Anime: Leadale no Daichi nite

Review
Oh yes, one more isekai. They never end and they will be here with us when we all die.

Anyway, a few seasons back I’ve said that what could save isekai, or at least make it more tolerable for the moment, was to turn the genre into a moe fest. A bit of a weird suggestion, but I could mention plenty of isekais that are way more enjoyable simply because the annoying male lead was replaced by a happy and curious young girl.

Leadale no Daichi nite (In the Land of Leadale) is yet one more of those. This time we have our protagonist as a dead girl who was on life support until a blackout hits the hospital and she is gone for good. Somehow, however, she wakes up in Leadale, her cherished VRMMORPG in which she spent most of her time. A few things are not as she remembered though.

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1. Seems sad, it is not
   My first thoughts when reading about In the Land of Leadale was that it would be similar to the second arc of Sword Art Online’s second season, known to me as Sword Feels Online. There we had a girl in her last days playing the game to experience friendship and a sense of community. Here, however, that is not the case.
   
   Kagami Keina, the protagonist, is basically absent from the show. After the initial scene about the blackout, you will only learn a bit about her when she, as her ingame avatar Cayna, mentions how her life was spent in a hospital. It’s far removed from any emotional take about her reminiscence of her previous life.
   
   It’s a carefree journey
   In reality, what happens is that Cayna is quite happy with her new life. She is, of course, a powerhouse capable of beating anything that breathes or emanates living energy (this is an isekai, you know) and she also meets a lot of helpful people.
   
   What makes In the Land of Leadale a bit of its own thing is the fact that Cayna will also meet her family after she discovers that 200 years have passed since the time when she played. A few of her custom-made NPCs, which she defined as her children, have grown and made a name of their own, establishing a legacy that has dominated much of the world.
   
   It’s… interesting
   Seeing Cayna meeting her “kids”, their quirks and family interactions, introducing her grandchildren, and even meeting new people makes for a mindless, but charming experience. It gets on the territory of slice of life, but Cayna’s supreme power, charisma, kind heart, and a tiny bit of mystery makes everything somewhat intriguing and worth keeping on watching.
   
   Mind you, this is not a superb show. However, considering similar “casual” isekais, such as Slime 300, Noukin, and Lasdan, it manages to offer more than simple carefree episodes and loosely introduced plot elements. Here you know that Cayna will find her family everywhere and that she has a past with this game that may surface once in a while.
   
   Oh, the eyes
   In the Land of Leadale oozes more of its casual style through its art and animation though. It’s a decent effort, mind you, but damn, it is colorful. I usually mention bright colors and sharp visuals as positives, but here it seems a bit extreme, with everything not simply being cute or charming, but with a color palette that somehow reminds me of old flash animations, far too saturated or like a miscalculated HDR. It fits the tale though, but it also makes too much of a presence for its own good.
   
   Ah, the mystery
   Well, there is a “plot” going on besides seeing Cayna finding her grandchildren scattered across the land and establishing her own happy afterlife. You see, she does find other players in the game from time to time. One seems to be a child trying to control bandits, others have made their way into the knightly order of a kingdom, some are still adventuring around. They all claim to have been stuck in the game as well for variable amounts of time. Are they all dead? Is this a deadly experiment? Is anyone trying to get back to the real world? Does the real world matter, for starters?
   
   Well, none of these questions have answers. In fact, they are not even asked. We are left completely oblivious to this plot element and it seems it won’t be really explored even if there are more seasons in the future. Sad, but predictable.
   

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Comments
In the Land of Leadale is… fun. Once again, watching a carefree overpowerful girl traveling around the world is much more interesting than watching a pervy annoying guy or a Kirito clone creating a harem. The casual element offers interesting surprises as Cayna meets her family, and how she shows off her ultimate power is also funny for a longer period of time than what most isekais can achieve.

Sadly, there’s no power to boost this beyond the mediocrity of isekais. Much like Noukin, it is funny and cute, but that’s it. The intriguing aspects of the plot and setting are never really explored, and because of the protagonist’s invincibility there is no sense of danger whatsoever. It’s an isekai, you know.

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At first I was like, ok here we go, another "reincarnated into the world of a video game they were playing when they died and are now ridiculously OP" story. And yes that is quite literally the start of the plot synopsis. However, the stale cliches mostly stop there. I personally thought that this story has a lot of elements that a lot of the other similar stories do not, such as:
This is mostly a slice-of-fantasy-life with some fantasy combat thrown in. The MC doesn't actively go looking for answers to some questions we the audience are asking like: but it doesn't detract from the story in my opinion.

The story has lots of comedy and fresh characters and relationships, and lots of fun cute interactions with locals (think a bit of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear but with less Yuri undertones). There is some fantasy combat but its not the focus of the show. The animation is one of the things that impressed me the most. A lot of shows that are "another reincarnation show" have sub-par animation but they really gave this one some love, and I think it is above average. Sound design was also at or above par.

All in all I would definitely add this to your watch list because it is a fun fantasy slice-of-life show to relax and chuckle to.