Review of Parallel World Pharmacy
Dr Harry Potter and the Goblet of Antibiotics. Now wait a minute, hang on a second… You’re telling me that a good, well thought and written, slightly more original light novel isekai adaptation with a based premise came out this season and it’s called “Parallel World Pharmacy”? Well, sign me up nerds. Fully capable adult (rare for an isekai mc) and world-famous medical researcher Kanji works himself to an early grave trying to find the cure to a disease that claimed his little sister. Now reincarnated into the body of a post struck by lightning, the ten-year-old medieval noble boy called Falma, his goal now isto use his vast medical knowledge and his new family's medical dynasty connections to revolutionise this new world's healthcare and make it available plus affordable to the masses. This is a very based premise.
That’s not the only based thing about this show. Falma is also a prodigy in the divine art of water or water magic. This power is now amplified thanks to the “god of medicine” that has taken up residence inside of him as well as granting him extra powers such as instantly diagnosing any illness he sees in another person through his magic eyes and the power to create/destroy any chemical composition he can imagine. Obviously, as a former 31-year-old 21st medical and chemistry doctor he can think of a lot of those and this makes him incredibly overpowered, but that’s only in magic and medicine. The society he's now in doesn’t have issues like demon lords (that we know of) that can just be solved by one-sidedly fighting a bad guy and asking questions later. Politics, religion and societal class gaps will be the main courses of strife and the way the show handles Falma’s navigation through those problems are well thought-out, clever and sometimes (dare I say it) educational.
That said, when the anime has a battle it throws the fuck down. There are some seriously well-animated, tense wizard duels in this show. I’m really happy that studio Diomedéa put in the effort to make these moments feel as special as possible. The anime already looks good and feels great to watch, but that little bit extra for moments that don’t happen all too often is very appreciated.
The show also has a strong cast of defined, core characters. Falma’s pink-haired moé blob maid Charlotte plus his magic teacher Eléonore are delightful and the relationship development between him and his new family -especially his little sister and father- is touching.
Unbeknownst to Falma, he’s not the only reincarnated soul in this new world as Rule Britannia’s real-world Queen Elizabeth II who recently passed away from being old, has reincarnated into the body of Empress Élisabeth II in an era of human history in which she's probably more comfortable with mentally.
“Parallel World Pharmacy” is just a great show. It can get a bit cheesy at times and the season's late-game villain turned out to be a disappointment with his anarchic motivations, but the rest of the show is solid. If you’re looking for a good isekai which doesn’t involve the usual trashy isekai elements then I can’t recommend this anime enough.
8/10 Great.