The Eminence in Shadow review: The worst isekai of all time
'In Another World With My Smartphone' called, it wants its title back.
I’m always keeping an eye out on the anime that’s trending. Especially anything that’s about to come out and is going to be ‘the next big thing’.
Over six months ago, I was boarding the seasonal hype train when I saw The Eminence in Shadow. I was concerned that it was going to be just another reincarnation flop, but saw loads of comments telling people that the light novel is actually fantastic. Not because it’s a fundamentally good isekai series, but because it takes the piss out of an oversaturated genre.
I was instantly reminded of other fantastic series like One Punch Man and Gintama, that parody other genres so well that they’ve become some of the biggest hits within those genres.
I decided to give The Eminence in Shadow a go and while I’ve lived to tell the tale, I regret it greatly.
Simply put, The Eminence in Shadow is a terrible parody. It attempts to make fun of all the tropes of typical isekai anime, but it ends up taking itself too seriously. If you haven’t read the light novel, you would be forgiven for thinking that the series is trying to be a serious isekai. It goes so far into the territory of the genre to parody it that it has ended up becoming an actual isekai series. It’s become the anime that it was trying to make fun of.
If you manage to stay awake long enough to get through the show, there are some aspects of the series that point to it as being a parody. Characters like Jaga Imo (jagaimo means potato in Japanese) and Doem Ketsuhat (Perv Asshat) are named very intentionally to take the piss, but it’s so obvious that it isn’t funny. Adding to that, the story idea is a great idea for an isekai parody. The MC is reincarnated and creates a fake cult. Unbeknownst to him, there is already that exact cult and they’re wreaking havoc everywhere. But in the end, the story doesn’t hold up. The direction ends up being focused on the side stories and it’s more confusing than anything.
Unless you’re a fan of the light novel, I’d give this one a miss.
You should watch this if: you think ‘Perv Asshat’ is a funny name for a character.
Recommended / Mixed feelings / Not recommended