It’s a dark, stormy night, and two shadowy silhouettes duel it out on the rooftop of a medieval palace: two trained assassins competing for a shot at their target. The battle is spectacular, with both of them charging at the other from roof to roof and dodging attacks just as the thunderbolt strikes. One of them, though, reveals himself as the superior fighter: The Silent Assassin methodically destroys his opponent, then carries out the job, his eyes cold as ice. But before becoming a legend among hitmen, the Silent Assassin had another life. A life with a common trait with this one. “I’ve lived in the background since I was a kid. Nobody’s ever taken notice of me.” That’s how high school student Oda Akira would describe himself. His invisibility was intentional, but not born from arrogance or rejection. He was just uncomfortable in social settings, even as he had an appreciation for his classmates. When the entire class was swept away to a fantasy world, he put his philosophy of life into practice and used his newfound abilities to hide in the shadows of the castle and spy from afar. But a knight was able to see him…

I have a ideal isekai in mind, one I hope to find one day. It is part Re:Zero, part Grimgar. It is competently animated, with pathos and tension. It has a compelling MC travelling with his classroom to a fantasy world, reacting realistically, experiencing actual culture shock, becoming embedded in the new world’s problems, and learning how to fight and survive by actually doing things instead of discovering video game stats. My Status as an Assassin is not quite that show, but it’s 60% there, in all of these areas. Our protagonist has a bunch of classmates with actual goals and personalities (somewhat), who train, learn about the world, and do not turn on him for some trite plot reason. The fights make sense and are well-choreographed. Our Protagonist Himself has indeed some Mysteriously Overpowered Stats (sigh), but he also takes tactics into account. And so far, the story has tension: how did the socially awkward teenager who wanted to help his classmates and return home become a cold-blooded hitman? Foul play is suggested. A sacrifice is mentioned. So far, this show has earned some goodwill from me, and I’m willing to give it a chance. This genre has a lot of potential, and I’m hopeful. We’ll see.

My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s is available on Crunchyroll.