Ever come across an anime that surprises you? Whether for good or bad, it happens to me at least once a season. Last season, the one which caught me off guard most was probably Yuusha ga Shinda!, or The Legendary Hero is Dead!.
I had read part of the manga previously (I actually had left off where this season ended, what a coincidence). It had left me feeling kind of meh on the series at the time. Having watched the anime though, it hit differently. I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I expected.
The Elephant in the Room
If you’ve seen any clips from this, it’s probably the ecchi moments. I can’t lie, this leans very much into the ecchi scenes and perverse humor. There’s a lot of people who are turned off by this, but I actually enjoy it.
My appreciation for Absolute Territory (or zettai ryouiki, the gap between the top of one’s stockings and the bottom of their skirt) increased substantially. And, frankly, I kind of appreciate Touka’s dedication.
The important part, however, is the extremes that it goes to with it. Literally everyone jumps on board this ecchi train, and it really elevated the humor in this series for me. If ecchi humor, or ecchi in general, isn’t for you, then I could see this series not being up your alley.
Cast of Characters
With how outrageous the series is as a whole, it’s no surprise that the characters really stood out. The range of personalities we’re exposed to is fairly vast, and they’re all kind of fun.
Touka obviously is pretty over-the-top with his fetish, but he’s surprisingly a well-rounded character. We’re originally presented with basically a perverted clown of a protagonist, but he shapes up into a respectable hero. Even though he acts like a pervert, his love for those he holds dear is very deep.
I really liked the female cast too. Their motivations weren’t groundbreaking, but it was sufficient for me to enjoy the series. Also, thighs… Ahem. Yuna is pretty standard tsundere, but we do get to see more facets of her character as the series goes on. Marguerite has her quirks, but is overall a nice addition to the party. Anri was probably my favorite though. Her innocence bordered on idiocy, but her lack of reasoning lined up with her age so it just came across as a fun, moe trait.
The antagonists were strange. I don’t know if I could find a better word than that for them. While they clearly had a goal, and were sufficiently evil, their conclusions were resolved in about the way you’d expect from a comedy. Sometimes even more extreme than you’d expect, actually. The power of thighs compels you.
Conclusion
Overall, it was definitely better than I expected, knowing what I knew from the manga. Probably didn’t deserve to be down in the honorable mentions section. It was just a fun series, and actually had a plot. Given the focus on the comedy, this is pretty unique in its own right. There are some deep moments of connection between characters as well.
Also, the opening was awesome, both visually (did I mention thighs?) and the song itself. I definitely watched it way too many times…
If you appreciate a good laugh, or nice thighs (okay, I’ll stop), I’d say give it a watch. Just make sure you go in expecting a focus on comedy, because that’s what it is. But again, despite that, there’s more there that’ll surprise you.