Isekai might be a spin off or even a side story to the main Tenchi world arc but it stands above other Tenchi. Isekai has much better story telling and a stronger grip on the viewer by offering enough teasers to keep you coming back for more without giving too much away or not tempting you with enough information to keep that hunger for more fresh. It probably has the best spin on the harem-esque theme to date because it is not based around the negative aspects of the harem genre and the main character shows no interest in tormenting the girls interested or in driving that interest away by flat out focusing on one girl or picking one girl. Yet at the same time, it is not the predator type of lead character you might expect in such situations. Instead he is somewhat oblivious and awkward around the girls and even at times afraid of them like when Chiaia catches him hunting for crystals. Harem genres do have problems though and I have never been a big fan. One of those inate problems is a frequent lack of focus, interest, or story ability to generate any sense of romance or genuine love interests. This more or less happens in this case however, the strongest connection is with Princess Aura even though the story tries to force Yukine on him with a faux sense of a mutual crush. It however fails to adequately do that. Aura has much more interaction with Kenshi and frequent blush moments which otherwise is the main device used to stimulate the so called mutual crush with Yukine. She is with Kenshi more through out the series too as Yukine spends a lot of time in other lands or in other ships. Yukine is comparatively rarely on screen and even more rarely interacts with Kenshi so any suggestion of a romantic interest falls short compared to the much stronger and more obvious connection with Aura. This is another problem often seen in harem-esque type genre stories, the story itself so miscalculates relationships that even when there is an intent to focus on one girl it often fails or instead generates a much stronger connection to a different and unintended character. Despite this heavy leaning toward Aura it is never exactly concrete who he has any feelings for or who truly loves him above just the fact of who and what he is. Still though, as far as the harem theme goes, this story gets it right and more so than nearly any I have ever seen. Part of the reason for this is that it makes it seem much more of an innocent spring fever attraction all people might get for one or another person during their late school years. It nicely captures that spring fling innocent youth feel to it and that is perhaps the strongest reason it stands so far above all other harem-esque stories.
Kenshi as a main character is almost too perfect and even quite a bit OP. He is perhaps more overpowered than nearly any other lead character I have seen in an anime series compared to others within said story. Though there is at least one that can challenge him, but even that one often struggles or gets severely damaged trying to do so. Even if he is not in a machine which supposedly grants all pilots such momumental powers, he is a force to be reckoned with. Without a machine he has displayed more than enough skill to fight other machines bare handed and even damage them rather heavily. This was displayed during an obstacle race at the school for one such example. And though it may not have been quite the same kind of machine, it still shows a far more than ordinary courage, skill, and ability to effectively challenge any obstacle or machine. His one flaw perhaps is that though the story makes him out to be biased or prejudiced against, it at the same time clearly, easily, and early on stands far out and above everyone else. This is another mistake often seen in similar stories where a main character is set up to be tormented, struggle, and/or biased heavily against yet somehow stands well above even the most elite of whatever that character is into which by the way, contradicts that very biased setting. The Irregular at Magic High comes to mind as doing that but you still feel strong hints of prejudice against him everywhere he goes, school, family, or work which you do not feel in other stories like Isekai.
Do not get me wrong, this is a very good anime with very good and very likable characters which has few flaws that I can determine save for the huge cliches that it does in a way that can and will contradict what the story intends to do. Aura herself is a very strong and likable character and oddly so far, the only non pure human character evident in the show who is part of a kingdom and race that is unique. She is a dark elf yet I have not seen any regular elves so the fact she is a dark elf technically makes no sense. Kenchi himself displays prowess and skills far beyond ordinary humans suggesting strongly that he too is not exactly a pure human. He displays powers beyond that which was implied just by being an offworlder. Lashara is a strong, likable character who occasionally demonstrates childish behavior but most of the time is more calm and mature than even the elderly scholars and teachers in the show far contradicting her supposed age. Frankly she acts more like a slightly spoiled and mildly immature 35 or 40 year old woman than a preteen or teen aged girl. Even her voice suggests a older character, though it is pretty cute and even fitting, it does not add to the impression of a child aged character (The English dub voice anyway does that.). Babulun and Dagmyer perform well as totally despicable human trash in the most bile, vile, and disgustingly atrocious manner possible. It is easy to totally dispise them and root for the story heroes. Ulyte is a mystery through the series since at times he seems to help the heroes and others he helps the enemy. There are too many characters to really break down thoroughly but the complexities of the most important characters such as Emera's frustration over competition for Dagmyer, greatly adds to the flavor of the series.
Story is set in another world apart from Earth but with a cross between a Avatar the Movie setting mixed with a world similar to that scene in Seven Ghost with some mech blended in which is perhaps most similar to Linebarrels of Iron, Aquarion Logos, and/or Utawarerumono. Like Utawarerumono the mechs in Isekai look almost biological more than pure machine and have a sort of life and connection to pilots where a basic machine can turn into whatever design fits the pilot as well as draw some sort of power or perhaps life force from pilots to differentiatie and result in more powerful mechs. It shares a similar feel and setting to Seven Ghost as well as a unique, neutral, and powerful religious center ostensibly nestled among the border of multiple nations. Some of the landscapes such as curiously floating islands, resembles the planet from Avatar. Linebarrels and Aquarion both have similar mech arrangements where: pilots of mechs are somehow linked to the machines; are rare talents that not anyone can pilot them; draw some sort of metaphysical connection and energy from said pilots; and have a similar training setting aka a school for elite students who are also pilots though in Linebarrels it is students from a local school who attend special training and are put into special teams.
The story is exceptional and fairly unique that probably draws on a collegue mix of inspirations and sources. It told as an exciting and well paced story that blends action, scifi, slice of life, drama, hidden powers, mystery, and even harem masterfully together. It may not be perfect and have a few flaws such as mentioned above like how Kenchi is presented as a lowly placed character yet his skills and accomplishments contradict that concept early on enough to totally clash against the sense of class tension ostensibly presented. Sound matches well with the story and is filled with well timed explosions and cute animal sounds though it may not quite capture all the background sounds of nature well, it at least tries to a degree by having some animals mixed into the scene. The characters are for the most part very good with almost the perfect amount of development, background, detail, and quirky characteristics for each of the major characters and several of the lesser support characters as well. Animation is not as high a quality as the story drawing on a style similar to the Tenchi series which itself looks a bit dated but this anime has better landscapes and character expressions than what I saw in Tenchi. It is a better anime and story than what I saw of Tenchi. There are harem angles in both stories but the one in Tenchi is a bit more creepy than the cheerful seemingly innocent and almost more natural one presented in Isekai. Kenchi is a better character than what I saw of Tenchi with a better backstory and hidden powers.
It would be difficult to go wrong watching this series. It is only 13 episodes and the ending may leave you wanting more and hanging a bit for more episodes but each episode is longer than the average anime series at about 45 minutes each. So in a way you are actually getting closer to 20 or so episodes compared to other anime.
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