Yet another isekai (or is it?) springs onto blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks! Follow the adventures of Mutou Mitsuki as he suddenly appears in another world different from his typical Japanese high school life and is escorted around this new world by a helpful priestess named Menou who explains that he is one of many of what Menou’s people refer to as Lost Ones, travelers from other worlds. And even better, Mutou discovers he has the Pure Concept of [null], a powerful nullifying force that can–

Wait…I don’t often do this but…

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!! If you do not want a significant twist in this anime’s storyline spoiled, stop reading this now because this anime is pretty much impossible to talk about without giving away a major spoiler of the first episode.

Anyway back to the SUPER SPOILERY plot…

Guess what? As soon as Menou sees Mutou’s power manifests itself, she straight up stabs him in the head and kills him. Turns out Menou is an executioner and is tasked with tracking down and killing Lost Ones who pose a threat to this place with their potentially world-destroying Pure Concept powers. Menou is also damned good at her job, having been trained by the best, that is, until she meets a Lost One named Akari, a girl who Menou feels is familiar but can’t place where they have met before. Akari is cheerful and ditzy but ultimately friendly and immediately likable. Menou hates to do it but is commanded by her call to kill Akari. As such, she makes it quick, stabbing Akari in the back of the neck with a dagger when she isn’t looking. Unfortunately, Akari’s Pure Concept is [time], and Menou watches as Akari’s murder is undone, the wound healing and Akari springing back onto her feet as if nothing happened. Menou must now set out on a journey with Akari under the pretense of helping her get back home but in reality searching for a way that will permanently kill her. But will Menou’s growing feelings for Akari get in the way?

This series attempts to do with isekai what Madoka Magicka did for magical girl anime, putting a twist on a hoary old formula and giving it a darker, more violent tone than one expects. It’s a solid idea for a series actually. I mean, I can’t be the only one getting sick of the dozens of isekai coming down the pipe almost continually. And if the series had leaned more into a dark comedy direction playing off that trope, I think it could have been better. As such it takes itself pretty seriously and ends up becoming more of a traditional isekai itself along the way, albeit more dark and bloody than usual. At first, it feels like weak writing to have Akari so pointlessly clingy on Menou but it actually starts to make sense as the series progresses and the core relationship between Menou and Akari ends up being one of the series’ strong points. Despite that, the series does still suffer from some stilted writing in places and could certainly be improved. Ultimately I think the series is a bit of a mixed bag but was engaging enough that I was interested to see where it goes (and am curious to see if it’ll get a season 2).

This is a new series that just aired last year, so as you’d expect the transfer is nice and clean and the audio is available in both English and Japanese DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo tracks, both sounding fine. Also guess what you get on extras!? That’s right! Clean OP and ED animations and original Japanese promos! Overall, a pretty standard Sentai package on the technical side.

If you are as sick of isekai anime as I am, The Executioner and Her Way of Life might be a nice palate cleanser to exorcise your isekai demons. I think it’s a pretty fun show that’s worth checking out.