at a good speed like in season 1. A lot of series tend to fall off because they stray from the art style or pacing from the first season (not gonna name any names... but a certain isekai to do with a shield), but this series remained very true to the source material. Barely any content was cut and some scenes were only modified slightly. In fact, one of the biggest deviations from the source material was simply that a fight was supposed to seem closer but anime-Cid beat them faster and easier. All in all, this was one of the main things that I think makes it worth watching.
Something to note however is that characters that get introduced are almost always supposed to parallel a cliche, which I think are quite funny and enjoyable to watch but maybe some people might not agree as much with me. For example, I might find the Soopah Eleeto Ay jent John Smith to be funny but another person might just find him cringy. From me and my friends' experience, it is easy to enjoy the series if you try not to take any of it too seriously.
The biggest thing I could see people not enjoying the series for would be that it often expects you to just accept that some big misunderstandings will never be resolved. If you aren't able to find a way to still enjoy it with that in mind, by all means don't continue with the series as it would just not be for you. There are many other shows out there that might appeal to you better, but, if you are able to get over it then that issue won't matter. In fact, I think being able to accept that misunderstandings are at the core of the series will allow you to enjoy the series even more.
If I were to rate each aspect of the show out of 10, I would probably give the story a 9, characters 9, art/animation 9, sound 10, and enjoyment 10 (tbh 11). To explain the rating for sound, I just think rarely do I ever think of a show and think of the background from a good scene rather than the op/ed (FYI the piece I am thinking of is called In Time of War).
Now, the time to watch Eminence in Shadow is ripe. We are out of time... The frenzy has begun.
FredeSS
This anime continues to effortlessly blend top-tier meta-satire with phenomenal, epic visuals and displays of power, and somehow persists to be one-of-a-kind when it doesn't seem so different from it's peers in the isekai/fantasy genre. The plot direction is surprisingly spotless and really quite admirable. It's impossible to guess where the story is going, but it just works out perfectly while bringing you to a new, unexpected course. All of this allows for one of the most easily enjoyable experiences in anime history. But: Regardless of how flawlessly executed this is, it doesn't present with any astounding narrative that links to a theme or message. It hardlydelves into any of these points that make for some of the greatest stories, so if looking for a genius story that accomplishes these things, I would never look to this, which is again, why it is one of the most *easily* enjoyable experiences, not one of the most enjoyable experiences anime has to offer.
The Eminence in Shadow is a tremendous achievement that, to me, will probably stay the greatest anime that I would categorize as "junk food". It is a ball of fun. A simplistic, but very FUN ball of fun.
Eleiyas
I honestly don't know how this anime does what it does. Looking at it from afar, it seems to be one of the most generic power-fantasy isekai, harem, tropey, cliché animes that has aired in recent years. Honestly speaking, this anime is exactly that, but it knows it's that, it wants to be that and it cranks it all up to 11, to become one of the most enjoyable iterations of that premise that has come out in quite a few years now - and season 2 just keeps it going. Cid is still an absolutely clueless idiot, going around doing whatever he wants in the name ofmaking his dream come true - while somehow stumbling into plots and ideas set-up by the far more "in-tune" members of both his group and also the outside world - all of which makes him appear to be the person he eventually wants to be - some crazy intelligent man-wizard who has his eyes and ears everywhere at all times, while being in the shadows.
This anime is so over-the-top that even farcical doesn't cover it, but the comedic value of the writing and portrayal send this anime into heights yet unseen by the masses of trash that pour-out year-on-year.
It is a magnum opus of power-fantasies and isekai.
If you've watched and enjoyed other shows in the same vein, such as "How Not to Summon a Demon Lord", you will love watching S1 and S2 of "Eminence in Shadow".
Personally giving this a 9; I think S2 is just under S1 in terms of raw enjoyability, but both are worthy of this score.
Marinate1016
Kagejitsu season 2 is an improvement in every way over the first season. Partly due to the LN arcs it covers being the best in the series, and partly due to Nexus taking their production quality to the next level. All the while retaining the same comedic misunderstandings, loveable characters and Cid that we’ve come to know and love. Kagejitsu manages to be both an excellent commentary on the isekai genre and exemplary of it at the same time. It’s fully aware of the tropes that have been done to death in recent years, makes fun of them and in the process, manages to pull themoff perfectly. OP MC ✅ Hot girls in love with mc ✅ evil shadow organisation working in the background to take over the world ✅. All of these things are given to us at least 10x a season these days, yet this series is proof it’s not about what you do, but how you do it.
Cid has become one of the anime community’s favourite characters in the last year, and for good reason. He basically acts as a stand in for all of us, observing the usual isekai tropes, laughing at them and embracing them. He doesn’t take himself seriously and sees the entire world as a game, whereas everyone around him sees it as a matter of life and death. It’s such a refreshing experience to have a main character who isn’t trying to be a traditional “good guy” but just does what he wants, when he wants it. That sometimes works to the benefit of others, but sometimes it doesn’t. Even his own allies have been the victims of his selfish whims at times, and I love it.
Part of what makes isekai stale in the eyes of many, is you can take any MC from any series and drop them in another and you’d notice no difference. That’s not how a story should be. The main characters should be the sun, around every other character and plot point rotates. If you change that character, it should intrinsically change the story. For example, putting Naofumi from Tate no Yuusha in this story would weaken it. Putting Cid into Tate no Yuusha would strengthen it. The author’s done an amazing job at crafting a truly unique main character and that’s the biggest selling point.
This season in particular, sees a lot of that taken to the next level. Cid has several plots that his subordinates completely misunderstand and it leads to these absolutely hilarious moments that left me crying of laughter. Even when he doesn’t act, his subordinates see it as an act and will try to interpret his inaction. It’s just a really unique viewing experience that I wish more authors would try to implement. I love isekai unabashedly, but some variety in the genre would be great. Some more commentaries on fantasy worlds, characters who aren’t so down horrendously they’ll chase after every girl, etc., would be nice!
Like I said earlier, the arcs this season covers are just great. They’ve got more action and twists than last season, introduce some cool new characters, shed light on the villains of the story and give us a new direction to follow. I believe this is the author’s first major series and you can really see him getting better with each arc. The Oriana arc being my favourite of this season with some genuinely emotional parts.
Production values are also through the roof. The animation, direction, art, character designs, they’re all spectacular. While we know Cid is going to win every fight he’s in, they still make those fights interesting and exciting through their use of visual effects. The final fight of this season being a great example.
Over the top, wacky, great world building, a one of a kind MC. It should come as no surprise this series is as popular as it is. It’s one of the few extremely hyped series that deserves every bit of praise heaped on it. I am very excited to see what they do in the upcoming movie.
Kagejitsu season 2 gets a very easy 10, out of 10
Kazimir01
Considering the enjoyment the 1st season brought to many people, myself included, I was extremely exited about season 2. CONS: - No development for characters. Everyone seems just unbelievably dumb - Villians are just....bad, might as well not exist at all. - The humor is bad. 12 episodes, not sure I even smiled once, let alone laugh. Maybe if I were 7yo would have been better - You can see the entire seasson in about 30 minutes. You can litterely skip through pretty much everything and just watch 5-8 minutes here and there just so you know who that caracter is and you are not actuallymissing on anything.
PROS:
- Animation is okay
- Can put you to sleep rather quick
As mention in the first line, I loved season 1. There were moments where I got goosebumps. This? This is just extremely bad: cheep fanservice, bad comedy, bad fights, stupid characters, it has nothing to offer, nothing. Don't even get me started on the ending. 12 episodes of nothing and you end with more questiosn than wehen you started.
I know the anime is sussposed to be treated kind of as a "joke", but even then, it's jsut bad. You are better off watching One Punch Man. That's a perfect exampel of OP done right and entertaining
Banana-Pudding
2nd season is alright. It's not as good as the first, but it's not terrible. It's mediocre. It's whelming. It's okay. The goods? They pack a lot of story lines into the season. I'm honestly impressed by how much material was used. Was it rush? Oh yeah, definitely. But still enjoyable. You have to understand that in a 12 episode season, there isn't really time to develop plots so prepare for a lot of convenients and expositions. Still, the storyline is very interesting, especially towards the finale. Another positive is of course, the main reason most of us watch the show- the women. No shortage offan service in this show. All the girls are pretty and cute. Many waifus if that's your style.
The bad? Unfortunately the MC is a dumbass. Okay, to be fair I did like him the first season because he was different from your typical MC. I thought his gimmick of wanting to always be in the shadow was hilarious, but that now that card as long played its part. Now it's just lame and embarrassing. There's really no character development for good 'ol Cid. He's still a borderline retarded teenager who is as clueless as they come. Like I said, it was funny and endearing the first 5 episode of season 1, but now it's getting ridiculous. In fact, the fact Cid still thinks Shadow Garden is fake and there's no Cult of Diablos is honestly ridiculous and so stupid that I refuse to believe Cid is that dumb. Or maybe he is- who knows. I honestly think if the show didn't try so hard to make Cid be an incompetent nincompoop that the show would be 5x better. I really do like the storyline but to have Cid be so dumb yet things always work out for him for comedic effect is....well it gets tiresome after the 3rd time (again in the first season). Another complaint is that for some reason the author really like Rose, who is easily the worst of all the female leads. She is so boring. So many interesting girls to choose from, and he happens to shine the light on the least interesting one.
Okay so despite that- why do I still rate it a 7? Because if you can ignore Cid being a dumbass and Rose being annoying, the show is actually pretty decent. The action is good. The animation is solid, especially when the girls are on screen. If your mind can selectively choose to ignore the two problems I mentioned, I think you'll enjoy this anime too, kind of- maybe. If anything, this show answers the age old question of what happens when a mental kid is isekaid with OP powers.
ZeroMajor12
I don't think there's any anime out there that can work with the most shameless and blatant storytelling, while somehow being very enjoyable to watch. The Eminence in Shadow in its premise holds a recipe for disaster in its hands, an MC that is a Deus Ex Machina in literal skin, a dedicated harem that also acts as the main fan service of the show, every single episode has boobs being shoved to you whenever any girl is involved, one of the antagonists of this season, continuing from previous season, is named Perv Asshat, while the most chaotic shit happens with everyone exposing their underlyingmotives at the last minute possible. Yet, here I am, praising this anime for the amount of gall it had to pull this off, which also happens to be Nexus' best production as of today. To describe it in a statement, it's an anime that works for all the wrong reasons possible. So why does it work?
The whole identity of The Eminence in Shadow is a parody disguised as an isekai fantasy anime. Which makes actual sense for the extremity of these characters. Cid in his normal days tries to be as insignificant as possible to the point he's letting himself get bullied by actual nobodies, while his shadow persona has him acting as the plot, this is no longer a character anymore, the man is the plot himself. He goes out of his way to spout the edgiest shit in his new world, which never fails to entertain me. It's like having your friend just telling the wildest story ever seen by humankind, but it's so entertaining that you can't seem to look away for a second. It's difficult to elaborate, but I believe the author intended to write them this way, which is why the characters interacting with each other are so goofy and amusing to watch.
When you have these wild characters on display for a fantasy that actually holds a candle in world-building, it's later complemented with some of the best performances from the VAs of this show. It's not every day you hear Cid's other persona, John Smith, was voiced by Jun Fukuyama, who literally brought his Lelouch's performance in this new adaptation of The Eminence in Shadow. Not to leave this one out, but Nexus has always been keen on drawing pretty expressive angry faces whenever conflict surfaces in the anime, and it works to great effect in this one knowing the crazy shit that happens in this anime.
While most of the show is focused on conversations (that's why Nexus takes the time to put in fanservice while they're at it), the action is not bad either. It's still Nexus' product, so you're expecting the same level of quality with still shots and a bit of movement during clashes, but that's it, really. During clashes, they exchange words and reveal more details happening in the lore of The Eminence in Shadow, though it's always revealed by Cid's tendency to say the right thing at the right time. In Cid's words, fights are also a part of communication and happen every then. It is formulaic, but it does so with almost perfect execution.
What do I have to conclude? The Eminence in Shadow S2 is an almost perfect experience of an already good prequel with craziness being amped up even further, expanding the lore without sacrificing the chaotic charm it has, all the while providing some excitement and entertainment with tip-top voice acting from the cast. The swimsuit episode was unnecessary, yes, but it's great for all the people who want a parody of an isekai anime or anyone who has returned for more of The Eminence in Shadow.
sakajii
If you have seen season 1 and enjoyed it, you'll enjoy this one just as much, if not more. The only way to describe this show is a roller coaster that never stops. There are plot twists everywhere. Cid is still an edgelord and I absolutely love it. To only say that this show fully embraces the cringe is not enough, it adds toppings. And this cringe is not the one that makes you pause the show and bury your head in pillows - it's the cringe that makes you smile and smirk, while hoping that the show would never end. The Eminence in Shadow istruly a rare find in the genre that isekai and fantasy. Rarely is there a show with this much fun to be had while also having an interesting plot and a great main character.
Is this a power fantasy?
Yes.
Does the MC get hella girls?
Yes.
How entertaining is the show?
Yes.
hellomyfrienge
This anime is the funniest shit i ever seen. You might be saying konosuba is funnier but have you really seen the show if you asked that? There's something interesting about this dude who doesn't gives a shit about the 10 million overpowered girls he collected and just keep moving on to his plan of acting cool. He still thinks that they are just acting with him. Season 2 just go full on with this trope of this guy tryna be all mysterious. He says some random bullshit and the whole world go crazy. Going on to my favorite. 10/10
wiox3m
Dunno what some people are complaining about, this shit is goated. The isekai genre has become very diluted and most of the shows nowdays are complete garbage not worth your time. This just stands out with the worldbuilding and endless scheming. The characters are written bery well and they and their stories are well incorporated in the story. Not forgetting about the animation, it's so good too. And the music and effects make the atmosphere in the action awesome. If you came here for something vey niche and artsy shit and are complaining gtfo, it's an isekai with an op black haired stereotype mc. It'smeant to be dumb, fun and playful and it hits every mark in that regard. Get your head ot your ass and enjoy the madness.
10/10
verbinflection
'The Eminence in Shadow' is a comedy subversion of a fantasy adventure, where the joke is that the hero of the story doesn't understand what's happening and doesn't take it seriously. It's complicated without being clever, and it proves that irony and self-awareness are not substitutes for meaningful conflicts, character growth, or properly timed punch lines. By season two, any given episode was barely holding my attention long enough to deliver its payload of mildly enjoyable action-comedy fan service. I'm told you need a very high IQ to understand 'Rick and Morty'. Whether that's true or not, you do need a remarkably high degree of medialiteracy to understand what 'The Eminence in Shadow' was trying to achieve. Cid, a Japanese teenager, is obsessed with acquiring the power of a fantasy anime protagonist. Coincidentally, Cid dies, gets reincarnated in a quasi-medieval world, and promptly acquires unlimited magical power, just like in a fantasy anime. At that point, Cid decides to devote his second life to making that world conform even more closely to fantasy tropes by re-enacting his favourite scenes from anime. For example, he wants to battle a demon cult alongside a harem of busty ninjas, so he invents a demon cult and recruits a gaggle of busty ninjas to cosplay with him. Unbeknownst to Cid, the busty ninjas fall for all of his ridiculous lies. Also unbeknownst to Cid, all of his ridiculous lies are coincidentally accurate, right down to the demon cult's made-up name. Thus, Cid alone somehow continues to misinterpret as cosplay the battle he started against the demon cult he thinks he invented, even as his over-the-top finishing moves level city blocks, killing hundreds.
It's a bafflingly complicated premise for a fairly generic fantasy story. That is, if we ignore the protagonist's internal monologue, if we adopt any other character's point of view, the events of the plot play out as one would expect in a typical fantasy world, complete with an overpowered main character. He is, in fact, the shadowy leader of a powerful faction of busty ninjas battling a demon cult, so his actions make sense on a surface level. His monologuing merely wraps them in layers of spurious irony: no one else knows that he's lying, but he doesn't know that his lies are true. It's like wearing a clown costume under your regular clothes so no one ever sees it. Actually, it's even more pointless than that: the possibility of a secret being exposed can create tension, but in this case, the secret can never be exposed, because the secret makes no sense.
For the record, this is not a parody of fantasy: it is not exaggerating genre tropes. Cid's over-the-top finishing moves would hardly look out of place in 'Sword Art Online'. It's certainly a comedy subversion of fantasy, because of course we don't expect a fantasy hero to be delusional and stupid. Unfortunately, as a fantasy adventure comedy, 'The Eminence in Shadow' is hampered precisely by its subversive premise: again, the one thing that sets it apart from conventional fantasy is that the main character doesn't understand what's happening and doesn't take it seriously. That does set up a lot of jokes, or a lot of repetitions of the same joke, but it also makes it difficult to get invested in the plot. That's forgivable in a straight comedy: the girls from 'Survival Game Club' can run over elderly Australians in a truck, and all is forgotten by the next episode. But 'The Eminence in Shadow' is not exempt from earning our investment in the plot, both because the joke relies on juxtaposing a serious story with a ridiculous hero and because the rather dry business of the plot takes up so much of the screen time.
Like 'Overlord', it suffers most from its unrelatable protagonist, who is never allowed to learn anything or grow as a person because it would spoil the joke. After two seasons, Cid remains a mentally disturbed teenager with no interest in meeting girls or making friends, narcissistic to the point of being delusional and armed with overwhelming firepower: a school shooter in a wizard hat. Also like 'Overlord', the supporting cast of typical fantasy characters is far more interesting simply for being sincere, but they're given too little attention and too little respect. When a beautiful princess falls for the school shooter, she becomes the butt of the joke because he's not taking it seriously.
You can reverse-engineer a better fantasy series by leaving out a layer or two of irony. Here's one: a self-aware protagonist is trying not to be the main character, but he can't resist interfering with the plot; in the process, he inadvertently wins the heart of a beautiful princess, making him the main character after all. Fine. So why make him delusional? How does that help? If he knew what was happening and took it seriously, it would raise the stakes. Now what if we gave him a relatable motivation to interfere with the plot, instead of a weird pop culture obsession? Maybe he could even express a healthy interest in beautiful princesses. Oh, wait: I just wrote 'Trapped in a Dating Sim'.
Or how about this: a genre-savvy protagonist winds up in a typical fantasy world, where he exploits common tropes to predict the tactics of a typical fantasy villain, making him uniquely qualified to be the hero. Fine. So why make him a narcissist? It's easier to get invested when the hero actually cares about saving the world. Now what if his over-the-top finishing moves were justified by the extraordinary threat? Maybe the villain also knows how to exploit common tropes. Oh, wait: I just wrote 'Cautious Hero'.
Here it is without the villain: an excitable protagonist recruits a harem of busty ninjas to battle a non-existent threat and has to redirect them to solving mundane problems. The villagers keep getting sick? Clearly, the river is infected with demonic parasites: have the busty ninjas build a water treatment plant. Take the fight against demonic corruption straight to city hall: have a busty ninja run for public office; land a finishing move on wasteful spending. Fine, now it's a satire. I don't know if that series exists already ('KamiKatsu', perhaps), but the point is, practically any change toward greater sincerity would be an improvement. I will not wear the clown costume! Take me anywhere else, from 'The Dungeon of Black Company' to 'The Last Dungeon Boonies'.
Truthfully, if we take away its self-awareness, if we decline to be impressed by its nesting doll of irony, what is left of 'The Eminence in Shadow'? Apart from the hero, the cast comprises, firstly, the fan service: two dozen barely developed female characters whose purpose is to fawn over Cid, though again not to the point that it can be called a parody, if indeed the sexless harem trope admits of parody; and, secondly, the blood bags: however many faceless male minions any given action scene requires to supply the school shooter with targets. In two seasons, I detected no meaningful conflicts. The jiggly ninjas are never in danger, so the action scenes are unexciting, even when Cid lands an extra-flashy finisher on an extra-large blood bag. Like 'Overlord', his opponents are the underdogs, making his casual brutality appear downright tacky.
The character growth is minimal. Cid is never allowed to change, and his delusional monologuing drags out many scenes, leaving too little time to develop even one dozen jiggly ninjas. On top of that, through the monologuing, the series effectively tells us not to get invested in the supporting cast, by making them the butt of the joke. As for the jokes, their execution is mostly dissatisfying, Cid's intentional loss in the season one tournament being a clear example. The concept is fine: he's trying not to be the main character, so he has to lose his match, but he can't resist trying out every one of his lovingly rehearsed death animations. Unfortunately, his non-stop monologuing spoils the punch line, and it's the same animation each time, and it goes on much too long. By season two, the comedy often feels perfunctory: Cid does something stupid for a stupid reason; the harem misinterprets that as a Machiavellian scheme, making them look stupid; and it all works out anyway because of a blatant plot contrivance.
Most episodes are mildly enjoyable, delivering competent action-comedy fan service sprinkled with general anime weirdness. It's not particularly outrageous stuff; once again, if the goal was to parody either fantasy, harem romance, or anime in general, then it didn't go far enough. In a season with 'Ragna Crimson', Cid the school shooter looks downright tame. At least put the jiggly ninjas in danger! The paradox of general anime weirdness is that it always appears more outrageous in a story that takes itself more seriously. 'Future Diary' shot up several schools, and it never stopped being funny. Indeed, 'Survival Game Club', in addition to being much funnier than 'The Eminence in Shadow', also somehow takes itself more seriously and appears more outrageous for it.
'The Eminence in Shadow' does fill a need: it is the perfect fantasy series for people who are embarrassed about enjoying fantasy. (Compare 'KonoSuba', the perfect fantasy series for people who hate fantasy.) You get to watch an overpowered main character battle a demon cult alongside a harem of busty ninjas, complete with screen-rattling finishers, Japanglish one-liners, and hypnotizing jiggles — and if anyone breaks into your house and accuses you of enjoying fantasy, you can tell him no, it's bad and you hate it, but this one is bad on purpose: it's a deconstruction of the genre, a commentary on the audience. When I said "Delta is best girl," I was being ironic! Mystify your intruder with semiotics, and he may never suspect that you secretly do enjoy women's breasts.
Or you can just tell him to leave. It is possible to enjoy genre fiction without layers of ironic detachment: I'm told Gladstone enjoyed 'Treasure Island' (although he might have drawn the line at 'Future Diary'). Of course the fantasy genre has its well-documented foibles. It has been two centuries since Carlyle admonished the ordinary poet, forever seeking in external circumstances, in some past, distant, conventional heroic world, the help which can be found only in himself. And how far have the critical sciences advanced in that time? What novel insights do they offer us? "OP MC! Power fantasy! Wish fulfillment!" Stop breaking into my house. None of that is notable. Heroic fiction predates written language: Achilles was overpowered. 'Don Quixote' parodied heroic fiction in 1605. Dante wrote a self-insert isekai during the actual middle ages. Two centuries ago, every title was a paragraph long. There is nothing new under the sun, including lazy criticism. You can make any story sound stupid by describing it in a stupid way; that tells us nothing about the story, although it does tell us something about the critic. In every case, it is the execution that counts, and not a plot synopsis.
In short, the fantasy genre was not a problem in need of solving. Like any other genre, it has its tropes and its conventions. Think of them as writing prompts: channels for an author's creativity, rather than limitations on it. They guide the audience, too. Tell us that a Japanese teenager has been reincarnated as the demon lord's step-sister's panties, and we understand immediately: we're settling in for the real story, about being true to your harem of busty feral wolf-girls, something we can all relate to.
The most derided tropes can serve a story well. I may be the only one who enjoyed it, but let me point out that 'Isekai Cheat Skill' has an excellent theme: a good-natured boy with low self-esteem from being kicked around all his life has to learn to let himself be happy when things take a turn for the better. That's why he doesn't have to earn his overpowered abilities: because it serves the story to make him feel like he's cheating. Now tell me: why is Cid overpowered? What narrative purpose does that serve? Or is it enough that the series has drawn our attention to the mere existence of the trope?
I do understand what 'The Eminence in Shadow' was trying to achieve; I just don't care enough about tropes to care about subverting them. I care about meaningful conflicts and character growth, but I didn't get that. I'll settle for well-crafted jokes with a side of general anime weirdness, but I didn't really get that either. In the end, what I got was an alibi for enjoying genre fiction, which is one thing I didn't need two seasons of. It's an overcomplicated, relentlessly self-indulgent fantasy series from which a patient viewer may be able to extract a kernel of mildly enjoyable action-comedy fan service.
Shirogari
The second season of the eminence in shadow is quite similar to the first one, which considering the first season was enjoyable is a good thing. The story starts off a bit slower and is a bit more boring for a while but afterwards it picks up again and is fun to watch. The main conflict is still between shadow garden and the cult. It's fun to see how the world changes based on what shadow says but it also manages to change in ways to mess with shadow himself which is quite fun to see. The characters are the same as in the firstseason with some different side characters. The voice acting, animation and sound are all similar to or the same as in the first season.
Overall there isn't much to say about the second season because it is almost exactly what you'd expect the second season of this anime to be. It literally just continues the story with basically everything remaining the same. It's pretty hard to dislike the sequel if you liked the original anime.
Legolaspt
First I must say that the voice acting in here is truly great - the best selling point of the show imo; incredible work. But, unfortunately, the production is lacking. There is an exaggerated use of still images, and the fights scenes are mostly underwhelming because of the poor production. On the other hand, the pacing and plot are both hit or miss at times. The story goes from enjoyable with a great pacing, to scenes that should be twice as long, to a sequence of scenes in which nothing is happening. And the same goes for the plot, which fluctuates between overly complex and stupidly simple. Toput it simply, the second season of Eminence in Shadows is more of the first, with some improvements. The comedy is fun, and you should expect the same attitude from the show of doing cool things for the sake of it, and fuck logic and progression; which isn't bad by any means. But, again, there's no reason why the mc must one shot the final boss every time, instead, I would love to see him struggling more during fights.
Overall, solid season, I will definitely watch season 3. But I hope the production gets better.
Kranst
The second season of The Eminence in Shadow has seen a substantial increase in overall quality. In a way, it feels closer to what one would assume was the original vision of the author, aside from the mediocre filler episode. While the production standard has grown to match the level of the content, the most notable positive differences have been in the writing. The comedy bits are more fun this time around, development seems to be taken a little more “seriously,” and the more fleshed-out world also better serves as the personal playground of the main character. Continue watching if you liked the first season.
Kariwm_Klawm
Love the light novel, have enjoyed the manga as well. I felt that unlike the first season, which I thoroughly enjoyed I didn't enjoy the second season so much. This is because my absolute favorite section of Cid's journey was covered in 10 seconds. It left a hollow and unsatisfying feeling in me and made the final ending of the show confusing and hollow. The most important parts of Cid's journey for me have always been those that are not really following the major plot and ludicrous shenanigans are going on. When I read the novel and manga both mediums hadn't reached season 2 finale.Whilst I feel the finale has a satisfying ending and could potentially lead to a fantastic season 3, the potential drop in quality of their risky plot decision, mixed with skipping my favorite part of the story left me rather upset at season 2. Whilst I wouldn't say its not worth watching I'd really only suggest watching season 2 if season 3 is good.
nkz9lt2
Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute returned with its long-awaited second season, based on a cliffhanger from the first season that showed that the war between Shadow Garden and the Cult of Diablos would begin, in addition to all the apprehension involving vampires. finally in its most intense section, despite this being the most tense part of these 12 episodes, we have relevant events before this occurs with a lot of depth, explanation and exciting fights. Kage is initiated in the hook of the city of Lawless City, Red Light Districts, a poor community or better said, the place is a very poor outskirts, without any externalassistance, a true chaos, due to the existence of large-scale poverty and the Organized crime has taken over the region, of which 3 stand out, including the vampire sect, whose objective is to bring the vampire queen back to life, but in addition to this group, there are 2 others who are also magical and mystical. Continuing, Cid Kagenou or Shadow is taken in collusion with his sister to this location.
Cid reasons and understands that if he really wants to support himself financially he will have a mission: to earn money in suspicious and at least dubious ways.
The next arc is to mischaracterize and modulate currencies or capital to prevent the growth of the Cult of Devils in the economy, as they ended up becoming big enough to compete with Shadow Garden's associated companies, I won't add it to avoid spoilers.
In the middle of all this, we have an episode focused on the rest of those commanded by Shadow, which I see as diverting the focus, unnecessary and useless to the plot, but even so, it was important to give more screen time to Beta, Epsilon, Delta and Alpha , a right point, because many of them did not receive the depth and prominence they deserved this season, ending up diminishing the importance of these characters, causing Shadow's associates to be neglected, one could say that, given the notoriety of all of them, a fact that contradicts little screen time.
After this part we enter a more extensive part, with the final climax and a hook for the film, this being the vampire arc, where we have a constancy and fluidity of dynamic fights, animations and choreographies improved in color, brightness, luminosity and shape. of powers reaching their peak, encompassing improvements in spells, explosions, the design of the characters remains at a stage of stability, without major intranscurrences or possible challenges regarding problems in maintaining equal dexterity.
My specific impressions of the continuation of Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute are based on the fact that the art and animation retained a quality equal to its predecessor, the humor continues to be one of the show's most considerable achievements, a work that makes fun of the isekais, even though he is one, makes satire and uses the factor of the protagonist being cold, calculating, but also obsessed with achieving his goals as a way to guide the story with mastery. The fights lost a little impact, due to having accelerated the original material, and handling reused animations, some characters had more emphasis, while others less, featuring uneven character development, something natural to occur, due to being difficult to understand. to better present the most relevant characters of the Shadow cult, in a matter of 12 episodes, this is something normal and takes time, and cannot be done in a sloppy way, solely because it would compromise the cohesion of the narrative.
Despite the disagreements, it was a good season, which leaves you eager for more and for the film, as it is always good to remember that the time of AWAKENING is approaching.
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Turtezin
The only real downside of this season is that it’s only 12 episodes long. It delivers on story, humor, and some very well-animated fights. The main character continues to shine—overpowered yet hilarious, making every scene he's in entertaining. Side stories are present and enjoyable, but due to the short length of the season, it feels like some of them got cut or were only briefly touched upon. With just a few more episodes, there could’ve been a lot more depth to the supporting cast. The art style holds its ground, keeping the same quality and pace from Season 1. Even as the series approaches three years sinceits debut, the visuals remain impressive—especially for this type of anime. Action scenes are crisp, and the atmosphere fits the world perfectly.
I would 100% recommend this season, especially if you enjoyed the first one. It’s one of those shows I love to rewatch whenever I need a break from the muddy pool of mid-tier seasonal anime. It’s entertaining, well-made, and definitely worth your time.
Flacion
Shadow is back and he is as OP as ever. This time showing new schemes and more of his broken powers. We follow Shadow and shadow garden through different arcs, that each put focus on different side characters and aspects of shadow. Which show some more details about specific side characters, shadow garden and shadows relation to them. The plot still works much on the premise of Shadow seeing everything differently, and therefore misunderstand how everyone else sees his actions. This shows some interesting details about Shadow, but also the other characters and helps build both the character and the relations. The arcs shown are generally veryinteresting and are clearly made to show the interaction between Shadow and the world.
This season also shows some great world building, exploring more of the world and showing how big it is. This really helps showing how big some of the elements of the show truly are, and gives a better understanding of how powerful shadow garden and the cult is.
Though it is still very clear that they are playing on the aspect of this also being a parody on stereotypical isekais. This also limits how much character progression there is, but also needs to be kept in mind when something might seem off, since Shadow still sees it as a game while the rest does not.
The animation is still very smooth with some great details in the fight scenes. There is also a great focus on how all the different abilities are animated, both in and out of combat.
So overall it is a great continuation of the previous season, that sticks true to the action comedy this show is. Thereby i would definitely recommend this, if you liked the previous season.
StarlingBGYT
This season was flawless, and I won't give away any spoilers about season 2. However, the final episode left me with chills and heightened anticipation for the upcoming movie (season 3). The main character is exceptionally well-suited for the show, and the viewing experience remains perfect, whether in Japanese or English. In my opinion, each character receives ample screen time, and I wouldn't alter anything about either season 1 or 2. The balance in character exposure feels just right, contributing to the overall satisfaction with both seasons. The only thing I'd tweak is making season 2, like, 20 episodes just like we had in season1, ya know? But, like, overall, this season was legit perfect, and I'm so stoked for the new movie—I can't wait! 🙌
I do recommend watching this series.
