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EP. REVIEW: How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom


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Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18135
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:24 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I also thought that episode 3 was especially weak and poorly-paced after the much stronger episode 2. Hopefully we're done with that now that all of the named characters in the opener have been introduced.

I also agree that the forestry management point was the hardest to take in stride. The other points are also all ones which have historical counterparts going back hundreds of years, but I can at least buy that an outside view might be necessary to shake things up.
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Seagloom



Joined: 04 Nov 2017
Posts: 276
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:28 pm Reply with quote
Hearing Juna sing Megumi Hayashibara's Give a Reason saved the third episode for me. As a longtime Slayers fan I almost jumped out of my chair when I heard it. Other than that this show has been lukewarm so far and is validating my instinct to skip the source material in favor of other, similarly themed LNs.
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Bayuro2.0



Joined: 08 Jul 2020
Posts: 74
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:55 pm Reply with quote
The only strong trope on isekai genre I often see are the male protagonists are black-haired. From Re:Zero to Smartphone. Very tiring trope. It's like they have no right to be diverse.

Last edited by Bayuro2.0 on Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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michizure



Joined: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 177
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:56 pm Reply with quote
This was the second show I saw this week (Remake Our Life was the first) to pull out a vintage anime theme for an insert song. Is there a nostalgia thing going on, or are these shows aiming for the middle-aged fan demographic?

Also, we've now established that Our Hero is reads Machiavelli, quotes Yu-Gi-Oh and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and has Slayers Try on his cell phone*. I might be a bit concerned about where this trend is heading.

*I do wonder how long his charge will last, or will there be some convenient lightning mojo to keep it available?
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Panayiotis



Joined: 02 Aug 2017
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:00 pm Reply with quote
Interestingly, the explanation for the cotton stuff is very different in the anime than in the original LN and manga. In the original, the main character gives a ridiculous reason that goes against the very concept of supply and demand, and implies that the free market is too stupid and inefficient to even notice the problem and that he knows better.

In the anime, the main character basically just says that there was a bubble on cotton that burst. That is a more plausible thing that could happen, but it is much more boring. He is just a man that came after the bubble had burst to say that there was a bubble, which every trader would already know, and the problem would naturally fix itself in the next crop cycle even if he did nothing.
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everydaygamer



Joined: 10 Jul 2009
Posts: 928
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:17 pm Reply with quote
Panayiotis wrote:
Interestingly, the explanation for the cotton stuff is very different in the anime than in the original LN and manga. In the original, the main character gives a ridiculous reason that goes against the very concept of supply and demand, and implies that the free market is too stupid and inefficient to even notice the problem and that he knows better.

In the anime, the main character basically just says that there was a bubble on cotton that burst. That is a more plausible thing that could happen, but it is much more boring. He is just a man that came after the bubble had burst to say that there was a bubble, which every trader would already know, and the problem would naturally fix itself in the next crop cycle even if he did nothing.


The thing is I never saw this as the Kingdom doesn't see the problem I see it as they just don't know how to fix it. The MC isn't bringing the realization of what the problems are it's just that he has a good idea of how to go about fixing it.

I'm not sure if that was the intention but that was how I personally interpreted it.
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Dian Z





PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 8:27 pm Reply with quote
I wonder why I've yet to be tired out by isekai genre, still enjoying the escapism even though there's been nothing much of a fresh take on it. But I'll give any isekai a try especially ones with decent (without the perverted-trope) protagonist. Been enjoying this one so far.

I also like the fact that it begins with his grandfather advice to not live alone and find a family. It's an honest purpose, and we can predict that this will be the journey where he'd find one.

Bayuro2.0 wrote:
The only strong trope on isekai genre I often see are the male protagonists are black-haired. From Re:Zero to Smartphone. Very tiring trope. It's like they have no right to be diverse.


I suppose isekai really wants to show that ordinary Japanese person can be so overpowered in another world. Not really about hair color, but probably ethnicity overall. I think it still wants to cater for the majority of readers by showing this ordinary looking dark-haired Japanese guy they can resonate with.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:43 pm Reply with quote
^I'd guess the variety alone is probably enough to keep from getting too tired of isakai and it does seem like shows are trying to find ever more obscure activities to do in "another world"! I think Realist Hero is one where the obscurity isn't an excuse for poor writing and I also find it a stand-out. Unlike some others, Ep3 I thought was a great followup to Ep2, the latter having what I found the most inspiring speech in an anime I've seen.

I really doubt the show is trying to portray Japanese supremacy, just that the audience is Japanese and it helps that the protagonist at least looks a little like. If anything, it seems to undermine that by having the protag be more like a regular guy that happens to have a knowledge and skill set that fits the current need well, not that he is automatically best at everything and doesn't really need help like in some other shows...
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Melicans



Joined: 01 Feb 2012
Posts: 620
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:05 pm Reply with quote
Well, I hope that the relative stillness of episode 3 means they can put more resources into spoiler[the war against Amidonia]. That's where the animation will be most needed I think.
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Leviathonlx1



Joined: 10 Dec 2018
Posts: 192
PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:26 pm Reply with quote
The elf part left out some aspects which didn't help it.

spoiler[They also had issues with poaching and illegal woodcutting]
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Violet Park



Joined: 18 Jul 2018
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 4:44 am Reply with quote
I read the first manga chapters a while ago and, honestly, the premise is the problem. You already have to suspend disbelief in a regular isekai but at least fighting demon lords and what not is so in the realm of fantasy that you don't care a teenager is the best fit for the job.

In Realist Hero (a really ironic title) we are supposed to believe a college freshman is the best possible ruler for a country in a completely different world. It requires everyone else to be a bunch of agreeable morons for the premise to work. And while other OP leads stay on their lane this one just has to show his expertise in everything. Forestry? Oh, he knows all about it. Gastronomy? Let's have him come with recipes instead of the guy who has been researching this stuff for years. Best singer in the country? She needs him to give her songs. It's too forced.
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RegisterJustForComment



Joined: 17 Apr 2018
Posts: 62
PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 8:52 am Reply with quote
Wow! It really feels weird when a novel or other things you think are very good and assume popular (based on a lot of the reaction you find in the internet) then got another media form and then people just throw a very 'different' reaction about it.
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Leviathonlx1



Joined: 10 Dec 2018
Posts: 192
PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 11:34 am Reply with quote
Violet Park wrote:
I read the first manga chapters a while ago and, honestly, the premise is the problem. You already have to suspend disbelief in a regular isekai but at least fighting demon lords and what not is so in the realm of fantasy that you don't care a teenager is the best fit for the job.

In Realist Hero (a really ironic title) we are supposed to believe a college freshman is the best possible ruler for a country in a completely different world. It requires everyone else to be a bunch of agreeable morons for the premise to work. And while other OP leads stay on their lane this one just has to show his expertise in everything. Forestry? Oh, he knows all about it. Gastronomy? Let's have him come with recipes instead of the guy who has been researching this stuff for years. Best singer in the country? She needs him to give her songs. It's too forced.


I mean a modern person would have better knowledge than a medieval world fantasy or not and they do establish he pushed himself hard to be a civil servant. The whole clearing the forest thing is only something learned in the past 250 years in the real world (plus the anime left out the other things happening). I don't recall him giving any pointers on recipes and in the case of the singer spoiler[well she is a spy and specifically sent there by her mother to test him.]
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:18 am Reply with quote
Violet Park wrote:
...Best singer in the country? She needs him to give her songs. It's too forced.
Did you ever consider what percentage of folk songs the world over are sad or tragic? I'd say >95% of those I know are and the rest aren't a good fit in the "motivational/inspiring" department unless you count those that advocate slaughtering and/or being victorious over the enemy. It was totally believable that she couldn't think of one like the former on the fly. Of course, the one he had wasn't that good if you ask me but the music was "close enough" of an emotional fit.
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sadoldguy



Joined: 01 Aug 2009
Posts: 67
PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 9:06 am Reply with quote
BTW: Basically all of the logical problems like why is this college student appointed king? It is actually a plot point. Including the whole concept of hero summoning.
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