At least this anime lets you know that it is taking place in another world, although about 20 seconds into the first episode, you would have been made well aware of this. It starts out telling the story, and then jumps into a massive flashback, so you learn how we came to be here in “Isekai Cheat Magician” (“Isekai Chīto Majutsushi”, “Fantasy World Cheat Magician”).

Once we misalign people, we go forward, into the past. It is modern-day Tokyo and not a hover board in sight. Walking down the street, heading off to another day of scholastic fun and enjoyment are Taichi Nishimura (second from left) and Kanade Azuma (second from right), two ordinary high school students who also happen to be childhood friends (and that’s always nice, right?) After exchanging some morning pleasantries, a magic circle appears beneath their feet, and Taichi and Kanade both get transported to another world called Altia.

As they try to get their bearings after a rough transport, they are attacked by a vicious horse beast. They are saved by an adventurer group, who take them to the nearest town, where they discover that their talents and abilities are far beyond those of mortal townspeople. Lemia Santacru (far left) also known as the “Mage of Falling Leaves”, takes it upon herself to educate these two tyros in the ways of magic, thus setting them on their adventures and the eventual clash with their fate. Oh, that last person is Muller (far right). She is an elf and a former apprentice of Lemia, so they all sally forth when the time is right.

Despite the fact that it really is a life-and-death situation they are in, Taichi plays it like a video game and comes out quite well. His stats are off the charts and they discover he is less a magician and more a summoner, which is a better thing to be. It’s when things turn south that they are called upon to do larger and larger battles until war finally breaks out.

I think I have gotten to the point where I can no longer be objective when it comes to isekai shows. I mean, it is practically the same thing each and every time and it is really incumbent on the individual to make it something more that reheated leftovers. I do not think they fully succeed, but if you are willing to shove that component to the back, you can at least enjoy the action/adventure portions of the show. There should be a second season, but that seems to be more of a fleeting hope (and when will we get Season Three of ‘Spice and Wolf”?)

Binge? Yeah, drop the hammer on this one. Not just to get it out of the way (which is a terrible reason to binge a show), but to fully immerse yourself in this strange, odd world.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork           7 (Typical approach to things)
Plot                  7 (Rather typical for isekai)
Pacing              8 (Builds nicely)
Effectiveness   7 (Less them, more me)
Conclusion      6 (It reaches a coupler point, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service     2 (A similar show would be “Okamisan”)
Bingeability    8 (It can do this)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. It feels like I’m cheating.