We never technically learn the name of the protagonist of A Wild Last Boss Appeared! (henceforth WLB). In fact, we only catch brief glimpses of what he actually looks like. Still, we do learn that he's one of the all-time best players an in-universe MMO called Exgate Online has ever seen. After all, that's why it was such a huge deal when he woke up in the body of his Exgate Online character, Lufas Maphaahl (which is the name I'll also use to refer to the protagonist), in the world of Exgate Online, but 200 years later.

To get more specific: Lufas and his friends dominated the world of the game so hard that Lufas became a renowned conqueror, and this group was able to guide the game's story. At the time of his getting isekai'd into Exgate Online, Lufas (the character) had just been defeated in a huge battle, and thus, overthrown from power. As for what's happened in the world of Exgate Online in the 200 years since Lufas' defeat, well, Lufas figuring that out is a big part of this anime.

Luckily for the audience, learning about this setting is one of the highlights of this anime. The worldbuilding of WLB is pretty robust, especially in the way it tackles exploring both what this world was like during Lufas' reign, versus what it's been like in the centuries since—why things have ended up the way they have. Incredibly, it's able to do all this without ever feeling like it's overwhelming the audience with massive lore dump upon massive lore dump since Lufas is seeking out and learning a lot of this information for the first time as well.

Despite the picture this might paint, Lufas the character's existence in this world isn't a blank slate that began with a character creation screen and ends with the player behind Lufas. Throughout the series, we see Lufas—or more specifically, the player in Lufas' body—catch glimpses of the actual Lufas' memories that he can't recall having known about, let alone come up with. It raises a lot of questions not only about what's going on, but also identity and the player's sense of self, which he slowly feels melting away more and more by the day. And while, disappointingly, we don't get too much payoff in this department by the end of the series, enough has been set up that this feels like something that might be explored in more detail in the already-confirmed second season.

But alas the character writing doesn't even come close to meeting the same standard set by the world-building. Worse, it's easily the biggest weak point of the series, and can often bring down a lot of scenes or moments that would've otherwise been much cooler or more dramatic. More care and attention went into creating Lufas the game character, than anyone else, because aside from Lufas (and perhaps Dina to a certain extent, but not until the end), the rest of the main cast is comprised of one-note archetypes you've probably seen a million times already. Even then, Lufas the game character, is a character you mostly only see in flashback sequences.

Lufas the player, ranges from being uninteresting to contemptuous toward women. Lufas the character would make for a much better protagonist than Lufas the player, and yet the latter is, unfortunately, the one we're stuck with. The only thing he's really got going on is the identity crisis he's having around slowly turning into Lufas in both body and mind—although to be fair, as I mentioned earlier, this feels like something that will only grow in relevance with time. But even then, that's not always well-executed. For example, the way the series weirdly avoids the low-hanging fruit of meaningfully exploring Lufas the player's (presumed to have been a cishet man in his initial life) thoughts on gender, sexuality, and romantic attraction, despite also acknowledging at times that all those things have been on his mind in at least some abstract capacity since reincarnating into Lufas the character's (cis woman) body.

But to make this a compliment sandwich and return to its strengths, WLB's visuals are consistently fantastic. The way the light drapes across the vast landscapes, the way everyone's colorful hair delicately moves in the wind, the bedazzled sky—all of it looks absolutely gorgeous. Not to mention, it really helps bring a lot of energy and excitement into the fight scenes, which, in large part thanks to the visuals, tend to err toward the explosive and over-the-top. The soundtrack, while not quite as impressive, still manages to deliver at least a few memorable songs as well. Meanwhile, on the voice acting side of things, the iconic Ami Koshimizu as Lufas—who's constantly confused but has to put on an intimidating front—absolutely smashes it out of the park, as usual.

In an anime landscape where video game isekai are standard issue, WLB is easily one of the more ambitious—and certainly better animated—such titles we've had in the past decade. But the bar is low, to be clear. Even so, WLB has cool and refreshing ideas, and its execution, while better in some departments than others, is at least good enough to keep me interested in that upcoming second season.