By Dustin Cabeal
Anime is enjoyable for numerous reasons. From the constant chase of love to the fantastic abilities of magic, mech suits and the best fighter in the universe. They have relatable character moments; seldom do they have relatable plot lines. At its core, Uncle from Another World is about a man that’s been in a comma for 17 years. He’s woken up after the internet ruined everything cool and fun but now middle aged, he wants to connect to the familiar things that he knew from his more youthful days. Yes, there is magic and fantasy, but that core element of being middle aged and wanting youthful connections is the most relatable anime plot line I’ve ever seen. I’m speaking on a personal level because not everyone is middle aged and has fond memories of pre-internet days in which video game information came from magazines and actually needed to be fact checked and approved before printing.
The plus and minus here is that Netflix is adapting to more of a traditional release schedule with its anime and much like Komi Can’t Communicate, Uncle from Another World is being released weekly. I didn’t have this knowledge prior to going in and so I sat down expecting a binge session like with Bastard and was meet with disappointment (Note this review was written before the second episode released). I would also encourage you to listen to this week’s episode of Let’s Anime as I talk about the episode there which has a laugh track provided by me… laughing about the show as I talk about it.
The episode begins with a man going to the hospital to pick up his uncle who is awoken from a coma after 17 years. He’s greeted by the uncle in a strange language. The uncle laughs it off and goes oh sorry right Japanese. Before the nephew can give him paperwork to file to live out on his own with assisted living, a nurse comes in and plays along with the foreign language that he is speaking and then tells him that she’ll be back later. Uncle then asks why no one else in the family is there, and the nephew must tell him that the family has been broken apart by his coma. The uncle writes down some notes in his notepad and then says something else in his foreign language and moves on with the conversation. Eventually he tells the nephew that he wants to prove that he was in another world this entire time by displaying his magic and once again begins saying things in his foreign language after about the 21st try he switches to Japanese, and it works. Don’t get to attached to this rule as he seemingly breaks it in the very next scene. The nephew agrees to take the uncle home with him, and we continue our story from there. There is an amazing gag about the console wars which were all the rage in the 90s and uncle clearly siding with Sega. Oh the heartbreak he feels when he learns that Sega is no more, that was a gag too painful, to relatable and too perfect.
Another strong element of the show is that it asked the question and then answers the question of what happens when you return after being isekai’d. The isekai genre has become one of the most dominate genres in manga and anime in the past decade with no signs of slowing down, but this is my first encounter with a return from a journey on another world. The Uncle’s confusion and overall disappointment with the way the world is comes across genuine and relatable. We are also able to see parts of his journey in the other world which have a much more relatable average take on what would happen rather than just a beautiful young man going and conquering the land or a beautiful young woman becoming a powerful sorcerers instantly. Instead, he’s viewed as a half-orc and all of his good deeds are seen as half evils instead of him genuinely trying to help people.
The animation has more grounded realism to it instead of smooth faces and disappearing noses. Uncle is quite average, he’s not ugly, he’s not beautiful and handsome, he’s just an average looking person. The nephew is very average as well just younger less defined lines on his face. They both have a very fluid realistic movement to them even while doing these fantastic magical elements. I gravitate to animation like this because it tends to push the medium in different ways. What does an average man look like when he’s shooting a fire ball or flying? The simple and yet complex animation of a spinning flip phone looks amazing and yet everything feels thoroughly grounded.
I would love to spoil all the gags for you here, but you can listen to Let’s Anime to hear me do that. I will say that if you’re in your 30’s or 40’s you won’t find a more relatable anime. It’s funny and kind of sad at times, but it has already established itself as one of the strongest anime of the cour and possibly of the year.
Score 5/5
Streaming on Netflix