Leadale no Daichi nite – 01

OP Sequence

OP: 「Happy Encount」by (TRUE)

「宿屋と、塔と、熊と、宴会」 (Yadoya to, Tō to, Kuma to, Enkai)
“An Inn, a Tower, a Bear, and a Banquet”

This was really fun! And the way they approached certain elements of the story was without a doubt the product of poignant emotions spread throughout the production team.

This is one of those animes that I’ve covered in the RC Winter Preview, and now chilly weather has dawned upon us. The hefty weight of having to shovel snow every morning or dealing with the winter night cold as the season transitions into Spring, is finally within us. Get those covers ready this one chilly night! My point – as I’ve said in the Preview, I thought, this one was going to be the isekai that finally mixed a female protag with the power fantasy. And I certainly think it’s trying to achieve that.

Cayna (Yukimura, Eri) a 317-year-old high elf, suddenly wakes up one day 200 years in the future of her favorite game. She’s innate at controlling this world, she already has the ability to open up her item box, SAO style, and give candy to the small girl waking her up. Suddenly she realizes she can move her feet, her legs, and even her whole body. This is the part I was talking about poignant feelings. Never is this part of her past treated in a manner that is disrespectful, in fact, the writers expect you to fit the pieces together. If you don’t already know what they’re trying to convey because you didn’t read the synopsis. And I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing, I believe they don’t want to outright say it, but at the same time, it’s important for an isekai to learn who the protagonist was before they died and reincarnated in another world. In Cayna’s case, her consciousness moved bodies, but it seems it took 200 years for her to fully adapt.

When asked by the tavern lady while eating a meal, what’s Cayna’s favorite food, she doesn’t really have an answer and instead says she’s can’t remember the last time she actually ate food through her mouth. Rather, she’s has been fed protein pills and IV drips. So that her body could sustain normal functions. Her time at the hospital was spent in VR where she escaped to Leadale a VRMMORPG. But due to a massive power outage, the machines sustaining her life were cut off, and she inevitably met her demise.

I’ll give it credit for being so good at dealing with such a heavy topic on Cayna’s past, in a way that’s faithful yet is filled with sentiment for her as a character. I really liked this part. Blind watchers might have a hard time grasping this concept at the beginning but sooner or later I think it becomes abundantly clear by the snippets of information we get from her. It’s a part of her past we need to acknowledge it but not exactly know a lot about, as it makes sense to call back to it once she wakes up in the other world, but plot-wise it wouldn’t be very interesting to show. But, that doesn’t mean that it belittles her. Unlike say something like Mushoku Tensei where the past life of the protag actually affects his reincarnated present.

Later, she asks the inn lady if she can actually stay for a couple of days, Cayna pulls out a bunch of money but the lady is quick to dismiss her, she doesn’t need that much money to stay at the inn. She only needs four silver coins which she promptly gives to the inn lady. And with that, she is able to stay for up to ten days. She spends the whole day looking out the window, but she doesn’t see any other players out there. Which is weird to her. During the night some people try to rob her, but her companion A.I. who also gives important information activates a defense system where a lion comes out and starts chasing the people who wanted to rob her. Anti Pervert System. Someone should patent that.

With that, she is off towards the white tower, but not to climb it, turns out that she actually owns this little piece of land, the white tower is hers because she cleared it or something, at the top it, lies a talking stone wall, she gives some mana to it (or her) and takes out some items from her infinity void. She runs back to the village but before she gets there a villager is in trouble and she punches a bear so hard it goes through several trees and the whole village gets to rejoice in the spoils. Already she is on her way to god status. In her past playthrough, she actually was a PK, who was feared even by the NPC’s. Also, she has two sons and wonders how they are doing. She gets drunk and sleeps it off.  Fun times!

Final Thoughts

Well, this was rather fun. The comedy was there for sure, and overall the wholesome moments made the series for me, the animation is not taken very seriously either, chibi characters appear a lot, and dramatic shots are peppered throughout. There’s some CGi here and there, like when she walks up the tower, but it’s relatively well hidden. Unlike the boat in the OP which was not.

What can I say? I had a lot of fun, it made me smile and I think the most important parts of the story were rather well delivered, even if you had to put some of the pieces together. So it’s not spoon-fed to you… All the better I say.

The animation is not exactly outstanding, and the RPG mechanics are not mind-blowing. But I think the comedy and worldbuilding make up for it, however, do not expect a weekly post from me on this one. This was just an intro post to introduce Leadale no Daichi nite to RC readers. I personally think this show could be an interesting casual watch. So that’s exactly how I’m going to treat it. I’ll keep my eye on this one, and watch it on my own time. What are your thoughts on this premiere? Let me know in the comments!

Full-length images: 36.

ED Sequence

ED: 「箱庭の幸福」 (Hakone no Koufuku) by (Azusa Tadokoro)