I'm going to start this review off with a warning; if you’re going to watch this anime, do NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT, read the light novel or look up spoilers for said light novel before or while you’re watching. If you do, it will probably ruin the experience. I found out about the anime I’m talking about before it started airing, and I was interested in watching it because of how cute and wholesome it seemed. However, the light novel spoilers got to me, but I still wanted to watch this anime, no matter what. With that, I made a deal with myself; if the anime doesn’t get that far or has an original ending, I will completely skip the light novels. Thus, I went ahead and watched it, and while the aforementioned light novel spoilers hindered my enjoyment, I’m kind of glad I did.
Lads, ladies, and non-binaries, here is my review of “Uchi no Ko no Tame Naraba, Ore wa Moshikashitara Maou mo Taoseru kamo Shirenai.”, known in English as “If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat A Demon Lord”.
Uchi no Ko (as it shall henceforth be called) follows Dale, a skilled adventurer who one day encounters a little devil girl while on a job in the forest. It’s clear that things have been rough for the girl named Latina; her father and companion has died and left her alone, she is dressed in rags, and she has a broken horn, which, for devils, is the mark of a criminal. Dale, being the kindhearted guy he is, is unable to just leave her to die, so he takes her home and ends up becoming her adoptive father. It’s not long before Dale falls in love with being Latina’s parent, and he goes through the trials and tribulations of raising a child as well as constant heartbreak when his job tears the two apart. Meanwhile, as Latina grows up, she learns about the world around her, as well as herself.
Take Daikichi and Rin from “Usagi Drop”, age Daikichi down, and throw them into a fantasy setting; if you do that, you’d get Uchi no Ko in a nutshell. Just like that anime, it has a really simple slice-of-life story with little conflict. With that said, though, there is an arc in this series that I feel like goes on for too long. Sure, what is shown in this arc is most likely in the light novel (don’t quote me on that), and it captures the process of going to a faraway place accurately; still, I feel like the story arc could have wrapped up in an episode less than how long it went on for. Some of the content of this arc just felt like filler.
As for the characters.... Latina. Okay, moving on! No, seriously, Latina’s the star of the show here. One may think she’s too perfect, but there’s no denying how adorable she is, both inside and out; she also grew as a character, no matter how small her growth was, and I enjoyed seeing that. I also enjoyed Dale’s character; even though he doesn’t really visibly grow as much as a character, he has gotten quite a good number of laughs out of me. As for the other characters.... well, there’s really not much I can say about them. There are quite a few supporting characters who interested me but didn’t get that much screen time, and there were others that I just did not know how to feel about. *coughMayacough* I swear, though, if the supporting characters get most of their development in the light novels that go beyond the anime, I’m going to get mad!
Okay, so the characters aren’t this anime’s strong point, so what is? I’d say the voice acting and music. While the opening and ending themes, which are respectively “I’m with you” and “This is Yuusha, but Zannen?!” (which are each sung by Latina and Dale’s voice actors, Kanon Takao and Nobuhiko Okamoto), aren’t songs I’d replay over and over, they’re both catchy songs that fit the tone of the anime quite well. The voice acting was also pretty good, with a standout performance from Kanon Takao, the voice of Latina; she hasn’t had many roles yet, but with how adorable her voice is and how much it fit Latina, I’d say she has a bright future as a voice actress. I want to say that the animation studio behind this anime, Maho Film, has a bright future, as well; after all, as far as I can tell, this is their first project. Unfortunately, while the art is nice to look at, the animation is not always consistent; still, there’s always room for improvement!
Overall, Uchi no Ko has a number of noticeable flaws, but it’s hard to say that it’s not enjoyable. If you’re in the mood for some father-daughter bonding in a fantasy setting, this may be the anime for you. Yes, it’s all just some very wholesome father-daughter bonding, and nothing more than that.... DON’T LOOK UP THE LIGHT NOVEL SPOILERS.
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