The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? (Season One)

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Title

Isekaied into a noble family in a new world, office worker, Shingo finds himself in the body of a five-year-old boy, but they’re nobles so it’s all good… well, apart from the fact that he’s the eighth son and they have no money!

What did you watch?

I can’t help myself. If they put an Isekai in front of me, I feel compelled to watch it. Some of my favourite anime are Isekai so, it makes sense that I would be willing to explore everything the genre has to offer. Obviously, there are some that don’t live up to the potential, but it’s a gamble worth taking. So, how does The 8th Son? Are you Kidding Me? stack up? Well, stick around and find out, but beware, there will be spoilers.

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 6 Well Louise and Iina

What happened?

Shingo was making his dinner after yet another long day at the office. Everything was ready except the rice, but as he waited, Shingo dozed off and woke up at a wedding reception in a strange place and a strange body. He soon realised that he was in another world, living another life. In this life, he was the son of a nobleman and it looked like everything was working out for the best, but then he discovered the his new family were incredibly poor, despite being nobles. To make matters worse, he was the eighth son!

Well (Shingo’s new name) was busy trying to work out what to do with his life when he found a glass orb that could assess someones’ magical potential. Thinking it was a joke, he tried it out and it went crazy. The realisation of such awesome magical potential was noticed by a nearby mage who took Well as his apprentice and taught him everything he knew. This all sounds great, but Well had to keep it a secret else it could cause a family rift and his possible murder!

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 1 Young Well and Alfred face a Giant Boar

What did you think?

I have mixed feelings with The 8th Son. There were moments that I really enjoyed it, but then there were some that were pretty forgettable. My biggest criticism is that we missed a lot of the action. There was an episode where Well was fighting against lots and lots of monster after he’d defeated a dragon. Instead of showing us this epic battle between Mage and monsters, we got to see his fiance tending to the wounded soldiers. Sadly, this happened several more times where we focused on something other than the actual action only to be told about how incredible it was afterwards.

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 4 Well becomes a Baronet

What was your favourite moment?

There was an episode where Well and his party activated a magical trap which sent them to the bottom floor of a dungeon. In order to get out, they had to fight their way back up, but they had no idea how far down they were and the monsters in the dungeon kept coming and coming. I think it’s one of the few times we saw how hard it was for them, but even then, they failed to animate a lot of the fighting, instead choosing to show us still images with action lines on them. It was an intense episode, but it could have been so much better.

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 8 Louise kicking a Golem

What was your least favourite moment?

After seeing the OP for the first time, I noticed that there were zombies in it. Great! It wasn’t until episode ten that we finally got to see the zombies as Well and his party tried to purify an army that had been defeated on his families lands. The zombie army approached. Things were looking good for a big fight and then, Well purified them all as the shuffled forwards. Massive anticlimax. Even the appearance of a zombie Wyvern failed to liven things up.

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 10 Vilma Etol von Asgahan versus an undead Wyvern

Who was your favourite character?

This is a tricky one, as I don’t think anyone, in particular, stood out. I enjoyed Brantack, but even he didn’t do too much. I think it’s possibly going to be Well as he was central to all of the political machinations of the nobles. The political side of things was actually really interesting and I liked how it played out with Well realising that he was nothing more than a pawn, even with all of the power he could control.

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 9 Well summons a pair of panties

Who was your least favourite character?

Well’s brother, Kurt probably wins this, but not because he was the bad guy, but because he was the bad guy with no development. They really didn’t show us him losing it and instead tried to cram it into an episode. The awakening of Well’s magic should have been a pretty big catalyst to get things moving, but they ignored it until the end when they needed him to be the villain. I also think that failed to really do anything satisfactory with Amalie, Kurt’s wife. I believe that Well took her on as yet another wife in the light novel, but he had to settle for just four in the anime…

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 12 Kurt Baumeister

Would you like some more?

I feel like this series would have been so much better had this season been twenty-four episodes long. That way they could have shown everything they did and spend a bit more time developing the characters and finally give us the action that this series needed. The OP made out that this was about adventurers fighting monsters, but we failed to really see that. I enjoyed the political/family side of things and that’s why I wanted more so that we could have both. If they made another season, I would probably watch it, but I would have preferred to see this expanded upon.

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 3 Well meets with Alfred's Master

What have you learnt?

You can have it all. As I just said, had this series had more action and managed to keep the political intrigue it would have been excellent. They appeared to choose one over the other and it would appear that they went with the one that would be easier to animate. I can’t say that was the thought process for sure, but it looks that way. I enjoyed the story and still believe it deserved more. So, what I’m taking away is that if a story needs more time to develop, give it that time. It could be the difference between good and great.

The 8th Son Are You Kidding Me Episode 11 Well and Amalie

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