Are we tired of Isekai stories yet? Well, yes, and no. ^_^ The basic zero-reincarnates-as-a-hero premise was always pretty sad and got tired quickly,but that had more to do with the nature of their sad little power fantasies.   We’ve seen many stories, which still have room room for creativity. Even aside from a blockbuster like I’m In Love With The Villainess, there are  number of isekai and reverse isekai stories we’re reading now that have some cleverness or kindness or both. And, when a story both leans into its premise with gusto and has fun doing it, we’ll definitely make time for it.

Which brings us to From Bureaucrat to Villainess, Dad’s Been Reincarnated! streaming on HIDIVE.  This anime is based on a manga written by Ueyama Michiro  for Young King Ours magazine. Tondabayashi Kenzaburo is a 52 year-old salaryman who, after saving a little boy from being hit by a truck, finds himself in the body of Grace Auvergne, the villainess of the game his daughter is obsessed with, “Magical Academy: Love & Beast.”

Kenzaburo may not know much about otome games, but he has a lifetime of formal office manners, and with Grace’s “Elegance cheat” everything he does is translated flawlessly into faux European-esque, courtlyish, noble-like behavior.

Unlike the game’s original high-handed, cruel Grace as villainess character, Kenzburo practically adopts the game’s main character, Anna Doll, showering her with Dad advice for life and propping her up, so that the game villainess quickly becomes a beloved mentor. And, as a result of this new Grace being so kind AND beautiful AND talented Anna (and the other characters) develop an open crush on Grace that Kenzaburo doesn’t really see as a crush, so he is not opposed. Nor are we. The opening credits give us a glimpse of a uniformed Grace and gushing princess Anna at a formal dance and yes, I would like that, please. ^_^

This could easily be a creepy, tiresome story, but instead, it is wholesome and incredibly charming. This new Grace is making a positive impression all around the school, creating fans at high and low places. There are two running gags –  that Kenzaburo/Grace can’t remember the male love interests’ name  and that Kenzaburo is a HUGE otaku. Both are harmless, giggle-making fun.

The end credits deserve some explanation. Matsudaira Ken aka, Matsuken, was an actor who became popular in the late 70s’ who was best known for his samurai roles. He later had a hit song with Matsuken Samba II which you should totally watch the video of, so you can get an idea of what is going on with the end credits.  ^_^ The anime version leans away from the samurai towards the samba and is performed with perfection by the voice actors for Grace and Kenzaburo, M.A.O and Inoue Kazuhiko, respectively.
 
All in all, this series is very silly. An entertaining spin on the Anime->Isekai->Villainess sub-sub genre. And very welcome for finding one more new spin on an already played out trend, with just enough Yuri to get our attention here at Okazu. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 2 for Anna’s crush

While I’m waiting for *good* Sci-fi Yuri to be the hot new sub-sub genre, I can definitely live with this. ^_^

In a season full of women supporting one another, let us take a moment to reflect on Flower and Asura, streaming now on HIDIVE.

Haruyama Hana is a young woman who, after being moved by a performance of  reading on television, begins doing recitations. She lives with her mother on an island in, I’m presuming, the Seto Inland Sea, commuting to school by ferry and entertaining local children with her recitations. When she is scouted by the ebullient Usurai Mizuki to join the high school Broadcasting Club, Hana will confront her limitations and hopefully, break out of her shell.

This is an anime adaption of a manga series written by Takeda Ayano, who is already well-known for another high school club series, Sound! Euphonium, illustrated by Musshu, an artist who has been contributing to Yuri anthologies, such as the Éclair anthologies, and who is currently illustrating the There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover…Unless manga.

The premise of this series is a typical “high school club helps a low-self esteem character find themselves” and it is a bit worn at the edges from the get go. Hana has already been performing recitations for years when Usurai-sempai sees her. The locals think of her more as an act to keep the children occupied, but Hana clearly loves what she is doing. So her bouts of social anxiety feel a bit overblown, since we are given little insight to her as a person beyond her genesis as a performer. But if we accept that publicly shy / confident performer personalities are not that uncommon, it becomes easier to understand accept.

As a sempai, Usurai is the perfect catalyst. Seeing Hana’s skill, she is persistent about getting her into the club, without being annoying. She’s all about fostering her team’s abilities – even though she has a specific goal of winning a major competition. This is a soft enough conflict for the early episodes as Hana asks the question I keep asking through all these “we gotta be the best!” series – isn’t just having fun enough?

I have no doubt that Hana will  find her answer to that question and it will undoubtedly be that working with a group towards a goal is the more than just enough. But I trust Takeda to do that in a way that allows the characters to mature into themselves.

On the animation side, the recitations allow the animators to play around a little with the feel of the scenes, expressing the sentiments of each of Hana’s recitations in a visually resonant way, adding a component to a skill that has no inherent visual quality. A bit like the animation of mah jong strategies in Saki.

For yet another great sempai-kouhai relationship that is about emotional support and growth, Flower and Asura, streaming on HIDIVE is a very decent skill-based anime.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7 This early on, they are types, rather than fully developed
Service – See above
Yuri – 0 and not likely to be any, outside people’s personal headcanons

Overall – 7

The whole series feels a bit sponsored by the NHK National University Broadcasting Contest contest to drum up interest. ^_^