Would Be Better if Our Hero Wasn't Such a Hero

ikrani

Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero has an interesting "What Happens Next?" concept for a sword-and-sorcery hero Akatsukia Ousawa after he beats the evil demon, claims the beautiful girl in the castle, and makes his escape to our own world with the maiden in tow.

The girl, Miu, is a pretty princess and daughter of the dark lord that Akatsuki defeated. Coming with him as per her father's dying request of the Rogue Hero, Miu is a sweet, innocent and well-endowed girl with pink hair that animetors seem to love but I never understood and a tendency to get felt-up by her kidnapper/rescuer for various reasons.

Akatsuki himself is the exact opposite of a standard ecchi/harem MC: he's strong, he's good-looking, he's badass and he knows it. He's always confident in his own natural abilities even though That is the main problem with this anime: it's main man falls into the opposite trap of most harem anime MCs in that he's TOO perfect. Akatsuki is an nigh-unbeatable fighter with no ego and an endless supply of well-placed confidence, he's always upbeat and cheery-eyed, and he knows his way around a woman's body, which he often demonstrates on his "little sister*" Miu (intentionally or not, I can't say). I found that there wasn't as much tension as there would've been if he'd been a little less badass. It didn't really bother me until the end of the anime, when he gets attacked by the final boss of the dungeon and his body de-poisons itself.

Seriously, show? You couldn't give us just ONE moment of weakness for our main man to make him, I don't know, RELATABLE? Miu even got undressed for convenient but touching fan service; could you stop being perfect for TWO MINUTES?! While it IS a memorable anime, all of its problems stem from the same place as its unique quality: the hero being more of an idealistic female fantasy than an actual human being. The powers are more-or-less the same say-the-magic-words-and-win-a-free-weapon-and/or-spell that nearly every other anime like this has. It's sword and sorcery world is your standard Tolkein world that, let's face it, you've seen a million times but never get tired of. Check it out. It deserves at least one watch.

*Don't worry, she's not his real sister.

score 6/10

ikrani 24 February 2014

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2968466/