‘Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town’ Is Hilarious, Even Though Much of Its Best Comedy Comes from the Same Formula

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town follows Lloyd Belladonna, a teenage boy who left his village of Kunlun for the first time in order to pursue his life’s dream of becoming a soldier for the Kingdom of Azami.  Although he’s supposed to be the weakest in his village, he doesn’t want this fact to get in the way of achieving his dream.  He’s determined to become a proud member of the kingdom’s army.

Actually, Kunlun has the legendary reputation of being the hometown of the world’s most powerful heroes.  Located near an infamous dungeon in which the strongest monsters reside, the village’s inhabitants are actually extremely powerful in terms of magic and physical abilities.  That means Lloyd may be the weakest in his village, but he’s still terrifyingly strong by the standards of the outside world.  However, he doesn’t know this, since this is the first time he’s gone out of his village.  As far as he’s concerned, he’s a weakling, since he doesn’t measure up to the “normal” of his village.

Since he thinks of himself as a weakling, Lloyd is rather humble.  But this is also because he is genuinely kind and gentle.  On top of his superpowers, he’s also really good in cleaning and cooking, and he’s always glad to use his talents to serve or help others.  Because of his innocent nature, he’s also quite naïve and gullible.  Not only is his mind unable to grasp and acknowledge that he’s pretty powerful, but he usually doesn’t usually realize the malice or intention to harm that comes from others – he assumes the best out of people.

Lloyd may be unaware of his true power, but it’s pretty obvious to the people around him.  He shocks people when he dispatches dangerous monsters without breaking a sweat.  For him, they are no big deal, since in Kunlun, they were considered as mere “pests” or regular “animals.”  He casts spells that take a normal mage years of study to learn, but to him, they are just simple parlor tricks.  And to those who can detect his aura, they are struck by terror by the intimidating, awesome presence overflowing from him – which the cheerful, meek Lloyd is, of course, unconscious of.

That, actually, is the premise for much of the show’s comedy.  Most of its best jokes come in the form of a situation where these elements occur: 1.) Lloyd performs a herculean feat or overcomes a formidable threat with minimal or no effort; 2.) Lloyd doesn’t think what he did is remarkable; and 3.) the people who witnessed what he did are left stunned.  However, although this happens over and over again during the course of the season, the humor doesn’t go stale.  I audibly laugh or chuckle whenever this kind of gag is delivered.  Each one remains as effectively hilarious as the previous one.  It’s because the direction, animation, and voice acting all work together to accomplish a Konosuba-esque (the gold standard of fantasy comedy) slapstick delivery and tone for its comedy.

And since this is a power fantasy, the harem trope is also at play in this anime.  Because of his great strength and kind heart, Lloyd wins the respect and admiration of many of the people he meets – most of which are girls.  Lloyd’s female friends are infatuated with him, and are constantly competing for his affection.  Meanwhile, Lloyd, probably as part of his innocence and naivety, is (so far) uninterested in romance, and simply cares for each of them in a platonic way.  All the girls are pretty endearing, except for Alka, the village chief of Kunlun.  Although she looks like a 12-year-old, she’s actually already centuries old already.  Thus, being a “loli grandma”, her lusting for Lloyd is more creepy and obnoxious than amusing.

Overall, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town is enjoyable, charming, and breezy.  Overlooked by most this season, it’s arguably the funniest pure comedy anime of winter 2021.