As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World (Season One) – Tensei Kizoku, Kantei Skill de Nariagaru
Ars is the first son of the Louvent Family who rule over a small territory in the Summerforth Empire. Using his knowledge from his past life and the unique skill Appraisal, Ars is able to enlist exceptional people to his side.
As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World (Season One) – Tensei Kizoku, Kantei Skill de Nariagaru
What did you watch?
When I was selecting my shows to watch from the Spring 2024 schedule, this series left me torn. I’m not a huge fan of child protagonists, but I was also reminded of The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? which I ended up enjoying. Of course, the real reason that I decided to add it to my watch list was the witch at the back… Another cunning marketing ploy by the anime world! Anyhow, it’s time to appraise As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World and it’s ridiculously long title… Let’s dive in!
What happened?
Ars was born with a unique ability. He could appraise a person simply by looking at them. It would reveal a number of characteristics and assign values to certain attributes. With this, he was able to ascertain someone’s potential at a glance. The first proof of this came when he was three years old and noticed that one of the soldiers had an aptitude for archery. Despite never holding a bow before, he was a natural. This pleased Ars’ father who told him that a lord that can get the most out of his people was destined to go far. However, one day while walking around their town, Ars came across a homeless teen. He was a Marcan who are widely discriminated against. Regardless, Ars saw incredible potential in the boy and asked him to become his retainer. Everyone was against the idea and openly told Ars as such. Even his father was not impressed, but reluctantly gave him a chance to show that Ars was right about him. Rietz proved to be an incredible warrior and was instantly welcomed into their service.
Next, Ars and Rietz went on a trip to a nearby town in search of talent. At one point, they were robbed by a young homeless girl who had the markings of a slave. Ars noticed that she showed an incredible affinity for magic. However, she wasn’t interested and left. Later that evening, the girl’s friends found Ars and begged for help as the girl, Charlotte had been captured by the slave traders once more. After Rietz defeated all of the trader’s guards, Ars bought Charlotte’s freedom. He then told her about his dream for the land and that was enough for her to join him. When they returned home, Ars’ father refused to even consider adding Charlotte to his army. Then, she unleashed the mother of all fireballs and was welcomed in with open arms. From Ars’ studying of the history of their lands and the current political situations, he was determined to gather enough amazing people that he would be able to protect all those who were dear to him.
What did you think?
I really enjoyed this series. My early thoughts about it resembling The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? were a little off the mark as I felt that this was closer to something much bigger. Now, it didn’t have the same level of character development, but this felt more similar to Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation. It was nowhere near as good, but if you imagined that Rudeus was not a pervert and instead of magic he had the ability to appraise people, then you’d pretty much get this series. There are a lot of political machinations, which were fairly enjoyable. However, it was the way that Ars won people over that I really enjoyed. It was surprising how often people continued to doubt him despite his track record.
What was your favourite moment?
Ars had found what he believed to be an incredible asset in the form of Mireille Grangeon. She was the former advisor to a great lord, but she was also a drunk and the brother of the advisor to their main rival. Everything about her rubbed everyone the wrong way. However, Ars could see her abilities and her potential. He refused to back down. So, to appease everyone they arranged a mock battle and allowed everyone to choose their sides. All of the veteran fighters sided with Rietz and Rosell. Charlotte wanted to be with Mireille, but she also relished the chance of going up against her despite not being able to use magic in the battle. That left Ars with Mireille and all the rookies. What hope did they have?
Amazingly, Mireille was able to come up with a plan to not only beat Rietz’s team but empower the rookies and make the enemy do exactly what she wanted. She showed everyone what she was capable of and also gave credibility to everything she had done before that point. She hadn’t gotten involved in training because she could see that Rietz had set up a wonderful system. She made Rosell run because if he can’t escape he’ll be dead and with a tactician the army would crumble. Mireille proved Ars right and it was a wonderfully satisfactory moment. I think Rietz had forgotten where he was when Ars took him in and that clouded his ability to accept Ars’ judgement of Mireille.
What was your least favourite moment?
I’m actually struggling to come up with anything valid to criticise about this show. My biggest issue is more of a personal preference thing and that is focused on the fact that Ars was a quite accomplished three-year-old for a couple of episodes. Sure, he was reincarnated, but I’m surprised that more people didn’t find it odd that this three-year-old was so articulate and was able to wander around doing his own thing. Thankfully, we seemed to check in with Ars every three years or so which meant he obviously got older. So, not really a big issue.
Who was your favourite character?
We didn’t see enough of Charlotte despite her being in it from the second episode otherwise, I’m sure she would have been my favourite character. That said, I loved Mireille too. She was only in the last couple of episodes, but she was such an integral part that she probably had more screen time than Charlotte overall. However, most of the characters were enjoyable. Rietz was a monster and I loved how Licia, Ars’ fiance complimented him perfectly. And then, there was Ars. He was a fascinating character and it was nice to see that his views on the world and how to resolve things were based on his knowledge from his previous life, or at least, his ability to learn and act.
Who was your least favourite character?
Talking of child characters… I’m sorry, Rosell, but you’re going to take this spot. Sure, he was clever and it developed his character fairly well, but do they really need Rosell now that they have Mireille? Was he a stop-gap or just a character who was a similar age to Ars? He wasn’t a bad character, just not one that I particularly cared for.
Would you like some more?
This season didn’t end like a season. It felt like it was building up to something much larger and thankfully, the second season has already been scheduled for Fall 2024. I will definitely be watching. This has been an enjoyable season with fun characters and an interesting spin on the overpowered protagonist – he doesn’t actually have any powers other than his ability to see potential in others and convince them to rally around him. I’m curious to see where this series goes, especially as it’s hinted more than once that Ars’ could become emperor in the future. Given what he’s trying to achieve that seems like a good thing. Of course, it’s not going to be easy. We’ve seen all too frequently in the real world how reluctant people are to give up power.
What have you learned?
Overpowered protagonists are a dime a dozen lately, but that doesn’t mean they all have to fit into the same box. Ars has a special power, however, it’s not something that we see too often. He isn’t physically strong or particularly special in any way other than he can see someone’s abilities and potential. Even with that knowledge, he still has to use his own regular skills to convince them to join him. I’d imagine that any one of the people he’s recruited could defeat him in one-on-one combat, but they see something special in him. His vision and goals are things that speak to them enough that they want to see him succeed. That’s down to his personality and his experience from his past life. It just goes to show that there is more than one way to make a protagonist strong or interesting.
Series Information
| English Title | As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World |
| Japanese Title | Tensei Kizoku, Kantei Skill de Nariagaru |
| Genres | Adventure, Fantasy, Isekai |
Anime
| Season | Season One |
| Released | Spring 2024 |
| Animation Studios | studio MOTHER |
| Episodes | 12 |
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