Original Run: October 6, 2022 - December 22, 2021 Number of Episodes: 12 Genre: Action, Fantasy, Isekai Based on the Series Created By: Rui Tsukiyo and Reia
***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Living his whole life as a tool for a mysterious shadow organization, a legendary assassin (voiced by Junpei Morita) finishes his final assignment. Though the mission, like so many before it, was a resounding success, the organization the assassin worked for doesn’t want to leave any loose ends. They murder their most loyal servant in cold blood.
The assassin then awakens in a purgatory world where he meets a beautiful goddess. The deity explains that she selected the assassin for a unique task; he must kill the future hero to ensure the world’s survival. The goddess allows the assassin to reincarnate into a land of swords and magic with his memories and skills intact while also allowing him access to high-level skills.
The assassin, hoping for a chance to live a life of his choosing, accepts the job. Thus, he is reborn as Lugh Tuatha Dé (voiced by Kenji Akabane), the son of the noble Tuatha Dé family, a clan of unrivaled covert killers.
With the experiences of his former life and the powers of his new one, Lugh will become a potentially unstoppable force.
Series Positives
The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat (World’s Finest Assassin) was junk food through and through. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Sure, if your entire diet is nothing but chips, chocolate, and sodas, that isn’t great. However, the occasional indulgence is fine.
If World’s Finest Assassin were the only type of series I ever watched, I would get bored rather quickly. Still, I can’t say this show failed to capture my interest while it was happening. Assuming you don’t mind turning your brain off, there was enjoyability in this one.
For starters, fans of the badasses-being-badasses genre will get quite the kick out of this series.
Let me be honest, Lugh Tuatha Dé isn’t the most compelling of protagonists. Perpetually perfect characters can get dull fast, and World’s Finest Assassin was always in danger of that happening. What saved this series was how often it used Lugh’s infallibility towards immediate satisfaction. There were plenty of examples where our hero and his friends took “hard” and “though” individuals down a peg.
Additionally, Lugh was always what he appeared to be. There was never an instance where he needed to lie or deceive. This series kept it clear what sort of character he was. Thus, there was no need to employ some outlandish mental gymnastics to quantify his actions.
For instance, when Lugh met Tarte (voiced by Yuuki Takada), he had no qualms about manipulating the situation to ensure the girl would be his loyal follower for all time. It was pure psychological manipulation; it was brainwashing. And aside from seeing him do this, Lugh freely admitted to us, the audience (and, apparently, did so to Tarte somewhere in their relationship), that was precisely what he was trying to accomplish.
Did that openness excuse what Lugh did? Not in the slightest, but, at least, there was questioning what type of character he was and what he was willing to do to get his way. To give you a sense of where I am coming from:
Throughout 2021, I have either had to frame characters and interactions to illustrate why they were products of their particular story, or I have had to explain why it doesn’t matter what background someone might have; sexual assault is sexual assault and attempts to diminish it through sympathy and pretty animation will not fly with me.
My first point is, I standby my dislike of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.
But as for my actual point, The World’s Finest Assassin, in terms of its use of more questionable implementations, never tried to be something it was not. If nothing else, Lugh was a lead who could, well, lead his story along. Therefore, while it was happening, this show’s narrative was sufficiently engaging and interesting to follow.
With that said, I must come back to what I mentioned at the top of this section: The World’s Finest Assassin is, indeed, junk food. Consequently, it isn’t the kind of thing that will stick with you once it finishes.
That’s why I think it slightly laughably that this show ended on a tease for a possible season two; the story left the door open anyway. This just isn’t a series I am dying to know the ending of, and when a continuation comes, there is damn near a one-hundred-percent guarantee I will have forgotten everything that took place in The World Finest Assassin.
And I said “when a continuation comes” since this show had one quality that has allowed other middle of the road anime to earn a season two – boobs
Series Negatives
Before he became Lugh, the assassin had to choose what skills he would take into his new life. Among the ones he picked, he selected a D-rank (the lowest and most common of skills) ability and hinted that it was surprisingly overpowered.
.Now I have two problems with this:
- I do not remember this series ever revealing what this skill was. Normally, that wouldn’t be too big an issue; the show was saving up for a big reveal. Unfortunately, I doubt I will remember this detail in a possible season two.
- If World Finest Assassin did mention what the skill was and I missed it, then it must not have been that special in the first place. And if that was the case, why put any emphasis on it at all?
While this example leans more towards the nitpicking territory, it does demonstrate the most significant flaw of this show: Its lack of memorability.
To continue with the junk food comparison, this series was like potato chip brand potato chips, bland, bare-bones, and, ultimately, forgettable. While it might satisfy you while you’re waiting for something better to come along, The World’s Finest Assassin has no real personality to itself.
Hence this show had to rely on hard-ass speak and girls with large chests (most of whom were no older than fourteen, according to my reckoning). As I see it, that is proof positive of what I have always said:
When a series has nothing else, it appeals to the lowest common denominator.
Sure, such shows can be fun, and World’s Finest Assassin was that more often than not. However, in a year’s time, when I am recalling the best 2021 had to offer, this series will fail to come up as even a small curiosity.
Final Thoughts
My opinion of this show is a favorable one; it’s just not fantastically enthusiastic.
It would be wrong of me to act as though I wasn’t invested in the story. This is not a difficult series to sit through. But watching a story play out and remembering it later are two very different things. I am not confident this show will achieve the latter.
So sure, The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat has earned itself a recommendation. However, it would not surprise me if you never find the energy to give this series a look.
But these were just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this series? How would you advise The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
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