RogerBW's Blog

2018 light novel adaptation in 12 episodes: AniDB, vt "Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody". After a thirty-hour stint working on two separate computer games, contract programmer Satou sleeps under his desk and wakes up in a fantasy world.

That's the gimmick. It means that Satou has a head-up display and a weightless inventory system, and (thanks to a one-shot item being alpha-tested) all the experience points in the world; he can master any skill just by deciding to put some of his spare points into it.

But there's no thought of trying to find his way home, or any of that nonsense: he's the most powerful person in this fantasy world, so naturally he ignores his old life and sets off to be a hero. He rescues and/or recruits a variety of young women and generally blunders about getting involved in local problems. There are the usual harem-anime tropes, the usual people in distress; not as many monsters as many fantasylands, since there's more emphasis on exploring the world, but some of them are moderately weird.

But, perhaps in part because these twelve episodes cover three books (of a series that's up to sixteen so far), none of it ever seems to matter; a problem comes up, and by the end of the episode or at least the end of the next it's been solved, and on to the next thing. There's absolutely nothing like a conclusion either, and no hint of a sequel series, so perhaps one should regard this more as a trailer for the novels (or their manga adaptation) than a work in its own right. Satou's characterisation is basically "vaguely pleasant guy" and he's the best-developed character here.

If you're thinking about this one because the premise sounds interesting (as I did), don't bother. If you want fantasy adventure, fair enough, but that's all there is here and other shows do it better.