Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest (ありふれた職業で世界最強, Arifureta Shokugyō de Sekai Saikyō) is an anime adaptation based on the light novel of the same name. The first season was directed by Kinji Yoshimoto (in his last directing credit until his death) with character designs by Chika Kojima, while the animation is handled by the studios White Fox and Asread.

A second season was first confirmed on October 7, 2019, but there was no other new information related to it until April 16, 2021. Where the second season will be directed by Akira Iwanaga replacing Yoshimoto, Chika Kojima continuing to be involved with the character designs, and studio Mother (replacement of White Fox from the first season) joining Asread.

Synopsis
Fellow high schooler, Hajime Nagumo has been transported into a fantasy world with his classmates named Tortus. As all of his classmates trained to get powerful magical abilities from their "status plates", Hajime only gains the common alchemic magic of transmuting solid materials in which he needs to assist his teammates. During a dungeon raid, Hajime was betrayed by one classmate of his and led him to drop to the bottom of the dungeon. As he survives, Hajime was able to be more powerful from the elixir and the monster meat while meeting other party members much powerful than his classmates and the entire "Hero Party".

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While it was based on a novel written from the Japanese user-generated novel publishing website, Shosetsuka ni Naro. It doesn't know what kind of Isekai show wants to be and ends being like a rejected one that rips off other shows.
 * 2) An unoriginal, yet predictable story more common to the fantasy tabletop RPG game Dungeons and Dragons where people are transported to another world rather than reincarnated compared to The Rising of a Shield Hero and are forced to trained themselves and fight monsters in dungeons. Also, they used their magical powers to level up with their "status plates" in RPG standards.
 * 3) Before it was released, the anime adaption was originally gonna have Atsue Tobe, the character designer of Inuyasha, and was replaced from another one adapting the light novel's designs. But was delayed to "various circumtances" and was replaced with this version from a different production company in which directors and scriptwriters are replaced with the other ones.
 * 4) *Speaking of adapting the light novel's designs, some of those feel off and overdone because it was trying to be the "same".
 * 5) *According to the series' light novelist, Ryo Shirakome, stated few months ago that whenever he was sent scripts and storyboards for the anime adaptation of his light novels. Shirakome felt it was painful enough that the anime ended it up what it is, when he was displeased with the staff changes.
 * 6) It missed so many of the light novel's source material and even the manga depicting it, which is confusing and make this an uneven adaptation. It was because that was written by two writers, while the former was one, leading this to be an executive meddling and a rushed production.
 * 7) The first episode starts very confusing with the main protagonist, Hajime Nagumo, escaping from the monsters and hiding on away from them in a cave, then gets flashbacks of how he fell during a battle in the dungeon, and then how Hajime became much powerful.
 * 8) Some of the moments are very meaningless like whenever the characters get their blood splattered by monsters or others, which makes it almost a shock value and the tone being inconsistently dark that does not fit in a isekai fantasy series.
 * 9) Forgettable antagonists such as Myu's slave owners, Yukitoshi Shimizu, Fried Bagwa, and Cattelya, whom some of them are cliched, yet weak villains.
 * 10) Low quality animation that feels rushed from said staff changes with the sub par fight scenes being as cringeworthy and messed up. There are even animation mistakes like Koki's bit-crunched eyes.
 * 11) The pacing is sluggish and rushed.
 * 12) Hajime Nagumo was once a generic otaku fanboy, a weakling, and a bullied punching bag who is a poor fighter just because his class was just as a synergist, but he is not good at swordfighting with relying on "common non-combat".
 * 13) * His scream is very cringeworthy, obnoxious and yet exaggeratedly loud as he screams "Transmute", that will get you on your last nerve.
 * 14) * His transformation by eating the monster meal from the manga where Hajime's heart feels ripped apart while veins in his hand, legs, and body start to transform him by the water elixir, however the anime changed it with Hajime feeling choked and not feeling well. Then, his hair changes to white as he was about to throw up, with his legs, and body extends as he like howls and falls unconcious in the water.
 * 15) *When he transformed, Hajime comes across as being emo, and unheroic who shows no remorse in killing people after thinking that his classmates "betrayed" him. Also, making him as powerful does not make him a well-written main protagonist.
 * 16) *He even comes off as a generic "powerful" male character who shows no remorse on killing lots of people and including monsters with his bully, Daisuke Hiyama.
 * 17) Uninspired costume designs, weapons, and the monsters that look very unoriginal as it came straight from some generic Dungeons and Dragons or fantasy-like designs.
 * 18) Major Plothole: How did Hajime learn how to make weapons and cars.
 * 19) The "Hero Party", are just some of those generic "party groups" that are indeed a bunch of morons who desperately try to clear dungeons since they are actually classmates of Hajime Nagumo, whom some of them barely get character development along with having no man-to-man combat experience, thus makes them rip-offs of any party members unrelated to them:
 * 20) Meld Loggins, while being charismatic and brave is a very pushy instructor who lacks morals and tries desperately to instruct the "Hero Party" in this series. While he was brave enough to survive dungeons, Meld is however is now like a weak warrior who doesn't have willpower to defeat the dungeon monsters and gets injured. He is also killed by Hajime instead of letting him live in the second season.
 * 21) Koki Amanogawa barely tries to be rightful as a knight of justice by ignoring the dangers of reality and tries to be competent to the post-fall Hajime.
 * 22) *His "hero party" outfit in the anime version, looks laughable, cheesy, and unconvincing like he's wearing some kind of a rejected Saint Seiya armor with white spandex and golden pieces like his crown-like headband.
 * 23) **In the light novel, Koki never wore a crown-like headband.
 * 24) Daisuke Hiyama is a rip-off of Malty Melromarc from The Rising of the Shield Hero and every Sword Art Online villain that are psychotic, who is a generic "high school bully/ delinquent" who was later revealed earlier on that he betrayed his bullied victim, Hajime Nagumo by letting him fall to a cave and has a harsh hatred for him to his crush, Kaori Shirasaki.
 * 25) He is also no better in the second season when he turns against Meld and took him to Noint to kill him. Then, he is revealed to have helped with Eri Nakamura capture and kill some of the students along with killing Kaori by turning her into a puppet slave until Hajime shows up and lets him die from a group of monsters.
 * 26) Speaking of Eri Nakamura, she went from a supporting assist of the Hero Party from season 1 to a traitorous sadist who has no explanation of why he turned against the Hero Party whatsoever.
 * 27) *On the subject of her backstory from the light novels, Eri's evil are revealed that her father died from an incoming car and was physically abused from her mother blaming his death. When her mother remarried another man, who is much abusive and sexually advanced to her, Eri called the police to arrest her mother's date. But however, her mother did not care about her problem and accused Eri for seducing him (even though she might be delusional).
 * 28) *#After meeting with her future "Hero Party" leader, Koki Amanogawa and the complains of attempting suicide, Eri had her mother investisgated by child welfare and barely tries to reveal the truth that she was abused by her, while she was alone and receiving her mother's financial support.
 * 29) *#Despite this, Eri was increasingly jealous to the fact that Koki had been sticking with all the girls he encountered and barely even try to get closer to her..
 * 30) Suzu Taniguchi is a rip off of Silica from Sword Art Online with the same brown hair, and short twin tails.
 * 31) Ryutaro Sagami is a rip off of Agil from Sword Art Online with the brutish, muscular design.
 * 32) Yuka Sonobe is a rip off of Raphtalia from The Rising of a Shield Hero, who bares similar red spandex clothes.
 * 33) Yukitoshi Shimizu is just rather generally a creepy teenager and a isolated dark mage with no friends who is much more of an Otaku, as well as being a weakling and more bullied just like Hajime. He is also like a full-blown psychopath who joins demons as a "hero" to them and tried to his teacher, Aiko Hatayama and the rest of her students.
 * 34) Kosuke Endo is just more of a cowardly teenager who's eyes is hidden in his hair but is also much weak and more cowardly than Hajime and Yukitoshi.
 * 35) Besides the "Hero Party", the members of the Holy Church are even weak mentors to Hajime's class who have no character development whatsoever:
 * 36) David Zahler, who is handsome and a noble captain of the templar knights is a selfish knight who shows no respect to those who also disrespect to him back when Hajime and Yue are around and at least he's not that selfish.
 * 37) Just like other male characters from other light novels (Koki,, Ryutaro, Yukitoshi, David Zahler, some nobles from the Holy Church, and Daisuke), they are handled very poorly to be sidelined, weak, and useless even because Hajime is the only male character that has the amount of character development.
 * 38) Lots of IDIOT MOVES:
 * 39) Hajime warns the hero party to get away from the monster, as they cast magic against the monster, but someone attacked him, so, which led him to fall.
 * 40) Daisuke touched a giant glanz crystal in a way to impress Kaori, but turned out to be a trap and transported everyone to the 65th floor when they were attacked by a behemoth and an army of traum soldiers in a stone bridge.
 * 41) Koki uses Limit Break to amplify his power by three times against Cattleya, but fails.
 * 42) Meld ordered Kosuke Endo to retreat via the teleport gate and destroy it so that Cattleya's monsters would not be able to follow him, but gets injured for that.
 * 43) The CGI looks like a low-budget video game cutscene that is rather clumsy, plasticky and poorly rigged with filtered backgrounds, the giant monsters, Tio's dragon form, the skeleton army, Hajime's weapons, and vehicles.
 * 44) The voice acting feels rather lackluster even for the aformentioned pre-fall Hajime's obnoxious scream.
 * 45) Tio Klarus's entry to the story is problematic and her personality makes Darkness from Konosuba, look like an amateur.
 * 46) It suffers horribly to be very original just like Masou Gakuen H X H, The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made, The Testament of the Sister New Devil, and Sky Wizards Academy, both of them had similar things to rip off.
 * 47) Forgettable background music that sounds like a jazzy "ho-hum" sound, with one track sounding more like it belongs in The Great British Bake-Off, than this series. And it really does not fit in a RPG-inspired show based on a light novel.

Good Qualities

 * 1) Some designs are acceptable.
 * 2) The voice acting is decent.
 * 3) The opening and ending songs are good.
 * 4) Some decency from the soundtrack.
 * 5) It adapt the light novel's original art designs as opposed to it's originally, intended designs straight from Inuyasha.
 * 6) It has some interesting concepts about using "status plates" in RPG standards, and eating monster meat would have you grow into a strong person, but both of them are poorly executed.
 * 7) Daisuke Hiyama does get some comeuppance, when he was easily beaten by Hajime and left him to get killed by monsters despite he barely tries letting him live and punish him in the second season.
 * 8) Hajime, Yue, Shea, Tio, Kaori, Shizuku are passable to be likeable.
 * 9) Hajime does have a devotion and character development to Yue that is a good change in a harem story. As such, he even adopts a slave named Myu, who would impact him.
 * 10) The second season thankfully became a major improvement and avoid the problems the first season had done.

Reception
The anime adaptation was not well received from Isekai fans and critics for the poor quality of the animation and the first episode having missed a lot of the source material.

Despite the reception, it was kinda of a ratings success and was renewed for a second season.

Trivia

 * Meant to premiere in April 2018. But on January 15, 2018, its release date was pushed back due to "various circumstances".
 * Before that, the anime adaptation was originally gonna be directed by Jun Kamiya and written by Kazuyuki Fudeyasu, with animation by studio White Fox and character designs by Atsuo Tobe (character designer of Inuyasha), who also would have served as chief animation director.
 * However, following the postponement, it was announced on April 29, 2018 that Kinji Yoshimoto will replace Kamiya as director and studio Asread would be joining White Fox as additional animators. Also, Chika Kojima replaced Tobe as character designer to adapt Takayaki's original designs, and Kazuyuki Fudeyasu left his position as scriptwriter, being replaced by Shoichi Sato and Kinji Yoshimoto. Ryō Takahashi is composing the series' music.
 * The anime's first season covered the first 5 volumes while the second season covered volumes 5 to 6.
 * It was Kinji Yoshimoto's last anime directing effort until his death in November 10, 2021.