The Eminence in Shadow

SenseiMedo Nov 21, 2022

2

What started out as a fantastic idea quickly devolved into a slime/isekai rip-off Harem anime.What stood out at the start was that MC had his own aura, he showed us how he trains and fights thugs, kidnappers, etc. At night as someone who somehow protects others in the shadow, and that was the most amazing part. Next thing you know, he is killed by Truck Kun and Isekaid without an explanation of how it happened, especially since MC is fast and flexible enough to parkour on top of buildings. Anyway, the worst part is that the isekai begins with foreshadowing of him and his group working in the shadows to rid the isekai of the corrupt.Except they are all kids/Teens and MC is the only male with 20 or so females in his group, which imideitly screams "HAREM. Next, MC demonstrates OP power without training or explanation, and most of it is similar to the Isekai slime. Then we go into a typical high school scenario while MC hides his power to only use it in shadow. Not only is there nothing unique, but the sound and voice acting don't fit at all. The animation is normal with a lot of gore cut out, such as smashing heads and body parts, and only blood is shown when an enemy is hit. Also, the animation feels a bit jarring, and there is no world building at all to give any exposition to the art and environment. Overall, it turned from such a great premise into another trashy isekai within the second half of the first episode, and I do not recommend wasting time on it. 

BlackCatLef Nov 22, 2022

4.3

3S Review no. 77 (short, simple and salty/sweet/spicy) When I try out a new show I am the epitome of the person that “lacks critical information”, I go into every show almost completely blind (for a number of reasons) as long as I can help it, so I read “Shadow brokers are those who go unnoticed, posing as unremarkable people, when in truth, they control everything from behind the scenes”, I didn’t even bother reading the rest of it, and I thought ok, this will be about a secret organization and stuff, the poster also looks kinda cool, let’s give it shot, and I click play on the first episode. So, the story starts, and it is about this high school student who jumps in to save a kidnapped girl while wearing stupid mask, hm, I am wondering at this point where is this going (I managed to ignore that the kidnapper drops his weapon in order to have an exhilarating and fair fight with the kid, then the kid pulls out two crowbars that he “discovered” that he can use as tonfas), then the scene ends with the kid realizing he needs to become stronger. And then what happens? You would never guess it, the kid dies in a traffic accident and gets reincarnated becoming completely busted and overpowered. Isekai, yup, reincarnation, yup, overpowered, yup. Now, I would say that it got me by surprise since it didn’t now it was an isekai show before watching it but nowadays I’m more surprised if it is not an isekai, if there is no voice explaining stuff to protagonist, or if he doesn’t to pull out the video game menu control system. So, what happens next, well, the typical stuff, he gets a harem, a lot of followers and becomes stronger and stronger while he fights randomly against a cult that for some reason everyone is completely oblivious of its existence. So what is unique about it then you ask, well, that the protagonist wants to completely avoid the spotlight, he tries to be as low profile and as lame as he can while he fights from the shadows, cause apparently that is what he wanted to be, a bootleg anime batman. Now, why does he even do that, why he goes through the trouble and danger of revealing his identity when he simply could just not have one, fake his death, then keep fighting from the shadows, problem solved, it’s not like anyone would notice, they didn’t even notice the freakin cult existing in the first place. But no, that couldn’t happen, cause you see that way we wouldn’t have a school life, we wouldn’t have thick as pigshit school students and rom-com. Also, couldn’t this not be an isekai? You know just a fantasy setting with our protagonist trying to be this shadow thingy he wants to be and getting stronger gradually, well, firstly that would require way more writing effort, and secondly and most importantly, he wouldn’t be able to constantly spout this god awful, repetitive, annoying jokes about him being the secondary character he is trying to be and how some other are typical main character material. So yeah, the story and the characters (they don’t even get introduced to us, they just multiply off screen) are your typical modern anime shit, but that being said, there are some mildly entertaining moments, cool edgelord lines like: “I... am… atomic.” and shit. Some action is nice at times, and some events are so stupid and terribly written that at least I find them entertaining, like the protagonist walking covered in blood, offering his hand to girl that slipped and fell asking her if she is okay, and the girl falling for him instantly looking at him like he is a fuckin angel, instead of you know, acting like anything but the way she did, anything would have made more sense, or pretty much every important event in the story that is almost always a coincidence or an accident. It also has a fast pace, which you know, can ruin a lot of series, but in these lame ass copy pasta shows it is usually their saving grace and the main reason I can watch them. Animation is nice and crisp, but the art style and the designs are unsurprisingly uninspired. Sound is alright, voice acting is fine, opening is okeyish, ending is very lame. Nothing memorable overall. So, is it worth a watch? Well, no, it is not a good a show, it is one of the same, but if you find similar shows to it enjoyable like your run of the mill isekai, then you will enjoy this as well.

molopower Nov 17, 2022

8

I read the manga about a year ago, and the anime is good. Though sometimes the animation feels lacking and cheap. But, it still retains the fun story that made the manga so popular. However I still cannot get myself to like shadow, he's treated like an ignorant doofus. I understand it's a gimmick but I believe it's not particularly well done otherwise, it's great go watch it.