Peter Grill is an adventurer and the "strongest man in the world." While he has a girlfriend named Luvelia with whom he has sworn to spend the rest of his life, Luvelia still believes that babies are delivered by storks, and in the two years since their relationship began, Peter and Luvelia have not progressed beyond holding hands. In the meantime, various other women, such as two ogre sisters and an elf, all want him so that they can bear strong children. Peter has to avoid all manners of temptation and plots, all while feeling guilty toward Luvelia.
Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time (known as Peter Grill to Kenja no Jikan in Japanese) is an Ecchi Sex Comedy fantasy manga written and drawn by Daisuke Hiyama. Originally starting out as a oneshot from the Having sex with Monster Wives anthology, the manga now runs in the Futabasha Seinen magazine Monthly Action since 2017. Seven Seas Entertainment has licensed the manga in English.
A 12-Episode Anime produced by Wolfsbane ran during the Summer 2020 Anime season with a second season being announced
in November 2021. It's also been licensed by Sentai Filmworks. The second season, Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time: Super Extra, aired on October 10, 2022.
General Tropes
- Aerith and Bob: Peter is a very common name, while Luvelia is more fantasy sounding.
- Bad Liar: Peter is absolutely terrible at lying, it's only due to luck and gullibility that he hasn't been caught yet.
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Even though the uncensored version shows Vegan's breasts, her crotch is without detail.
- Bee People: Goblins have a queen who is the only one who gives birth. The others collect semen and deliver it to her. Some members have the potential to become queens.
- Berserk Button: Peter's little sister Lucy's button is cheating men, due to their father having run out with another woman, which is why Peter is absolutely terrified of her finding out about the girls he has slept with.
- Big Prick, Big Problems: Mithlim may be 32, but she has the body of a child. Trying to have sex with a man of Peter's size is extremely painful.
- Blackmail: After Peter's Unwanted Harem rapes him, they threaten that if he tries to get away before they get pregnant, that they will tell Luvelia that they have had sex.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: One of the reasons why Peter and Luvelia haven't gone beyond holding hands is because of Luvelia's father, who is also the Guildmaster. And nothing would make him happier than to get rid of Peter.
- Brainless Beauty: The Alpaca sisters are noted to not be very bright but very hot.
- Clingy MacGuffin: The elves try to entrapt Peter by tricking him into putting on a bracelet that won't come off. The bracelet summons a being called Erosu that manipulates luck to force Peter into increasingly convoluted Accidental Pervert moments. Only elf magic can destroy the bracelet, so he eventually reaches Vegan who destroys it.
- Confirm Before Reveal: After Lucy discovers a pair of panties on the floor, she asks Peter if Luvelia has been over recently. After he says no she attacks him for cheating.
- Cute and Psycho: Lucy Grill, she is Peter's adorable little sister... until she gets mad. Such as when she joyfully tells Peter how she found their cheating dad and cut it off. She then chased down Peter with the intent to do the same to him when she suspected him of cheating on Luvelia.
- Cute Monster Girl: The Alpacas sisters and Piglette are both quite pretty despite being ogres and an orc. Hobgoblins are advanced goblins that resemble pretty women. The dwarves look like humanoid rabbits.
- Daddy's Girl: Luvelia is quite close to her father, and the thought of not being in her life is enough to make the Guildmaster reluctantly agree to the engagement between her and Peter.
- Darwinist Desire: The main reason so many girls are after Peter is because they want strong children. Only Piglette and Gobuko have genuine romantic interest in Peter, but while the latter legitimately wants to be with Peter and start a family together, the former's largely motivated by the thought of revenge against her orc brethren who ostracized her. (It's hinted that Lisa, the older of the Alpacas sisters, may also see Peter as more than a sperm bank when she points out how much better it'd be to elope with her and become the king of the ogres rather than be son-in-law to a guildmaster who hates his guts, but it's made quite clear she really enjoys watching Peter's physical prowess in action.)
- Dating What Daddy Hates: Luvelia's father would love nothing more than have Peter slandered and possibly killed, being an Boyfriend-Blocking Dad and all.
- Didn't Think This Through: The Guildmaster consistently fails to grasp that his plans to get rid of Peter would also end badly for him if they actually worked. Since they'd mean the Guild betrays an ally and then goes to war with them right after losing their own strongest warrior.
- Do You Want to Copulate?: This is basically what Mimi first asks Peter shortly after winning the tournament.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male:
- Many of the girls essentially force themselves upon Peter even after he tells them that he's not interested. It's supposed to be Played for Laughs but let's be honest. If this show was about a group of men trying to forcibly impregnate a female warrior against her wishes for the sake of comedy, the production staff would be lynched in the street.
- The Goblin arc notably averts this. Being assaulted by the goblins is considered traumatizing and a lot of effort is put into driving them off. One man notably considers killing himself to avoid it and he is only treated as foolish for not having more faith that he and the others will be saved.
- Expy:
- Tim Robinson, Peter's acquaintance, seems to be visually inspired by Vinsmoke Sanji, with his blonde hair and curly eyebrows.
- The Goblin Hunter is blatantly based on Goblin Slayer, though he slays goblins a lot differently in this series.
- Peter's little sister looks like a young female version of Guts.
- Eyepatch of Power: Betageune wears two and is called The Unseen Sword.
- Family of Choice: Lucy and Peter saw Gobuko as family.
- Foil: The head of The Order of St. Asparagus contrasts with Albatross Sanctos. Both are men willing to do terribly unethical things in the name of their daughters, but their approaches couldn't be more different. Sanctos wants his biological daughter to himself and hates the idea of her being with anyone. The order head wants to see his adopted daughter Menma find a mate to be happy with and have children. Sanctos would like nothing more than to see Peter dead than with his daughter, but hides his attempts to break them up from her, lest she leaves him completely. The order head tried to set Peter and Menma up. Sanctos just doesn't want his daughter to marry for selfish reasons, while the order head doesn't want Menma to marry Peter because of his promiscuity and his belief that Peter specifically is a bad choice. Finally, unlike Sanctos, the order head lets Menma leave to pursue Peter despite his misgivings so that she may be happy.
- Friends with Benefits: The Alpacas sisters don't mind having sex with Peter without being in love as long as he gets them pregnant eventually.
- Full-Name Basis: Lisa Alpaca always refers to Peter by his full name.
- Gag Penis: Apparently Peter's, and it's always represented by an elephant.
- Giver of Lame Names: Lucy gave Gobuko her name, Peter points out it's pretty lazy.
- Groin Attack: Lucy reveals to Peter she found their cheating father, beat him half to death, cut it off and shoved it in his mouth.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Luvelia's father agreed that it would be good if she married the tournament winner. He has to swallow his words when Peter (whom he really hates) wins the tournament.
- Hotter and Sexier: The manga might have ecchi scenes, but the anime includes explicit nudity (albeit censored in the mainstream broadcast).
- Humans Are Ugly: Orcs find humans repulsive and believe their pig-like features are beautiful. Because of this, they bully Piglette Pancetta, an orc girl who looks like a beautiful human woman.
- In the Blood: Both Peter and Lucy Grill are very strong.
- Interspecies Romance:
- Peter and the members of his Cute Monster Girl harem.
- Antonio Spartokos, an ogre, enters a relationship with Mitchie Peligrim, a human.
- It Amused Me: In the Menma arc, Peter mysteriously wakes up surrounded by treasure and livestock, with Luvelia missing, the resort town's legendary dragon missing, and with three penises. All of the other mysteries are directly connected to each other, but the extra penises are just a spell Vegan and Fruitalia cast because they felt like it.
- Just Eat Gilligan: Peter Grill seems to forget that he is officially the strongest warrior in the world and could very easily curbstomb the members of his unwanted harem if they don't leave him alone. Or at the very least, institute a best him to bed him challenge.
- The Klan: The Kill Goblins Immediately (KGI) squad is blatantly the Ku Klux Klan. They wear the pointed white hoods and are racist against goblins, rounding them up and killing them (though even Peter notes they are former victims of the actions of Goblins), even if they didn't do anything.
- Laser Guided Tyke Bomb: Piglette's plan is revealed to be this by conceiving Peter's child and raising it to take revenge on the Orcs who treated her like crap.
- Look Behind You: When the Alpaca sisters attempt to corner Peter, he shouts while pointing at the sky, prompting the girls to look up while he runs away.
- Lost Technology: The dwarves uncovered robotic technology from an ancient civilization. So far, Milthlim is one of the only people who can understand and work with it.
- Lost in Translation: The "Philosopher's Time" in the English title doesn't make much sense to most western fans. It's actually a literal translation of the Japanese term kenja no jikan, a phrase for the time after a man's refractory period when he's said to think more clearly—in context referring to Peter clearly thinking about how screwed he is after every sexual "encounter". A more accurate translation, albeit cruder, would probably be Peter Grill and Post-Nut Clarity.
- A Man Is Always Eager: Despite trying to resist, Peter Grill can't help but eventually frick the girls who are interested in him.
- Muscles Are Meaningless: Peter is pretty buff, but he easily defeats an Ogre who is a lot more muscled than him by far with a single halfhearted attack.
- My God, What Have I Done?: This is Peter's reaction every time he breaks his promise to Luvelia.
- Naked First Impression: Peter Grill meets Vegan Aldriel while they're both naked in bed and she's trying to obtain his semen.
- Older Than They Look: Mithlim Netherlant is 32 years old despite looking underage.
- One-Gender Race: Goblins are all female and have to mate with humans to have children.
- Oni: While they call themselves Ogres, the Alpaca sisters are basically this, having reddish skin, white hair and two horns on their foreheads.
- Only Sane Man: Peter’s practically screaming at the ridiculousness of his situation both in his head and outright to the girls.
- Organic Technology: The ancient robotic technology has some aspects of this, as it can evolve by taking in genetic material like semen.
- The Perils of Being the Best: Peter winning the tournament that declared him the strongest warrior in the land is what set the story's plot in motion.
- Plot-Inciting Infidelity: Peter is deeply in love with Luvelia and desires to marry her, but her complete ignorance of sex has left him deeply frustrated. His sleeping with other women is partially because he cannot fulfill any sexual desire with Luvelia and he notes how he cannot handle marrying her when they won't be doing anything more than hand holding. Although he does regret his actions later the very next morning.
- Raging Stiffie: Vegan curses Peter with one and the curse won't go away until he fricks her. Otherwise the curse will eventually damage his member and prevent him from ever getting an erection again. It is later pointed out that like in the real world, a permanent erection will eventually cause the member to die from lack of blood flow, unlike most fantasy stories where magic can cause an erection with no consequences.
- Readings Blew Up the Scale: Vegan uses her magic to summon a creature called Agape that can measure Peter's arousal levels. When Peter has an orgy with his harem, Agape blows up.
- Really Gets Around: Peter, not for a lack of trying to stop the girls, but they are persistent.
- Red Baron:
- Peter Grill is the World's Strongest Man.
- Lucy Grill is The Strongest Little Sister in the World.
- Secret-Keeper: Tim Robinson, the Guildmaster's aide, keeps to himself that he saw Peter naked in bed with Vegan Eldriel.
- Sex Comedy: It's a comedy series about a man and his Unwanted Harem of Cute Monster Girls who keep trying to get him to have sex with them so he can give them strong children. While the Fanservice goes beyond what a typical ecchi series shows and it's very clear that sex does happen, no actual sex is ever shown directly and it typically cuts to the morning after.
- Shout-Out:
- The party ends up encountering a Sharknado.
- Lucy peering through a hole in the wall she caused to a terrified Peter is straight out of The Shining.
- Peter is a member of the Yakeppachi Guild, this name is likely a reference to Osamu Tezuka's manga known as Yakeppachi's Maria.
- The buildup and easy defeat Peter hands the Ogre appears to look exactly like how Saitama fought Vaccine-Man in One-Punch Man.
- When Spartokos is enhanced with Vegan's magic and Piglette's food prior to his duel with Lisa, he gets the physique of 100% power Younger Toguro.
- Goblins are like the ones in Goblin Slayer, except gender-flipped.
- Erosu emerges from a sewer grate like Pennywise.
- When Vegan gets defeated by her sister Frutalia, Gobuko finds her lying in a small crater in the infamous Yamcha pose.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Peter blocked out his memories after supposedly seeing her die, so he completely forgot about Gobuko until she reintroduces herself and tries to save him.
- Unusual Euphemism: Aside of all the Sexual Euphemisms used by Peter's Unwanted Harem (particularly the Alpacas sisters) in regards to sex and obtaining his seed, the series' title itself is one: the "Philosopher's Time" part (賢者の時間, Kenja no Jikan) is a play on ''kenjataimu" ("sage/wise man's time"), a Japanese colloquialism referring to the post-orgasm period where a man is no longer impaired by sexual desire and can think clearly. (English speakers might better know the same terminology as "post-nut clarity." See Lost in Translation above.) Hence the various moments of Peter despairing after failing to ward off female advances, something that's even featured in the anime's ED.
- Unwanted Harem: Peter really didn't want a harem of monster girls all looking to get in his pants.
- We Have Become Complacent: Long ago, the dwarves and humans made an alliance to help defend the dwarf lands from monsters called semimoles, which have hides so tough they can only be harmed by weapons made of Orichalcum. Semimoles haven't been seen in a century, so everyone assumes they are extinct. Everyone started relaxing and forgot how to forge orichalcum, except for the studious Mithlim. When a semimole shows up, Peter is the only one strong enough to fight it with an orichalcum weapon provided by Mithlim. Peter then lectures everyone on relaxing and tells them to shape up and relearn how to forge orichalcum.
- Women Prefer Strong Men: That Peter is considered the strongest is the main reason why all the girls want to have his children.
- World's Strongest Man: Peter earns this title after winning the tournament. His sister Lucy is the strongest woman.
- You Need to Get Laid: The reason why the goblin women raid local villages is because they are repressed, and once Peter shows that having sex with a goblin calms them down, an agreement is made that pleases both humans and goblins: men will go into the goblin caves to occasionally have sex with the goblin women, and the goblin women will stop raiding human towns.
