Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs

Look, the manga is good. The adaptation, though… could have been better. And not only because of the obvious, ugly CGI from the latest episodes. "The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs" is centered around Leon, the ultimate asshole that was reincarnated in his sister's dating sim game. Luckily for him, he's just a mob character, so he doesn't have to deal with the male harem of the game, which he hates; after all, they are just a bunch of useless and utterly annoying pretty boys. So he thought; yet, he is forced to go to the nobles' academy from the game, so hecan avoid literally dying. Oh, and… in this world, women seem to hold the power. The anime follows the basic "reincarnated as a mob in an otome game" formula: the MC wants to live their lives comfortably, yet they become involved in the story; they use their knowledge from the game; they become close with the original main character of the game; they become powerful, etc etc. Like most works in this genre, it also has a twist: here, it is the main character, Leo. The shittiest egoistical asshole you could find in that whole fantasy world, a vulgar power abuser that doesn't give a fuck about anything other than himself, and… that hates getting promoted. Yet he gets promoted, and he hates it, and everyone else hates it as well because they hate him. He is just that much of an asshole. Leon is, basically, the saving grace of this anime. Or, rather… of the manga. Because the adaptation doesn't do him justice. Of course, he is there for comedic reasons, like literally everyone else; however, he is also the main character and carries the entire entertainment on his shoulders (as the other characters are just hollow figures on a screen). We love seeing this asshole being the most annoying asshole on Earth (well, not really) and fucking up the frustrated students with his power. Well, that's if he actually has a character, aside from being a little shit with a big mouth. And it's pretty hard to see that in the anime. Wait, that's not entirely true; it is also obvious that he is actually a pretty smart bastard! And… that's about it. Thanks for tuning in, Leon will get more character development next time! Maybe I'm a bit harsh. But then again, the other characters are just random stereotypes (aside from Angelica, she is pretty nice). We gotta have one good character at least, right? He is the main reason for the enjoyment that comes from this, after all. I mean, the story… is not that great or impressive, the pacing was pretty bad, and the animation has some flaws as well. It was pretty mediocre, really. And the last episode was TRASH. The battle was a very important one in the manga, yet here… it was over in like 5 minutes? What the heck man… And the whole episode was also very rushed, it was awful. In the end, "The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs" was disappointing. It wasn't essentially bad, as it was still somehow enjoyable; however, it did not reach the manga's potential at all. Not to say that the manga itself was oh-so-amazing, because it wasn't; yet it was way better. Truth to be told, I expected more.

Otome game is exactly the sort of generic isekai Power fantasy trash that everyone seems to hate. You know you have seen many of these before, there is a formula and a bit of a twist. An isekai fan’s needs are easy to fulfill and are fulfilled quite faithfully in this anime this is an easy recommendation if you need any of the following. 1)OP protag who is relatively likable (But not distinct enough so that one can self-insert). 2)Harem, big tids, and beautiful chics. Not dense MC 3)Good worldbuilding but should also be a world that favors MC heavily. 4)Mecha (the twist) 5)harbinger of gender equality (shows no mercy tocrazy fucks, male or female). This is exactly the kind of fodder we isekai fans need to continue staying in our caves. But if you want an actually competently produced show, please just drop this show and read the manga or LN, Yes I hate jumping on this train of “Manga is better”. But in the case of this anime. The anime is so garbage that the Manga (despite being a bit mediocre) seems like a gospel! The character expressions are so well done in the manga, here it is as generic an isekai as the ones before it. Let's just get into the review of this anime, ill keep it short. Story (6/10) Is quite good when talking about the source, in the anime however the pacing is downright horrible. They don't let you savor any good moments it's just one scene after the other. Most episodes end so abruptly you may wonder if the video got cut by mistake XD. Art and animation (3/10) they try to follow the source as close as possible in scenes that require less budget only. When a scene that requires high sakuga or budget shows up, cheap gimmicks like speed lines and terrible camera angles kill the moment. I do appreciate the fact that the mechs are drawn rather competently, but they use them as sprites to just fly across the screen with minimal to no actual movement. Broken mechs look more like Lego blocks than actual wreckage XD. They used only STILL FRAMES in one of the most anticipated Angie scenes (the punching one), it's a disaster. Art style is unique and I can tell they were trying for an Otome game-type styling but the characters look too shiny to the point they look like dolls. VA and sound (6/10) Rushed voice acting, with zero emphases on dialogues. The most hype scene of Leon versus the prince and his lackeys was delivered like it's a JAM speedrun dialogue-wise, with no zoom-ins, no powerful line delivery none of that good shit! (Makes you love scenes like Grisha and Eren from AOT) seem all the more legendary, Angie's and luxion’s Va do a good job however and you can feel that angie is noble by her manner of talk and delivery of lines.OP is alright music-wise. ED is just a lazy waifu showcase with a very out-of-place music choice. Characters (6/10) Enjoyable, sort of. the VA does kill a bit of the mood. But they do at least remain true to the source material. the main selling point is probably the anti-hero nature of Leon and the fact that character drama is a bit more natural and fleshed out like dealing with rejection, nobility and commoner issues, etc. Probably just read the manga or LN xD, If you really don't want to give the first few a try and if you can handle this low-budget adaptation you may actually enjoy it more than I did.

You gotta be kidding me...another studio ENGI ugly-ass production values with an all-too-familiar setting and a crude story that works? What kind of world are we living in that we can pass bad production for good stories? More often than not, reality hits harder than expectations, and novelist Yomu Mishima's Otome Game Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai desu a.k.a MobuSeka is just exactly that: a HameFura rip-off, but replace the female villainness lead with someone who's not even the main character, who's literally: Trapped in a Dating Sim, with the world of the Otome Game being tough for mobs a.k.a background characters. And since thisis a novel that started in Syosetu that lasted from 2017 to 2019, that expanded into the LN and manga versions of the novel, it's safe to say that what came out of there has a lot of wacky ideas during the period accurate to 2017 that only a few things are common within each other: Isekai, characters being OP, and Demon Lord reincarnation. The anime adaptation covers the first 4 volumes of the LN, though you can just read the manga anyways because the anime follows that version very closely, and to the point where I'd say that it's to the T, though LN readers will probably know that how MobuSeka progressed after the anime's content is a hit-or-miss sadly, but that's outside the scope of this review. In MobuSeka's case, it's reinventing the settings that HameFura is known for with the known caste system nobility, interesting MC, love interests, magic, and above all: the "reincarnated as a villainness" shtick where the MC, LITERALLY is a jerk that acts like an actual villain with a logic for trash that only warrants if he does feel like they earn the karma. And this is what Leon Fou Bartfort's character is like: starting off being forced by his sister to help complete a rather punishing Otome Game, where the usual shenanigans of the game are as you would expect to be played out, to only lament at the difficulty of the game to pass out not by Truck-kun, but at the stairs leading to his house. Fast forward to the reincarnation phase, and he finds himself right inside that same exact Otome Game world where women reign supreme, and mobs like Leon are easy to manipulate that makes the setting tough for 'mobs'. Of course, like Katarina Claes, Leon also knows how the game works inside out, but one thing stands out amongst the two: a simple cheat code, because Leon is a mob character, and aside from wanting to live a normal life, unless he works to the death, he's gonna stand out amongst the nobility to forever be their plaything. So it's to that extent that the world ain't all nobility, but also with a mixed sci-fi theme with the "old world" featuring technology that only "Old Humans" can understand and mechas that add more lore to the series's worldbuilding, even if Leon is a "New Human" with technically "Old Human" knowledge. Also, Luxion for an AI downsized from its real body of a giant black spaceship-like airship is quite the hilarious joker as it hates "New Humans" and isn't abashed to trash-talk towards Leon when it feels like doing so. And that's more than its programming allowable to also help Leon in "cheating" his way through the Otome Game since his knowledge is unrivalled, and his personality being one similar to that of a rebel: not caring about how others look and opinionate about him, even to the point of criticizing and chastising others in the pursuit of being realistic, while throwing all logic off to the point whom are closest to him to act like the ever-so-predictable friendship clique setting, even showcasing compassion at times in his most dirty and disgusting behaviour the way he knows how to deal against. And true to honest, it doesn't get better than Leon being the 'mob' that tries to "change/alter history" by doing things that are to be expected of a background character. For such a character like Leon, unpredictability is the name of his game, and he's fun to watch as a trash-thrashing person. There's heaps of other characters here too in MobuSeka, but I'll just go by the order in which they're introduced in the anime, there's a lot of ground to cover here. Starting off with the nobility's side of the caste system antics, it's the annoying Chibi-like character of Marie Fou Lafan, the daughter of a Viscount family. She, like Leon, also sucks as a character, but damn is she worse off than Leon himself by being oh-so-glamourous in vying for the attention to disrupt the Otome Game's natural progression of the female protagonist Olivia (whom again, like Katarina Claes) is a commoner through and through. And that's exactly Marie's position in the Otome Game: to meddle with the game dynamics and the placement of the characterization between the supposed commoner Olivia and antagonist villainness Angelica, so much so that Angelica took Olivia's place as the victim to be ripped apart from the princes of the kingdom: the crown prince Julius Rapha Holfort and his 4 idiotic aides of Jilk Fia Marmoria, Brad Fou Field, Chris Fia Arclight and Greg Fou Seberg, muscular and popular, but only in name (if Leon's in the overall picture). For the most part, it's utter broad daylight bullying at its worst as the kind and modest protagonist Olivia lacks a consistent amount of self-confidence, ensuring that she would always be the target of all nobles. On Angelica's side, instead of the usual crown prince shielding her, he's been bought to Marie's malicious intent, and it would be weird for his 4 aides to not side with him enough for Leon to backfire their karma on them. Furthermore, with Leon's inclusion in the overall story, it can seem and look cumbersome that there're too many actors in a now-convoluted storyline where the mob characters take charge of altering it into a realistic un-fairy tale like scenario. But I promise you that it's not, as Leon weaves his own way into the circumstances and makes his own path so that everyone can get pissed off for making insignificant splashes from a two-faced character, pinning all the blame on him while both Olivia and Angelica can see through the gaps of their own situations. You simply can't get a better wingman than Leon Fou Bartfort, the insignificant mob character that turned from the hatred of all to a valuable player that despite his noble status (which he doesn't want any of that shit at all), he's the perfect player to guise and guide through the intricacies of unjust treatment within a much-maligned societal standing. And to earn the respect of the wayward-sided Olivia and Angelica whom Leon has constantly risked his life for to save them from their own traumas, that's saying something that background characters may one day be protagonists of their own choosing. This is the reason why as much hate as Leon gets, he's a pretty likable character, and one whom doesn't await shooting for the stars to earn the recognition that he deserves as a literate snake-snively person that acts according to what he feels is right. As some would say: A cliche overpowered protagonist done right, and for VA Takeo Ootsuka whom also acts as Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru a.k.a Run With the Wind's Kakeru Kurahara, it makes Leon stand out more than he actually would have been, and that I'd say a job well done. It must be said that studio ENGI's production values have gotten a lot worse overtime. While its starting shows look fine with decency (and that was 2.5 years ago with Hataage! Kemono Michi), it didn't took until last Spring's Full Dive that the overall feel just looks bad, and I mean REAL BAD. Often at times, the art style just looks drab and lifeless, and let's not go into the character design which I feel that it was way too overdone with shades and contours so strikingly deep that literally everything looked razor-sharp and unnatural. To this effect, you can blame character designer Masahiko Suzuki who's done more character design in the creature department (i.e. Overlord, Kami no Tou, Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?) than actual human characters. It's like someone trying to diversify his CV that when trying something new, it's a given that he'll earn rude comments, but I for one can't understand how someone so bad at creature models earn the culmination that is featured in this show. It's abominable, and the only negative about MobuSeka. And for a Kadokawa-backed company, this is just...ugly. Like come on, wouldn't spending money on resources and more training help out to make your company look much better in the eyes of the watching public? The OST on the other hand, it's good. Kashitaro Ito is such a talented Anisong singer, and his vocal talents display the promixity here of an OP that features strong vocals and dynamic musical range, something that's a staple of if you listen to his songs. Riko Azuna's ED...actually fits for a much more playful aesthetic in rounding up the heavy bombardiness of the episodes, though the song is decent that's patched together with the visual play. It's peppy and kooky. I wouldn't be wrong if I said that there are WAY TOO MUCH Isekai anime these days, and standing out is even more difficult if the formula has been done better, or if it concerns when the adaptations of source materials comes out faster to be the first one to set a precedent on how future shows will be like to determine greatness or mediocrity. MobuSeka won't be a show that tries to break the bank by being mostly the same borrowed aesthetics from other shows that have come and gone before it, but if I can guarantee something, it's one hell of a good time watching a jerk carve out a path for himself and trashing the world behind him. Truly, the world is tough for mobs, but the real world is just as hard for Otaku (if this ain't an WotaKoi reference enough).

So I completed this show and im really surprised how much I enjoyed Otome game Isekai, that concept might sounds weird but trust me, im really not a fan of mechs but that show is fire! Story (8/10) Plot is only kinda decent but the concept is really insane, look most of people play mobile games this days and it obvious have microtransactions, so just imagine how fun it would be to summoned to your favorite game with your pay2win content. Art (8/10) Well well, mechs and objects are mostly handly animated with some really rare 3d exceptions. I really enjoy animation in thisanime, its kinda unique. Sound (7/10) Music its just climatic, I have never had problem with it in this show. Character (10/10) MCs in my opinion are really good in this show, Leon personality might be harsh sometimes but he is really amazing anyways, also most isekais protagonist are just boring but he is just insanly unique compared to standarts. Enjoyement (10/10) Oh damn I enjoyed it in any way possible, thats insane how I will miss this show. Overall (9/10) So otome is a really unique mech game simulator with amazing characters, I would recommend you to watch it if you like a good MCs with game related story.