It's yet another anime with a wish-fulfilment schoolboy protagonist with TRULY AMAZING skills in magic, combat, etc. No one stands a chance against him. It's a comforting power fantasy and you know he'll always win. I enjoyed it, though, and I'll watch Season 2 (due in 2026).

1. This kind of nonsense can still be fun. Our overpowered protagonist (Desir Arman) is thoroughly nice, his friends are funny and there's entertainment value in seeing him humiliate bigots. (The latter are stupidly cartoonish, though. We're in no doubt that they deserve a stomping, yes, but they're so one-dimensional that it's like watching a Saturday morning children's show.)

2. It's less protagonist-skewed than you'd think. Yes, we know Desir will win all his fights... but it's less of a foregone conclusion when Romantica and Pram have the spotlight. I think they get more action scenes than him.

3. Desir's motivation is deadly serious. He's a time traveller the future and he saw mankind get wiped out. That's the start of episode one. Even in the past, we're already at war with the Shadow Worlds, although at that stage people think they're winning. Well, ish. We haven't yet started losing battles. Nonetheless...

"The battle between humanity and the Shadow Worlds still continues. This disaster that repeats every year continues tainting our world. Because of this erosion, our continent is now half of what it used to be."

Desir tends to know what's about to happen and he has detailed knowledge of people who've never seen him before. They're his wartime comrades and he saw them die. This time, he wants to keep them alive.

I quite like the cast, although it's only okay rather than great. Romantica's grumpy tsundere tendencies are amusing, while Pram's near-worship of Desir often made me laugh. Azest is the most interesting, though. Desir admires her, because she's honourable, clever and intimidatingly strong. (She just needs to unbend and start smiling a bit.) Unfortunately, she's also their enemy. Desir would love to recruit her, but his immediate goal is not to get crushed.

Azest's story arc is the biggest this season. I'll be watching Season 2 mostly to follow her continued growth.

The plotting's fine, although it doesn't matter too much. There's a school tournament. The usual. Mind you, the final batch of enemies are killers playing for keeps, while the finale sets up a Season 2 mission that will be our heroes' most serious fight yet. Nothing wrong with any of that. It does its job. For what it's worth, this is a Korean series of web novels and comics that's being adapted by a Japanese anime studio.

It's enjoyable. I particularly like Pram and Azest. I wish the bigots had been less silly, but that's not a show-killing problem.