English Dub Review: Possibly the Greatest Alchemist of All Time “I Was Summoned By Accident”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Iruma Takumi finds himself summoned by mistake during a hero summoning.  Guided by the goddess Nolyn, Takumi seeks to live a peaceful life in a fantasy world known as Mildgard, where he helps a village with his production job skills.

Our Take:
We’re starting the new year with another anime involving a seemingly useless skill that is receiving a massive upgrade.  This time, it’s the ability to create or transform weapons out of free will.  So, who’s the lucky, or in this case, unlucky person to receive this god-like power?  Why, it’s none other than Iruma Takumi who finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time.  Takumi is unintentionally transported from the real world during the hero summoning, where he’s greeted by a goddess with bone wings named Nolyn.  Realizing her mistake, Nolyn gives Takumi her blessing to start his life over in Mildgard, a fantasy realm where swords and magic coexist.  It’s like Midgard, but it’s anything but mild.
The episode mainly consists of Takumi learning and gaining skills to assist the villagers as he adapts to his new life in Mildgard.  However, instead of using them to become a hero, Takumi uses skills involving blacksmithing and alchemizing to assist in production jobs despite having limited mana.  But, of course, that doesn’t stop him from being forced into a position where he has to protect himself from the world’s monsters, including a horned rabbit and a monstrous boar.  On the bright side, Takumi did gain himself an ally in the process, a poison spider he named “Maple” due to the maple leaf symbol on its back.
“I Was Summoned By Accident” follows the usual blueprint for introducing an anime involving OP skills.  That includes its introduction to the protagonist, who was immediately removed from the real world and desires to live a normal life instead of becoming a hero.  There are also several elements that could come into play in later episodes, including the other students who are summoned by the Holy Sedonian Empire led by Elizabeth.  While I’m not fully on board with this “been there, done that” scenario, it offers enough amusing moments regarding the protagonist and his production job skills to capture my interest in its formulaic appeal.