Yu-sibu – First Impressions
Alternate Title: I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job (YU-SIBU): Initial Thoughts
Streaming Allegiance: Crunchyroll
Reconnaissance Report by: Dr. Magnanimus
Progress: Episode 1
It’s been a few months since Oreimo ended, but I have since then recovered my sanity enough to continue reviewing top-quality popular anime (or in this case, whatever can tide me over until the next season of Attack on Titan, because hey, it’s Attack on Titan!). But let’s be honest here. Sometimes even the most persnickety among us anime connoisseurs desires to mellow out and seek refuge in the warm bosoms of guilty pleasures, and this ridiculously long-named anime promises to be just the thing. Thus begins my report on I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job, or the Japanese shortened title Yu-Sibu.
The plot has a similar vibe to an anime title that came out earlier this year, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, with characters of high fantasy becoming fish out of water in a modern peaceful world completely alien to them. In this case, we are introduced to hapless protagonist Raul, a promising student of the Hero Training Academy whose dreams of becoming a courageous warrior were shattered when the nefarious Demon King was soundly defeated and peace was brought to the human kingdom. Without monsters to defeat or wars to fight, Raul had to take on a job working for the Leon Magic Shop, a small consumer electronics store that sells appliances and other modern conveniences that are powered by magic. Two years later, Raul is roused from his mundane life when he finds out the former Demon King’s daughter Fino is seeking employment at his store. Despite Raul’s protests, his boss and store manager Seara hires her on the spot and assigns her over to him for employee training. By the end of the episode, however, Raul gets accustomed to helping Fino learn her way around her job and about the human world in general, and accepts his role as a mentor.
The premise of Yu-Sibu was something that initially hooked me in. The idea of adjusting to sudden life changes outside of one’s control is an experience shared by many people. In particular, I liked that Raul and Fino are both trying to rebuild their life purposes in the wake of an unanticipated era of post-war peace, and I can see some interesting chemistry come out of that. I also really liked the animation quality, which was noticeably more fluid, expressive and colorful than most other shows out there. Some people might complain about the excessive ecchi moments and impossible “jiggle physics”, but I personally did not find it to be too jarring compared to other anime that utilize them for comedy effect. There is some real potential to be had here in spite of some of those flaws, and I look forward to seeing more of this anime.
My Score: 8.00/10.00