English Dub Season Review: The Reincarnation Of The Strongest Exorcist In Another World Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Betrayed and on the brink of death, genius exorcist Haruyoshi Kuga (Jim Foronda) still has an ace up his sleeve: a reincarnation spell. With a successful incantation taking him to a new world, reborn as Seika Lamprogue (Marianne Bray) into a distinguished wizard family, his only wish is to find happiness. But as Seika’s onmyo art exceeds this world’s magic, will he be able to live an easy, happy-go-lucky life?

Our Take:

The Reincarnation Of The Strongest Exorcist In Another World is an anime adaptation of the light novel series written by Kiichi Kosuzu and illustrated by Shiso (volume one) and Kihiro Yuzuki (volumes two and onward). It is directed by Ryōsuke Shibuya, with Nobuyoshi Nagayama serving as chief director, and produced by Studio Blanc. Touko Machida handles the scripts, and Alisa Okehazama composes the music. The opening theme song is “Reconnection” by Angela, while the ending theme song is “Link” by Azumi Waki, Nene Hieda, and Akari Kito.

The massive list of reincarnation/magic academy anime continues to expand with the latest addition that sees an exorcist taking a jab at living an ordinary life. We’ve seen demon lords and sorcerers accomplishing this task many times in different anime shows, so it’s interesting for this show to have someone who performs exorcisms in that similar position. At least as far as my experience with the previous shows goes. However, Strongest Exorcist does have one specific change to the reincarnation aspect compared to the ones I’ve watched with similar concepts. Instead of having a reincarnated older character attending a magic academy, the series has the main character living a different life as a young boy.

But, of course, even with this change, Strongest Exorcist is the latest series that follows the genre’s usual formula involving reincarnation and magic academies step-by-step. We have a powerful being, Haruyoshi Kuga, seeking redemption by having a second chance at a better life. Now living in a new world as Seika Lamprogue, the main character strives to live an everyday life while hiding his true powers from his previous life. Along with his family’s slave Yifa (Leo Matthews), Seika attends the Lodonea Academy to accomplish his goal. During the process, Seika encounters a conspiracy involving Amyu (Luci Christian), a powerful commoner/swordswoman suspected to be a “hero” by everyone. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, am I right?

But even with how basic it looks, was the show able to cast its enjoyability spell into its formula? In some parts, yes, but that doesn’t make the series a must-watch. There were a couple of decent moments that helped make its cliches watchable, including Seika’s abilities and Yifa’s (Leo Matthews) character growth in “Yifa’s Feelings” and “Yifa’s Resolve”. But, of course, even with those moments, the series struggles to cast the right spell to avoid getting generic grades.

Regarding the mini-arcs shown in season one, the one consisting of “Yifa’s Feelings” and “Yifa’s Resolve” is the best for me. These episodes involve Seika and Yifa traveling to the Astelia Kingdom to investigate its guardian dragon’s unusual behavior while Yifa faces a decision between staying with Seika and joining the harem by Astelia’s prince Cecilio. Amid their middling narrative involving a self-centered prince, the episodes showcased Yifa’s coming-of-age journey that sees her discovering her origin and finding self-confidence.  

Despite her ability to control the spirits of nature, Yifa is a timid girl who struggles to defend herself but also has a hidden crush on Seika. “Yifa’s Feelings” and “Yifa’s Resolve” depict the character gradually gaining self-confidence when facing a difficult decision. This leads to a satisfying payoff, with Yifa helping Seika defend the dragon from Cecilio’s mercenary, Zecht. This element and Leo Matthew’s performance as Yifa are enough to overcome some of the episodes’ narrative shortcomings.

The weakest arc of the season is the one involving a combat tournament in Capital City. It depicts Seika competing in the tournament with the academy’s new student Mabel Crane (Marisa Duran). There, he discovers a plot from the Merchants to drive the demons away from Amu by making Mabel the hero, using her brother Kyle as their tool. This arc lacks convincing tension and emotion to invigorate the basic tournament narrative. To add insult to injury, the title of its seventh episode, “Brother and Sister”, gave away the crucial reveal of Mabel and Kyle being siblings before I even watched it. Despite its tolerable action scenes, this magical competition doesn’t hold a candle to what the other academy tournaments offered regarding the sense of urgency.

The English voice cast was suitable in their respective roles, including Marianne Bray and Leo Matthews as Seika and Yifa, respectively. Seika is another reincarnated protagonist that relies on their tremendous power, unknown to everyone, to solve problems and trounce seemingly tougher enemies. But, of course, a character like Seika has to have an amount of intrigue, fun, and challenge to accompany its profound skills. Sadly, that’s not the case. Sure, it’s cool seeing Seika use his talismans and jutsu to manipulate the elements and destroy his enemies. But, unfortunately, it came with the cost of specific battles being underwhelming, rushed, and emotionless. Because of Seika’s strength, the urgency in the showdowns is nonexistent as the season’s bosses are basically lower-level enemies to Seika. Kyle, Mabel’s brother from the combat tournament, is one example of this issue.  

However, the worst offender is the powerful demons led by Zor, the Devil God in “The Most Terrible Demon King”. I assumed they would be the final bosses for the season finale based on their profound abilities that could rival Seika’s power, but that’s not the case in the season’s second-to-last episode. What seemed to be a thrilling high-stakes showdown between the exorcist and the demonic team was actually the most disappointing and laziest part of the series regarding the direction. Seika took the supposedly strong demons out without breaking a sweat despite their threatening personas, begging the question, “What’s the point of all that?”. Because of that, we have a finale that isn’t as intense as the other fantasy action anime but offers a curious tease on the direction for a potential season two.

The animation is serviceable for the show’s action and the characters’ magical abilities. Studio Blanc, the studio behind Ro-Kyu-Bu, My Girlfriend Is Shobitch, and Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan, offers a vibrant and attention-grabbing presentation that isn’t as spellbinding as Seika’s powers. Still, it provides enough moments in its world-building to satisfy plenty of fans of the manga’s presentation.

Overall, The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World struggles to exorcise its genre cliches seen in other anime shows involving reincarnation and magic academies. It’s not without a few moments that kept me mildly engaged, including Yifa’s mini-arc and tolerable animation. Unfortunately, they’re not enough to make this exorcising experience stand out from other shows with similar concepts regarding its underwhelming characters and action. Although, it does give me hope that a second season might turn things around for the series now that it’s heading down the fantasy adventuring route. I won’t be surprised if season two doesn’t happen, but if it does, I won’t mind seeing what the show can do in its new direction.