Choujin Koukousei-tachi wa Isekai demo Yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu! – 02

「勝人は本気で金儲けをするようです！」 (Masato wa honki de kanemouke o suru youdesu!)
“Masato is Serious About Making Money!”

Between school overload and too much fall anime (way too much I tell you) I never thought I’d be back with Choyoyu for another week, but I’ll be damned if it’s not starting to scratch an itch I didn’t know I had. Make no mistake, it’s pure simplistic isekai wish fulfillment at its worst (best?), but it’s fun wish fulfillment. Will such a thing hold? No bloody idea, but I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.

As mentioned previously Choyoyu’s biggest hurdle is disbelief. Prodigal teens are an awfully hard sell, especially when paired with a premise taking itself far more seriously than it should. I was fearful Choyoyu would quickly descend down this rabbit hole, but this week largely avoided those prodigious pot holes. Just take our merchant Masato (Majima Junji). Somehow this guy is the best businessman the world has ever seen and done more than any billionaire before the age of eighteen (a very hard thing to wrap your mind around), yet never really came across as such during this little business trip. Shrewd, smart, and level headed sure, but not in the way which can really rub the wrong way. Why? Presentation. Much like Danganrompa’s basic structure, Choyoyu let its character do what they’re best at with minimal highlighting of the base absurdity of Masato’s existence. It wasn’t a tale of the best businessman of all saving the day, it was a story of David overcoming Goliath through smarts and strategy. That simple switch in focus ensures the story can maximize its entertainment without tripping (too hard) on the cracks of rationality. Choyoyu may be no Spice and Wolf once pedal hit the metal, but hey, the results are looking to be just as satisfying.

Part of the fun as well derives from the fun of the side characters making their appearance. While all the aggravating and annoying tropes are just oozing from our new catgirl Roo for example, I must admit she’s a hilarious bundle of moeblob and bottomless greed ensuring any Masato arc downtime will be a blast to watch. Yes, definitely a blast. Personally I’m not expecting any secondary cast in the show to really do anything outside of be present and speak when required (looking at you Elch) considering Choyoyu’s emphasis will be on its prodigal seven, but nothing says this series cannot jump in the direction of broad and deep development. After all we’ve only seen one of the seven in action thus far, and quite a few of the others (particularly our little inventor girl) are going to take more than cutesy kitten sidekicks to go down without a hitch. Not to say Choyoyu cannot do it of course, but we’ll have to see what strategies it has in mind.

Grab a seat and stick around for a bit yet boy and girls, this little isekai is just warming up.

ED Sequence

ED: 「dear my distance」by Akari Kitou