Just a reminder: The future of LiA is very much in doubt, and it’s up to you to decide what happens next.  Thank you for all your support!

Unfortunately this is going to be my last Isekai Ojisan post for a while.  Not because I’m dropping it, but because it’s going on another hiatus (indefinite).  Once again it’s being blamed on COVID-19, but while the pandemic is certainly still raging here, industry buzz is that this is simply a disastrous production and the pandemic is a convenient excuse.  That’s not unique to Isekai Ojisan, by the way – in an industry where project planning is typically a joke and understaffing is endemic, having COVID around is a very handy dodge.  Given that Atelier Pontdarc is effectively a brand new studio, this sort of thing is not a huge surprise.

Whatever production and budgetary issues this show has, they aren’t skimping on the seiyuu payroll.  A bunch more big names joined this week – Takagi Wataru, Toysakai Aki, Suzumura Kenichi, Okamoto Nobuhiko.  Takagi is (hilariously) playing Fujimiya’s 4th-grade brother, and the latter three are a trio of adventurers Uncle has had a few run-ins with.  Alicia will be the key member here, given that every female Uncle meets in the other world is locked-in as a love interest and also that she’s a legendary hero herself.

There are some funny bits with Ojisan’s “Wild Talker” (name copyright: Takafumi), including a bit where he tries to broker peace with a giant hedgehog who turns out to be a sociopath.  The fact that Ojisan believes Sonic is what “real world” hedgehogs are like is symbolic of course.  He goes Dark Brandon on its bushy ass in apocalyptic fashion, earning the respect of the trio, but is forced to wipe their memories after Alicia reveals that she spied him restoring the magic barrier way back in episode 1 or 2 (I forget).

Also of note – apparently Uncle can temporarily loan his magic out to whoever he wants.  This he does with Takafumi, when they go to return Fujimiya’s forgotten smartphone and spy her walking with a guy.  It’s amusing that no one remarks on Chiaki’s appearance – and that Takafumi recognizes him in the first place (adult-looking grade schoolers seem to be an anime trend this year).  Once the misunderstanding is settled Chiaki ends up in conversation with fellow YouTuber Ojisan (he’s singularly unimpressed) while Takafumi and Fujimiya head to an empty lecture hall for some alone time.

This is obviously a pretty significant leap forward on the relationship front.  Takafumi was jealous and isn’t especially good at covering it up, and of course that makes Fujimiya deliriously happy.  Now, it’s not the first time he’s come to her aid when she decidedly didn’t need it (elementary Fujimiya was an abject terror, clearly) so a case can be made that he’s just being Takafumi.  But she chooses to believe otherwise, so I will too.  It kind of sucks for the series to stop for the foreseeable future at that point, but it won’t be the last time this happens in anime, especially with the current production model being as abjectly broken as it is.  I can’t promise I’ll pick Isekai Ojisan back up (it might return at an incredibly busy time), but for now I’ll plan on doing so.