Season aired: Spring 2022

Number of episodes: 12

Watched on: HIDIVE

Translated by: Sawa Matsueda

Genres: Fantasy, Action, Adventure

Thoughts: The Executioner and Her Way of Life is an interesting anime in more ways than one. Its first episode is one of the best bait-and-switch episodes I’ve seen, and its take on the modern isekai genre is very different from the usual reincarnated/summoned powerhouse protagonists on a hero’s journey. However, beyond its uniqueness, The Executioner and Her Way of Life finds itself in the interesting position of having a much better written plot than its characters — two story elements that usually align together to deliver a compelling show.

The series follows Menou, a just and kind priestess. She is used to seeing “otherworlders,” people summoned from a country called Japan who are always summoned with greater powers than the ordinary citizens of the world. She takes her duty seriously to guide these otherworlders, and she has always accomplished her job flawlessly until she meets one otherworlder who’s not the same as the rest.

This is admittedly one of those anime where I enjoyed it purely for its plot and felt no investment for its characters. The world building in The Executioner and Her Way of Life is fascinating, and it’s far more than just your usual magical medieval isekai world that we’ve grown used to seeing. The world is so used to seeing Japanese otherworlders that many of its citizens are fluent in Japanese — a language barrier isekai anime usually wave aside or forget to address. In fact, with how frequently Japanese citizens are summoned, their entire world’s system is tied to the otherworlders’ existence, including government, religion, technology, and history. The intermingled influences that the otherworlders leave behind is far more reflective of real life society, and it also creates a much wider world with more things than just locations and magic powers to explore.

It’s hard to divulge too much detail for the plot without giving away the plot twist that occurs in the first episode. What I can say is that there’s a lot of intrigue, and even now, I’m still wondering how far back this world’s history has been influenced by the constant summoning. The plot’s ability to use the change in culture and perspectives due to the passage of time to fuel its conflict is very well done, and while certain reveals have been predictable, the anime always manages to throw a curveball to disrupt your disappointment at the initial predictability.

However, the characters just fall flat. While I give credit to the anime for showing genuine fighting skills and strategies, all that alone doesn’t speak to Menou’s personality. I can admire her ability to slit an antagonist’s throat and jump back in caution while also yawning at her plain conversations. She’s calm, collected, polite, and dutiful. She’s here to accomplish her mission, and there’s nothing else happening. Her tone doesn’t change no matter who she’s speaking to, and all that makes her so simple in the grand scheme of things that I’m more interested in seeing her fight than talk. 

Akari, an otherworlder, is the more interesting of the two… kind of. There are two sides to Akari, and the one that’s more complex and hides secrets is the one we see less often. Throughout the series, we see more of the happy girl who pouts playfully, latches herself onto Menou, and doesn’t seem to have any other interest except to crush on Menou and follow her around like a puppy. I must clarify that there is a plot reason for Akari’s more commonly seen side, but it still doesn’t lessen the annoyance whenever I hear and watch her on screen.

The relationships between the characters can also feel lackluster. This is an isekai with a developing lesbian love story, but due to the characters’ bland personalities, the relationship never enticed me. Momo, the last leg of the love triangle, is a pink-haired priestess who obsesses over Menou and hates everyone else. That’s all her personality really is, and it certainly does not lend any favors to an already empty relationship between Menou and Akari.

The only relationship I enjoyed in the series is between Momo and Princess Ashuna, and that’s largely because of the latter. A warrior princess knight from a disgraced royal family, Ashuna stands out from the cast of characters due to her thrill-seeking attitude, pure raw power, and her ability to disrupt the status quo. She’s the only character capable of counteracting Momo’s apathy and antagonism towards everyone since she just doesn’t care how anyone feelsl or thinks of her and is only following the trail of adrenaline. However, as much as I like Ashuna, I still have to admit that her character’s depth is paper thin — she’s a confident adventurer type but has no genuine flaws or further complexity to layer her.

But my god, is the worldbuilding and plot good. The power system is incredibly interesting, and I really like the concept of how each person is assigned a core word upon their entrance, and all their resulting powers stem from that single word (e.g. if your core word is “chaos,” imagine the powers you can manifest). Because of that, the fights are really exhilarating, even if the animation isn’t as steadfast with certain fight scenes being better than others. 

I can’t say the same for the overall animation though. When they’re not fighting, the walking, talking, and facial expressions often fall flat. This anime falls into the “looking weird while you’re at a distance” trap that many anime have these days. The music didn’t stand out either, and neither did the voice acting. However, I can’t completely fault much of the voice cast since they’re working with rather simple characters.

So where exactly does that leave my final opinion? I think as a whole, The Executioner and Her Way of Life is an entertaining anime to pass time. Usually, these entertaining anime are quick to forget when another season rolls by with a slew of new series and sequels. However, as one final testament to its plot, if there is a second season to The Executioner and Her Way of Life, I will absolutely watch it because I am dying to know how this story ends.

Rating

Plot: 8.5 (Multiplier 3.5)

Characters: 6.5 (Multiplier 3.5)

Voice acting: 7

Art/Animation: 6.5

Soundtrack: 7

FINAL SCORE: 73