In this anime, it follows the same basic premise of so many other isekai animes, starting with the mc waking up in a fantasy world, being OP, meeting with different kinds of girls, and fighting all kinds of monsters, nothing new to see here right? Well let me tell you this one actually entertained me, just right about when i thought i had enough of this type of anime premise. Arc is a young gamer who wakes up in a fantasy world that resembles the types of games he plays, so he is well aware of his own powers/skills, which makes him quite competent, and he enjoys his new surroundings, and charming enough he reacts to all the fantastical things around him like a real person would, even fanboying to a hilarious degree. Despite having a fancy set of armor, and all the powers he could ever want, he realizes he looks like a skeleton due to some vague curse, but he shakes this off immediately, but being self aware enough to keep his face hidden so as not to scare anyone. At first his only desire is to get money to pay for large meals to satisfy his large appetite, but he begins to put his new powers to better use. He goes on simple missions/mercenary jobs with relative ease, encountering an adorable fox spirit named ponta, who becomes his loyal companion. Unlike most anime MC's, arc has no qualms about killing or stealing money from the bandits or monsters he encounters, while this may seem heartless, the anime makes damn sure you know these villains are irredeemable and deserve their comeuppance. Eventually arc encounters a slaver's ring that takes sadistic pleasure in capturing and torturing their prisoners, especially elf girls. A dark elf warrior name Arianne encounters Arc while trying to free her kin, realizing his power can be useful, they team up together to free the captured elves and end the slave trade. On their mission they team up with a clan of ninjas that come with their own badass magical powers. The show keeps the story simple with arc and arianne fighting the slave trade and spending their nights eating together. The characters are all quite charming, and are very heroic without being too dumb, which is rare since most mc's have a rule against killing or exacting revenge. Arc is quite noble, playing the ideal hero he looks like, but he is still quite a goofball, deepening his voice, laughing maniacally, and fanboying over everything. Arianne is gorgeous but also a badass, she works on her own racism and mistrust against humans, with her partnership with Arc making her see humanity's positive traits. I just love seeing them together all the time, and despite considering them a battle couple, they don't seem to be romantic with each other yet. They do seem to be attracted to one another, but until Arc breaks his curse, i'm not sure if their relationship will get an upgrade, still I ship it. The worldbuilding is surprisingly done well, with the elf culture and fantasy world being explored, especially the food. Due to its premise with the slave trade, this anime can be quite dark at times, in fact the first episode starts off with an attempted rape, and that is certainly not the last one, there are also many moments of the slavers demeaning or humiliating the elfs girls, its actually shocking that this anime did not receive the same heat that fantasy anime like goblin slayer and rise of the shield hero got. Despite the dark moments, the anime is mostly lighthearted and the characters are mostly laid back, but the dark themes are always present. Like goblin slayer and other anime of its kind, i understand that the rape scenes and detestable villains are necessary to create a cathartic feeling once the villains are killed by the heroes, which is done satisfyingly in this anime. The action scenes are well animated, and sprinkled enough through the series so they are not overwhelming or underwhelming, action is used in a natural way for the story, with ARC displaying impressive magical abilities. I'm actually not a fan of super OP heroes being able to kill their opponents without much struggle, due to that being boring, but like i said the evil villains in this, make it so much more satisfying to watch, and your left feeling grateful that Arc has the power to stop them. Funny enough i was not going to give this anime a chance until I saw the opening theme song one day, Arc reminded me a lot of goblin slayer and overlord, and once i binged watched all 12 episodes in one night I noticed quickly the series possessed all of my favorite aspects from those anime as well, which made this anime truly captivating to me. If you're a fan of dark fantasy that can provide you with catharsis, then I recommend this one for you. But I suggest you have something to eat first, because the food in this anime will leave you salivating.
