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The OuterhavenThe Outerhaven
Home»News»Entertainment News»Anime & Animation News»Anime First Reaction: Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita

Anime First Reaction: Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita

By Josh PiedraOctober 8, 2022

It’s another isekai. It’s gotten to the point where the novelty has worn off. Today, it just seems like studios are scraping the bottom of the barrel to find something that sticks. Most of the time, in order to stick out, an isekai needs a hook. This show is about a guy who gets reincarnated as a sword. In fact, that’s exactly what the title of this show is in English. For you purists, it’s Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita. Does the hook of being a sword do anything to make this interesting enough to watch?

Let’s Go!

First Episode Synopsis

A guy dies and becomes a sword.

No, really… that’s how this show opens. There wasn’t much to the death. It’s assumed he was killed by a car at night (No Truck-kun!? DISAPPOINTED!). We didn’t even get to see what the guy looked like.

Now, he’s in another world as a sword. He has telekinesis so he can use that to fly. He kills some goblins trying to steal him and learns that monsters in this world have crystals inside of them. If he cuts their crystal, they die, and he absorbs their powers. So if Mega Man were a sword…

He only gets 10 skill slots so he assigns what he thinks will be useful and ventures out further and further each day, encountering stronger enemies and acquiring new skills. We then switch to the other side of the story where a slave cat girl is being mistreated by her cruel masters. They are eventually attacked by a two-headed bear and, of course, the sword just happens to be nearby. (Well, he was stuck in the ground for a month because the forest eats magic so he lost his ability to use his skills).

You should know the rest but in case it’s not painfully obvious… the girl pulls the sword, he replenishes his magic, they fight and kill the bear, and now she’s no longer a slave. So, she chooses to being the sword’s wielder so she can become stronger and become the first black cat girl to evolve like the cute little humanoid Pokemon that she is.

Worth Watching?

MAYBE – Stories like this are a dime a dozen and while the first episode had an incredible soundtrack, the plot was just very mundane and, at times, lazy. How many times are we going to see a main character… sword, human, vending machine, etc… just become overpowered in another world? It’s been done to death I’m, quite frankly, just sick and tired of it.

It’s obvious that this girl, whose name is Fran, by the way, is going to get stronger because the sword is already overpowered. Would have been nice to make them incompatible from the start and have her work towards being worthy of wielding the sword (whom she named Teacher). Would have been a nice way to put a limiter on the sword’s OP abilities and have her work to unlock them one-by-one.

Instead, she just gets it all from the start and while she probably will have to get used to using Teacher, I can’t really see where the show goes from here in order to keep it interesting. Shows like this blow their load in the first episode and usually degenerate into mediocrity. I’ll give the show a chance to see if that’s the case here but, I’m not really expecting much.

anime first reaction Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita
Josh Piedra
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Josh has been an anime fan for nearly twenty years. In addition, he is a light novel author with over 25 books published as well as the owner of Meteora Press, his personal publishing label. Anime and otaku culture isn't Josh's only area of expertise. He also has a Bachelor of Arts in Game Design and has created a handful of independent games along with a deep working knowledge of the gaming industry.

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