New Crunchyroll Reincarnation Anime Revitalizes an Old Trope With Fun New Twist

Warning: Spoilers for I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability episode 1

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability from Crunchyroll’s new Spring season follows the setup of an earlier isekai series from the same platform almost verbatim, as is the case with many titles within the genre. Ironically, the twist that makes this new series fun is in no way proprietary to isekai, but was what initially made its predecessor, Am I Actually The Strongest?, different.

Like in many isekai before them, both of these series’ heroes are born into a royal family and have incredible powers. Even though the 7th Prince deviates from the norm by having Lloyd de Saloum’s powers known to his family, what truly stands out is that both 7th Prince and Am I Actually The Strongest?’s heroes come into possession of an incredibly powerful familiar that is in awe of their master’s magical abilities.

It’s the type of relationship that these two heroes have with their familiars that differs from each other and why the 7th Prince is already more appealing than Am I Actually The Strongest?‘s original setup.

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince Has a Fun Twist on the Magical Familiar Trope

Where as Am I Actually The Strongest Didn’t Add Anything New to the Formula

The appeal of Am I Actually The Strongest?‘s familiar Flay is that she can transform into a woman viewers are meant to find attractive. While Flay and her master have their own dynamic that has potential, it is lost almost completely in the story’s quickly evolving plot line. In contrast, the relationship between the 7th Prince‘s Lloyd and the demon Grim feels as though it will be the driving force of the series’s plot going forward.

What makes Lloyd and Grim’s relationship so amusing is how clearly one-sided it is, especially since it upsets the well-established norm, where the demon Grim was presumed to be the dominating power compared to the young boy Lloyd. Lloyd is obviously the one mostly benefiting from their relationship, however, while Grim gets the worst end of the deal despite being incredibly powerful in his own right.

Reincarnated as the 7th Prince Focuses More on its Central Relationship Than Am I Actually the Strongest

This Gives the Series a Stronger and More Fun Emotional Core

The true appeal of Am I Actually The Strongest? soon shifted from the less appealing relationship between Flay and the hero Haruto to revolve around Haruto’s secret life as an undercover superhero…

Of course, Am I Actually The Strongest?‘s first season was already uncharacteristic in how it quickly evolved, on account of the great amount of time that passed across 12 episodes. The true appeal of Am I Actually The Strongest? soon shifted from the less appealing relationship between Flay and the hero Haruto to revolve around Haruto’s secret life as an undercover superhero, which soon introduced complications later on when the story changed yet again to center on a magic academy.

What the 7th Prince improves upon is the immediate appeal of its initial focus – the relationship between the reincarnated hero and his familiar. Of course, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability might suddenly change just like Am I Actually The Strongest? did, but this gem of Crunchyroll’s hotly anticipated Spring season is already captivating and doesn’t need to make such a shift, though, it would undoubtedly be just as well executed as the rest of the series has been so far.

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability is simulcasting on Crunchyroll

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