Anime Review: I'm Quitting Heroing!
Jan. 14th, 2023 08:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennariaI'm Quitting Heroing! - 2022, available on Hi-Dive (via Amazon Prime, as a premium subscription)
Amount watched: 12 episodes (entire first season)
Official description: After defeating the despicable Demon Queen, Leo Demonhart does not earn a hero’s welcome, and those he fought to protect now regard him with suspicion and hostility. With nowhere else to go, Leo seeks employment with his former nemesis!
Weeb rating: 3 or 4 out of 10 - for something that gives the impression of a DnD remix at first blush, there's a lot of anime stereotypes and Japanese culture mixed in. To pick the most obvious: "I have made a mistake! Clearly the way to make amends is to commit ritual suicide." Which the character fails to do, because he's part dragon, and can't stab himself in the stomach because swords can't pierce dragon scales. (Also, trying to avoid spoilers: the climax of the series is based on a character choosing to deal with a big issue in a way that I've seen in anime a lot more than in other media. I'd be very curious how people without anime background react to that ending.)
Ass rating: 2 out of 10. A major character is a succubus, and drawn with the stereotypical succubus build - but she's dressed modestly, and reacts like a Victorian virgin to the mere suggestion of kissing.
Shit rating: 3 out of 10. You do spend a good portion of the first episode or two kind of wanting to shake Leo, but then he settles down and proves he's more than just your standard anime 'I can inexplicably hit harder than anyone else' shonen hero. He's actually got a good grasp of what makes people tick and how to make them do what he wants them to do, without them having to juggle the Idiot Ball first. Likewise, when the other characters Learn a Lesson, it lasts beyond the end of the single episode. Advantages of a single-season anime based on a light novel, perhaps.
Violence rating: 5 out of 10. Mostly cartoonish, up until the last two or three episodes - then it's really, really not.
Crack rating: 4 out of 10 - mostly due to the premise. (The Demon Queen tells Leo fuck no, she's not hiring him; the Queen's Generals take him off to the side and offer him a trial run, because he did defeat them. But he has to be in disguise, because the Demon Queen did tell him to fuck off. …to be fair, that's the high point of the crack.)
Actual opinion: First of all, full admission: I watched this all in a marathon, which is not usual behavior for me. If I'm watching on my own, I try a taster of the first episode, then go back as I'm in the mood for a particular series. But I was visiting a good friend who's a fellow anime fan, and she'd tried the first couple episodes and suggested the series.
The first episode is absolutely over-the-top, and we spent a significant period of time yelling at the screen because WTF, Leo, what are you doing - if you want to be hired, that is absolutely not how to do it! But from there it settled down. It's still cheerful, and low-grade crack, but it's also true that every time we yelled something at the screen, a character would echo what we just said. And then you hit the climax, and the ending, and…I don't know. The ending makes logical and emotional sense! But it didn't resonate with me the way the earlier part of the series did. I liked it, but I don't think I'd re-watch it.
Next week on Fifty Fannish: Woodpecker Detective's Office!
Amount watched: 12 episodes (entire first season)
Official description: After defeating the despicable Demon Queen, Leo Demonhart does not earn a hero’s welcome, and those he fought to protect now regard him with suspicion and hostility. With nowhere else to go, Leo seeks employment with his former nemesis!
Weeb rating: 3 or 4 out of 10 - for something that gives the impression of a DnD remix at first blush, there's a lot of anime stereotypes and Japanese culture mixed in. To pick the most obvious: "I have made a mistake! Clearly the way to make amends is to commit ritual suicide." Which the character fails to do, because he's part dragon, and can't stab himself in the stomach because swords can't pierce dragon scales. (Also, trying to avoid spoilers: the climax of the series is based on a character choosing to deal with a big issue in a way that I've seen in anime a lot more than in other media. I'd be very curious how people without anime background react to that ending.)
Ass rating: 2 out of 10. A major character is a succubus, and drawn with the stereotypical succubus build - but she's dressed modestly, and reacts like a Victorian virgin to the mere suggestion of kissing.
Shit rating: 3 out of 10. You do spend a good portion of the first episode or two kind of wanting to shake Leo, but then he settles down and proves he's more than just your standard anime 'I can inexplicably hit harder than anyone else' shonen hero. He's actually got a good grasp of what makes people tick and how to make them do what he wants them to do, without them having to juggle the Idiot Ball first. Likewise, when the other characters Learn a Lesson, it lasts beyond the end of the single episode. Advantages of a single-season anime based on a light novel, perhaps.
Violence rating: 5 out of 10. Mostly cartoonish, up until the last two or three episodes - then it's really, really not.
Crack rating: 4 out of 10 - mostly due to the premise. (The Demon Queen tells Leo fuck no, she's not hiring him; the Queen's Generals take him off to the side and offer him a trial run, because he did defeat them. But he has to be in disguise, because the Demon Queen did tell him to fuck off. …to be fair, that's the high point of the crack.)
Actual opinion: First of all, full admission: I watched this all in a marathon, which is not usual behavior for me. If I'm watching on my own, I try a taster of the first episode, then go back as I'm in the mood for a particular series. But I was visiting a good friend who's a fellow anime fan, and she'd tried the first couple episodes and suggested the series.
The first episode is absolutely over-the-top, and we spent a significant period of time yelling at the screen because WTF, Leo, what are you doing - if you want to be hired, that is absolutely not how to do it! But from there it settled down. It's still cheerful, and low-grade crack, but it's also true that every time we yelled something at the screen, a character would echo what we just said. And then you hit the climax, and the ending, and…I don't know. The ending makes logical and emotional sense! But it didn't resonate with me the way the earlier part of the series did. I liked it, but I don't think I'd re-watch it.
Next week on Fifty Fannish: Woodpecker Detective's Office!