English Dub Review: Possibly the Greatest Alchemist of All Time “To a New Land”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
Maple, the spider monster that Takumi meets in the forest and Tames, possesses the skill to create Spider Silk, an extremely luxury good!  The silk becomes a hit amongst the villagers, and they welcome Takumi and his unique skills as he grows accustomed to life in the village.

Our Take:
Takumi certainly has his hands full as an alchemist and blacksmith.  However, his new tranquil life may get a bit more eventful after we learn that he’s also sent a year into the past before the Empire summons more heroes to Mildgard.  But I’m already getting ahead of myself, as Takumi’s journey to become a great alchemist has just begun.  After discovering that Maple can produce spider silk, a luxury item known to be rare in Mildgard, Takumi leaves the village he calls home behind to start his alchemy career at Bolton, where he’s partnered with the businessman Papek, who takes a sudden interest in his skills.
The episode follows the usual guidelines of every isekai anime involving adventurers, including Takumi registering for an adventurer’s guild.  However, it does come with the catch of having to complete a low-level quest per month to remain a guild member.  In addition to his career as an alchemist and having to hide his light magic upon Martha’s advice, Takumi’s new life in Bolton hasn’t gotten off to a great start.  Of course, things get even more complicated when Papek advises Takumi to hire a slave to make his job more efficient via a secrecy contract, much to the latter’s displeasure of having one because, you know, slavery is bad and whatnot.  However, it showcases the generosity and goodwill of the protagonist, even if this personality has been developed numerous times in other anime.
“To a New Land” managed to get the plot going with Takumi’s first day in Bolton and his alchemist career.  However, regarding its isekai formula, I’m still not fully convinced by its execution so far.  It does provide enough amusing moments regarding its humor, mainly from Maple, who happens to like wrapping people up with spider silk, including Takumi.  Maple also takes a liking to one of the members of the C-rank adventuring team, Bogar the Gentle Giant, more so than the other members.  If nothing else, Maple could wind up being one of the most adorable and humorous animal sidekicks in the anime department when all is said and done.  Besides that, this could wind up being yet another fantasy isekai anime that doesn’t offer much to the formula but becomes tolerable enough to impress most of the genre’s fans.