Top 3 Cliches of Kenja No Mago

Hello everyone and welcome to our shelter!

To be honest, I enjoyed Kenja No Mago episode 1. However, one cannot oversee how generic this Anime may get. At least, when it comes to the plot setting you can see that there is obviously a formula behind it. You can defend that cliches are cliches because they work. That may be true, however, I feel it’s a double-edged sword. If you create something very similar to other Anime out there, then you need to take into account that it will be compared to those Anime right away. And, guess what? If you are not able to be at the same level as the best of the best, then the reviews will just not be good.

Sincerely, I would prefer to have something different to watch. However, I know it’s difficult to come with new ideas when we are in 2019 and everything seems to be already created. But, well, look to Goblin Slayer, Rising of The Shield Hero, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime… Yes, they have some cliches, but they are able to add their own thing to it. When it comes to Kenja No Mago, well… At least episode 1 just seemed generic from the beginning to the end. Here are my 5 most cliched parts of episode 1:

1 – Main Character’s Death & Reincarnation

Right from the bat, the show starts with a very generic plotting setting. A guy dies in the real world and it’s reincarnated as a baby in a different world. Rings a bell? Yeah, probably you are thinking about That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. I mean, the deaths are a bit different, and they both reincarnate in different things, however, it’s just the same formula. However, while Slime somewhat changes the game with having the main character reincarnated as a slime, in Kenja No Mago we have just a regular human being (with magic power, of course).

But, it doesn’t end here. Shin Walford is probably one of the unluckiest guys! I mean, he just gets reincarnated into a family where the parents died right away while he was a baby. Truth enough, his luck starts here since he is discovered by Merlin, one of the strongest magicians in the world… However, did this really had to happen? I mean, it doesn’t seem to add anything to the story so far. So, why add it like that? It’s just another one of the cliches of Isekai Anime… To be honest, it would be more interesting and not as full-fledged cliche if he was just found somewhere random. Meaning, his parents threw it away… It would build a nice parallel story and give a little more depth to the character.

But… No, from what I saw in episode 1, this thing of having his parents killed when he was a baby was just brushed off under a rug and that’s it.

2 – Overpower For The Win

Ok, this one is just a must in any Isekai Anime. Being right in the beginning or more to the end of an Isekai Anime we will always have the overpowered main character. It can be from hard work, it can just be natural, it can be both… Honestly, it’s something so normal in Isekai Anime that we don’t even think much about it anymore. One of the perks of watching Isekai is the cool and over the top battles, right? How can we get that without having OP characters?

At least, this time around we can see that he was trained since a young age to become so overpowered… Truth enough, he does have a natural talent to it, but hey… For, me it’s better than just have someone OP just because… You know… They just woke up like that! They’re flawless! (Thumbs up for the Queen B reference right here! Oh, wait… This is not a Youtube video… Well, nevermind, just do a thumbs up with your hand… Don’t worry, I’ll be able to know if you did it or not!)

3 – Main Character Being Oblivious

I’ve talked about this before… Characters being constructed to be dumb/oblivious to the world around it so that the writer is able to explain things of a fantasy world without taking anyone from the immersion. I don’t really think there is a right way to do this… There were Anime shows where I liked the approach to these oblivious characters, in others I also enjoyed the narration as the way to explain how the fantasy works.

However, telling me that a guy, who is 15 years old does not know anything from the world besides the forest he was living is just nuts! Especially when people from the “outside” world come to visit from time to time. It just doesn’t make any sense. I could understand that he has never bought anything since he is living with a hermit… But, even so… Do we really think that someone like Merlin would just forget telling him how the outside world works? Sorry, but, for me, this is lazy writing… More than using a cliche, it seems like it was put 0 effort when it comes to this particular aspect of the Anime.

Conclusion

There are even more cliches than that, I’m sure! The girl in distress scene can be one of them, Shin realizing that everyone who he has been growing up with is very important people. But, I didn’t want to get too much picky! There are many stories nowadays, and of course, they will always have similarities and similar scenes! As many people say, nowadays most of the content we see is recycled. Truth enough, it gets harder and harder to have original ideas that were not done before!

But, in the end, taking episode 1 into account, I just have to say Kenja No Mago presented itself as a tad generic. And, although the animation is pretty to look at, it’s not something completely out of this world. This way, we will have to wait and see if things improve! For now, I have to say that enjoyed the episode! I didn’t fall in love… But I enjoyed it!

What about you? How do you feel about having the same plot setting used over, and over, and over? What did you thought of Kenja No Mago first episode? Tell me all in the comments!