English Dub Review: Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?, “Didn’t I Say We Should Take Breaks Sometimes?!”

 

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

After several back-to-back quests, the party decides that it’s time for a brief vacation.

Our Take

If you thought the girls taking a break from their adventures meant the show would be taking a break from its lame comedy, you thought wrong. It’s the complete opposite, in fact.

Mavis, Pauline, and Reina spend their time off doing completely standard things, which is fine. Reina is out shopping for accessories but doesn’t want to be caught lest she made fun of for doing “girly” things. I’m not sure why this is a big deal as Reina seems like a standard girl in a cutesy anime to me. There’s probably some generic convoluted reason for this within the trappings of being a tsundere character. 

Mile, a modern Earthling bereft of the Internet and technology, finds herself completely bored with her newfound free time. Feeling her back against the wall from boredom, she decides to spend her time physically putting effort into practicing her sight gags. Like going to an empty lot and doing repetitions in the dirt like an exercise regimen. This is truly fitting. Mile does not have any meaningful hobbies or pursuits, so all she is left with is to hone her stupid jokes because she has no real personality beyond said stupid jokes.  

After this brief sequence of failed physical comedy, Mile then decides to start intentionally doing idle activities like doodling and staring into space. Fortunately, the other three invite Mile to hang out with them, sparing us. They mull over someplace to go during lunch when Mile suggests they go “sea bathing.” 

As expected, this then devolves entirely into a beach/swimsuit episode, replete with gratuitous fan service. Mile even goes the extra mile (oof) to embarrass the other girls by making them wear skimpy swimsuits. Even when the other three prepare to go jump in the ocean, Mile stops them and tells them the optimal way to behave is to just frolic and play on the beach, that passersby can ogle them. 

Mile is ultimately just a completely pedantic pervert in this episode. She is supposed to have been a high school girl in her previous life, but with how she keeps acting, it seems more likely she was a degenerate old man.

Other things of note are that the animation budget is starting to show signs of drying up. There are several drawing errors on the characters throughout. Nothing too horrible but it’s still sloppy. 

Also, while the jokes are getting old and tired, the dub actresses seem to be keeping pace with how goofy and exaggerated they get. I’m kind of impressed that they’re using their voices to really try to sell these jokes, even if they’re not worth much. The effort is appreciated. 

I think in any other anime this episode would be considered a filler episode. But with how slapdash and uninspired the humor usually is in this anime, this is just a standard episode. An anime full of nothing but filler episodes is actually a fitting description of this show. 

Though with that said, this episode does end with a sudden cliffhanger in Pauline seemingly having been kidnapped. Perhaps on its last leg is where this show will become more serious.