Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki

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. But at 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.

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, then that'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!

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 be fair, 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), b…

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.

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 or going 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.

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.

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 college student 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 fu…

This is a kingdom builder anime but with a twist; instead of having a very intelligent main character, they just made the entire world retarded (This is not a good thing). The story of realist hero is good because it's a kingdom builder which is a lovely genre. The more you pay attention to detail and the more you know however, the more the story unravels. The 'wise words' that the main character speaks are often extremely obvious and the fact that the other characters didn't realise something before just means they're stupid, not that the main character is smart. Wise quotes from the main character like: "In my world the further north you go the colder it gets" don't do him many favours when you realise that people can live below the equator. The worldbuilding also isn't great with there existing localised tsunamis somehow? That's not how tsunamis work. It's a shame but the more you ignore the story and the details of the worldbuilding the better the main empire building storyline becomes. The animation is bland but passable, as are the characters. Some of the character's actions are completely nonsensical however. You don't pledge your undying unwavering loyalty to someone because they told you a titbit about forests. As mentioned earlier the attempts to make the main character seem intelligent ring somewhat hollow because while he is smart sometimes, often it's just other people being made stupid to make the main character seem intelligent for saying incredibly basic things. Overall this is a very suboptimal implementation of an okay story in a good genre. It can be enjoyable to watch if you focus on the main storyline and ignore the nonsensical parts. You'll probably be able to enjoy it if you like empire building anime. If you're not sure if you like empire building anime, watch a different one first, like 'that time I reincarnated as a slime'.

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 than you 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

TLDR I really enjoyed this. It's intelligent and focuses on rebuilding and improving rather than heroes and battles. Its funny, smart and really satisfying. I highly recommend this for basically anyone whose looking for something a little more mature than the superkid hero thing. Cast The protag is incredibly intelligent, perhaps ridiculously so, but it is believable for a well read, rational person to know this stuff. The 'found family' cast are what really make this show special though, he's not doing this alone and that really helped carry me through the show. Liscia in particular is a rock, quietly carrying the king through his ordeals. They're mature, smart and funny people. Plot It's fair to say unless you watch all episodes over both parts I don't think you'll fully appreciate this, as the first season really deals with him creating stability. Above and beyond that there's not a lot to say that isn't in the title. That's what it's about.

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 do one 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.

Let's keep this short... For a show that is ostensibly about realism, it is ridiculously idealistic. If idealistic fantasizing is your thing, this show might speak to you. But it doesn't speak to me. To paraphrase a line near the end, "this show and I are like oil and water." Initially, I was fairly optimistic. The main character does appear to act like a realist insofar as he tries to accept situations are they are and deal with them accordingly. However, this realism is quickly undercut by the idealistic way in which events occur and play out. There is no exploration of grey areas and morality. The viewer is presented shallow, black and white interpretations of problems that are resolved with unrealistic ease that often came across to me as almost hyper-nationalistic. In addition to this and as is usually the case with harem anime, the show exists as a male power fantasy. Regardless of one's opinion of harem as a genre, however, it is undeniable that the harem genre is inherently unrealistic. The whole point of harem is that it is an idealistic, sexual fantasy. I rate this show a 2 because it is still better than a lot of the other isekai cookie cutters and as a result I was actually able to finish it. But it's a far cry from what I was hoping it would be.

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 decided to 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.

Generally,this is 40% a harem and 60% political yap. Its different from other isekai but have the same fundements I enjoyed it as something to watch in the background while doing other things as some episodes are just repetitions of him figuring out how to solve problems with his worlds solutions. Season one had a bit more action Vs harem which could've made it more interesting. Overall season one focused on character development and introduced majority of the supporting roles. Season two was ok however it was focused more on harem and the romance of the anime. Additionally some episodes where boring and quiet confusing however the plot twist at the end added the context needed. Originally, I wanted to rate it a 6 however a 7 is more fair as it does the job of entertaining you and keeping you engaged in most episodes. It lost me tho with the harem as 5 wives is crazy but I would be interested in a season 3.

This is a decent-to-good show. In many ways this is similar to That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime. It's about 50% harem and slice-of-life hijinks, and 50% about the politics of (re)building a kingdom. I'm content with the former, and a potential fan of the latter. This show's execution of them is... alright. It's not amazing or anything -- it's not like watching Tyrion's machinations in King's Landing from Game of Thrones -- but it was fun more often than not. The slice-of-life and harem stuff is the weaker aspect. The characterizations of the girls are middling -- it's not to the highs of Mushoku Tensei, but it's better than many of the total unambitious isekai like Dungeon Depths. There's a cooking show and they all make ahegao faces when they eat food. There's a couple date-night scenes. There's some middling jealousy gags. This is all... fine? There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it passes the time. The nation-building is the more interesting part. It's here where the show comes alive, but it's also where some of its more glaring flaws are evident in places where its ambition outstripped its ability to execute. First, I applaud the show for showing internal pushback in some of the reforms that the protagonist pushes. This is exactly the type of thing I wanted to see in Slime Tensei that we never got. Here, the pushback escalates quite severely and is a major plot point. It could have been handled a bit better than what we got -- we don't really see a reason for *why* the pushback occurs, we just here that there are "corrupt noblemen" that form a monolithic opposition. Still, it's better than nothing, and the rebellion + invasion arc along with the subsequent negotiations is one of the two highlights of the show. As for some of the bad aspects: 1) There's quite a bit of what I call "LN adaptation jank", where plot points are too rushed and some things come out of nowhere while others that seem important fade into irrelevance without being brought up again. 2) Several episodes are essentially just a repeat of the protagonist becoming aware of a problem, him stating how the modern world solves a problem, and everything is fixed without further issue. Many of these were outright boring, and I found myself alt-tabbing to read news articles. 3) The "Realist" part of the Realist Hero is something I would have loved to see, but this show fumbles it completely. The protagonist does almost everything according to normal anime sensibilities: he cries and feels awful when he hurts his enemies, he takes blame for things that obviously aren't his fault, he's humble to the point of obsequiousness, etc. Sometimes he turns to the camera and starts quoting Machiavelli, but almost all of the bad things he does happen *offscreen*, and are oftentimes done by other people entirely. Sometimes the protagonist raises his voice as if to claim "this is the rough way the world works!" but this just sounds *completely* ridiculous in the dub. The only thing we actually see that's maybe sort of bad is when he kills some noblemen at a meeting. Without the actually putting in the effort for it to seem plausible, the "Realist" part falls flat, which is a shame since I hate the typical anime moral code and would have been more than happy to see something more realistic in that sense. To end on a high note, there's a fairly good twist at the end of S2 that puts many of the previously anomalous actions of some characters into context. This was the second of the two highlights of the show for me I was waffling between giving this show a 7 or an 8. A 7 might be a bit mean but probably more accurately reflects my true feelings -- the fact that I was willing to alt-tab in some episodes is indicative that some parts were a drag. Still, this is a decent show overall, and I hope we get a season 3 at some point.

I like the concept of isekai anime which is relaxed with a little fighting, because according to the title which emphasizes the realist thinking of heroes and improving a kingdom, it is certain that repairing a rotten kingdom is not always by fighting, but in the political economy, customary and cultural policies apply in realizing the concept of the story. this anime. In the story we are shown various things that caused the kingdom to experience a crisis and how the MC handled the situation by quoting several histories and books by famous figures. In my opinion, this isekai anime which is very good does not only provide fan service, Harem, dungeons, adventures etc. which feel bland. but also provides lessons in economic, political and military concepts as well as tactics in solving problems. Even though it has a military and political conspiracy genre, it is still easy for the audience to enjoy, even for re-watching at a later date. It's very rare for anime to provide education. Most anime today are full of fan service and naive MC thinking with unreasonable storylines with overpowering powers that don't know their origin.The added value of this anime is also because it explains economic concepts, politics, race concepts, magic concepts and infrastructure. As a complement to the supporting material for the isekai kingdom story, I am looking forward to the continuation of season 3 of this anime. So my conclusion and assessment are as follows, Storyline score: 8. character development score: 7 (weakness here is because there are few characters and many characters have multiple roles, this is a bit inconsistent in the concept of a work story which usually involves many roles)., for music score: 6 (not very impressive, and the music also doesn't play a role in several scenes under various conditions). For the score graph: 7 (overall good but lacking support for the fighting scenes which look minimal to standard martial art choreography). I recommend this anime because it is an isekai anime which has advantages over most other isekai anime.

I really wish that there was something that I could pull out of this ungodly boring story that just carried on foreve. It's insanely bland and it drags on and on as the result of it. I think the most important episode should have been moved into a much more relevant place then the finale. There is just too little for me to be able to pull together a lot of positive information. The characters were actually adequate, a couple were at the top all the time, all of the people he brought in in search of additional cabinet members or food connoisseurs or those that know how to battle. They were good characters. Out of all of the ones that were brought in, the one of greatest importance at the time, Tomoe, never showed up again until a shopping trip late in from mid season 1 until season 2 for a brief/half episode shopping trip and then at the outro of the last episode at which she had about four words. I'm curious what the point was of bringing her in if they didn't anticipate sticking to the original demon Army theory. The promise was set up to focus around the demons that were invading the North country and nothing was done with them. Instead, basics on how to build a society took precedence didn't nobody can deny that that's one of the most boring things you can experience. The war episodes, 9-11 or thereabouts, were good. I really enjoyed those and I thought maybe we were going to have hope for something better, but that didn't happen either. The harem was thrown together in an emergency as if it was a forgotten subplot to support an iseakai. I absolutely have to say that Lecia got screwed and so did we! She was probably the best character out of the entire show but was never developed and was always pushed to the side. She should have had a more implemental effect on how things went and how someone ran his life day to day. Why did I keep on going to the end? Well, I thought maybe there'd be more stories and ways of handling things that might get better, but instead we got filler episodes at 21, 22, 23 and 24. I don't know who put that together and thought it was a good idea to push filler episodes at the very end of the last season, but they need to put in a corner and told to stand in time out. It took me a long time to get through and I'm sorry to tell people that this isn't worth your while because I know to some people it's going to be, but I can't really recommend that with a full conscience behind it. As difficult as it was for me to get through this, I'm going to throw a mixed feelings on it and a mid-level ranking. There may have been a lot more of negative things in this review, but I still feel that there could be something redeeming for someone.

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 kindness in 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.

Finished the anime, hoping it would became better. Never did. Plot: 0 Story is full of plot holes. Everything that gets added to the plot, adds a plot hole too. In a realistic period of great famine, the reign was at its most peaceful days? And given it was realistic, the king decided to let people know that even squids could be cooked and ate. I wonder what would have been the case if it wasn't realistic, lol. Characters: 0 Bland, everyone surrounding MC is a yes... girl with 0 personality. 0 depth to all other characters. There is no persona, just black and white of an emotion. Once again, another anime that speaks for the industry's todays condition.

Generic-looking isekai becomes acquainted with Niccolò Machiavelli, who is name-dropped all the time. Well, he's an important figure in political philosophy, and his namesake, in addition to the clunky title, give a firm grasp of what this series offers. I really want to like this one a lot more than I do, because it's one of those rare fantasy/isekai anime that focuses on often overlooked aspects of any city--fantasy or otherwise--namely, statecraft and diplomacy. Usually we get the bog-standard heroes on their journey, dispatching villains like your typical shounen heroes, or two warring kingdoms--one BAD, the other GOOD. There does seem to be a bit of the latter, perhaps, but I suspect the actual situation will become more complex, in light of one of the plot developments unveiled in an early episode. It's easy to overlook the relatively low-budget compared to plenty of recent anime, as this is more concerned with world-building and scenario writing, but outside of being a little more creative than the average isekai, this looks and feels awfully generic. The camera work is of the slow side-panning variety, and the composition is often mediocre, if not outright bad. I say scenario writing rather than simply "writing" because the situations the characters have to work their way out of as a kingdom are far more interesting than the actual characters, dialogue, or anything else. Maybe that shouldn't be a surprise, given the long, clunky title "How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom," which embraces the overly explanatory and very non-poetic naming strategy of Japanese light novel series that are now popularly adapted in the anime industry. The story begins simply enough. Elfrieden Kingdom is in decline and unable to pay what they owe to the, rather goofily named, Gran-Chaos Kingdom (What is this? Sonic the Hedgehog?). They use the hero summoning magic, whisking Kazuya Souma away from earth, hoping to use him as a bargaining chip; fortunately, Souma took a few humanities classes at college, so he's prepared to run a kingdom. The king with a mommy complex abdicates the throne, and his wife treats him like a widdle baby and cleans his ears all day. Souma takes over and is supremely competent compared to the king, and from this point on, most of the dialogue is puffing up Souma's ego and pleasantries about how grand everyone is. The remainder of dialogue is focused on strategizing and bureaucrat-speak. Souma corrects many of the kingdom's problems, restructures the economy, delves into agriculture, builds roads and a new port town, diversifies the food supply, and strategizes endlessly about how to please the people and maintain good relations with neighboring kingdoms. All of this is pretty good, if you're into that kind of thing, though I think I'd prefer it to go even deeper and with more realism, but I will say that it does a fairly good job with these elements, and there aren't many anime series that are comparable. The second half of the series consists mostly of war, and the strategy involved is a lot more shallow and humdrum. Worst of all is the characters are one-dimensional thus far. Most of them disappear for multiple episodes and only pop up for plot points, and they don't have a whole lot to do. Maybe they will have more time to become less flat by the second season, but only Souma and the princess have much chemistry at all, and funny enough, the relationship, character design of the two characters, and overall story seem very similar to Amagi Brilliant Park--I haven't watched it myself, but the resemblance of these elements are undeniable, and it seems a lot was lifted from that series. Another aspect that is kind of tiresome is every single attractive female character seems to be destined to become part of Souma's harem, and they hint at it all the time in a not so subtle fashion (lest we forget). It makes sense that a role as high status as a king would receive a lot of attention from the ladies and could easily result in a harem, but like similar light novel series, such as Shield Hero, this is probably more so authorial (and audience) wish-fulfillment more than anything needed or well-incorporated. Don't get me wrong, I think series like Mushoku Tensei handle harem building better than what is seen here, so I'm not opposed to it, but anime exploring this theme always confront it in a comedic/dumb/gaggy Tenchi Muyo-esque fashion. Given the strategic nature of the show, one might think a harem could be interesting, but the dialogue and character interaction suggest a far more mediocre reality.