REVIEWED: SEASON 1 (ALL 12 EPISODES) / DIRECTOR: MASAFUMI TAMURA / STARRING: YUSUKE KOBAYASHI, SHOHEI KOMATSU, YUKI WAKAI, RINA HONNIZUMI, MIYU KUBOTA / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (VOD, BLU-RAY – REVIEWED)

When a new season of Anime rolls around, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a host of new Isekai anime. Low and behold, in Spring 2019, Wise Man’s Grandchild made its anime debut.

The story follows Shin Wolford, the grandson of the Wise Man Merlin who, when he was younger, become a hero after saving the kingdom from a Demonoid king. However, in a previous life, Shin was actually a salaryman who died in an accident and woke up as a baby in a world filled with magic and demons. As he grows, Shin discovers he has incredible magic powers inherited from Merlin and, at age 15, must attend a magic academy to hone his skills and learn common sense.

From that explanation alone, for those who have seen plenty of Isekai, it sounds incredibly basic – and it is. The first two episodes race you through Shin’s younger years at breakneck speed meaning you, as the audience, gets barely any time to emotionally connect to him or his backstory and also suffer drastically from tonal issues with the switch between comedy and serious happening at the snap of your fingers.

The only real aspect that makes Shin’s story stand out is the pleasurable score and smooth animation. The battle scenes do pop off the screen in a satisfying manner but that, unfortunately, isn’t enough to make up for the weak narrative, the predictable path and lacklustre relationships between several of the characters including Shin’s love interest Sicily.

Whereas titles such as My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom present viewers with a unique and cleverly written take on this bloated and stale genre giving it a much-needed refresh, Wise Man’s Grandchild adopts the tried and tested formula meaning it disappears into the void with all of the other ultimately forgettable Isekai titles.

Special Features

This two-disc collection of Wise Man’s Grandchild comes with very limited special features, therefore meaning that if one is to watch the series, it would be worthwhile watching on VOD over Blu-Ray.

• Disc 1
  • Episode 8 Commentary – the English voice cast and crew talk through the series’ eighth episode.
• Disc 2
  • Promo Videos
  • Textless Opening Song
  • Textless Closing Song