Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World (Episode 1) – Encounter
Michio woke up inside a game, however, it wasn’t until he’d defeated the bandits that he realised there was no way to log out. He would have to adapt to this new world quickly if he was going to survive!
Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World (Episode 1) – Encounter
What happened?
Michio was surprised but then he remembered the thing he was looking at online before waking in the stable. Soon, he found the starter items he’d selected and was ready to head into the world. Well, he just needed some footwear first, so he took a pair of sandals he found lying around. When he went outside, he found a peaceful village. It must be a newbie location, but then bandits attacked and they were killing the villagers. Michio decided to help, rushing in and killing several bandits, forcing the others to run.
The village chief thanked him and also brought him up to speed with how things worked there, especially for thieves. The head bandit had had a special item that wasn’t in the loot recovered by the villagers. The chief discovered that one of the villagers had switched it out. He asked Michio what he wanted to do with him. Michio wasn’t sure but didn’t want to interfere with their customs so said whatever they would normally do. The culprit was to be sold into slavery!
Michio attempted to log out of the game but discovered that there was no way out. That’s when he realised that he had killed people. He desperately washed the blood from his hands. He thought it was a game. The next morning, he was taken to the nearby town where he collected the bounties of the bandits and sold the gear. He met with the slave trader who bought the thief from the village. With all that done, Michio was alone. That’s when the slave trader reappeared with an interesting offer for him!
What did you think?
I can’t say I’ve heard many positive things about this series, but you won’t hear that from me… yet! I thought this first episode was fantastic. I loved the dark mood of it and was shocked at how brutal it was when Michio fought the bandits. At first, I was surprised to see how carefree he was about it, but he thought it was a game so that made perfect sense and his reaction, later on, was perfect. One thing that I thought was really interesting was that Michio stole a pair of sandals and acquired the thief skill. It’s a good job no one noticed or he could have been headed to slavery himself.
The town was fairly well done and Michio’s reaction to discovering that there were brothels was hardly surprising. However, it was the scenes with the slave trader that really caught my attention. We got to see both sides of Allen, the slave trader as he took them to a modest room to buy their slave and then a fancy room to try to convince Michio to buy one from him. I loved how he clearly had a reading on Michio from the moment he appeared at the door just as Michio was realising how alone he was. Allen is clearly a wicked character who uses manipulation to do his job and it showed.
Now, you might say Michio caved to the idea of owning a slave too quickly, but it was down to Allen playing to Michio’s weaknesses and insecurities. I have no idea if the rest of the series will be as cleverly put together as the first episode, but I can only hope. This was a lot darker than I was expecting which I think was a great way to play it.
Episode highlights
Other posts in the series
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Another isekai? Heavy sigh!
And I can hear people screaming already about the glorification of slavery and how evil Michio is for participating.
I quite enjoy a good isekai. It helps that this one is darker than the usual shows, and given the differences between that world and ours, it actually made sense as an isekai rather than just being a straightforward fantasy series.
And yes, it’s definitely something to think about, but people are quick to jump on that bandwagon. This series really made me look at what was driving Michio’s decisions.
Question. Why does this make more sense as an isekai that a straight fantasy? Do the character’s experiences in the previous worls constantly come into play?
Good question. I’d say the contrast in world views with slavery being a big one. I think it shows how easily people can fall into the social norms regardless of how different they may be to their previous experiences.
I might be reading more into it than there is, but I think it raises some interesting questions.
One of the things I find irritating is where a character is whisked away to another world, says, “Wow! I’m in another world.” and now an entire life spent in the other world means little to nothing. It is just my opinion but in good isekai, the previous life should be constantly influencing the current one. If that doesn;t happen, the anime may be a good one but I cannot truly call it an isekai. Its a fantasy with a slight twist to allow people to more easily insert themsleves.
True. Too often they use it as a way to get around exposition because with this new person in a new world, they can have someone explain everything to them (and us). It’s lazy storytelling so it’s good when there is an actual reason for them to be from another world.