Rentt Faina is in the second-lowest class of adventurers, bronze, despite working in the profession for a decade and training another ten years before that. But he likes his life and as someone who lives cautiously, he can survive well enough with the pay he makes while also avoiding major dangers in the labyrinths. That is, until he gets ahead of himself one day after discovering a secret passageway in the Labyrinth of the Moon’s Reflection, and comes face to face with a terrifying dragon. The creature promptly eats him, but Rentt awakens to find himself alive, or at least, undead, and in the form of a skeleton creature. You know, the kind that’s super easy to kill in fantasy games. As he tries to decide what to do in this new form, Rentt remembers that monsters can evolve, and so he makes it his goal to turn into a ghoul, an undead creature covered with skin, so that he can perhaps return to town without being destroyed by those who consider the undead to be taboo. But he has another goal, too, one that he won’t give up: to become an adventurer who can save nations—to become a mithril adventurer.
On the surface, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer seems much like its protagonist: bare bones and “unwanted,” a series that’s typical fantasy anime fare and nothing extraordinary. But I found episode one appealing for the same reason I enjoyed volume one of the manga adaptation—the series has heart, centered on a kind, humble protagonist who is voiced with utmost earnestness by Ryota Suzuki (Ishigami, Kaguya-sama: Love is War; Ryusui, Dr. Stone). The warm feelings for the protagonist are helped along by a wonderful soundtrack that includes a melancholic lyre piece when dwelling on Rentt’s death and a warmer, more encouraging score when he’s building up his courage after deciding to do his best with his new life. The opening and closing songs are likewise excellent; the OP, “Immortal” by Juvenile, is an absolute bop while the ED, “Keep Your Fire Burning” by Mao Abe, is gentle and stirring. There’s also a nice bit of comedy that closes the episode as Rentt tries to talk with a voice that won’t quite cooperate. Unfortunately, the direction is mediocre, with the decision to use a flashback structure is kind of baffling when a traditional chronological approach would have been more suspenseful. The animation isn’t anything to write home about either, featuring CGI with a clunkiness to it that is hidden a bit by muted colors, but it’s certainly not bad enough to chase me off from the series. Its warmth and hints in episode one of the story to come lead me to think that this conventional series may end up being unconventionally moving. I’ll be tuning in to see if the direction and animation won’t get in the way of what seems to be a most charming tale.
The Unwanted Undead Adventurer can be streamed on Crunchyroll.
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