A castle burns with the flames of war, and a young princess flees through a portal to another world. An energetic OP plays, seemingly combining real-world photos/video with animation for a super trippy result. In Gifu, a “rather simple, bland detective” named Sosoke tails a mark when a portal opens in the sky and a girl—the princess from the intro—falls on him. She introduces herself as Sara. They discuss the isekai phenomenon, and Sara demonstrates her magic. Meanwhile, Sara’s silver-haired bodyguard Livia escapes and follows her through the portal. She is slathered in the blood of her enemies, which naturally requires a bathing scene for her to clean up, which then smoothly transitions into a “stabbing fish with a sword while standing in the middle of the Nagara River naked” scene. Later she meets a homeless chap named Suzuki. Meanwhile, Sara and Sosuke chat more, and we get a montage of Sara learning about our world. Then Sosuke is once again investigating a salaryman on suspicions of infidelity, but it turns out the guy was paying hush money to some thugs who are blackmailing him. They seem to be about to beat the poor chap to death, so Sosuke starts to intervene…only to be backed up by Sara and her magic. They stomp the thugs, and back home, Sara finally convinces Sosuke to let her help with his detective work.
That was hilarious! It reminds me a lot of The Devil Is a Part-Timer! in terms of the premise and the style of humor, and that’s a compliment. The show is conscious of its isekai nature (well, reverse isekai) and isekai tropes in general, and pokes fun at the genre without being cynical. I also loved the sense of humor responsible for the disclaimer that runs across the screen during the fishing scene, warning that it is illegal to catch fish in the Nagara without a permit. Of course, the highlight here is how the serious and dour Sosuke makes a great foil for the whimsical and idealistic Sara; their rapport is delightful. I can only hope it avoids the blunders of certain unnamed anime *cough* Sasaki-and-Pedophiles-I-mean-Peeps *cough* and keeps their relationship solidly in an older brother/younger sister dynamic (since Sosuke is 29 and Sara is 13). Overall, this was a charming and funny premiere episode that I strongly recommend checking out. I’m looking forward to seeing what else this salad bowl serves up.
A Salad Bowl of Eccentrics is streaming on Crunchyroll.
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I just want to give a warning for everyone that interested to continue to watch this anime. episode 2 is not family friendly, it contains content about sexy cabaret (it’s more than cosplay) and adulterous relationship, so yeah, just be careful and take this as a warning whether you can enjoy it or drop it
Thanks for the heads up!