A fantasy series that’s not an isekai is a series that will always attract my attention; however, this one does things a little bit differently as it blends fantasy with modern reality. Mob kara Hajimaru Tansaku Eiyuutan (A Nobody’s Way Up to an Exploration Hero) had a pretty unique premise that made it seem interesting enough to check out; however, when you typically mix fantasy with reality, a show will typically fall into a specific set of tropes. Does Mob do this or does it shine enough to stand out?
Let’s go!
First Episode Synopsis
Kaito Takagi sticks to killing slimes on the first floor of a dungeon. He sells their cores for only 500 yen a pop meaning that this isn’t exactly the most lucrative way to make a living. All of that changes when he comes across a golden slime that drops an ultra-rare servant card. He asks the appraiser about it (hypothetically, of course) who tells him that it could sell up to 1 billion yen overseas. Kaito could live a pretty good life with that kind of money. He could buy new equipment or even buy a big house with a pool… every boy’s dream!
So, he decides to do the most obvious thing… use the card and summon the servant. He’s expecting a powerful Valkyrie named Sylphy to appear and while Sylphy does appear and while she is a Valkyrie, she’s just a little kid! Kaito kisses his 1 billion yen goodbye until he learns that she’s pretty overpowered.
There’s also Haruka Katsuragi, a nearby neighbor and friend who takes a certain interest in Kaito. Her father is also a dungeon explorer who swears to solve the mystery of the dungeons that appeared in the world thirteen years ago. She seems apprehensive about Kaito going into the dungeon though; however, that’s not going to stop him. Armed with his new Valkyrie child, he ventures down to the second floor vowing to become a great explorer like Katsuragi’s father.
Worth Watching?
MAYBE – I’m giving this a MAYBE because there truly wasn’t anything special about this first episode. There are a few mysteries set up here in the first episode but nothing too deep that you can’t take an educated guess at.
Katsuragi’s father is either dead, missing or something else happened to him equally as tragic. Why else would Katsuragi hate the idea of Kaito going down into the dungeon when she has such an obvious vested interest in him? Also, why would Kaito swear to become a hero and explorer like Katsuragi’s father? Why would he mention doing all of this for her is something generically tragic didn’t happen to him? It’s not exactly leaving things to the imagination here.
On top of that, Kaito is just another weak main character who wants to become the strongest. It’s a tale as old as time but the only saving grace here is that Kaito has a bit of a backbone. While he is nervous about going down into the dungeon’s second floor, he musters up the courage to do it on his own… although having an overpowered servant by his side kind of helps things.
Outside of this, the only unique aspect the show has going for it is the fact that you have weapons and summoned beings in the real world. They talk about how the dungeons appeared thirteen years ago but they don’t explain how magic and whatnot came about. Did they arrive with the dungeons? Is it more primitive and I’m overthinking it? (Kaito did kill slimes using bug spray, after all, and his summon was the only one seen using magic.) If it remains grounded in reality, it could be the unique hook to save this show from being completely bland.
To be honest, it wasn’t holding my attention that much. When you find yourself checking the clock on the first episode, that’s typically a bad sign BUT there is some promise to be had here so I’m going to give this the three-episode rule. Besides, even if it’s mediocre at best, it’s only running for 11 episodes so it’s not as if it’s going to be a huge time commitment. I might just see it through on that alone.
We’ll see, though. Just don’t expect too much out of this series. If you want something deeper and more rooted in fantasy… look elsewhere.
