Let This Grieving Soul Retire! is far from the first anime about a dummy of a protagonist who lucks their way into victory while still managing to lose on a personal level time and again. The issue with stories like this is that all too often, the central joke overstays its welcome. The story becomes predictable to the point that it almost writes itself.

This anime avoids this by spending as much time focused on others as it does on Krai himself. Krai's actions are always self-serving—he's either trying to get others to do his work for him or hoping to get his hands on something that piques his interest as a relic collector. Thus, he tries to stay out of the action as much as possible—which he often manages to do until the climactic moment.

This leaves room in the story for the supporting cast—each of which is generally more entertaining than Krai himself. The first is Tino, a teenage girl who fully believes in the hype and sees Krai as an all-knowing god. She wants nothing more than to join the Grieving Souls formally and has to deal with more than a few problems caused by her ego and temper. The next up is Liz Smart, Tino's teacher and one of the powerhouses of the Grieving Souls. She's also dumb as a box of rocks and quick to solve every problem with violence. And lastly, we have Sitri Smart, Liz's alchemist sister who appears calm, reasonable, and kind but has a lot hiding under that veneer.

Each three playoff Krai and each other in comedic ways—in addition to the extended cast of less prominent characters. There's a lot of fun to be had in watching these goofballs come up against threats like evil mage cabals, cursed items, and other powerful adventurers—which would all be credible threats against any other group.

This show works well as a comedy because while the formula is predictable, the actual story is not. Each of the three major arcs in the anime has a solid central mystery that Krai and the others are stumbling headlong into. While we know that somehow Krai will come out looking like a mastermind by the end of everything, how this comes about is wonderfully (and often hilariously) complex.

It also helps that the show looks good throughout. While it is nothing groundbreaking, there is a better-than-average animation quality both in and out of combat. The characters are expressive and their unique designs make each character stand out visually. The voice actors also bring their A-game—especially Miyu Kubota (Tino), Fairouz Ai (Liz), and Konomi Kohara (Sitri). And speaking of how the anime sounds, I love how the opening is integrated into each episode.

It often starts during the episode's cold opening and includes an often-changing narration explaining the plot—and then, halfway through the song, we get a brief preview of the episode to come that has a voice-over from a supporting character to patch over one plot whole or another in what we are about to see. It is a good joke—and with Lezel's "Kattō Tomorrow" being a bit of an earworm in its own right, I admit to looking forward to each week's opening credits.

Let This Grieving Soul Retire! is a great turn-your-brain-off-and-enjoy-the-ride comedy anime. There are no deeper themes to be explored or musings of human nature break down. However, there is a cast of silly characters and fun fantasy mysteries. After watching, I'm genuinely excited for the second season and can't wait for the rest of the Grieving Souls to make their appearance.