Dad is a Hero, Mom is a Spirit, I’m a Reincarnator – Episode 1

Content Warning: fatphobia

What’s it about? Ellen was a working scientist in modern Japan before she died from being overworked.  She’s reborn as the child of a war hero and the queen of all spirits and together they formed a loving family.  Ellen decided to use her abilities to manipulate the elements in order to protect her family from their enemies that wish to destroy their happiness.  

While the animation isn’t anything impressive, I think it’s worth celebrating that some thought went into this story.  Everyone feels like actual characters rather than the standard tropes they often embody in isekai fantasy shows.  It’s also just nice to see a reincarnator be reborn into a happy family with both her parents still alive.  It feels much more common, if we see the parents at all, to have a mother who dies in childbirth and leaves the father resenting said child for being born.  It’s a known formula at this point, which makes it all the more refreshing to see a father genuinely love his child.  The bar is so low for this genre that it might as well be a race to the bottom, especially when you consider how many historical fantasy stories center on little girls having to learn how to navigate the perilous politics of surviving their families and the imperial court.  

It makes perfect sense why Ellen’s father, Rovel, hides his wife and child from the imperial family since he’s scared that they’ll force his daughter into an arranged marriage.  He too was stuck in a similar predicament and would’ve ended up having a miserable life living with a selfish wife.  I also like that Rovel breaks out of his archetype by revealing that he doesn’t enjoy being seen as a hero and isn’t comfortable with all the attention.  I just wish more characterization was equally given to his wife since we don’t know anything about her except that she’s a loving wife and mother.  Heaven forbid that women can be known for anything else aside from the labor they provide to their families.  Hopefully, upcoming episodes will give her something to do aside from waiting to be called upon when she’s needed. There isn’t much to say about Ellen either, since she mostly provides colorful commentary and scolds her father for running away from his responsibilities as a noble.  

Truthfully, I don’t think Ellen’s past life really adds any value to her new reality.  Sure, she’s a bit more mature, but she mostly acts her age, which makes me question why add the reincarnation trope at all? I understand that it’s trendy now, but at a certain point, it feels like a useless plot device.  I also hated how they depicted the primary antagonist and Rovel’s ex-fiancée to be comedically fat and ugly.  It’s that kind of visual imagery that perpetuates fatphobia and prevents the narrative from writing a compelling villainess based on her actions rather than her appearance.  Her reveal seriously took me out of the episode and made me lose interest in an otherwise competent story.

Overall, it’s an unremarkable show that will be forgotten in less than a day.  This is a really dull season folks so it’s probably for the best to catch up on your anime backlog — and maybe read shoujo manga.