Posted by OP Sequence
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
OP: 「Ah, My Romantic Road」by PelleK
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「流浪の騎士、世直し旅にて候ふ」 (Rurou no Kishi, Yonaoshi Tabi nite Sourou)
“The Wandering Knight Sets Out to Make the World a Better Place”
There’s a couple of ways to treat any long-run, fleshed out genre. Either you aim for that tiny sliver of ingenuity remaining, seeking to offer sights yet unseen, or you double down on what’s come before in the hope entertainment will overcome genericity. At a glance it should be clear which side of the coin Skeleton Knight is aiming for – but don’t let that fool into prematurely passing it back. There’s a good deal of fun here buried under the surface.
Building off the synopsis described in the RC Preview, Skeleton Knight is effectively what happens if Overlord’s Ainz decided he wanted to be the good guy. Heavy duty gamer Arc (Maeno Tomoaki) wakes up in MMORPG isekai land, and instead of aiming for world domination, seeks the simpler side of life: damsels in distress? Rescue them. Stomach a rumbling? Find the coin to make it right. Stumble across pointy eared elves? Chase em down for better examination. This bony boy might be impressive in appearance, but there’s no hurtful bone in his body. Mostly.
While simple to assume Skeleton Knight would languish as veritable fluff given the above, what’s really helping the show right now is atmosphere and introspection. This (at least so far) is a series which knows exactly what it is and doesn’t try to hide it. Arc is case in point: upon waking up in isekai land he doesn’t worry about the what or why, he goes right for testing out his abilities and taking care of basic needs. Likewise is that body of his. How do skeletons exactly eat and drink? Don’t know, Arc especially don’t care, fun was had so no need to quibble over the details. It’s a quite refreshing and lighthearted approach to the usual isekai shenanigans (albeit outside of certain scenes), one helped along by Arc himself acting as a literal white knight who takes certain tropes and completely flips them on their head. Not the sort of thing which really breaks the mold mind you, but it is a premise which does well to ensure plenty of entertainment will be had. After all, that OP does wonders for showing exactly what this show will be about.
Although it remains to be seen whether what Skeleton Knight offered this episode will continue for the rest of the reason (still waiting on proper introductions for Arc’s compatriots), I will say this is one any isekai fan should pay some attention to. It’s got the humour, it’s got the spunk, and one way or another I firmly suspect it’s got the strength needed to stand out from the rest of the springtime isekai crowd. I’m quite looking forward to seeing what the next few episodes bring.
ED Sequence
 |
 |
 |
ED: 「僕らが愚かだなんて誰が言った」 (Bokura ga Orokadanante Dare ga Itta) by DIALOGUE＋
Preview
 |
Oh look it’s Ainz’s imbecile brother, the reject of the family Arc. But seriously, this was not what i was expecting.
You and me both, was anticipating something largely mediocre, got interesting instead lol.
Never read the novel, but I like the manga version of this. It’s wacky and doesn’t take itself seriously, just like how an isekai should be. Arc is a proper comic sidekick, and Ponta is everything you expect from a MC.
The lack of seriousness is probably what’s going to keep this one fun. A bloody skeleton enjoying a good scotch with a cigar in a hot spring is already enough to have me wanting to see more XD
What’s interesting about Arc is that despite his power, he’s not all powerful in the world, unlike most Isekai MCs, the story even goes out of its way to show that while his character was skilled, he, himself doesn’t know shit about using a giant broadsword in combat and has to be trained. I wonder how many of the chapters they’ll cover in this season.
In general a good estimate for adaptations is 3 light novel volumes per season so shouldn’t be hard plotting out an end point with that in mind. I don’t think this one has a surprise second cour in store but you never know.
Bone Knight is voiced by the same actor that played Veldora,
Is this some kind of Overlord just the White Knight Light path?
Silly me, i should had read first.
i’m pretty interested, first ep looked good and its not too serious.
Worried about the pet/mascot in the ED tho, why do they always need to have this crap….
To be fair I’ve heard some good things about this one in the context of the story so I’m withholding judgment until it appears and we get a better idea of party dynamics.
So Ainz decided to borrow Touch Me’s weapon and armour and decided to go on wacky adventures rather than the conquer the world route? Cool.
To be fair to Arc, he is literally a comedy protagonist which distinguishes him from many other isekai. It isn’t a power fantasy, it isn’t a development story (isekai protagonist goes back and uses future knowledge to build a kingdom and/or bring technology to the world) and it isn’t a reborn as the villainess story. That already makes it different from a significant number of isekai stories.
I actually do like the novels and manga, they have a much more relaxed and comedic feel to it without being overly wacky. The fact that Arc *looks* like a skeleton but isn’t actually one is because he used an avatar skin. His race is still “human” but he’s under a curse which is his in-game backstory. Kinda sad that he has all of the social drawbacks of being undead without any of the cool powers associated with them.