The best way to describe my experience of Jobless Reincarnation is to compare it to watching a well-produced documentary. I say this because in a documentary you don’t feel emotionally invested, but you’re still enjoying yourself. That’s Jobless Reincarnation for me, I don’t care for any of its substance, but it’s presented well-enough that it’s worth seeing.
First of all, this isn’t a series with strong characters when looked upon individually. However, the series is still engaging, because what the characters lack individually, their interactions with each other make up for it.
The slow-paced beginning lends the series some more build up before the obvious power fantasy begins, which I can appreciate, if only because the current events are enjoyable. At the same time, I can’t see many uses for the slow pacing, because there’s nothing worthy of such focus, as the setting is your standard fantasy setting. If the pacing was to make me care for the characters, then it failed, because while I like watching them, I don’t care for them. They’re too simple for me, even the protagonist. You could’ve easily done an establishing character moment for all of them and not spend an entire episode learning about them. Though, I still appreciate that they take the time to establish a relationship between the cast.
So, if you’re looking for a unique or interesting cast, story, setting, or premise, back out now because you’re not going to get it here.
In terms of character development, yes, Rudeus does develop, but it’s so bland and formulaic that it not only detracts from the rest of the series but feels like it was done to cross it off on a checklist. Even worse, it doesn’t give me much to look forward to. He’s barely mediocre as a character in general, for me at least.
So, if you can handle a simple and slow show that handles the little but still important aspects correctly, you’ll likely enjoy yourself…for now, at least. I say this because this series doesn’t have much to offer other than it’s slow build up. Yes, I understand Seinfeld is Unfunny is in effect here, but originality doesn’t impress me as much as having a well-written and entertaining cast and story from start to finish. So, while this series may have started many of the well-known isekai tropes, it doesn’t use them quite as well as its few good successors do. Overall, I won’t say this is the “best” isekai. It’s not too far behind, but that’s mostly thanks to the animation. Even with the eventual Wham Episode, my thoughts remain relatively the same.
Also, There's been a lot of talk about how perverted Rudeus is and some of the more uncomfortable aspects. Honestly, I'm fine with the perversion because it's so "out there" that it's funny as hell. The other uncomfortable aspects I'm also fine with because I tend to expect these things in your standard medieval fantasy world, it'd be weird if I saw the cast having better social values and morals than our world.
Presentation Over Substance
The best way to describe my experience of Jobless Reincarnation is to compare it to watching a well-produced documentary. I say this because in a documentary you don’t feel emotionally invested, but you’re still enjoying yourself. That’s Jobless Reincarnation for me, I don’t care for any of its substance, but it’s presented well-enough that it’s worth seeing.
First of all, this isn’t a series with strong characters when looked upon individually. However, the series is still engaging, because what the characters lack individually, their interactions with each other make up for it.
The slow-paced beginning lends the series some more build up before the obvious power fantasy begins, which I can appreciate, if only because the current events are enjoyable. At the same time, I can’t see many uses for the slow pacing, because there’s nothing worthy of such focus, as the setting is your standard fantasy setting. If the pacing was to make me care for the characters, then it failed, because while I like watching them, I don’t care for them. They’re too simple for me, even the protagonist. You could’ve easily done an establishing character moment for all of them and not spend an entire episode learning about them. Though, I still appreciate that they take the time to establish a relationship between the cast.
So, if you’re looking for a unique or interesting cast, story, setting, or premise, back out now because you’re not going to get it here.
In terms of character development, yes, Rudeus does develop, but it’s so bland and formulaic that it not only detracts from the rest of the series but feels like it was done to cross it off on a checklist. Even worse, it doesn’t give me much to look forward to. He’s barely mediocre as a character in general, for me at least.
So, if you can handle a simple and slow show that handles the little but still important aspects correctly, you’ll likely enjoy yourself…for now, at least. I say this because this series doesn’t have much to offer other than it’s slow build up. Yes, I understand Seinfeld is Unfunny is in effect here, but originality doesn’t impress me as much as having a well-written and entertaining cast and story from start to finish. So, while this series may have started many of the well-known isekai tropes, it doesn’t use them quite as well as its few good successors do. Overall, I won’t say this is the “best” isekai. It’s not too far behind, but that’s mostly thanks to the animation. Even with the eventual Wham Episode, my thoughts remain relatively the same.
Also, There's been a lot of talk about how perverted Rudeus is and some of the more uncomfortable aspects. Honestly, I'm fine with the perversion because it's so "out there" that it's funny as hell. The other uncomfortable aspects I'm also fine with because I tend to expect these things in your standard medieval fantasy world, it'd be weird if I saw the cast having better social values and morals than our world.