English Dub Season Review: Isekai Quartet Season Two

 

Overview:

The second season of the popular Isekai spin-off show. This season sees the addition of characters from The Rising of the Shield Hero. Just a fun quick show to watch, episodes are only ten minutes long and it’s a good time.

Our Take:

I remember when this show first came out and I immediately started watching but quickly put it on hold. Not cause it was bad or anything but because my experience with Isekai was minimal at best. All I had really seen at that time was The Rising of the Shield Hero and that was before they got added to the show.

The cast is made up of characters from Konosuba, Re: Zero, The Saga of Tanya the Evil, and Overlord. I personally feel having seen those shows made this show better. It’s still funny regardless but the show definitely expects you to know these characters and their ticks. Knowing about Subaru’s “Return by Death” and all the quirks of the Konosuba crew especially will only increase your enjoyment. That is just something I think people should know going in.

The Rising of the Shield Hero is one of my favorite anime, so seeing them introduced in this season was a huge plus for me. So you can imagine my disappointment when they aren’t really featured at all. We are teased that they are the new transfer students when in fact a cat is the transfer student. Nope, Naofumi and his group are in a different class and get minimal screentime. Though, the screentime they do get is really enjoyable such as Naofumi being the one who is in charge of the boys’ physicals.

The voice acting in this show is honestly its main attraction. For one the cast of Konosuba is amazing and getting to hear these characters in any capacity is a treat. Arnie Pantoja as Kazuma is criminally underrated and needs to be given more roles. I can’t count how many times Kazuma has made me laugh with his deadpan delivery and just overall unhappiness with his situation.

One of the unique things about including so many different franchises is some of these VA’s play characters in a few of these shows. Erica Mendez has about three roles but the characters she plays are so different you won’t notice unless you’re looking for it. There are a few characters like that but in an ensemble show like this, I don’t think it’s a problem. In this case, they weren’t using everyone so much to cut costs.

One of the things I love about an ensemble cast is getting to see characters interact that normally wouldn’t. It was especially funny when some of the characters started piecing together that the other main characters might be from Japan as well. Kazuma saw Subaru’s tracksuit and had a pretty good idea. For those of you that don’t know Kazuma had a tracksuit, he loved too so seeing that referenced and the absurdity of Isekai, in general, was appreciated.

Sure it’s not a serious setting so you could argue this isn’t the “true” characters interacting but I think that’s missing the point of how fun this show is. Normally I don’t like shows that make the characters “chibi” versions of themselves to show it is not as serious. This show is a little different though, for one I love all the properties they use and two it really is hilarious. You’ll probably forget they aren’t exactly the same pretty quickly after starting it, I know I did.

There’s no big overarching plot, no disaster, or problem that needs to be solved. Sure, they want to know why they were transported to this place which is ironic in itself. Other than that though this is just a fun show where characters who would never meet usually get to participate in funny hijinks. There’s even a swimsuit episode because anime. So, if you are looking for some big problem that somehow needed all these characters together you will be disappointed. This show does not take itself seriously and neither should you.

This is kind of a difficult show to review, it’s similar to my review of Gundam Build Divers: Re:Rise. If you aren’t interested in Isekai you probably aren’t interested in this. If you love Isekai you will probably get a lot out of this and enjoy it. I am all in on the Isekai bandwagon so I really enjoyed this show. Though it is kind of just a giant advertisement for the properties including the “quartet”.

This is going a bit out of the scope of the review but if you have any interest in Isekai and just don’t know what or where to start let me help you. If you want absurd hilarity that parodies the genre then go with Konosuba. If you want something dark with some amazing character development and tear-jerk moments go with Re: Zero. Its second season is airing now dubbed so it’s the perfect time to get into it. The Saga of Tanya the Evil is something to watch if you want to see a bit more of a modern setting with crazy magic systems. Admittedly I haven’t watched much of Overlord but I know it deals with MMORPG stuff similar to SAO but from what I have heard it handles stuff way better.

Isekai Quartet is a brainless, and fun time. It doesn’t do anything too special and I can’t really recommend it to people who are unfamiliar with Isekai. Also, if you were really looking forward to the inclusion of the Shield Hero group then definitely lower your expectations. There is a small cameo from the character from The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious that I feel bears mentioning because another season has been confirmed. This tells me they might make an appearance in that season. I just hope it has more of an impact than my poor boy Naofumi did. In summary, Isekai Quartet is a fun romp that you will enjoy as long as you know what you are getting into.