Gzerble

Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? is a mediocre show that doesn't take itself seriously. The story is utter rubbish, the characters are annoying, the animation is purposefully simplistic to downright crude at times, and the sound is cartoonish to the extreme. Luckily, the complete self-awareness of this show makes it a passable view.

This isn't a show for everyone, obviously. Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? is in essence one of those shows you watch, enjoy, and forget as soon as you see them. The plot is not captivating, the characters aren't memorable, the animation and sound aren't works of art, and the overall experience isn't particularly impressive. What the anime is though, is fun. There are moments of humor that range between banal to brilliant, boring to breathtaking, but basically better than average overall.

Yes, there is fan service, yes there is shameless use of standard scenes, yes, there is a pervert demon thing which is quite friendly, and yes, you have seen every single detail here in other shows before. This is formulaic to an extreme level. Luckily, following a recipe leads to a tasty dish... if one that gets boring after the millionth time or so. Still, while watching it you have your fun, after it you understand it was a complete waste of time. Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? is the potato chips of the anime world. Yes, I'm a bit salty about watching it.

Still, for something so lacking in anything unique, it has plenty of personality. It is absolutely average in the grand scale of things, but if you aren't numb to the tropes that make the series (strange world, high stakes games, self-aware parody, standard superpowered fight scenes, etc), it is enjoyable. Myself, I found it full of potential but ultimately dissapointingly average.

Writing (Story and Characters):

In essence, the story is "the standard superpowered teens get sucked into world and like fighting". Having been done to death, the writing is to give some stylistic differentiation. Humor supplies the greatest moments of Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? with moments of either clever or self-aware writing (including the famous speech that pokes fun at fan service for trying to be more sexual than straight-up pornography). There is some rather heavy handed reliance on one hero being super-strong, which takes away a lot of the drama in the combat scenes. The character-driven side is also rather raw and simplistic. Still, that choice is more about style than anything else.

Plot is maybe too strong a word in the context of a show like Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?, since it is more than ordinary. It relies heavily on well known tropes, and doesn't stray from them. It is the standard mix of fluff, challenges, and exposition about the world and characters. For such a short series, there isn't really time for any of these to be particularly developed, and the story ends before there is any resolution to any element. Still, there is a charm that made these cliches so popular which manages to salvage the story from being a complete disaster, along with the fact that it remains with narrow enough a focus to not become incoherent and avoids becoming convoluted for the sake of fake complexity.

A well rounded cast basically sets the tone of the series, but unfortunately this is the weakest point of Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? - the cast is not particularly well suited to either humor nor drama. They are just aren't an interesting bunch, and their moments where they actually are problem children end rather early in the series. The character-driven side of the show falls with the complete lack of development of any of them other than perhaps one side character. It ends up with a cast aimed at a lower age group than the cleverest bits of humor, and as such ends up removing a lot of the strength of the series.

Particularly bad moments exist, but still, the humor helps elevate this show from being completely mundane. The plentiful problems with the writing (a weak story, boring characters, and both overly simplistic) are quite obvious, but Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? manages to make up for it with plenty of form in lieu of substance. A little bit of actual substance could have made the writing a lot more memorable, but being memorable isn't what anyone went for, rather than supplying some moments that the viewers can enjoy, and in that there is a success.

Art (Animation and Sound):

When the plot and characters are weak, the added value has to be in the art. Fortunately, the artwork of Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? is clever enough to know just how much creativity and a reliance on gimmicks is necessary. The artwork is particularly crude at the right times, going over the top at many times, and relying on gimmicky aninmation and sound. The choices of artwork are all about form, keeping things light hearted and on the border between crude and extremely expressive. In no way is the artwork groundbreaking, but in no way is it broken.

From an animation perspective, there are plenty of choices that work for Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?'s longevity. There is no heavy reliance on realism, and things get proudly cartoonish. The character designs are unoriginal, and there is a heavy relliance on animation tricks and tropes in order to give personality to everything. Luckily, that works surprisingly well and ends up fitting with the self-aware narrative of the show. While something that looks like this feels more like it belongs in the pre-2006 days of artwork, it is still rather good execution of that style even if it makes it feel particularly low budget at times. And hey, it is not often when using the playboy rabbit bunny girl for fan service in this way - people avoid it becuase of the cliche, so it was actually a welcome surprise.

Voice acting is about finding a balance between subtlety and emotion. At the start, we get a nice blanace in Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo?, but it is quickly lost as it seems that planning just went out the window and most of the show was the creators winging it. Still, while childish, the voice acting is very effective at what it does. Keeping things light hearted and fun is no small feat, and doing that without becoming annoying is hard. Fortunately, the style of the sound (in voice acting, effects, and soundtrack) is a perfect fit for the show. The ending song is also particularly inspired in the context of the show itself, something that rarely happens.

While the animation and sound are good, they combine into artwork which gives the writing just the right context. It is incredibly gratifying to see that above average artwork, if used correctly, can change a show from having a boring premise, mediocre story, and lame characters into something truly fun. Without solid writing, the technical aspects of the show aren't good enough to make it memorable. Still, this works out nicely overall, giving the moments of humor in the writing their time to shine. The artwork is fantastic in what it does, even if in itself it is just somewhat above average.

Overall:

Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? is an utter waste of time. It is a fun way to waste time, but you won't remember anything other than a couple of jokes by the time you finished watching it. It isn't bad. It isn't good. It has bad moments and good moments, and while fun, I'm not quite sure if I like it or not. I can see why some people love the show while others will find it utterly moronic. It is a surprisingly difficult call to make.