Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers (Season One) – Lv2 kara Cheat datta Motoyuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life
Banaza was summoned to a new world and heralded as its champion until they checked his stats… Since he was mediocre and they had summoned another with better stats, they sent Banaza to live in a dangerous forest!
Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers (Season One) – Lv2 kara Cheat datta Motoyuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life
What did you watch?
In my Spring 2024 preview, I mentioned that I hoped this series turned out to be this season’s Beast Tamer. Now, if you’ve read my reviews of Beast Tamer, you’ll know this is a compliment and quite frankly, if I can track down a show that lives up to that standard every season, I’ll be super happy. As much as I love dark and dangerous stories full of action and adventure, I have developed a soft spot for the lighter stories providing they have some sort of purpose. It was BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense and Princess Connect! Re: Dive that really opened up this sort of feel-good genre for me and I’m glad that they did. Anyhow, let’s find out if Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers can live up to the prediction!
What happened?
Banaza was a merchant, living in a world where demi-humans and demons were slaves for humanity. He did his best to ensure that everyone was treated fairly, but that just drew the ire of his fellow humans. Then, out of nowhere, he was transported to a new world, summoned as its hero. However, when they checked his stats and abilities, they found him lacking. Luckily, they had summoned another hero who fit the bill. As a result, they gave Banaza a pouch with some money and supplies and told him to go live in a forest far from the Capital. When he got there, he was attacked by some slimes. Luckily, he had a sword in his pouch. However, it was old and broken. Still, he managed to defeat the slimes and levelled up in the process.
This awakened his skills, allowing him to learn new skills based on the skills used against him. He discovered that the pouch he had been given was tampered with so that it would attract monsters. The King had clearly tried to get rid of him. Not to mention that the forest he had been sent to was poisonous to humans. He purified it with his new skills and found his level rising exponentially until his stats all showed an infinity sign. What did that mean? With his new abilities, he transformed his body and took on a new name so that no one would recognise him and decided to live his new life his way. He returned to the Capital, became an adventurer, and was hired to help a little girl get to the forest he had just come from. When he said he could teleport them there, another group of adventurers became suspicious of him. He agreed to take them all to prove his intentions were good.
To everyone’s surprise, he teleported the whole group there. Surely, teleportation magic was standard in this world. The little girl noticed that the forest had been purified. When Flio (formerly Banaza) was about to tell her that he purified it when the voice in his head warned him about revealing that to a demon. The little girl transformed into a giant wolf and revealed that she was going to feed them to her men. Flio teleported the other adventurers to safety and then swiftly defeated the wolf. However, he refused to kill her. When she woke, Fenrys swore her life to his since he was the strongest person she’d ever faced. He reluctantly accepted and then headed back to town to continue his average life… or so he thought!
What did you think?
I loved this series. Absolutely loved it. In fact, after watching the first four episodes, I jumped online and ordered the first nine volumes of the manga. This was excellent and just what I was looking for. As far as overpowered protagonists, this series did it very well. Banaza came to this new world from his own fantasy world and had no idea how it worked. After some of his early preconceptions were shown to be wrong, it was easy to see why he would assume something he could do was easy, especially after he was discarded as the hero candidate for being average. It made sense that it took him time to realise just how powerful he was. I also loved his relationship with Rys (Fenrys). It developed well and didn’t leave you frustrated at his inability to commit to things. Once he realised that he loved her too, he was all in. I loved every moment of this season and just hope we get more. Either way, I’ll be reviewing the manga in the near future too.
What was your favourite moment?
One of the things that I really enjoyed was how Flio and Rys pretty much adopted four adventurers. They rescued Balirossa, Blossom, Byleri, and Belano from some monster bears and then agreed to train them. However, since Flio didn’t really like fighting and the girls were keen to pull their weight, they all ended up falling back on their past experiences. Blossom took to farming crops, Byleri maintained a stable full of monster horses, Belano became a magic teacher in a nearby town, and Balirossa took care of their hunting needs. It showed that these roles are just as important as adventurers or soldiers. The joy it brought to everyone showed that they had found their calling.
On top of that, I loved it when Balirossa came across a demon walking towards their house, she drew her sword and respectfully told him to leave. She told him that if he turned around and left, she would leave it at that. If he went any further, she would have to stop him. He seemed to respect that and then turned back. Then, Flio and Rys ran to find Balirossa and revealed that the demon she threatened was the Dark Lord, the ruler of the demons. She instantly had a bit of a panic, but then she had to sit next to him while they had tea and discussed the possibility of Flio joining the demon’s side in the war. And that was just the beginning.
What was your least favourite moment?
There was one moment that didn’t necessarily sit too well with me. Hiya, the Djinn had tracked down Flio and intended to kill him to grant the wish of the Golden-Haired Hero. Rys realised what was going on and jumped to protect him. She was instantly cut down by Hiya’s attack, however, Flio remained unharmed because of his defensive magic. Now, this was the push that made Flio realise that he truly loved Rys and would be lost without her, so that was a good thing. Of course, had she not jumped to save him, they would have all been fine anyhow. It’s not a huge issue, but it does feel a little forced as a result. Still, it got us where we needed to go, so I’m not going to dwell on it.
Who was your favourite character?
If I’m completely honest, I loved the whole of the main cast. Well, at least everyone that ended up living with Flio and Rys. However, I have to say that the series worked because of Flio and Rys. Individually, they were interesting characters. I loved how calm and considerate Flio was. It was great that he was able to step back from the challenges this world was facing and see that things didn’t need to be this way. He also understood that he couldn’t force change, but had to work on it incrementally using his skills in the most effective way.
Then, there was Rys. Her growth through this season was impressive. I loved how she went from preparing raw steaks for dinner to becoming an accomplished cook. The fact that she did it just to make Flio’s life better showed how much she cared for him. I think in the beginning, she attached herself to him out of pack mentality with him showing that he was the alpha. However, as time went on, she loved what she saw in him. She fell for him faster, but the real development and feelings came later. There was just a lot of love in this show.
Who was your least favourite character?
The Golden-Haired Hero seems like the obvious choice here, however, as much as I found him annoying, he was a good catalyst to make things happen. Plus, it was funny watching all sorts of terrible things happen to him. There was one character who was worse and also didn’t have any redeemable traits. That was the King. He was stubborn and selfish. The way he treated Flio was unacceptable. It’s too bad he was incapacitated when they worked out that Flio was Banaza as I would have liked to see how he would explain away that one. Would he have taken a similar approach to the Golden-Haired Hero and tried to force Flio to work for him or declared him an enemy of humanity for mixing with demons? I get the feeling we’ll find out if there is a second season.
Would you like some more?
The anime appeared to cover the first five and a half volumes of the manga, which means I have another two and a half to read and another volume coming in the near future (I’ve already preordered volume nine). So, I don’t just want more. I need more and I’m going to get it. I had initially hoped that this would be this season’s Beast Tamer and I got that and more. I don’t know if this season will appeal to everyone as it isn’t exactly an isekai adventure, but if you like a slower more relaxed story then this will absolutely hit the spot.
What have you learned?
For the longest time, I have been drawn towards fantasy and science fiction stories that are packed full of action and adventure. The darker and more harrowing the better. However, in recent years, I’ve found that I also love a slower more considered story. I wouldn’t say that I’m getting softer in my old age… but I am appreciating more. In the last five or six years, I’ve gone out of my way to experience a wider variety of stories. I once read a quote that implied that if you want to write a particular type of story, you’ve probably read enough of those stories and if you want to improve your craft, you need to broaden your horizons. I’ve taken that to heart and I think it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not only do I understand the tropes of my favourite genres, but I now understand many more to the point that believe I could write a story in several other genres. I feel more confident about mixing them up and mashing them together too. So, I wouldn’t say I’ve learned anything particular from this show, but I know that I would probably never have enjoyed it in the same way had I not decided to embrace variety.
Series Information
| English Title | Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers |
| Japanese Title | Lv2 kara Cheat datta Motoyuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life |
| Genres | Adventure, Fantasy, Isekai, Romance |
Anime
| Season | Season One |
| Released | Spring 2024 |
| Animation Studios | J.C.Staff |
| Episodes | 12 |
