The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? (Episode 1) – The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?
After another tiring day in the office, Shingo fell asleep waiting for the rice cooker and when he woke, he was the five-year son of a nobleman in a strange world with lavish food and extravagant living… or so he thought!
What happened?
Unfortunately for Wendelin (Shingo), who we will know now as Well, his noble family was considerably poorer than it first appeared. On top of that, he was the eighth son! They live in a crappy area of the kingdom and it all kind of sucks. Then, Well’s brothers all leave for the capital as they have relinquished their rights of inheritance in exchange for a payout after the two eldest brothers married. On the advice of his brother, Erich, Well is determined to make something of his life now and heads to the library. There, he stumbles upon a glass orb that can apparently tell your magical aptitude. Assuming it is a con, Well laughs it off, but can’t help but test it out. Nothing happens. Well, not at first anyhow!
What did you think?
At the moment, this is as generic an Isekai opening episode as possible, but I actually kind of enjoyed it. I liked the details with the poor noble family and the brothers who are forced to abandon their claim of inheritance and make a life for themselves. I also enjoyed the scene where Well found the glass orb and laughed it off. Even so, he still found himself trying it out and why not, he’s magically been transported to another world and place in another body so why not. Then, when Alfred found him, they reminded me of Merlin and Arthur from The Sword in the Stone. There’s potential and it already feels more interesting than Isekai Cheat Magician, so I’m in.
What have you learnt?
It’s fairly common for the hero of an Isekai to arrive in this new world in their own body or a brand new body. However, Shingo found himself in the body of a five-year-old. There was clearly some story before Shingo became Well, so what happened to the consciousness that he replaced? Did he take over and it was destroyed, or maybe it’s still in there and could become an interesting part of the story? This may never get resolved, but it’s certainly got me thinking. I also saw zombies in the OP, so I can’t wait for that too.
Other reviews in the series
- Season One
- Episode 1 – The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me?
- Episode 2 – A Succession Dispute? Are You Kidding Me?
- Episode 3 – A Loner? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 4 – Obligations? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 5 – Political Marriage? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 6 – A Bullet Tour? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 7 – No Magic? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 8 – Presumed Dead? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 9 – People Hate Me? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 10 – Toxic? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 11 – Between a Rock and a Hard Place? Are You Kidding Me?!
- Episode 12 – The 8th Son? I Guess That’s Not So Bad!
- Bonus Posts
Other shows I’m watching
Discounted and Free Books
Into a child’s body. . .sort of like Ascendance of a Bookworm
I’ve not seen that one. Gotta wonder what happened to the person that was there to start with though!
She was a sickly child at death’s door; I think that the new person absorbed what was left of the original child’s consciousness, based upon her first adjustments to her new situation, but that the absorption ultimately snuffed out what was left. . .dunno, just guessing. . .
Cool. I should probably check it out at some point. The closest I could think of was in Knight’s & Magic where he was born into a new body rather than taking one over.
It could be an interesting idea to have the consciousness trapped somewhere within resenting this entity that’s taken over their body.
I’m not sure that enough of the original Mai remained to resent this new resident within her body–I think that she just desperately tried to grasp onto and connect with this new, stronger consciousness. And I think that she briefly succeeded before finally fading away.
[…] haven’t they all been? Anyhow, something came to me while watching the first episode of The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since. There is a chance that this may well […]