In this new episode of Anime Breakfast we are going to talk to you, in detail, about Uncle from Another World, also giving it a final evaluation: well yes, this time we have a review
ORIGINAL TITLE: Uncle in Another World, Hepburn: Isekai Ojisan. TYPE: fantasy, comedy, isekai. NATION: Japan. REGIA: Shigeki Kawai. STUDIO: AtelierPontdarc. ORIGINAL DUBBING CAST: Mikako Komatsu, Haruka Tomatsu, Ayane Sakura, Aoi Yuki, Aki Toyosaki, Kenichi Suzumura, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Hisako Kanemoto. ENGLISH DUBBING CAST: Jenny Yokobori, Victoria Grace, Yuzu Harada, Emily Faucret, Stephen Fu, Andrew Kishino, Courtney Lin. DURATION: 13 episodes of approximately 25 minutes. DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix. STREAMING OUTPUT: dal 07/06/2002 al 03/08/2023.
Isekai (literally: “different world”) were born as a subgenre of all media related to the Japanese world, whether manga, anime or light novels, and are generally associated with the fantasy genre. The protagonists of the Isekai are not so much the characters who experience them, but the actual worlds or parallel universes to explore, experience and learn about. If among the first works we can mention the El Hazard: The Magnificient World series or Yu Watase’s manga Fushigi Yugi, .hack was first responsible for making the genre popular (if you want to know more, Wikipedia is just a click away distance), which was then followed by the definitive explosion with Sword Art Online. What is all this premise for? To introduce you to the first real review protagonist of a Breakfast Anime: that of Uncle from Another World.
About Another World
Uncle from Another World (in Japanese 異世界おじさん, Hepburn: Isekai Ojisan), was born as a manga written and illustrated by Hotondoshindeiru, whose publication began way back in 2018 and which has now stopped for a while at the tenth volume. The anime series, produced by AtelierPontdarc and distributed in the West by Netflix, began serialization in July 2022 and finished the first season in March 2023. A little too long, you say? Actually, Uncle from Another World is made up of “only” 13 episodes. The delay was mainly due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues within the production studio.
By Misfortune | Review Uncle from Another World
The fact is that last year, Uncle from Another World finished its first season on Netflix and we, guilty of being late, caught up with it. Takafumi Takahoka is a young, unemployed boy who finds himself having to re-establish a relationship with his uncle, who fell into a coma 17 years earlier and only recently woke up in his hospital room. The first contact between the two is rather strange: the uncle seems to have gone mad and at first speaks an unknown Takafumi language, later claiming to have spent the last 17 years in an alternate world, in which he also learned to use magic. Obviously, the young protagonist takes him for madness and tries to abandon him to his solitary fate. However, when his uncle shows Takafumi his powers, making a glass of water float on the bedside table, the young man makes his own decision: he wants to make his uncle a YouTuber.
The family of Takafumi and his uncle has in fact fallen apart over time, due to the accident the man had, hit by a truck 17 years earlier. The constant arguments have distanced the young boy from his mother and the rest of his family, leaving him almost completely alone. The discovery of his uncle’s powers is therefore an incredible opportunity to improve his life, and to create real economic independence.
What’s wrong? | Review Uncle from Another World
The uncle is, still today, even after 17 years, a very young otaku: passionate about video games, especially the old SEGA masterpieces, anime and manga, the man finds himself colliding with an unexpected and difficult to assimilate technological progress. There’s no problem though: Takafumi will make sure he has his old (oops) favorite consoles in his hands, to make him feel at home again.
Of course, Uncle from Another World isn’t all there is to it. Through the use of his magical powers, the uncle begins to tell and show his adventures in the other world, Granbahamal, a place completely similar to what you could imagine if you thought, intimately, of a fantasy aspect of our reality . Among orcs, elves, humanoid beings, legendary monsters, kingdoms, knights and so on, you would expect that your uncle, thanks to his incredible magical powers, had at least an extraordinary experience in his 17 years of stay. Well, no.
In Granbahamal, the uncle had anything but an easy life due to his physical appearance. The aesthetic standards of the humanoid populations of the parallel world are extremely high: in short, they are all beautiful. And our uncle falls far off that kind of radar, so often he is sent away and beaten up because he is mistaken for an ogre of some kind. Although therefore, net of all the works accomplished, he can actually be considered a great hero on many occasions, he never gets the glory and honor that he deserves, on the contrary.
Lost Memory | Review Uncle from Another World
Adding insult to injury, in short. The 13 episodes of Uncle from Another World develop on this thin line between comedy and incessant criticism of society. The memories of his uncle in Granbahamal mix with the daily life situations that he experiences together with Takafumi, in a constant attempt to reintegrate into a society which, if it didn’t belong to him before, let alone now, after 17 years of coma spent in a fantasy world.
In addition to the fantasy world and social themes, Uncle from Another World is a gigantic container of quotes and Easter eggs about the nerd and otaku world that many fans can enjoy grasping and reliving. We are certainly not talking about an epochal series, nor a masterpiece of its kind. Looking at it, Uncle from Another World reminded us a lot of One Punch Man (we talked to you about it in a dedicated episode of Anime Breakfast, you can find it here!) as far as the shonen panorama is concerned: a parody that focuses heavily on its well-written and characterized charactersbut above all on that sense of surreality that attracts and entertains at the same time.
Uncle’s Power!
We conclude this quick review of Uncle from Another World with the awareness that we have said everything and nothing. We don’t want to delve further into the work because we are convinced that experiencing it knowing practically nothing makes a first viewing even more fun. Highly recommended for comedy and Isekai lovers and all those looking for a light, but not dull, series. And we’re waiting for the second season, which who knows if it will ever arrive!
If you want to catch up on Uncle from Another World, you will find it available in the already vast catalog of Netflix animated series. In case you’ve already seen it, let us know what you think below in the comments and stay tuned with us at TechGameWorld.com for all the news on the world of cinema and TV series!
Points in favor
- Ironic and very current
- An isekai that distances itself from the genre it belongs to
- Very well characterized characters
Points against
- We are anxious for the second season
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