Haruto is a NEET in real life who died in his room while playing his favorite mobile game. He is then given a second chance at life and reincarnated as the newborn Reinhart Zenfis... but he quickly gets abandoned by the royal family due to the magic appraisal system perceiving his magic capacity to be really low. But as it turns out, his magic capabilities are so strong that appraisal tools cannot properly calculate his true potential. It's a setup for an adventure of political intrigue in a world of swords and magic... but Haruto is not hyped for all this and wants to continue his sedentary lifestyle!
Am I Actually the Strongest? (Jitsu wa Ore, Saikyō deshita?) is a Web Serial Novel by Sai Sumimori which was first released on the site Shousetsuka ni Narou in 2018, later being picked up by Kodansha for publication as a series of Light Novels in 2019 with illustrations by Ai Takahashi. An anime adaptation aired in the Summer Season of 2023.
Provides examples of:
- Absurdly Low Level Cap: Subverted. Prince Reinhardt appeared to have a level cap of 02, resulting in his parents abandoning him and claiming he was stillborn. In actuality, his cap was off the charts, which is why it appeared as 02 instead of just 2.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Haruto creates a clone of himself and maps his own brain to create an A.I. to run it so he can have his shut-in lifestyle. However, the clone is just as lazy as he is and doesn't like to follow orders.
- Barrier Warrior: Due to what the magic-inspector mentioned at his birth, Hart believes the only magic he can use is barrier magic. He ends up using it to do just about anything.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Hart is the most laid-back guy in the whole world unless you threaten his family, in which case he will need a reason NOT to end you.
- Big Brother Instinct: Haruto can't help himself around Char and goes to extra lengths to entertain her. You certainly don't want to threaten her, as she is one of the few things that motivates him. He will also censor anything he feels she is too young to see.
- Blood Knight: Flay is quick to try and incinerate her opponents, even when Haruto asks her not to kill anyone.
- Break the Haughty: Shiva pretty much humiliates Giselotte, dishing out a Curb-Stomp Battle and making sure she won't forget it. Her mental state starts to deteriorate after that.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: The basic tenet of Reinhart/Hart/Haruto's character is that he is able to do just about anything, but he really wants to do NOTHING.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The reason why Giselotte survives her actions is because her death would create a political power void and she is needed to keep certain factions in check. A possible replacement simply isn't ready yet.
- Chuunibyou: Because Haruto got Char into anime at a young age she got way too into the magical girl genre. It doesn't take much to get her to think there is some sort of conspiracy at school. There is, but she had no reason to believe it.
- Dem Bones: Johnny is one of several skeletons knights working for Haruto.
- Expy: Shiva, Haruto's alter-ego, bears a striking resemblance to Zero. However he is more action oriented to Zero's master tactician, but he still involves some strategies.
- First-Episode Spoiler: Hart is the son of Gizelotte.
- God Is Flawed: The goddess who reincarnated Haruto forgot to give him an elemental affinity and gave him a magic level of 1,002 when the highest level on record is only 77 and the crystal balls can only accurately measure up to level 99.
- Gratuitous German: Charlotte seems to like german nicknames. "Schwarzer Ritter" means black knight and "Weiße Eule" means white owl.
- Golem: Gigan is a giant stone golem.
- Happily Adopted: The main character is adopted by a person passing by when he was a baby and enjoys his life with them.
- Hikikomori: In his past life, Haruto was bullied in school to the point where he became a shut-in, refusing to leave his room. Now he is trying to go back to that lifestyle, but things keep getting in his way.
- An Ice Person: Liza is an ice dragon, it comes with the territory.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Haruto casually mentions what would happen if more imperial soldiers were to attack. Gold points out he never said the attackers were imperial. Haruto then tries to play it off.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Reinhart is a lazy snarky self-centered jerk for the most part, but he loves his family, and will do anything to protect them.
- Laborious Laziness: Haruto seems to put a lot of effort into building a place for him to slack off all day, including going through the effort of developing a clone of himself to keep himself from being missed. Unfortunately, the clone is just as lazy as he is.
- Laser-Guided Karma: In the web novel, the men to abandon Reinhardt in the forest to die are killed by Flay before they can make it back to the castle.
- Giselotte abandoning her son in infancy keeps coming back to bite her.
- Magical Girl: Char becomes an avid fan of magical girl anime and Haruto eventually makes her an outfit to go along with it.
- Mook–Face Turn: Johnny, the other skeletons, and Gigan were all summoned to attack Char, but Haruto was able to hijack them. Even when he isn't actively controlling them they are friendly enough.
- Mugging the Monster: Anybody who picks an actual fight with Reinhart (Not his secret-hero persona, but just regular Hart), ends up shocked at just how fast, strong, and capable he really is.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Raiuss pulled strings to get Haruto into the academy, viewing him as a Worthy Rival, but realizes too late he has dragged him into his crazy mother's mess.
- New Life in Another World Bonus: The main character is given a magic level of 1,002. The problem with this, though, is that the planet magic detection tools only go up to 2 digits, occasionally 3, so everyone thinks he is only level 2. He also has no elemental affinity, so he could easily use them all.
- No Infantile Amnesia: Haruto remembers the day he was reincarnated. Justified as he already had an adult mind and understood what was going on.
- Offing the Offspring: The series starts with King Jilq and Queen Gizelotte having their newborn son abandoned in the woods because of the embarrassment his apparent level cap would bring them. Luckily he was more of a challenge than the monsters can handle, so they only think he died. Gizelotte also has no problems with plotting the deaths of her second son and stepdaughter.
- Parental Abandonment: The main character is abandoned by his birth parents, for having such a low level.
- Playing with Fire: Flay tosses fire around without a care in the world.
- Reincarnate in Another World: The main character is reincarnated by a goddess, with powers higher than everything else on the planet.
- She Is the King: The late Demon King was apparently a woman and implied to have reincarnated as Irisphilia.
- Slave Collar: Giselotte wears one, not that she would ever explain how she got it.
- Springtime for Hitler: When he is forced to attend a magic academy, Reinhart plans on flunking the entrance exam on purpose so he will get kicked out. Instead, his attitude in writing "I don't know" for most of the answers gets the attention of the eccentric professor of Ancient Magic Studies, who suspects there is more to Haruto than meets the eyes.
- It turns out the test was used more as a litmus test to see how much potential students already knew, having questions meant for the Imperial Sorcerers, and Haruto answered the questions about Barrier & Ancient Magic correct enough to impress the professor.
- The Starscream: Giselotte is plotting to overthrow the King and has been for years.
- Sure, Let's Go with That: Flay mistakes Haruto for the reincarnation of the Demon King. He doesn't correct her.
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Haruto takes absolutely no chances with the safety of his family, his friends or himself and places surveillance barriers in as many locations as possible.
- Swiss Army Super Power: As the main character lacks an element, the only magic he can use is barrier magic, but he can utilize a lot of creative uses with it.
- Thou Shall Not Kill: Zigzagged. Haruto seems to want to avoid killing people, shielding them from Flay's fire when she goes for the kill and is even against killing monsters who have done nothing against him personally. However, try to kill his family and all bets are off.
- Ultimate Job Security: Flay is a rather lousy maid, but has managed to keep her job since Haruto was a baby. She is rather strong in a fight, but as she doesn't hold back she can't be matched against human opponents.
- Underestimating Badassery: Everyone, including Hart himself thinks he is weak with only a magic-power level in the single digits, being "02". This is because the world he reincarnated in can only see the last two digits of his "1002" actual power level.
- Villainess With Good Publicity: Gizelotte The Flash Princess is the present queen, the Kingdom's heroine who slew the Demon King, and Hart's biological mother, but she is also a scheming witch who plots to assassinate Charlotte Zenfis for having a higher magic level than her. Fortunately, Haruto, under his "Black Knight" guise, not only answers her question of finding a way to be rid of him in her own throne room no less, he deftly defeats her and places a unique magical collar on her that he describes will decapitate her if she attempts to remove it, also applies a condition that, should it be broken, will apply the same effect, the condition being to no longer cause trouble with Haruto or his family ever again. Five years later and she's significantly disappeared from the public eye.
- Wicked Stepmother: Giselotte isn't just abusive to her son, but also her step daughter Marianne.
- Would Hurt a Child: Gizelotte has no issue with trying to kill a little girl for having a higher level cap than her. She keeps trying until she has bigger problems to worry about.
- World's Strongest Man: Haruto is far more powerful than any person in history, yet he simply wants a quiet, uneventful life.
