Review of Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

So this appears to be a divisive show somewhat, with some convinced that it's their favorite isekai 10/10 and others saying it's a loli-harem bait show that deserves a 1/10. In all honesty, Death March is neither of those shows, rather it's others representing extremes of what is present in the show. Specifically in Death March, the protagonist doesn't play the usual clueless 17 year old male with an insatiable sex drive. Rather, he plays a 30 year old man in a 17 year old's body. Thus, he seems to handle situations closer to what a parent or adult would. He has a clean head, andthus takes on the responsibility of all these slaves so they can live a better life. That doesn't mean the trash tones that others are noting about it being a harem show aren't there, however, the point is to contrast the usual reaction to a harem with someone who is interested in older women and being a loving father.

Death March isn't a groundbreaking show, but the protagonist broke out of the mold enough I can see why people like it so much. However past this, there isn't much beyond Satou. Unfortunately, I don't believe (although I hope I'm wrong) that this show will get another season. It seems like this was a quick adaptation of a manga to fill the slots to air. There were hints to some interesting backstories to characters, however this wasn't really capitalized on in the short time we knew characters. It took a couple episodes to get the whole group together, so really going into backstory wasn't possible. The show itself would have benefited from a 20 episode season, because 12 just cut it a little too short. Arisa is fairly compelling, but as stated before they couldn't go in depth too much with the time they had.

The style of the episodes were somewhat compelling, with Satou having to figure out inventory management as well as his level up system to complete events. Even though he can steamroll enemies, it's harder for him to save others or complete timed events without thinking ahead. That's more the meat of of the show, Satou thinking out his problems and coming to a solution that benefits everyone.

I hope for another season, as honestly this was a pretty fun simulcast for me week to week. I'm not sure how a binge watch treats anyone, yet I found myself engaged in finding out more about the world and the characters. At the end of the day, that's all a moderately-good and average isekai needs.