Short introduction
Fun fact, as I am starting to write this, I’m reading the last volume of Arifureta. I’ve been waiting so long, I think it’s been two years actually? I was tired of waiting for the last volume really. At last though, finally, I can read it. By the time I finish writing this review I’m sure I’ll have finished reading this last volume. Obviously, as any isekai, it had to have a damn long title: From commonplace to world’s strongest. Eh, we can agree it’s not the most ridiculous, actually quite decent for isekai standards.
So this is a novel review, but I still have to go and say one thing about the anime adaptation. And I want you all, people reading this, to pay extra attention to what I’m about to say.
Some words about the adaptation
Arifureta’s anime adaptation IS THE MOST GARBAGE PIECE OF TRASH that I have ever seen.
I would have actually put some harsher words, but I know someone who won’t let me do that. There are just no words that even begin to describe how bad the anime is. It’s a disgrace to the novel, author, readers, watchers, and the anime industry as a whole. It’s the perfect embodiment of a trash isekai adaptation really. Poor animation, garbage CGI, and even the sound is bad. And that were the decent parts about this adaptation. I’ll be honest, I have not watched it all, how could I? But I’ve watched the first few episodes, then some others to see if it got better.
Yeah so turns out, it didn’t get better. Nah, it got even worse if anything. From a standalone anime point of view, it would be bad, like really on the very bottom of the low-quality anime. But when you have read the novel, it’s even worse. Cause the story’s good, well except the adaptation doesn’t reflect that at all. And if you know the novel you understand why that is. So somehow, someone thought it’d be a good idea to put TWO ENTIRE VOLUMES INTO ONE SEASON. Yeah, you’ve read that correctly.
So obviously, doing something so stupid, nah, it’s not stupid at this point, it’s moronic, no offense, you wouldn’t get much of what makes Arifureta good. Oh and to make things even worse, they censored about everything, well it’s not even censored, they just downright changed or skipped entire parts to not have to censor stuff. And that stuff is actually important.
So they have managed to get bad art, bad animation, bad CGI, and bad sound. Then they managed to ruin the story, the scenario, humor, character development, and about everything else that was possible to ruin. I would have never thought it possible to mess up an adaptation so bad (and yet I’ve seen a ton of bad video game movie adaptations, god knows those are usually terrible). Aight, I think I’ve ranted enough for now. Some things have to be said though, and it had been a while since I had wanted to write my opinion about that trash.
If you liked the Arifureta anime, I’m sorry for you, you’ve got no taste and there’s nothing I can do to save you. Even from an objective point of view, it’s one of the most garbage anime released in the last 20 years.
Some warning words
Okay, now that this is done, let’s get started. I’ll start with the end this time around. Arifureta is one of my favorite book series. I do think it’s amazing, but I do realize it’s not for everyone. If you don’t like isekai, you can skip it. If you don’t like overpowered characters, you can skip it. If you don’t like the harem genre, you can skip it. If you can’t find fun in chunni, edgy, and cringe stuff, you can skip it. If you can’t handle sexual stuff in a book, skip it. If you are not open-minded, particularly regarding relationships and sexuality, please skip it instead of writing a review on MAL saying how immoral Arifureta is.
Yeah, that’s a lot I know. But if you don’t fall into those categories, even better, if you are the opposite, you will like Arifureta, love it even. Don’t let those idiotic reviews fool you, I’m pretty sure most of the ‘bad’ reviews you can find on MAL about Arifureta are saying how immoral it is. Bah, they just don’t get it, they are narrow-minded people who are blind to see how Arifureta is the total opposite of what they describe.
Story
Now, what is there to like in Arifureta uh? Well, first it’s an isekai, and somewhat original even if it doesn’t seem so at first. Now it’s not the most original story ever, but it’s unique enough and well written. The story starts pretty simply, typical isekai style. Class gets transported to a different world, and they all get overpowered right off the bat. But of course, you guessed it, there’s a catch. Everyone, including the teacher, becomes OP, everyone except one, Hajime Nagumo.
He gets the short end of the stick and even gets bullied by his classmates. And obviously, it had to get worse, he ends up falling into a dungeon in order to save his entire class. Now, this is something I really liked, he’s just going through hell right at the start. Like I was shocked it went as far as him losing his arm, not even talking about his mental state. Of course, what doesn’t kill him makes him stronger, and from a certain point, he decides to get back to his world at any cost. And so he’ll start his journey to get stronger, he’ll go and try to conquer all 7 dungeons that grant the most powerful magics.
That’s honestly all there is to the story. Well actually there’s a bit more, but I already spoiled enough eh eh. The story unfolds little by little, I’d even say it evolves. But the base his quite simple, yet, simple things are often enough. Still, I’d say the story, while actually pretty good and interesting, is the worst part of Arifureta. I do think Arifureta Zero brings more to the story and changes how you view it all, but more on this later.
Characters
I always find it hard to talk about things without introducing the characters first. So here we go, there are actually quite a lot of characters, and many are important. But I’ll only go over the main ones, and mention a few others. Arifureta wouldn’t be so enjoyable without all the interesting characters.
Hajime Nagumo
I’ve already talked about him, he’s the protagonist. He’s a synergist, basically, he can manipulate matter and craft stuff. He’s the weakest of the reincarnations. Then he gets stronger, way stronger. Along the way, he’ll obviously craft a ton of crazy things, and when I say crazy, I truly mean totally insane.
Oh, and after his little trip to hell, he becomes almost heartless and will kill anything that stands in his path. Yeah so basically he’s a true edgelord, and his appearance doesn’t help.
Yue
Along the way, he’ll meet Yue. Well, it’s not her birth name, it’s the name she was given by Hajime.
She’s a vampire and a very powerful mage. Oh and she basically can’t die since she regenerates automatically.
I should also mention she’s Hajime’s lover. And I mean that literally, I’ll talk about it later on.
Anyway, Yue is super cute while also beautiful and alluring. She also got this mysterious and badass vibe to her. And as Hajime, she’ll kill anyone blocking her path. She’s a princess by the way. The perfect girlfriend for an edgelord really.
Shea Haulia
Coming in the third we’ve got Shea Haulia. She’s a rabbit girl. She also is the only beast person able to use magic.
She starts as really truly weak though. Yeah, she’s also super cute, if you forget that she becomes a real monster able to slaughter about anyone. She’s more of the direct and stubborn type. Ah and she loves Hajime and Yue and is constantly trying to become Hajime’s lover.
Tio Clarence
Then we’ve got Tio Clarence. She’s a dragon woman, and also a princess. Obviously, as a half-dragon, she’s super strong and can transform into an actual dragon. Unfortunately, it’s all ruined by that side of her.
So hum yeah, she also loves Hajime. Except there’s a twist here, she turns out to be a true masochist and views him as her master. A role that he ends up fulfilling despite himself. From time to time she actually shows her good side, full of wisdom and experience. A huge pervert.
Kaori Shirarasaki
Lastly comes Kaori Shirasaki. Well, last, I should say first, she’s Hajime’s classmate and loved him since before getting isekaied.
I know, everyone loves Hajime for some reason. She’s a healer and never gives up. But she’s also a bit oblivious to others. I actually can’t talk too much about Kaori without spoiling, sorry.
Myuu
She’s basically Hajime’s adopted daughter. Yeah I know it’s starting to get weird, and it’s not the end of it. Honestly, there’s not too much to say, she’s super young and treats Hajime as her daddy, who died before she was born. But she plays a quite important role in the story.
Shizuku Yaegashi
She is one of Hajime’s classmates, she’s a swordswoman. And not just after being reincarnated, her family got a dojo so she’s well versed in the way of the sword. She’s also Kaori’s best friend. She’s quite important but you only realize it later when she becomes even more important.
Aiko
The class’ teacher, Aiko, is actually not super important but she plays a huge role in certain parts. She cares about her students more than anything. Yeah nah, I can’t say more than this I think.
I’ll have to skip the other secondary characters, this is getting quite long and tedious.
Character development
Ahah, you thought it was over, didn’t you? I honestly can’t review Arifureta without talking about character development. It does something I think is quite unique. There are a lot of characters that are getting developed throughout the story. And I really mean a lot, some more than others obviously, but there’s maybe fifteen that have entire parts dedicated to them only. If you count the ones getting less attention while still getting some development in certain areas, then it becomes hard to count. I find that truly impressive, it’s rare to have an isekai with so many actually important and interesting characters.
Obviously, there’s particular attention given to the main characters. Particularly on their relationship with one another. So yeah there’s a lot of depth to Arifureta thanks to all this. However, this extensive development comes only later in the story. The whole first few books are truly centered on the main characters. The author changes his style a bit over time, it’s quite refreshing.
Harem you said?
I would hope that you already realized it by now, everyone’s in love with our resident edgelord. Because yes Arifureta is a harem centered around Hajime. However, it’s a bit different than what you’d expect. I’ll have to spoil a few things to talk about all that. Anyway, Hajime only loves Yue, and basically, the other girls forced their way and joined him in his travels. It’s quite funny how he spends his time rebuking others. And you wouldn’t believe how many end up falling under his charms. Of course, him walking around towns surrounded by beauties creates a lot of humorous situations.
I truly love what Arifureta does with this harem situation, it’s truly used for humor and character development, really marvelous. Besides this, the author actually writes about their sex life as well, which is quite wild by the way. The book series received a lot of critics regarding that. A lot of people call it immoral and such. But honestly, it’s the total opposite. Hajime’s relationship with Yue is beautiful and pure, then their relationship with others is also quite special and also beautiful. I can’t tell more without putting in major spoils. This harem doesn’t just happen, it is truly constructed over time, at the expense of Hajime who never asked for all this. There’s a real depth to it.
Making love is part of life and part of relationships. Here it even brings something more to the characters and story. Those moments are important. And I’ll say that it’s all very well written and not vulgar at all. Those scenes are not described in detail or anything, but the author isn’t afraid to tell us that it’s happening. And with our dear perverted dragon, we even got some SM bits. And overall, Hajime spends most of his time flirting with Yue in public. Once again I can’t tell too much, just keep an open mind. I’ll say it again, there’s nothing immoral or vulgar. If anything, Arifureta depictures a love purer than what you can see in real life.
More things done right
This is getting quite long but it’s necessary. So we’ve got well-developed characters, a nice story, a great relationship depicted in its entirety, and a harem well written. But that’s not all the things that are done right. So you see, all the main characters are or end up being totally overpowered. And that part was also well realized. It doesn’t just happen, the character put in the effort and sacrifices for it. More than that, there are fitting enemies for them to fight. And besides, them being op is vastly used to bring more humoristic situations.
Ah yes, humor. One of the best things about Arifureta truly. It would not be the same if it wasn’t packed with so many funny parts. Honestly, it reaches a point where things get pretty ridiculous. The kind of moment you can’t help but tell yourself “ah he’s done it again”. Sometimes things are just surreal, it’s so great really. I had way too much fun reading each volume. Moreover, It’s full of edgy and cringy parts, you can’t help but laugh. Hajime is unironically a true edgelord, even tho he didn’t want to be viewed as such. But at least he’s got the power to shut everyone’s mouth about it.
There’s also the fact that the story does have twists, the scenario is well paced, and you don’t get bored. Well, I did get bored in one specific part but that was all. And the characters really can go through a lot, even the main characters are not exempt from hardships, heck Hajime loses an arm right at the start. People get hurt, are killed, yes even important characters. It’s a good mix of action, humor, and a bit of sadness in my opinion.
Arifureta Zero
I’ll write some words about Arifureta Zero. It’s a related novel series by the same author. It tells about what happened in the past, a long, long time ago. It follows Miledi Reisen’s adventures. It’s really great, it adds more depth to Arifureta’s story. Because without Miledi and her comrades, none of this story would’ve happened. Everything gets meaning thanks to Arifureta Zero. Besides, it’s a very good story by itself. It’s also packed with action and humor. But I also think it puts more sadness into Arifureta’s story, from Miledi’s perspective at least. I truly felt pained for her, despite her being truly and utterly annoying. In the end, it was excellent and reminiscent of the main story in many ways while also being different.
Conclusion
It did turn out to be quite long. Well, it’s no surprise, there are many volumes. And well, I love Arifureta so obviously I’m gonna tell a lot about it. Heck, I’ve read it all three times already. I just don’t get bored of it. I’ll keep this conclusion short. If you want to read something interesting, full of action, fun as hell, with a ton of great romance, while providing an actual good harem story. Then Arifureta is for you. And please, I beg you, do not watch the anime adaptation.
I’ll also add this bit. Arifureta truly helped me become more open-minded and less shy about certain things, and I’m grateful for that.
I’m sorry for all the minor spoiling I did. I hope this was not too long, and I hope you will enjoy Arifureta as much as I did.
