It’s Spring, and that means there is supposed to be love in the air. Flowers are having sex all over the place, including our nostrils, and college kids are busy making 18 year investments all over the nation. So, it makes sense that the Anime seasonal shows would be heavy with the romance and shojo (Manga and Anime aimed at teen girls), right? Well, it is. From the wild idea of Rita and the Red Ranger hooking up in Love After World Domination to the cool take on the “why is she with him” trope in Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie, it’s a great time to be into this stuff. However, buried in the pile of trashy romance is a potential gem. A crystal of untold power. A series called, Trapped In A Dating Sim: The World Of Otome Games Is Tough For Mobs.
What The ShIt-sekai Are You Talking About?
Trapped In A Dating Sim is the story of a dude that dies after grinding an Otome game (female oriented game that usually has strong romantic stories and goals) for his sister. How? Well, it’s hilarious and you should watch the 1st episode for that alone. Anyways, he gets isekai’d straight into the world of the game that causes his demise. Our protagonist, Leon, decides that he will try and live the best Mob (non-playable character or background character in a game) life that he can.
However, this world is a matriarchy, and one that values city upbringing over rural roots all day. That means Leon needs something big to change his lot. Enter his game knowledge, some dungeon looting, and an advanced AI system named Luxion. Leon secures his way from under his evil step-mother and receives a Barony. However, he’ll have to marry a girl from the Academy in order to keep it.
Got all of that? It sounds like a stereotypical Rom-Com Fantasy or Isekai, but this has more in common with The Vision of Escaflowne than it does Re: Zero.
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So What Is The Hook?
You mean besides that bangin intro? Well, you saw all that mech action and magic usage, right? Also, what if, and this is just a guess, there are other people from Leon’s original world here too? The series starts taking a strange turn during the second episode when in-game events start going differently. Leon notices the original game’s protagonist is no longer on her set path and someone else has filled that role. Also, they tease something about his sister by reminding us of how they hide her face in the first episode. Additionally, the inclusion of Luxion and the AI’s mention of “Old Humans” really gets the mystery feels going.
It’s not all good in this still possibly digital hood, though. The animation is hated by fans of the source material, and even I can admit the fight scenes in the second episode’s dungeon are not great. However, Anime tends to spread it’s budget around, and maybe we’ll see some really cool stuff when the mechs get involved.
The series is definitely worth the three-episode rule.
You can catch Trapped In A Dating Sim: The World Of Otome Games Is Tough For Mobs on Crunchyroll Sundays after 10 AM ET. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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