Re:Monster

 Re:Monster is a 12 episode isekai based on the light novel series of the same name by Kanekiru Kogitsugi.  The series originally aired during the Spring of 2024.

    Kanata Tomokui spends the last moments of his life being stabbed mercilessly by an unknown woman, rage filling her eyes.  The next thing he knows he is seeing the world through new eyes, he has been reborn into the life of a lowly goblin baby.  He, along with his clutch are being 'cared' for my an elderly goblin names Gobjii.  The elders child rearing methods have much to be desired but Kanata, now named Gobrou, remembers everything from his life as a human.  Along with his memories, he also retains a peculiar ability he had previously, the ability to eat almost anything and gain skills and abilities from doing so.  In the early days of his development he gains a strong ally in his siblings by earning the devotion of the strongest of the brood, a goblin names Gobkichi.  As he explores the world around him, slowly gaining new abilities and confidence, he also trains Gobkichi to be a versatile and capable companion.  Gobrou's abilities are put to the test when a band of older goblins, some who have evolved into hobgoblins, have returned to their home with plunder and slaves.  Gobrou doesn't take kindly to the stronger goblins attitudes and challenges the groups leader.  Using the abilities he has gained he easily defeats them and subjugates these into his rule, moving the entire brood to work as his muscle.

    With the survivors of the goblins and hobgoblins under his control he looks forward to grander ambitions.  At the same time he continues to hunt stronger prey in the surrounding area, gaining more beneficial abilities.  His benevolence has lead a group of human women who were captured by the hobgoblins to admire the strange goblin (who has now evolved into a hobgoblin himself) to the point where they are intent on staying with this band of demi-humans instead of returning to the human settlements.  After a vicious battle with a strong foe, Gobrou evolves again into an ogre and takes on the name Ogrou.  His increasing powers lead a band of wood elves to seek him out in hopes of coercing him into fighting with them against a growing human threat.  Not willing to take the elves offer of forced alliance sitting down, he punishes all of them, keeping the women as captives.  Another encounter leads hm to rescuing an elven princess.  When he guides her back to her people, her father suggests an equal alliance with Ogrou and his newly formed and formidable mercenary company, united to repel the impending human invasion by the nearby kingdom.  It's time for the ex-human to flex the muscles he's been building and put his attempts are organizing the goblins to the test.

    I only watched this series for the first season of The Otaku Network Podcast as it was the show picked for the Spring season by David.  He thought it would be amusing to watch me suffer through an isekai, well aware of my distaste for them.  Though he wasn't expected to suffer the most as the series progressed.  Re:Monster is a collection of thinly veiled male fantasies.  Gobrou/Ogrou is the ultimate character, he is over powered, increasingly brazen and suffers no set backs or legitimate loses.  The ability to absorb all manner of powers from over coming adversaries drastically improves his ability to defeat stronger and stronger targets, creating a perpetual cycle of powering up.  Realistically, there was only one point in the anime where he was in any real danger, at no other time was there any doubt he would lose, from a narrative point.  Of course he isn't going to lose though, as the writing is designed to always have him be the main character.  Outside of the perpetual power leveling aspects of Ogrou and his crew, there is a secondary layer added that reinforces the target audience, that of the obedient harem.  By the end of the series Ogrou has around ten lovers, all who are willing to do whatever it takes to appease him.  Whats concerning is how many of them were swayed into his bed...through initial sexual encounters that amount to rape in almost every instance.  Ogrou represents a poisonous toxic masculinity that perpetuates ideals from viewers that their alpha male personality fantasies are justifiable and correct.

    Beyond the concerning moral problems the story represents, over all it is rather boring and repetitive.  The vast majority of the story is monologue expositions of how Ogrou and his crew continue to advance their abilities, consistently succeeding with overwhelming efficiency.  As the series nears its end it begins to expand its scope outside of the borders of the goblin clutch but so little attention is given to this there is little point.  Very little happens beyond leveling and fighting.  The fighting that is shown is brief and uninspiring, the story relying heavily on exposition dialogue over flashy combat sequences.  There is little reason to invest any emotion into the characters as they never show signs of struggle or humanity.  Ogrou offers little outside of his status as an avatar for the viewers power fantasies.  His personality is reprehensible and so little is shown of the forces that oppose him, you would suspect no one in this world would be capable of filling the role of hero.  Its hard to understand what deeper justifications the story has beyond wasting time day dreaming about ultimate power, both in fighting prowess and sexual conquest.  In the end, this is a terrible and poorly constructed attempt at writing that brings into question the quality of the vetting process used for turning amateur writings submitted on Shosetsuka ni Naro into published material.

The series was simulcast on Crunchyroll and is available in both sub and dub formats.