Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a quiet student and his classmates are transported to another world by a Kingdom asking for their help to fight the local Demon Lord. One of the otherworlders is chosen to be the Hero, and shocker, it’s not our protagonist. So what did our protagonist do when he learns that his skill far exceeded that of the hero? He simply chooses not to reveal anything. We are not off to the best start. But hear me out, this one might actually be good.
My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s is an isekai anime that, on the surface, may appear to do everything clichéd in the genre. But if you can stomach past the first half of the first episode, you might find something interesting that might be worth giving a chance. I certainly did, despite not having read the manga or having any prior knowledge of its existence.
The story centers around Oda Akira, a practically invisible and seemingly normal student living out his best school life. He had gotten a reputation for being the quiet kid in class, so much so that other students are not even aware that he’s around, unless talked to by another student.
Without warning, a portal opens up and the entire class is transported to another world. This time, there would be no teacher transported alongside them. In the world of Morrigan, the humans of the Kingdom of Retice summoned the students to ask for their aid against the Demon Lord. The students are hesitant at first. That is, until it was revealed that they have abilities that exceed those of a commoner. This, of course, makes the choice to help even easier.
During the evaluation process (something that almost made me want to stop watching), it was discovered that the student president was the clear candidate to be the Hero. Akira-kun, however, looked at his own stats and wondered why his were better than the “Chosen hero’s”. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, when his time to place his hand on the orb drew close, Akira used his Max Level Conceal Presence skill to disappear completely. The reason? He didn’t want to cause a commotion this early without knowing more about his current situation. That’s smart. Now the show had my curiosity.
This deviation from the formula is a very positive sign for the show. I was waiting for the inevitable confrontation and pointed fingers before getting kicked out of the group. That can still happen, mind you. But for now, our protagonist managed to avoid any trouble. Akira would spend the rest of the night gathering information on his new hosts. The night almost ended with a royal being stabbed in the back.
At this point, I have no idea where the story could go. Akira chose to stay with his class, albeit choosing to stay hidden most of the time. It kind of reminded me of that silent student from Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, the way he just appears randomly out of the corner of your eye. Anyway, during a training session inside the castle grounds, Akira decides on what his next move should be. But before he could go back inside the castle, he was stopped by Saran Mithray, Knight Commander of the Kingdom of Retice.
Apparently, Saran noticed Akira’s little trick during the introductions. He chose not to say anything and even revealed that he has special eyes that let him perceive temperature differences. This was surely a play to get Akira to lower his guard. And it worked. Akira revealed his intentions and his desire to return to his own world to be with his family. I don’t know if that was the right play. Then again, our protagonist hasn’t been treated like a certain Shield Hero yet, so that might explain that.
Saran is an interesting character, to say the least. He comes off as someone earnest and trustworthy. But at the same time, you can’t help but feel like he might betray you if he ever gets the chance. Let’s chalk it up to me being influenced by Berserk and U.C. Gundam shows. There’s something about the idealistic ones that are off-pointing. This is most evident when Akira showed a draft of a coup d’état disguised as a cookbook – Saran’s plan to “peacefully” overthrow the Kingdom. The plan should have fallen then and there, but Saran brushed it off. He was even relieved that Akira took the initiative and did some digging. The scene ended with both men trusting the other a little bit more.
The final scene of the episode is the students entering the Great Labyrinth of Kantinen for a training exercise. This was after a brief training montage with the students learning more about their chosen classes. In this late in the episode, I was placing my bet on an unforeseen incident as a setup for the next episode. Surely enough, a Minotaur showed up. Such a strong monster was not supposed to show up so close to the surface. The episode ended with Akira activating his newly learned shadow skills.
And with that, we have come to the end of the first episode of My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s. It went… better than I expected, in all honesty. Cliches aside, the show has a couple of things going for it right now. The animation quality is quite good, especially during the first fight on the rooftops. It dropped off noticeably during the Labyrinth fights, but I’m willing to overlook that. The character designs also look great. It reminded me of early 2000s anime. I think Saran best represents what I’m getting at. He is drawn in a way I haven’t seen in a very long time. The other thing the show has going for it is its story. I am curious as to how it will unfold. With that being said, I’m not completely sold yet. But I’m invested enough that I’m willing to watch the next episode as it airs.
As for my expectations going forward, I expect that we’ll know everyone’s true motives within the first three episodes. We will know if Saran is truly a reliable ally and whether or not the Kingdom is as bad as everyone paints it out to be. Akira is already suspicious of the Human Kingdom’s motives, even to go as far as to question the validity of the Demon Invasion. Even more so, when he notices that the Kingdom is keeping the students under strict surveillance.
My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s is off to a somewhat good start. Once I got over my initial anger of having watched yet another worthless summoning scene, the rest of the episode was generally good. For now, I’m curiously optimistic about this new show. I’m going to give it the good old 3-episode sampler before passing final judgment. Hopefully, this enthusiasm holds out till the end of the season.
