Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita – 12 (END)

「旅立つフランはワクワクでした」 (Tabidatsu Furan wa Wakuwaku Deshita)
“An Excited Fran Sets Off”

New Beginnings and Heartfelt goodbyes.

The final episode of Tensei Shitara Ken Deshitai has come and gone with emotional goodbyes and even a cliffhanger with a new edgy character. I’ll have to admit, I did get emotional watching Fran say goodbye to everyone she has made friends with, and that little link to Amanda and Frans parent’s was a nice touch, as I’m sure in S2 more of that info will be revealed as things go along. When will that come, is not yet known.

Fran and the party take on the Gwendolyn spider all at the same time, thanks to Amanda and Fran arriving in the nick of time to save Cruise and his party. With a little inspiration, everyone feels refreshed and ready to take on the boss. However, Amanda takes the helm and decides it’s her time to shine, resulting in a funny moment that makes Fran get a little mad. The spider gets obliterated and everyone can advance to the room with the core, where they find tons of crystals and loot to boot. It’s all fun and games, everyone manages to get out of the dungeon and have a celebration by a campfire. After the party goes back to the city, where Fran gets a new outfit that looks pretty cool. And does some leveling up. Plus the armor has some sort of forcefield that repels basic attacks, however, she looks very fashionable wearing her light armor. Of course, Shishou was going to have a fit over it.

Fran, Urushi, and Shishou all say their goodbyes to everyone, and as Fran is leaving she looks back and calls Amanda, Mamanda. This makes Amanda remember that Fran’s parents also called her that at some point, it’s actually a super cute nickname for Amanda, even though she may be overbearing at times with her love, Amanda has actually grown on me as a character, I appreciate that she genuinely wants to take care of Fran and support her along her journey. It’s endearing and it’s the final saving grace for Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita.

Looking back there are many things about this series I personally enjoyed, the worldbuilding and the game mechanics were all fun to watch, as it’s always a special treat to see something that has been used over and over in video games, get adapted into a passive entertainment medium, because it’s always the author of the work that has to give a new spin on that aspect. For example – how exactly does one portray inspiration visually? In a game, it’s no more than simple number stats, but here it was all about feeling refreshed and wanting to continue onwards with the battle. It’s those types of things that attract me to isekai fantasy in the first place. And it’s always nice to see new spins on decade-old mechanics you already know by heart.

Tensei Shitara Ken Deshitai was tons of fun in this regard, even if its lore was – subpar. Nothing really new was added to the overall collective canon that isekai as a whole has been building up over the years, I think Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita shines in the relationship between Fran and Shishou. Fran being orphaned and captured by bandits forced into slavery, then rescued by Shishou makes a lot more sense since finally her backstory was cleared up a little bit, I do wish we would have gotten trickles of it during the season, rather than one whole dump during the final episode, but I guess if you were paying attention, you could have easily figured it out. The thing is, for me this was very much a turn-your-brain-off kind of show, except for that time it triggered me, and go along with whatever is happening on screen. It wasn’t revolutionary by any means, but it was certainly fun to enjoy week by week. Fran and Shishou provided some much-needed levity to the show that otherwise could have been rather grim. And for me personally, it’s what makes the show as a whole. Fran and Shishou cooking curry was especially some of my favorite scenes in the whole show, albeit it was muddied by the introduction of that character, yes I’m still salty about it.

However, we can all collectively sigh and move on – if there was a spin-off manga of Shishou and Fran cooking different types of curry and just chilling around a campfire, with special guest characters peppered here and there, you could bet your ass I would read that in a heartbeat. After all, my favorite series in the Fate/Stay Night universe is one that is completely separate from the main canon, Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan is certainly a treat if you haven’t already watched it. As for me, there have already been two re-watches of that show, it’s just so light and fluffy that it makes my heart flutter.

But yeah, aside from recommending other shows, and fantasizing about spinoffs, I think Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita, might not provide a new isekai with tons of new lore and ideas that are sure to fly your pants off- for that might I recommend Isekai Yakkyoku which puts a new spin on the isekai magic system and grabs your attention with the politics of the medieval pharmacy world, with a little bit of socialist thrown in there. Instead, Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita provides some fun light-hearted times with an overpowered kitty and her talking master sword. Who would have thought something like that would work, but it does and makes for a binge-worthy fun time! Season 02, has all but been confirmed thanks to the “To be Continued” end card. So now it’s just a waiting game, let’s see what new shenanigans and fun adventures this show might bring!

Full-length images: 42.