(L) Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! (The Eminence in Shadow)

[Tenzen12]

He is not Mary Sue because he is objectively in universe stupid. And his real thoughts are always wrong. Only time he happen to be right is when he talk complete nonsense that he made up and you can't credit him for that.

[magnuskn]

Mary Sue's have sprouted quite a lot of variants on the basic concept over the years, guys. ^^

[frubam]

Man, you guys are still on this ?

Anyhoo, random thought; its kinda annoying not to really get a grasp of what the world is like. Like, is Alpha an elf? Clearly there are different races, but the world-building aspect of the show feels pretty lacking thus far. I can't remember a single detail outside of Cid's hometown being smaller than the city they are currently in. Things like how big the world is, the status of various cities or countries or people is a complete unknown. Maybe this information is not necessary since it is possible that the world revolves around Cid as the protagonist, and from his perspective, all extraneous elements are unimportant and thus not shown. But as a viewer, it feels like I'm locked in a mansion, never understanding the outside world because I can only look out the window. It just feels limited in my opinion.

[nojay]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

Mary Sue's have sprouted quite a lot of variants on the basic concept over the years, guys. ^^

I actually read the original Mary Sue story a long time ago. It was a Star trek fanfic in which the titular Mary Sue was smarter than Spock, a better engineer than Scotty, a better doctor than McCoy and could captain a starship better than Kirk. And she made sure everybody knew it before she died bravely saving the Enterprise in the arms of the bridge crew who then spent the next few turgid pages of dreck eulogising Mary Sue to the skies.

There's a reason we laugh at Mary/Marty Sues.

[Frontier]

I don't think the Shadow stuff is meant to come off as a comedy, at least a straightforward one. Which I think accentuates the actual comedy.

The only "Gary Stu" traits I can think of are that he's overpowered and things work out his way often (with a bunch of women involved) but the show is intentionally absurd about it and he has an actual personality that prevents him from being a typical self-insert protagonist.

I mean, is there really any point to seeing him train and learn to be so OP?

[magnuskn]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I mean, is there really any point to seeing him train and learn to be so OP?

Personally, yeah, it adds struggle for the protagonist, which is important, IMO, to feel involved in the story. I don't need long training sequences, exactly, but something more than what this anime got (he suddenly has overpowered slime armor, swords, disguises, wtf?) would have been appreciated.

I also didn't get at all into the adventures of the reincarnated demon lord who chucked castles at his enemies, so maybe I'm just biased against completely laughably OP protagonists who don't struggle in anything.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

Personally, yeah, it adds struggle for the protagonist, which is important, IMO, to feel involved in the story. I don't need long training sequences, exactly, but something more than what this anime got (he suddenly has overpowered slime armor, swords, disguises, wtf?) would have been appreciated.

I also didn't get at all into the adventures of the reincarnated demon lord who chucked castles at his enemies, so maybe I'm just biased against completely laughably OP protagonists who don't struggle in anything.

This doesn't feel like a show that's about the "struggle" so much as the display of power in creative ways because of the protagonists' mentality and how other characters react to it.

Like there wouldn't be a point to it if he wasn't OP and how spectacular he is about it in front of characters who can't believe it. Which fits because the protagonist is living out their Isekai Chuuni fantasy. He's not a protagonist you're meant to relate to in my opinion.

Oh, I love Anos, and I think this is pretty similar in that respect, so I guess that explains the disconnect. I guess I feel better about them compared to, like, a show like Reincarnated as a Slime because that show so often creates a false sense of tension that is immediately deflated because the protagonists are OP while this and Misfit are more open about it.

[nojay]

Originally Posted by magnuskn

Personally, yeah, it adds struggle for the protagonist, which is important, IMO, to feel involved in the story.

The "struggle" in most isekais involves the main character

A) Losing a fight, running away, getting stronger in some manner (cue "training arc") and then coming back to defeat their opponent.

B) Beating their opponent almost without noticing.

C) Almost getting defeated after twelve pages of "BANG!" and "POW!" before they pull an Ultimate Comeback out of their ass (usually in the next episode).

I'd rather have something different but I've watched a lot of A, B and C isekai anime and read lots more isekai manga and WN/LN adaptations in the same vein. Give me some interesting world-building, maybe a subversion of the A, B, C plotlines and I'll be more engaged with the story the author is hoping to tell. A weak cowardly MC can make things interesting (Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi), a paradigm shift helps (Gate, Space Mercenary, Manuke na FPS Player etc.) and of course there's always Overlord which continues to entertain despite not having much in the way of struggle for the main character.

[Tactics]

It depends on how you perceived chuuni culture, honestly.

His performance also the "Atomic" ASMR moment entertained audience used to LARP so its not all failure.
No need to unnecessarily expand it to personal taste when it comes to Gary Stu. If its Kirito, I can understand because he really is undisputed as he made progress, but this super power MC is never considered as man of perfect attitude by people around him (ate Alpha's lunch) on top being person who arranged furniture just so he can looking great when giving order to Beta.

Originally Posted by frubam

Anyhoo, random thought; its kinda annoying not to really get a grasp of what the world is like. Like, is Alpha an elf? Clearly there are different races, but the world-building aspect of the show feels pretty lacking thus far. I can't remember a single detail outside of Cid's hometown being smaller than the city they are currently in. Things like how big the world is, the status of various cities or countries or people is a complete unknown. Maybe this information is not necessary since it is possible that the world revolves around Cid as the protagonist, and from his perspective, all extraneous elements are unimportant and thus not shown. But as a viewer, it feels like I'm locked in a mansion, never understanding the outside world because I can only look out the window. It just feels limited in my opinion.

Wasn't Cid or Alpha once mentioned that elf and other races were rarely going far from their settlement compare to humans?
That, and most isekai LN rarely going deep when it comes to world building anyway. Its not everyday you can found delivery of arranged, jointed 'mess' like Anos Voldigoad.

[Frontier]

I see we're at the point where the vigilante group is getting framed for crimes they didn't commit by seemingly robotic killers. I think Shadow will eat this setting up .

Turns out our busty bookworm from the end of last episode is Sherry, and despite being a teenager she's apparently the smartest person in the entire kingdom! So no surprise the Princess sisters would look to her to help decipher an artifact and dive deeper into the mysteries plaguing their kingdom !

I don't trust her dad though. He adopted her? Her mother was looking into this same research? Something smells fishy here. Getting Madarame vibes from Persona 5 .

So we've got Kisara herself, Saya Aizawa, as Sherry, I think Hochu Otsuka is her dad, and Maaya Uchida as Nu. Also Nobuhiko Okamoto as one of the bad guys !

Ah, so we're at the point where modern world conventions exist in the Isekai Fantasty because of the protagonist...except it wasn't intentional, Cid just told the Shadows random @$%^ from his past life as the "Wisdom of Shadow" and they took it from there. Although you have to respect how Gamma managed to start up a top-tier boutique business while also having a huge mansion base for her Shadow-sama nestered right in the center of it .

It's cool to get more screentime for Gamma! She's a raven-haired, high class, beauty and apparently the smartest of the Shadow Garden girls (I guess Beta just looks smarter?) and managed to make the most money...but she's also not physically adept at all and a massive klutz. That's some nice gap moe .

Kid Shadow Flashbacks! Was that Alpha and Beta, too? Beta looked like she had longer hair .

I love how Shadow's reward for his subordinates is a light show that seemingly does nothing, but they eat it all up anyway. And then he gets a free discount and steals money from his own organization. I mean, it's for him anyways, but the fact that he did it while they were laughing was hilarious .

I honestly thought Cid might have a genuine clue who the killer was, but the fact that he thought Alexia had turned into a serial killer was even better .

I think that's the first time I've seen someone use taking a dump outdoors as an excuse to change into their alter ego. And we got a heartwarming moment of friendship between Cid and his mob buddies...even though they sold him out by telling everybody about it. Classic Mob Character behavior .

Alexia can handily deal with one fake Shadow, and harming a delicate maiden is enough to earn you a punch right in the face from said maiden, but three on one might be too much for her...luckily Shadow is there to rescue her and peak her interest even more !

Nu looks great in her Shadow outfit !

Alexia's heart seems keen on the Shadows, especially after getting saved twice, but Iris wants to take them and the Cult of Diablos down. I expect some friction there between the sisters .

Tough luck confessing for Mob Characters...Skel strikes out with a girl who is already betrothed and her burly fiancé is about to beat him up while the girl keeps the chocolate, and Po turned into a stalker with the logical conclusion to that (I respect his keen research though). Meanwhile Cid is the only one that effectively got a romance moment by casually giving chocolate to Sherry because he just didn't want it any more. Does Cid have no idea how romance flags work ?

Epsilon ED! With some nice Hisako Kanemoto vocals! And she's got a strong twintail, busty, leggy, and kneescock action going on !

[LG-MAX 2.o]

Slow episode this week. Really look like they will only adapt 2 books in 20 episodes.
I laughed at Cid stealing his own money.

I honestly thought Cid might have a genuine clue who the killer was, but the fact that he thought Alexia had turned into a serial killer was even better .

In the novel he thinks that only two people could be the serial killer, Alexia and Delta.

An interesting scene that was also cut is that when the light hits the girls, they start crying and Cid thinks to himself that Gamma is a great director.
As he thinks this he mentions all the things light does, like healing injuries, replenishing magic energy, improving circulation, etc. He treats it as unimportant things. lol

[leongsh]

Originally Posted by Frontier

Ah, so we're at the point where modern world conventions exist in the Isekai Fantasty because of the protagonist...except it wasn't intentional, Cid just told the Shadows random @$%^ from his past life as the "Wisdom of Shadow" and they took it from there. Although you have to respect how Gamma managed to start up a top-tier boutique business while also having a huge mansion base for her Shadow-sama nestered right in the center of it .

That is actually a parody recreation of the super high-end Japanese departmental store, Mitsukoshi, main store at Nihombashi, Tokyo (https://cp.mistore.jp/global/en/nihombashi.html). Look at the exterior pic of the building in the webpage link. Of course the name used in the anime, Mitsugoshi, directly harks to Mitsukoshi.

The inner atrium has a large statue in the centre of the atrium with stairs around it

()

[Alchemist007]

I guess I'm here for the dumb jokes after all.

[Tactics]

Damn, after that Atomic ASMR, Yamashita embrace the chuuni inside him.

Originally Posted by leongsh

That is actually a parody recreation of the super high-end Japanese departmental store, Mitsukoshi, main store at Nihombashi, Tokyo (https://cp.mistore.jp/global/en/nihombashi.html). Look at the exterior pic of the building in the webpage link. Of course the name used in the anime, Mitsugoshi, directly harks to Mitsukoshi.

Shadow Garden kickstart industrial revolution with chocolate, just like Willy Wonka.

[magnuskn]

Ergh, yeah. I'll leave it to you guys, if you enjoy it. No need to further harp on my dislike for it.

[grecefar]

It's nice that we know another of the shadows, until now it was alpha and beta with the others only making an appearance.

Gamma seems like a funny woman.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by grecefar

It's nice that we know another of the shadows, until now it was alpha and beta with the others only making an appearance.

Gamma seems like a funny woman.

They've pretty much all got ED themes by now and yet we still only really know maybe 3-4 of them .

[belatkuro]

Wow, poop jokes. Nice comedy, much laughs. I'm surprised they didn't go with the reason they wouldn't accept their chocolates was that it might be poop instead.
Matsuoka is wasted as one of those goons. He's still doing his best though.

And that was peak delusion at its finest. Jumping to conclusion that Alexia was a killer. That's some amazing mental gymnastics he did. So much for a mastermind in the making to just think like that.
It's the start of a new arc and the pink girl is cute so let's see how she gets involved. Though if Shadow Garden is pretty operational to hide in plain sight with that mall and they have like over 100 personnel already, why haven't they caught this fake Shadow Garden yet given how open the fakes operate with several people walking around. Guess that would make this arc short if they finish it in the shadows.


Kage Jitsu episode 3:

YouTube

https://youtu.be/gjRX3Pr4ZGE

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[moridin84]

Spoiler for image:

[MAX_COLA_POWER!]

Originally Posted by moridin84

Spoiler for image:

Honestly I'd take this over the entire brew haha the thread has become with those in favor and against the series. Speaking of, even though Delta's my favorite, I have to say so far Epsilon has sounded the best singing the ending IMO so far.