The 8th Son? Are you Kidding me?

Do you have siblings? They can be quite a handful in a multitude of situations. But they also affect our lives in more ways than we would like, both in good and bad ways. We know many stories where siblings’ hatred, rivalry, connection, and love changed everything for certain characters. While our own stories might not be as dramatic and eventful, there’s always something to learn here.

“The 8th son? Are you kidding me?” also known as “Hachi-nan tte, Sore wa Nai deshou!”, is a 12-episode TV Anime series that aired from the 2nd of April until the 18th of June in Spring 2020. It was produced by Satelight, Frontier Works, flying DOG, Kadokawa Media House, Exa International, Kadokawa, GREE, and arma bianca, licensed by Crunchyroll, and brought to life by Studios SynergySP and Shin-Ei Animation.

The major Staff members behind this include Producers Ogata Mitsuhiro, Itou Shousei, Kikushima Kazufumi, and Narita Akihiro. Featuring the genres of Action and Fantasy alongside the themes of Isekai and Reincarnation, this set of 23-minute episodes received a Rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older.

The Anime is based on the source Light novel of the same name. It started publication on April 24, 2014, and is still ongoing. It is the work of Author Y.A and Artist Fuji Choko. It has an alternative Manga version titled “Eighth son, I don't think so!”, that began publication on the 19th of April 2015 and is still ongoing. Featuring a bit of Drama as well, it is serialized in ComicWalker and follows a story by Y.A and art by Kusumoto Hiroki.

The story is built around protagonist Shingo Ichinomiya, a 25-year-old who wakes up in an all-new world in the body of a six-year-old. While the realization hits him, it turns out he still retains memories of his previous stressful life as a salaryman. But now Shingo learns that he is occupying the body of Wendelin Von Benno Baumeister, the eighth son of a poor noble family in the countryside.

As bizarre as his situation is, Wendelin is determined to change his financial and social status for good and make the most of this Reincarnation. As if the universe wants him to succeed too, he discovers great magical aptitude within him, which might as well be the pivotal tool in achieving his goals.

There are some Anime that demand you let go of all sense of logic and reasoning before watching. But in the case of “Hachi-nan tte, Sore wa Nai deshou!”, you need to completely turn off your brain for any sliver of enjoyment. Even then, you likely won’t derive any entertainment from this.

If this was just another overpowered protagonist who is perfect in every way and has all the girls swooning over him, backed up with plentiful fan service, most audiences would have liked this series more. Granted, the fan service aspect is ever-present here, but it's so bad in every other way that it makes other trashy Isekais look good. This series is the perfect example of all the worst aspects of Isekai anime combined into one insidious blob.

From the synopsis itself, you can gather that this series relies on a lot of overused Anime tropes and clichés. This is fine as long as they executed it well with some novelty, but “Hachi-nan tte, Sore wa Nai deshou!” doesn’t do that. They’ve just milked the tropes to death. While it's true that some of these clichés have been cleverly executed to deconstruct certain themes and plot elements, it all ends up being for naught.

The Characters also had the potential to become something greater than the superficiality of the Anime, but they failed as well. This is an Anime that simply destroys itself and accomplishes nothing while doing so. The number of appealing elements in this series is terribly low; the characters look as generic as they can get, including a typical Isekai protagonist, and the synopsis fits almost any other Isekai series.

While the political drama gives you a sliver of hope, it doesn’t really go anywhere and sticks to what a typical viewer could easily assume. The show's terrible cast of characters further degrades the invisible thread connecting the already dull themes.

But “Hachi-nan tte, Sore wa Nai deshou!” should have a fun fantasy plot at least. Sadly, no, and it dares to head in the opposite direction. It’s not “fun” watching these characters engage in endless political drama between the noble classes. For example, one of the most important subplots involves a political marriage between Wendelin and Elize. You can probably guess the next part: she develops true feelings for him, and their relationship becomes something more.

Yes, it soars above mere politics and heads towards the heavens. Unfortunately, it gets shot down half-baked because the show doesn’t have enough time to fully develop their relationship. For some reason, they thought the runtime was better spent jumping around pointless other subplots that require the introduction of new elements like martial arts tournaments, hired bodyguards, monster hunting, and more.

With each passing episode, you'll notice how this Anime doesn’t even know what it's doing and fails to get the audience invested in the main story. The plot is just so weak and underdeveloped. This is mostly due to the producers trying to cram so many Volumes of content into 12 episodes, making the show fall flat.

As for Characters, let's start with the protagonist, Shingo Ichinomiya. As Wendelin, he is shown to be a character with vast potential and must unlock his powers himself. Under Alfred Reinford’s tutelage and fueled by his determination, he evolves into a gifted mage and forms his very own party of Adventurers. You can guess what this party is like from the Promotional Images: a group of female Adventurers who can easily be called his Harem. They bring with them a huge blow to the show, as the females are all lazily written.

The female lead, Elize, is the Priestess and most pure member of the party. She is kind-hearted, but she doesn’t have any distinctive traits besides her healing abilities. Louise is the martial artist and physical fighter of the group and is basically just comic relief thanks to too many embarrassing jokes. She does have a rivalry with Ena, a spear-wielding tomboy who had much potential, but the show fails to make her noteworthy in any way.

Finally, there’s Wilma, who literally has zero personality. After debuting late in the series, she’s just a party glutton and does nothing relevant. The remaining characters are completely irrelevant, simply existing for the sake of it. Most people don’t expect much from Isekai characters, but these are among the worst ever spawned. This department literally destroys anything positive about this Anime, which already comes with an underdeveloped Plot and an overdose of clichés.

Moving onto the Art and Animation department, there’s really nothing that stands out here. The Studios had the potential to take a unique approach with the visuals but chose to go with the overused generic style behind almost all other Isekai. The Character designs are so subpar, lacking any distinctive characteristics whatsoever, even through their physical features.

The Anime is further degraded by just how dull and generic its cast looks. All the female characters seem to have similar faces and lackluster choices in clothing. The show does attempt to bring out their limited features with lustrous clothes, but they all fall below expectations.

Some Fantasy Isekai really nail their Monsters and Mythical creatures, but the ones here are just as bad as the characters. They just look so insufferable, and the use of CGI is downright horrible, be it Dragons, zombies, or anything in between. Giving credit where credit is due, this series does showcase some nice scenery and backgrounds occasionally. But this can’t ever hope to overpower everything else dragging the show down, especially the Characters in every single regard.

As for the Sounds and Music department, it's just as lackluster as everything else. The OSTs are as generic as they can get, sounding completely soulless and reminiscent of every other Isekai series out there. The Opening theme is "Jikuu no Mayoi Hito" by Demon Kakka and Arika Takarano (ALI PROJECT), and the Ending theme is "Tsukiagari no Monologue (Monologue)" by AKINO arai and AKINO from bless4. There’s nothing to be said about the Voice Acting either; it’s just there and doesn’t really achieve anything thanks to just how bland the Characters themselves are.

If you’re still determined to watch “Hachi-nan tte, Sore wa Nai deshou!”, be warned that it will not be a satisfying watch. If you’re specifically looking for a Fantasy Isekai that’s genuinely worth your time, there are a plethora of other titles to choose from that won’t leave you utterly disappointed. This Anime in particular is filled to the brim with lazy Plot writing, uncharismatic Characters, generic art, and forgetful Music. Do not watch or recommend this terrible excuse for Anime to anyone, and be thankful that you haven’t wasted your time on it. Definitely not recommended!