Ningen Fushin season 1

For me Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don’t Believe in Humanity Will Save the World 人間不信の冒険者たちが世界を救うようです is the pleasant surprise of the season.  It’s a show with a lot of heart, and you really get the sense that the creators are enjoying making the show.

I like the way it subverts and addresses the overcrowded dungeon adventure genre on multiple fronts.  The characters are flawed adults with believable motivations for their strange dangerous job.  When they have a hard mission, it’s hard on them, they don’t just bounce back.  And by giving it a retro-futuristic setting they can play around with recognizable and unexpected modern ideas like idol otaku (idol fandom).  I like the way the show takes the characters very seriously, but is playful with plot and ideas.  It’s a high-wire act (sometimes literally) that the show pulls off really well.

Definitely hoping there will be a season 2.  The internet says it didn’t get great ratings.  I think as a genre-busting show it may have been difficult for people to get into.  If you take dungeon adventuring super-seriously, this is probably not the show for you, as it’s about the characters in this world, not grinding away through dungeons.  I hope more people will give it a chance.

Here’s what I’ve written about season 1:

• January 11, 2023 – Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don’t Believe in Humanity Will Save the World
• January 30, 2023 – Ningen Fushin 1×04 – an unexpected twist
• January 31, 2023 – Ningen Fushin 1×05
• March 11, 2023 – Ningen Fushin 1×08, 1×09 and 1×10
• March 15, 2023 – Ningen Fushin 1×11
• March 21, 2023 – Ningen Fushin 1×12 – season finale