Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout

Episodes 4-5

Well, things sadly didn't go too great with our last cast addition, but it seems Total Fantasy Knockout was aware of that too. After her unintentional god-eating last time, Telolilo is nowhere to be seen, and instead this two-parter storyline introduces us to a much more colorful doofus to dunk on: Shwartz von Liechtenstein Lohengram, the dumbest boy alive with an even dumber self-chosen name. I already love him.

A big part of that is how Shwartz, while just as big a dumbass as Telolilo, is at least a different flavor of stupid. He's essentially an affectionate parody of your typical isekai melvin, down to being a light novel loving nerd. He too was swept away into this realm by a Goddess, but he's absolutely down to clown with this power fantasy. I especially love the implication that he self-styled to look like Kirito, the ultimate Light Novel Otakubermench – though our boy hasn't unlocked the godlike power of dual wielding as of yet. More importantly, his young chuuni energy bounces perfectly off the more uptight Jinguuji, while also making the dorkier Tachibana cringe out of his new skin in secondhand embarrassment.

It also helps that Schwartz is mostly well meaning. Yes he's into being a hero because it makes him feel special and cool, but he's earnestly willing to help people and face monsters he has no real chance of beating – not that he realizes that. And sure, when he tries to ask for Tachibana's hand in marriage it's partially because he's crushing hard, but it's also because he's concocted a tragic love story between our leads in his dumb little pea brain, and wants to be there to soften the blow for the lovely maiden he's fallen for. He'd be annoying as all get out to be around in real life, but that makes him the perfect foil to our leads.

The show balances the comedy of his comeuppance a lot better too – he's not just punished by the universe for being vain, but rather all his misfortune comes from his own actions. Like yeah, unleashing your cool magic sword in the middle of town is gonna get you arrested, jackass. On that note, I dig Lucius a lot too, and appreciate that the show didn't get too obnoxious or leering when her chest is revealed. I though it was obvious from the start she was a woman, but with all he's going through I can understand why Tachibana's whole concept of gender is a little out of sorts right now. Plus everyone is pretty polite and practical about the whole thing, which is more than I expected from a fight with a clothes-stealing suit of magical armor.

And altogether Shcwartz' introduction leads to some of the funniest moments in this whole show. His flights of fantasy are goofy as hell, and pay off with him insistently calling Jinguuji his future father in law. His bragging about being a holy chosen one gets him handcuffed for heresy. And in probably the funniest moment in the show so far, he explains the romantic power of the legendary “Boyfriend Shirt” – leading to Tachibana and Jinguuji having a full on kinkshaming battle in the middle of the actual battle. It's great stuff, and a stellar example of adding to the show's central dynamic rather than subtracting.

My only real complaint about the guy is his overreaction to Tachibana's former identity. C'mon man, it's not that big a deal; cute is cute! Still, probably best to get that reveal out of the way upfront, and Tachibana's inner delight over being such a “wicked woman” is pretty adorable. Go out there and live your best life, you little heart breaker.

Episode five also introduces some actual plot for once, but I'm honestly not too interested. With a show like Total Fantasy Knockout, comedy and characters comes first, and any storyline is only important in how it facilitates one or both. So my main concern about the various generals of the demon lord and their schemes is whether the characters themselves will be funny or charming. If they are, then we're golden. For now though, I'm just glad to see this show back on track and hitting my funny bone.

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Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.