By the Grace of the Gods
Dec 8, 2020-TLDR: Overpowered isekaid adventurer opens a cleaning service and laundromat: the animation
Yet another isekai. This one falls under the comfy type where there is no real conflict or danger much like Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear. Unlike Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear however which justifies its comfiness with an overload of cuteness to go with it, this is just comfy with nothing else to go with it. What challenges/quests/jobs come the MC's way seem trivial, both in how difficult they seem to a normal person and even more so in how easily the MC handles it.
Characters get introduced on an episode basis, each episode essentially being MC meeting people, helping people, and them being happy they met him, immediately moving into the background. None except perhaps the female lead have any real personality beyond "happy." All of the characters are happy at pretty much all times and the only real instance of someone being particularly unhappy was when the MC reflected on how bad his previous life was and how much better it is now.
The slimes themselves aren't that interestingly done as a concept either. They just are there as a convenient way to have people underestimate the MC and give him magical mcguffin and cleaning powers.
Animation gets reused in a number of places and the horses are poorly rendered CG which looks badly out of place.
Voice acting is fine. The catgirl's VA managed her way through those awful Nya's in the middle of the sentence pretty well, but nothing else was really that remarkable about it. Noone's VA was particularly painful to listen to and I didn't really notice the music, it just blends into the background.
All in all, I'm not angry I watched as much of this as I did... I do enjoy comfy slife of life shows or isekai shows... but there are definitely far better out there. Watch it only if you feel the urge to watch every single isekai that comes out or if you really like cleaning and doing laundry. If you want something better, then try Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear instead. Its essentially the same, with an OP adventurer who chooses to tackle daily life and human relationships instead of monsters, but is far cuter and plays the gimmicks better. Also, a restaurant which makes previously unknown foods makes for a more interesting side business than a laundromat.
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While you are right in some aspects, why even bother watching and "Isekai", "Slow Life", "Slice of Life" anime if you dislike that combination? It's not like the things you crtize come as surprise, actually that's kind of what you would expect from an anime in that genre, no? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I totally agree. I watched kumakuma bear and Grace of the gods at the same time, and kuma is a way more entertaining anime. Grace of the gods was just pure boring and I thought he would actually use his magical skills for something, but nope. He just learned them and started a laundry business. So much potential down the drain! the first episodes were fun and all, but it just went down to hell after episode 2 or 3 xD
Honestly, I disagree that KumaKuma is far better. In fact, In fact, I think it's worse for several reasons.
In Grace the protagonist gets some well-prepared background story, which not only gives some retrospective into his origins, but more importantly explains why he acts as he does. His initial reclusiveness, readiness to do dirty and menial work, and later care for his workers - all relate to his past.
While in KumaKuma the backstory is kinda sloppy and does not explain anything, and the protagonist's later behaviour is completely unrelated to it. Moreover, we don't even see how a sociopathic and mercantile person she was briefly shown turns into such a kind and benevolent girl as she is. Sloppy and lazy writing.
Same with the transition to isekai, while in Grace it's nicely arranged and explained in the meeting with the gods (and develops into further encounters and conversations with them) in KumaKuma there's absolutely no explanation or reasoning why and to what ends she was transferred and granted such an op equipment and powers, and the deity manifests in two poorly made emails in the very first episode and then becomes completely forgotten as if never existed. Deus ex machina in its purest, lamest form.
Next, the 'business endeavours'. While in Grace it was very detailed in preparation, arrangement, functioning and running, in KumaKuna she opened her shop somewhat 'by the way', right after claiming she doesn't want to. Needless to say, nearly no attention to the details, process and (importantly) progress - after one episode it never appeared on screen again. And I would perhaps agree that food is more fun than laundry, but given how she barely put any effort into it, and also that she did not even make any new ingredients but used all well-known things. It could have been much more interesting show if she was to introduce her new world to various foods, like make first cheese, tame first chickens for eggs etc - but in that case it would have been a culinary anime, while KumaKuma is an anime about how awesome the MC is, who walks around, defeats thousands of wolves out of boredom and saves countless lives.
As for the 'cuteness', it's the matter of taste, I much prefer the pure and simple design of Ryoma's hideout and laundry shop to the tasteless and ridiculous Yuma's bear-house. And the sounds her bears produce I personally find disgusting. But I get the idea that it's a show more targeting girls, and young ones too, so I don't complain about the style. In general, I'd say KumaKuma is 'isekai wants to marry nickelodeon for pre-teens'. Can't say the same about By the Grace.