If you were resurrected into another world, would it matter what form you were born into? Would you immediately give up on this second life if your new body was that of a monster? Would you be disgusted if your clan enslaved human women? Or would you do what’s necessary to survive with this second chance at life? Tomokui Kanata, brutally killed in his human life, is reborn as a goblin in a fantasy world where he not only retains his memories but discovers that an ability he had in the war zone of a world he once inhabited—”absorption,” which allows him to gain the abilities of whatever (or whomever) he eats—has followed him as well. With this power, his intelligence, an ability to level up, and a couple of comrades, Gobrou will make sure that this second chance doesn’t go to waste.
Isekai series have had fun featuring all different types of goblins, as well as portraying heroes who are reborn into unusual forms. It’s no surprise, then, that a series would run with the idea of a protagonist born into being one of these low-end monsters. But Re:Monster does more than rest on an interesting idea; it approaches it very intelligently. For instance, while the series does portray the goblins as the enemy of humankind and capable of evil, it tends to lean harder into a cuter image of goblins with big heads and stilted language. Meanwhile, Gobrou himself is a strong protagonist who doesn’t really need to learn much—he was a warrior already in the sci-fi setting of his previous world—which, by the way, is a fascinating twist. There are also other details to like about this opening episode: the quick day-by-day growth is engaging, the friend group that develops is fun, and there are bits of humor that work really well. I think isekai fans will enjoy the series, though I’m likely to check out because I tend to need a strong reason to watch shows with heavy violence—and I don’t detect that here. While the fights in episode one weren’t gory, they were graphic enough (especially in one scene involving a poor orc), and there’s a zombie quality to the show which adds another layer for those who like such series, which again doesn’t include me. But if you have no such qualms, I encourage you to check out Re:Monster; there’s a lot of promise here for isekai lovers.
Re:Monster can be streamed on Crunchyroll.