Alternative title(s): Tsuki ga Michibiku Isekai Dōchū
Light Novel Adaptation by C2C
Streaming on Crunchyroll

Premise

Misumi Makoto is transported to another world, but is banished to its very edge. He befriends various monstrous species and makes powerful beings into his thralls.

Iro’s verdict: HEY FOLKS DO YOU LIKE ISEKAI WELL WE GOT ANOTHER ISEKAI OVER HERE WHOA-HO-HO CHECK THIS OUT

If you consume solely isekai shows, then apart from contracting scurvy and other nutritional deficiencies, maybe this show is for you. It literally begins with listing out isekai cliches, and then attempts to subvert them while in fact not being all that terribly interesting. You see, it’s funny because the goddess is a crazy bitch! HAHAHA, hilarious! It’s funny because instead of instantly meeting a cute girl the protagonist meets a literal pig (orc) and tries to avoid her becoming the main heroine! Wow, so humorous! Funniest shit I’ve ever seen! He still meets a cute girl by the end of the episode, a cute girl who narrates to the camera “I’m basically his slave”! Oh dang, a slave? This guy putting together a slave harem? I’ve never seen that shit, wow, holy fuck, finally a show where the audience can abandon all earthly responsibilities and go into a fantasy world where pretty girls can be literal slaves to their every whim! Wow!

To be clear, I do not enjoy any of this. Maybe you do! I still don’t quite understand why people do, even though I’ve asked multiple isekai-likers what the deal is. The explanation always seems to be that they genuinely think that it’s personally preferable or even morally conscionable for a protagonist to leave behind all obligations to friends, family, and society to escape to another world. Certainly, I have my own problems that I wish I didn’t, have my own beef with the various people I know, despise the yoke of capitalism that I’m forced to live under, and occasionally entertain the idea of forcibly removing myself from this reality. I also play video games and am familiar with the concept that numbers going up feels good. So I guess I do understand it after all. I just think it sucks.

It’s all just ultimately unsatisfying (to me). It’s like the media equivalent of drinking beer and eating chips to trigger that dopamine response rather than attempting to address the underlying uncomfortable emotions. I think there’s plenty of room for simplistic, popcorn media, of course; I still watch Super Sentai every week. But even Super Sentai is about how friendship and heroism can improve you as a person. Last season’s SSSS.Dynazenon explored the depth of relationships between its cast extremely well while also being about robots punching things. Perhaps these are childish notions, but I would argue they are fundamentally less childish than the notion of turning a dragon into a big-titted samurai slave girl. I want my media to give me the fantasy that maybe I’m able to become a better person in a holistic sense, rather than the fantasy that none of it actually matters at all.

And no, it doesn’t count as the former if you reincarnate as a horny baby. Obviously.