English Dub Review: Farming Life in Another World “The Almighty Farming Tool”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Hiraku won’t waste his second chance at life; he will focus on what truly matters. And so, he builds a new home with his own two hands.

Our Take:
Amid my experience watching numerous action-packed isekai shows, it feels refreshing to talk about an isekai series that’s more relaxing than intense. Every once in a while, we need a break from all the violence and bloodshed and just spend multiple hours working or unwinding on a farm. You know, live an everyday life. That’s clearly what a guy like Hiraku wants more than anything in this latest addition to the isekai category.
The first episode introduces us to Hiraku Machio (Blake Shepard), who dies from a terminal illness after living an unapologetically unharmonious life. Fortunately for him, the God of Earth decides to reincarnate Hiraku as an apology, with Hiraku choosing to live a new life as a farmer since he’s a massive fan of farming shows. Upon reincarnating in another world, Hiraku also gains a profound body and an Omnipotent Farming Tool, allowing him to summon any tool he wishes and not grow tired and hungry while using it. It can even sprout crops without him planting the seeds first, and it can allow Hiraku to kill plenty of monsters in one swoop. Now that’s something I would use whenever I have to do gardening.
The beginning of this episode quickly shows what the concept suggests, with Hiraku living a new relaxing life building and growing a farm. Additionally, it seems it would also add the usual harem element into the mix, with Hiraku’s community consisting of girls from different species, including his maids. Afterward, the rest of the episode transitions into a farming reality show in which Hiraku narrates every action he does to build a farm. Throughout the episode, we see Hiraku slowly building his farm by constructing a well, creating a camp, and digging his first field. While it can be periodically obnoxious for him to narrate throughout the episode, it usually compensates with Blake Shepard’s endearing vocal performance.
Hiraku even adopts a pair of wolves and their four puppies to protect his crop from incoming monsters. Although, he would eventually discover that the reason for the creatures is that he’s been reincarnated into the Forest of Death. So it seems the God of Earth has made another mistake while trying to fix Hiraku’s life.
“The Almighty Farming Tool” shows that the series has plenty of room to make the concept less boring and tedious than a farming simulator. Its tone is obviously relaxing and humorous, which is a solid change of pace in my experience watching isekai shows, and the animation produced by Zero-G looked all right so far. As someone who hasn’t had much experience with farming, I’m mildly amused by how the first episode turned out, and I hope it gets more interesting in later episodes now that we know what Hiraku will be up against in his farming life.