The Eminence in Shadow, also known as Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!, is an anime series by Nexus (the same studios responsible for titles such as Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry and Darwin’s Game) and is based off the Japanese light novel series written by Daisuke Aizawa and illustrated by Tōzai. It began serialization online in May 2018 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by Enterbrain, who have published the series since November 2018.
. A manga adaptation with art by Anri Sakano has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten’s seinen manga magazine Comp Ace since December 2018. A spin-off manga by Seta U titled Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! Shadow Gaiden (陰の実力者になりたくて！ しゃどーがいでん, “The Eminence in Shadow! Shadow Side Story”) has also been serialized via Comp Ace since July 2019. Both the light novel and main manga have been licensed in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation produced by Nexus aired from October 2022 to February 2023. A second season has been announced. The anime series consists of 20 episodes of 23 minutes each. Similar anime recommendations include Overlord, The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat, The Misfit of Demon King Academy, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs.
I’d like to start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this anime, and the fight scenes were awesome. I had my doubts in the beginning and there are still one or two things that bother me, but all in all this series was great.
The main character Cid is isekaid to a new world, but he still retains his knowledge from his previous life on Earth as well as his desire to become the strongest being possible. As he grows up in this new world and trains to become stronger, he ends up saving many female characters from bad situations. By doing this he accidently creates (probably) the world’s largest harem of not just a couple of women, but hundreds of them. He also ends up teaching them things from his previous life such as music, cooking, etc. This all-female organization that is loyal to Cid, starts to gain a lot of power, influence, and money in the isekai world. Cid believes he is acting in a skit or movie and that everyone around him is just playing along, but they start to deal with some very real and bad situations like unearthing an organization that is trying to manifest a very evil power. All the while Cid is oblivious to the very real threats around him and continues to think up the most cringeworthy scenarios and acting them out, he literally role played so hard it became a reality. To some extent this mitigates the fact that Cid is a severely overpowered main character. The general formula isn’t the greatest but somehow the show is enjoyable anyway. I’ve sat through a couple of episodes begging that the main character would wake up and realize that everything that’s going on around him isn’t made up so he could be a super cool hero, but the main desire of the main character is to come across as the villain while saving the world from the ”shadows” (I’m rolling my eyes so hard right now). He’s basically Batman without all the money and tech and while he’s not being awesome, he’s trying to be the most background character ever. He even goes so far as to come up with various ways to be beaten to look extra weak and useless. I get it though, this anime is intended as a parody, which is kind of sad because I feel the main character has some real potential, regardless the anime has me screaming internally in anticipation for more.
Don’t come into this anime expecting a well-told story this is taking a knock at isekai anime and while the comedy is okay, it does fall flat at times. The narrative is a mix between serious politics and stories plus comedy. It’s almost as if they took a cool isekai story with a cool and OP main character and multiplied everything by 1000. I would say there are too many characters to become too invested or interested in anyone other than a select few, but the main character Cid does have a very unique personality. On one hand he seems like a hero but on the other hand he comes off as somewhat diabolical. He simply doesn’t care much for what happens in this world (especially seeing as he doesn’t realize that everything happening around him is real and not some made up script for his entertainment and benefit) and ultimately ends up just messing around according to the movie playing out in his head, but all his actions have very real and big impacts on everything going on around him and everyone else involved. He just doesn’t take anything seriously.
A second season has already been announced and I can’t wait to see it. There were a couple of epic moments in this anime and it has me wanting more. I’m still hoping Cid realizes that everything going on is real so he can be OP to the fullest potential and maybe comes out of the shadows simply to see the shock on all the supporting characters’ faces that aren’t part of Shadow Garden and already know both his identities. One thing is for sure this anime is messy but fun. So welcome to simp city and remember… I… AM… ATOMIC!
