The Summer 2025 Anime Preview Guide - Uglymug, Epicfighter

His looks are -255, touching girls causes him pain, and sexual acts will literally tear him apart. Just what can our ex-salesman Shigeru get in the other world in exchange for such inconveniences... This is an epic tale of one very ugly, but ridiculously strong man.

Uglymug, Epicfighter is based on the light novel series by author Ryō Hiromatsu and illustrator Akira Banpai. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Sundays.

Much like the appearance-focused main character learning about the multitudinous facets of humanity, there's more to the second episode of Uglymug, Epicfighter than there seems at first glance. On its face, it's going through many of the same stock isekai motions as that introduction. The shop system in the starting town is shown off, Shigeru surreptitiously hacks it with his crafting skills to obtain bonus goods for his party, and an incredibly generic dungeon gets trudged around in. The show still looks pretty simple and cheap, undermining the "epic" moniker this episode's title assigns to that dungeon (also, this is a sidebar, but I thought we were well past "epic" as a word in the trendy lexicon). And it's all presented with Shigeru doing that borderline-unbearable isekai anime thing of narrating and commenting over every last thing that happens in the story.

It's annoying how much of this is couched in isekai typicalities, because underneath all of that, Uglymug, Epicfighter keeps showing that it has some ideas going for it. These range from simple acknowledgements, such as how the debuffs Shigeru took negatively impact him, such as his reduced earnings necessitating that shop-technicality workaround. Similarly, it comes up that Shigeru's massively overpowered skills can limit him in smaller-level skirmishes, as he worries about obliterating the area and his new friends with his abilities. So then that lets the anime cut loose and get a little creative, showing Shigeru fly around, taking dudes down using only the sheer inertia of his heavyset body. That's something.

Where Uglymug, Epicfighter distinguishes itself is in its understanding of its own isekai setting. Mainly, there's the point that no one who chose to come here did so for pleasant reasons. It is, as unsurprisingly revealed villain Kyoshiro says, "the world where all the losers end up." Of course, it's a small world in the previous one, as Seiji turns out to be a business owner that Shigeru interacted with in his prior life, and even inadvertently helped, before AI destroyed his whole company, natch. It marks Seiji as something apart from the generic forward-facing hero, potentially helping Shigeru grow further out of his misanthropy as he comes to realize that everyone has their own story.

Similarly, this means other characters besides Shigeru can game this isekai stat system in their own ways. Seiji turning out to have a justice-fueled chuuni streak informing his abilities is probably the most earnestly funny gag in Uglymug, Epicfighter so far. It teases what the other characters might have hiding in their backstories and powers, and makes things a lot more interesting past watching Shigeru make up for his past regrets. Will that be enough to carry this anime when it still looks unremarkable and 50% of an episode's material is the generic isekai chaff? That's going to depend on the viewer, but it's remarkable to consider how it could have been so much worse.

I'll give Uglymug, Epicfighter a few things to start. I certainly can't give this show my usual complaint about the main character looking the same as all the other isekai protagonists. Shigeru here pointedly did not leave all the default settings on during character generation. Yeah, it's expectedly stupid that one of this plot's standardized parameters for "ugly" is "fat," but at least when I look at the main character of this anime, I know exactly which isekai I'm watching. It's in the title. I'm also pleasantly surprised by the method of isekai entry, in that characters in this world very intentionally moved on from their own lives by teleporting over. There are already integrations of this, and the question of what issues the others in Shigeru's party might have been grappling with. That's just one element that gives this story legs beyond the singular "What if an isekai hero were very ugly?" joke of a premise.

Unfortunately, even a unique predicament like that can't save Uglymug, Epicfighter from so many of the usual pratfalls. I was all-in on Shigeru's opening pre-isekai narration detailing him feeling fulfilled and proud despite not being conventionally attractive. But of course, that had to be stripped away so he could develop a sadsack persecution complex. It's not morphed into full-blown misogyny, thankfully, but the undercurrent of how our viewpoint character suffers so much because everybody (particularly pretty girls) is just so mean to him is way less endearing than he imagines his looks must be.

Now, thankfully, a lot of the lead-in on this first episode already indicates that part of the plot of Uglymug, Epicfighter will be Shigeru growing out of his own presumptions. He pointedly judges all the other party members based on first impressions, after all—and they're already turning out to be a bit nicer and more nuanced than he might have expected. I hope it turns Shigeru around sooner rather than later, because an earnest story of acceptance could fuel this kind of escapist fantasy significantly more effectively than your typical isekai power fantasy—especially since Shigeru's stats already being in the trillions means anything involving action is already aggressively occupying the space of typical isekai power fantasy.

I also recognize that it might be ironically unfair to criticize this show for being ugly, but it is pretty basic-looking so far. A pity, since Shigeru's unconventional design going ham on animated fantasy action could be its own special sauce in a series like this. As-is, it's all stat-sheet interfaces and RPG Maker aesthetics. Uglymug, Epicfighter isn't offensive or anything, just a bit grating at times and a bit generic in others. I'd have hoped that something that prides itself on an ugly mug could have stood out a little better.

I will give Uglymug, Epicfighter the credit for having its heart in the right place. The simplistic and straightforward first episode whiffed the setup of the premise in a way that made it difficult to get a read on the dumb gimmick of Shigeru's low self-esteem and physical appearance. At first, I wondered if it was taking itself so seriously because we were meant to be impressed or drawn into the way that Shigeru's obsession with his ugliness and virginity had manifested in the typical RPG superpowers. By the end of the premiere, I suspected that we weren't supposed to think very much about the show's themes or characterization at all, since Shigeru's new life was turning out to be an almost obnoxiously pleasant and carefree wish-fulfillment daydream, just like so many other isekai shows.

As of this second episode, I think my prognosis ended up being correct. Shigeru's looks and backstory are nothing more than a simple shortcut to get us to the same old, same old of the genre while making Uglymug just legally distinct enough to avoid any claims of copyright infringement. If you replaced him with literally any other generic potato-kun avatar, the content of the show would not be drastically changed, except for some of the dumb jokes that revolve around Shigeru's face or weight. He spends most of his time just narrating to himself about everyone's powers, or how he's solving his stat-based conundrums, or how he's recognizing the personality traits of his travelling companions. It's not offensive, but neither does it stir any other recognizable emotions.

The show tries to throw in some other complications to spice things up, which I again must admit I respect, even if they don't amount to much. This is one of those isekai works where lots of people have been reincarnated over time, which is what leads the group to almost being taken advantage of by Evil McObviousvillain. However, that hardly makes Uglymug revolutionary, or even particularly creative. The very end of the episode teases at some equally over-the-top and intentionally cringey superpowers that Seiji possesses. Still, there's only so much mileage I think the show will get from a guy turning into a nerdy fusion of Super Saiyan and guardian angel when the production values are this mediocre. I don't know if the “Epic” part of the title is supposed to be this ironic, but man, this show does look shabby.

That's the unfortunate thing about Uglymug, Epicfighter, at the end of the day. I don't think it's a terrible show. I don't even think it's the kind of lazy slop that draws most of my ire each season. This story feels like it comes from a genuine place, and that it wants to be entertaining. It's just not very good. The jokes are corny, the characters are fairly boring, and the visuals make for a sad sight, most of the time. It's not likely to be the biggest waste of time you'll find in the anime trenches this season, but I can't find any reason to recommend it, either.

I'm not the kind of guy who personally struggles with comedy based on jokes about people's weight, appearance, and suchlike. To be clear, I absolutely acknowledge that such humor falls flat a lot of the time because of its lazy and mean-spirited nature, and I understand why plenty of folks simply don't want stories to punch down and try and wring laughs out of tired old gags about fat and ugly characters. I'm just not the type of person who takes a lot of offense at that kind of material. This is not a value judgement or anything; it's just an observation about how I respond to touchy subject matter. If you even take one look at the key art for Uglymug, Epicfighter, you can understand why this might be relevant.

My problem with this anime is not the fact that it makes a joke out of its character being reborn in an RPG world with a body that is even less traditionally attractive and even more overweight than the body he had back in the real world. If this anime had been written and directed by absolute masters of their craft, I'm sure they could have used this setup to make some sharp observations about society's standards about beauty and attraction, or they could have woven comedy out of our main character's immature and shallow perception of the world and how other people around him react to that. No, my problem with Uglymug, Epicfighter is how it takes its ludicrous premise so damned seriously. There's overwrought dramatic music in the prologue that emphasizes Shigeru's bitter loneliness; the way it uses the “sadistic lying woman frames main character for assault, and the whole world believes her” trope without a shred of irony; the manner in which the reincarnation part of the story is played almost entirely straight. Yes, we're meant to find Shigeru's exaggerated appearance as a very large and balding teenager “funny,” but the show can't even be bothered to try and make bad jokes for the most part.

By the end of the premiere, there is some lip service paid to the idea that Shigeru is actually perfectly capable of making friends if he just opens up and socializes a bit more, which means the show's intentions might be a bit more earnest than you'd expect. I would appreciate that fact a lot more if it weren't so damned boring, though. At the end of the day, the lazy humor derived from the main character's look is literally the only element differentiating this from a thousand other anime that can be entirely summed up as, “I was a regular-looking antisocial loser in real life, but now I live in a lame RPG world and have boring RPG superpowers!” I almost wish this cartoon were more actively offensive, because then it would have made some kind of impression on me.

Uglymug, Epicfighter is a deeply misogynistic anime. Not in the open, in-your-face way that some shows like Shield Hero and Redo of Healer are; a shallow woman hurt Shigeru, but he has two girls in his party who are nice to him without him having to purchase them. He doesn't distrust or resent them, and there's no indication that they have ulterior motives. It really does feel like the girl who falsely accused him is a one-off, even if that in itself perpetuates a misogynistic narrative.

It's much more insidious than that, manifesting as Shigeru gets to know his party. In the first episode, he spent some time with Seika. Seika is nice, but she's empty-headed, timid, and irresponsible with money. She got good grades in her previous life, but she has zero common sense and spends the party's limited funds on items that they could easily conserve or synthesize themselves. Seiji, on the other hand, is honest, sensible, and, as we learn in this episode, strong. He's here because he was running a publicly-traded company at age 30, but lost everything after an… AI incident? What does that even mean? He's brave and kind, and just wishes that he could pay back the kind salesman who gave him the good advice to, uh, let his company run itself while he accumulated the resulting wealth.

I really don't think this show has its values in order.

Anyway! My point is that Yaeko is a mass of feminine-coded traits, while Seiji is a mass of masculine-coded virtues. The other girl, Rizu, is an utter nonentity who has barely had lines outside of initially refusing to tell Shigeru her name and reassuring Yaeko when she gets scared. Although there is no textual announcement that this is what makes them good, they are positioned as virtuous individuals who will form a supportive party and help Shigeru heal his heart. Good women are kind, and good men are strong.

Am I going off about this because I don't have much to add to my review of Uglymug, Epicfighter's first episode? Well, yeah. Gotta turn something in, after all. My opinion hasn't changed, so I might as well dive deeper into the elements that are driving my opinion.

“Volcel anime,” I whispered to myself as Shigeru entered debuff after debuff into his computer screen in exchange for an inconceivable number of bonus points. After all, we've had countless incel anime – stories that appear to be fueled by anger that those horrible bitches won't give a great guy the time of day, because all women are superficial skanks at heart. You know, involuntarily celibate. Volcels, on the other hand, claim to eschew contact with women because we just drain their bank accounts and life energy and aren't worth their time.

That's essentially what Shigeru does when he chooses to get himself isekai'd – he makes himself literally unable to come into physical contact with women in exchange for extreme power. Well, just like Shigeru debuffs himself as he enters his stats (ugh), Uglymug, Epicfighter debuffed itself in my esteem by opening with one of the most misogynistic plot devices under the sun: a man having his life ruined by a false accusation of sexual assault. Not even a case of mistaken identity on a crowded train, even; just an evil, evil hot girl doing it for kicks. Not even monetary gain! It's like that other isekai show last season, where the man's life was ruined by his cheating ex-wife; it would take a miraculous act for a show built on a foundation of naked hatred of women to recover. If you're going to create an isekai that comments on social mores – and I get the sense that this one does, with the emphasis on lookism – you have to avoid recreating other forms of prejudice.

While people who aren't traditionally, or even non-traditionally attractive, they may face disadvantages in society, Uglymug, Epicfighter approaches it in such a cynical, surface-level way that it had me making faces at the screen the whole time. Yeah, sure, maybe Shigeru wins them over by the end of the episode, but the girls were nakedly colder to him than Seiji, the other male party member, at their introduction. The message is clear: women will judge you based on your appearance, while men are fairer.

Oh, it's a competent enough production. Nothing impressive in terms of direction or action choreography, but the animation is bright and fluid, and the character designs are cute, if generic in style. The little cabin Shigeru and his party wake up in actually enhances the feeling of them being in a game world, to the point that I wasn't actually that fussed about him pulling up a game menu to level up. His ability to allocate points after leveling up drained the story of tension, but it seems more about his emotional healing than a power fantasy of sailing through the world without effort.

Compounding my frustration, Uglymug, Epicfighter isn't the only anime about an “ugly” main character this season; however, it seems the U.S. companies thought this was more worthy of localization than the shōjo romance April Showers Bring May Flowers. There's just no washing away the ugly stain of misogyny.