Well, the ridiculous trend continues, and this time, “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” has an even longer western name that goes by “Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!”. Shit. Can’t they stop this? I don’t even try to remember these names anymore, it all helps to make everything a colossal soup of homogeneous isekais and stupid high-school shows. Damn. Anyway, for the review’s sake I’ll call it Noukin, yet another short name, which the show should have adopted since the beginning.

Noukin is, by all standards, yet another isekai show to plague us. Yup. I’ve lost count already. It has all those same elements we expect: overpowerful lead, lots of girls, deceased failed japanese citizen, RPG elements, MMO feeling, and so on. It gets boring saying this in almost half the reviews I write, but once again: nothing new.

The gist of things here is that our lead is a teenage girl who, in her life as a failed japanese citizen, wanted to just be normal and not the best girl in school as she was. So, when she is asked by the god-like being what she wants for her next life, she asks to have average abilities, hoping that she could finally be an average person. Of course, the average by the god’s understanding means average in comparison to every being in this new world, so her powers end up being around half of the most powerful epic dragon to roam the land. Yeah. She is basically immortal in this new world.

It’s a girl at least, right?

Well, yeah. This means the lead is not that dick who always act with disgust yet people love him. I tell you, this alone can mean a show is not shitty. I could also point out that some all-girls cutie shows did manage to be very interesting, such as A Place Further than the Universe, Tari Tari, Sound! Euphonium and a few others. So, it can do better than the average… right?

Not much

Mile, our lead, may not be your annoying Kirito, but she is certainly a trope that has been overused too. She is so full of energy and hype that her behavior in the previous life becomes somewhat meaningless. I mean, a girl THAT happy could not make friends? Really? She never ever behaves as your typical anti-social teen, although that is a good thing, as at least she manages to be fun for most of the time.

In fact, Noukin mostly succeeds in being a sweet simple moe comedy, supported by the hyped lead and her trio of stereotypical friends. It gets boring quickly at many points, but it is mostly fun to watch as they take on RPG-like quests to defeat comical-looking monsters and just go around exploring the ridiculous power of the protagonist.

It does not last though

Well, the cuteness can be lingering, but everything else becomes less appealing after the first half. The show tries to spice things out by trying to give some depth and drama to the cast’s past, yet it always falls flat as it really doesn’t match with all the cuteness and carefree atmosphere. The isekai elements alone become boring as hell, and the show ends up resorting to your traditional “let’s show cute girls in swimsuits or on hot springs”, which is an obvious evidence that the author has nothing else on his mind to entice the audience.

At the very end, however, it does bring up something refreshing, which could breath new life in the cute adventure. Sadly though, the show simply ends by then, and we are left with only hopes that it can get better in a second season, if there’s any.

There’s not much to say about Noukin. It is an isekai with a all-cute-girl party, and from there anyone knows what to expect. It does manage to be a bit fun for most of its run, but the overused ideas do not last long enough to entertain for even these short twelve episodes.

Anyway, considering the quality standard of isekais, Noukin manages to be above that pathetic average and stand as a more interesting option for anyone who wants uncommitted enjoyment and are ready to face some isekai tropes once again. For me? Well, I think I’m reaching my limits. These isekais need to die already.