Saturday, January 02, 2021

Despite Having Bland Visuals and Unimaginative Ideas, 'By the Grace of the Gods' Manages to Be a Fairly Feel-Good Isekai

By the Grace of the Gods tells the story of an unhappy, overworked salaryman named Ryoma Takebayashi who unexpectedly dies in his sleep.  Since he was kind and diligent when he was alive, he gains the favor of three gods from an alternate fantasy world – Lulutia, the goddess of healing and love; Kufo, god of life; and Gain, the god of creation.  As a gift to him, they reincarnate him in their world as an 8-year-old boy blessed with various attributes and aptitudes.  Living alone in the forest in the next three years, he polishes his abilities to become a “jack of all trades”, adept in many aspects of combat, magic, and craftsmanship.  He especially becomes an expert in taming and raising slimes, and has amassed an army of slimes of all kinds.

In his third year, the now 11-year-old Ryoma meets Reinhart, the Duke of Jamil, and his household.  Impressed by his abilities and endeared by his attitude, they decide to take him in and become his benefactors.  Eliaria, Reinhart’s daughter who’s at the same age as Ryoma, becomes his closest friend and biggest admirer.  Ryoma also develops friendships and connections with those in the Adventurers Guild and Merchants Guild, as he sets out on careers in both adventuring and business.
By the Grace of the Gods is as basic and mediocre as an isekai gets.  Nevertheless, I still eagerly watched it during fall 2020, because it seemed like I didn’t get enough of my isekai fix for the year.  Well, 2020 didn’t really lack quality isekai as it had Isekai Quartet season 2, Ascendance of a Bookworm second cour, and the first half of Re:Zero season 2 – which I all watched.  Plus, I also got around to watching 2016’s Drifters in 2020.  Still, it felt to me that I wasn’t getting my usual dosage, since there weren’t that many new isekai in 2020.  In previous years, two or three new isekai shows were debuting each season.  Sure, 2020 did have “pseudo-isekai” shows like Bofuri.  But as for straightup isekai, I only encountered two – My Life as a Villainess and By the Grace of the Gods.

If it had been any other year, I probably would have dropped By the Grace of the Gods after watching a few episodes.  It’s arguably just one of those “straight out of a conveyor belt” isekai, like 2019’s Isekai Cheat Magician and Demon Lord, Retry! – both of which I gave a go, but eventually gave up on.  By the Grace of the Gods checks all the boxes of the isekai cliché checklist, and its gimmicks lack novelty to fuel significant excitement.  Furthermore, it’s visually bland, and has terrible CGI.  But, again, since it was the first new isekai title of 2020 since My Life as a Villainess that I saw, I enjoyed it more than I probably would have in some other time.
Similar to your typical isekai, By the Grace of the Gods has that “escapist’s power fantasy” charm, since the narrative constantly generates scenarios where the protagonist can show how awesome he is and amaze the people around him.  This is often a fun part of isekai, regardless of the quality, but this can also be eye-roll-inducing at times.  In the case of By the Grace of the Gods, however, there’s no room for cynicism because Ryoma is such a kindly, modest boy.  You tend to cheer for him to show how awesome he is and amaze the people around him.

The plot threads involving his growing business also have some noteworthy appeal, especially in how he opts to apply the “human consideration” into it, making him popular to his employees.  This aspect, coupled with the wholesome tone and the heartwarming emotion emitting from his triumphs, gives the show a mild but desirable Ascendance of a Bookworm-esque vibes.
In the end, By the Grace of the Gods isn’t really special.  However, it has enough entertainment value to be a fairly feel-good isekai watch.
 

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