In the Land of Leadale

There are several items on the list that I usually check off before diving into a light novel adaptation, especially one in a fantasy realm. Does it have an interesting and balanced world? How does the main protagonist die and end up reborn into such a world? Does it have RPG elements? And most importantly, can I make it through more than three episodes? Don't worry, the last one thankfully doesn't apply to In the Land of Leadale. To put it into perspective, this is essentially a protagonist who ends up becoming a RPG character set in a world known as Leadale. Like most RPG games,there are classes and our protagonist Cayna is an elf, who specalizes in magic. As a spellcaster and elf, she can heal, cast deadly magic, and has rare skills at her arsenal. It's very spellcaster's wet dream when we think about it. But for Cayna, she's not there to level up her character to beat a game. She's there to learn about the world of Leadale. As a common norm in most RPG games, there are NPCs, towns to visit, places to explore, weapons and gear to unlock, in-game crafting systems, quests, and monsters. If you've ever played a RPG game before, these should be common sense to understand. With Cayna's situation, she finds herself in the role of an adventurer while looking for other Leadale players. Be honest though, what would you do if you were in Cayna's shoes? You'd want to learn about other players as much as possible right? The only problem is that over 200 years has passed since she last played the game. That spells out problems of her familiarizing with the game she once played. And of course, a lot has since changed especially with wars. Cayna spends her days exploring Landale and learning as much as possible. Watching Land of Leadale was a challenge for me at first, not because of its overused content but because the story pacing. The initial start felt sluggish, with Cayne's adventure having seemingly no set direction. She's there exploring a fantasy world but it's confusing about the true purpose of the show. Is it set up as a fantasy adventure or some sort of mystery with suspense and hidden secrets? Cayna herself is actually an engima because of her circumstances. However, she retains the personailty of a normal girl, without any sort of special trait besides her in-game status and abilities. That being said, you should expect this story to have a mixture of fantasy, adventure, mystery, and sometimes, slice of life. If you've played JRPG games before, then you may be very familar with these genres already. Because she is the main protagonist, Cayne essentially carries this anime on her shoulders. She gets the most screen time and the majority of the supporting cast is overshadowed by her presence. Characters such as Key, Mai-Mai, Skargo, among others only have minor roles throughout the show. Their character development is very limited, if any. In fact, this anime treats them like side quest NPCs than party members or companions. Cayna's adventure often takes her to meet people and taking on quests that requires her to use in-game skills and knowledge. It's as if you're on the journey with her in the game. Adapted by Maho Film, this is another addition to their roster of fantasy portfolio. The colorful world of Leadale contains lush lands with old style architectures and towns crafted from RPG asthestics. Cayne is known for her charming figure and personality. Other characters in the show are protrayed with RPG elements. That's not a knockdown to the show but the anime pretty much plays for itself. There's nothing strinkingly unique about the art style at all. Land of Leadale won't hit different for what the story shows us. In fact, this anime represents some of the most oversatuarted RPG tropes you'll discover. Cayne herself is a character that you may or may not like. But at the end of the day, you're not going to get a showstopper out of this anime. Not at all.

Here we go, yet another isekai, and there’s not much to say about this one, aside from the fact that I’ve played the ED theme for this show like a hundred times, it’s a generic plot line of “Person dies because of this reason, and is completely overpowered in another world”. It’s a slice of life isekai more so than action, and is just ok. Wish they expanded on the game mechanics and why Leadale shut down in the first place a bit more. My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20 STORY: 10/25 The story is basic and inoffensive,but rather uninteresting. Cayna is reincarnated in another world and goes on an adventure, helping people, having fun times with her quirky family, and meeting a whole bunch of people. Again, I wished they went more in depth about the game mechanics and why the game shut down in a more in depth way as well. There was much more they could have done with the story for sure. ART: 7.3/10 Fine art, nothing much to say here. The creatures lot a bit ugly, but the fights are alright, and it’s ok to look at. MUSIC: 8/10 The ED is awesome! One of my favourites of the season! Soundtrack otherwise is fine. CHARACTERS: 9.7/20 Quite forgettable, but pleasant. We have Cayna, our pleasant overpowered MC that’s probably pretty old inside the world of Leadale, we have her kids, and her grandkids, and they’re kinda quirky and provide comedic relief. If anything, the comedic aspect of these characters were enjoyable at times, but forgettable at most. ENJOYMENT: 9/15 It was decently enjoyable most of the time, the characters were fun to watch. THEMATIC EXECUTION: 10.5/20 The theme is a bit muddled, is it a slice of life, or action? I suppose it’s both, but to me, the slice of life elements were handled well. Wish there was more world-building to create the fantasy atmosphere in a more interesting way. OVERALL: 54.5/100 A simple generic isekai that was bland, but fine to watch. In a weaker anime season, this is definitely not the worst show, but also this is far from the best. Watch it if you want some nice comedy and simplistic story! Wish Lytt showed up more…

Welcome to the grand world of Leadale! Watch as you see our MC, Cayna, explores the vast new world with limitless oppurtunities. Except, not really. Leadale no Daichi nite is a rehash of isekai genres, and does not really try to do anything new. Whether it be the comedy, combat, or storyline, Leadale no Daichi nite is a jack of all things that tries to implement every trope, and fails to do any of them justice. Animation is nothing special, perhaps below average, but that's not the reason why the show is bad. First off, we have Cayna trying to recover the "guardian towers," which is essentially amacguffin, since I mean, what exactly do these towers function? Cayna's goal has been to recover them so far, yet other than the little cutscene of Cayna regenerating the tower's MP, I haven't seen any relevance in them. They don't seem all that important, huh? Next is the other characters and of course, slice of life. They kind of go hand in hand. Having a "slow, fluffy life" in the other world isn't terribly unique, but there have been standouts here and there, perhaps. Too bad this show doesn't really care about their characters. You have a perfect setup for some fun slice of life, but all you get are repeated comedic sequences that get really old. Cayna actually does have family living in the world, yet these family members are just a single trait and always repeat the same thing over and over again. Skargo is a mom-con that is over the top, Mai-mai is a respected woman, but also fawns over Cayna, and Kartatz might be the only person in the family that's normal, but of course, he's relegated to Cayna just giving him head pats and him being embarrassed. On another note: really? Skargo is Jojo's voice actor, Sugita Tomokazu, and Kartatz is Gintoki's VA, Ono, Daisuke. What a lineup. Anyways, you kind of get the idea. the family members that Cayna regularly interacts are over the top and don't have an actual personality other than their fawning over Cayna. Or, Cayna just treats them like pets like Kartatz. There's no variety in their interactions, and the general sequence events is as follows: Skargo or Maimai does something stupid, and Cayna hits them in a slapstick fashion in annoyance and anger. Not really funny, and definitely does not contribute to a well balanced slice of life. Then comes the other portion of the story: other players from the VRMMORPG, Leadale. This is a more difficult way to navigate and execute well in an isekai. There's a reason why most isekai stories with transported to a game world tend to steer away from this concept. I wouldn't really say that Leadale no Daichi nite butchers the concept, but it also is only a shallow execution. These characters don't act any different from actual people living in the world. There also isn't any conflict, which you would generally expect from other players, since all of the characters seem to be still, much weaker than Cayna. Much worse, despite there being at least a decent number of players -we never actually know how many-they never really seem to gather together or form a guild, something that you'd expect other players to be doing. Instead, they immerse themselves in their role in the game world turned real. Essentially, the players don't bring ANYTHING to the table that you would normally expect. This is highlighted with the only hostile player to Cayna: he gets caught and tried by the kingdom, despite being a player. I wouldn't know about you, but if there was a player with a potential to level up and take revenge on me, I surely wouldn't spare him. If I were to spare him, I probably wouldn't put him in jail for him rot for years on end, solidifying his plan for revenge on me. Either way, the situation was dealt with in a surface level and never mentioned again in the story. Other players that are friendly are just also, again, random encounters that don't impact the story as much as you'd think. Cayna and the players have a small reunion, and that's it. This goes for players that Cayna actually knows from real life, before the isekai happened. That's crazy, considering that she cherishes her in-game family Then are the other lazy staples of isekai stories, such as Cayna handling her "first kill." Sure, she says she's disgusted and that the act took out a lot of her, but 5 minutes later, and it's never mentioned again. Other annoying things is how the other characters react to Cayna. Despite Cayna doing unbelievably superhuman feats that no one has ever done before, the characters' reactions to her are extremely mild. Even this portion of the story is bland and uninventive. None of the characters really perform the role of tsukkomi, and I think Cayna is left unchecked. For the show to have been comedic, I think there had to be have had some sort of familiar, pet, or just character that keeps Cayna in check, making snarky comments here and there. Of course, these bad points is all appended by how Cayna is OP in the isekai, and no one is stronger than her. It's sort of wish-fulfillment story that tries to incorporate a story, comedy, and slice of life all in one package, which doesn't really make any sense. Even other players are much weaker than her. Cayna even ends up adopting a kid, really trying to milk the "slow life" sort of novel, but it's already too late. The story tried to diversify its genres so much that it feels fragmented, and more importantly, nothing stands out.

A wholesome Video Game Fantasy Isekai that makes you feel like you're watching a hug. Animation / Art / General Visuals - 7/10 ----------------------------------------------- Animations aren't noteworthy, but the overall art style is nice and detailed enough. As the show focuses a lot on Slice of Life, there's less need for complex animations. The spell effects are quite pretty though. Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 7/10------------------------------------------ Solid production values across the board. Nothing to complain about. Story - 6/10 ------------- There isn't much of a story. It's a mostly generic fantasy isekai featuring a video game world. The MC dies, gets sucked into a game they were crushing as an OP character, becomes that character and now they can pretty much do whatever they want as they explore the world in their new form. Once NPC characters are now normal beings and so the MC spends most of her time interacting with the various characters, including her NPC children, who are now regular people with their own personalities. There's no real overarching story to talk about, so an epic world of fantasy with great adventures this is not. The entire show is extremely wholesome, and you won't have to worry about much tragedy and stuff. Characters - 7/10 --------------------- A pretty likeable bunch. The MC is a capable woman who's also quite confident and intelligent. She fully understands her own overpowered status and will happily utilize her skills to get stuff done. The various characters she meets are all nice enough, and some even have a decent personality. But that's all there is really. A bunch of wholesome characters that will bring a smile to your face but won't really make you feel much beyond that. --- Total - 7/10 --- This show reminds me of the early seasons of Slime with its wholesomeness. It's a very nice "feel-good" anime that isn't going to wow you with anything specific, but will likely put a smile on your face and help your relax after a hard day's work.