English Dub Review: Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?, “Didn’t I Say to Make My Graduation Plain and Simple?!”

 

 

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Mile and her friends are ready to graduate when the traditional mock battle they are to participate in has higher stakes than usual. 

Our Take

I’m beginning to think this show will be nothing but paper-thin, cliche plots and stupid fourth wall jokes. 

Mile’s tendency to break the fourth wall grows stronger with every episode and now it’s starting to bleed a little bit into the other characters. The person who is most affected is Mavis, who, in giving all of her attacks silly names, may be slowly becoming more of an unintentional weeb. And then there’s the end of the episode with the Super Sentai/Power Rangers references. I don’t know how far this joke can go before it starts getting downright annoying, but maybe we’ll find out.

The main gag of this episode, if you’re kind enough to call it that, is that the villain from the first episode has come back. I didn’t even mention her in the review of the first episode because I assumed she was just a one-off, “villain of the day” sort of character. She was so stupid, unremarkable, and forgettable that I assumed she wouldn’t ever come back. I don’t know her name or can’t remember if it’s even mentioned in dialogue. 

This “villain’s” shtick is that she’s an unabashed pedophile who wants to assemble a harem of little girls. She may not be threatening, but to her credit, her motivations are completely evil and disgusting. Thankfully, Mile stomps her after she makes a petty joke, which is fitting for a petty character.  Hopefully, this is actually the last we see of her.

Other than that, every character just acts and makes jokes in the capacity they have previously. Pauline is soft and sweet on the outside and kind of creepy on the inside. Mavis is simple-minded and unassuming. Mile overthinks things and comedy attempts to ensue. Reina is supposed to be like a tsundere girl but is just really boring. 

The animation at least is pretty good. This was a battle episode so there were some moments where they could show off. The magical effects were bright, dramatic, and looked cool. The sword fighting was fairly competent and had some impact. Unfortunately, most of the time where battles could’ve happened was occupied by lame jokes.

I really wish there was more to write about this. The character designs are cute, the show is pleasing to look at overall, and there are a few earnest chuckles in there. I think they need to spend less time cramming anime references in at every conceivable point and let the characters be a little bit more of themselves. 

There was a six-month time skip, followed by the girls graduating this episode. Hopefully, this means things will be moving along and there will be an actual plot soon. Even a semi-competent one would suffice at this point.