Little dude and I started Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs a little while back. I'd wanted to try it as soon as I saw it -- love stuff (usually) that combines my fav things (in this case, otome and anime/manga--in this case, an isekai, which both of us love). We were very doubtful after the first couple of minutes, but things looked up from there.
The first bit (the part we didn't really like) was about a guy (late teen? early 20's? not sure) playing an otome game and beating it for his sister because she was blackmailing him. She didn't want to spend the time to play through but wanted to get the bonus scene at the end. So, there he is playing but absolutely hating the game and bitching about it (he's, like, why are there random airships and battles in this otome? why are all the heroines horrible? why are all the guy love interests terrible?) and basically plays for so long to beat it that he's weak. On the way to get some food or something, he falls down some stairs and presumably dies.
He wakes up as a "MOB" character (i.e. a background type character of little importance) in the world of the otome game and once he figures this out, he does his best to amass some wealth using his in-game knowledge. He also wants to avoid anything to do with the game protagonist and the LI's, so when he arrives at the school where he knows he has to find a bride (power lies among women in this world, to some extent), he does his best to stay out of any game events. But, of course, he fails miserably in this.
This is partly because the game world is a little different from the one he knew. The girl who was supposed to be the protag is now actually bullied and there's a new girl in town (likely his sister, though still no idea how/why). He's not your classic selfless anime hero. Leon is brash, a bit ruthless, and very much not above making fun of those he thinks are idiots. He knows he's powerful and not afraid to use his powers for both good and ill. Though he'd really like to stop getting promoted...
It definitely doesn't feel like most isekai -- he's not going to amass a harem, for instance. At least, not a traditional one. He does now have two girls "on his side" -- the former protag and a girl who would have been her rival in the original game. Whether or not he winds up with one of them in a romantic sense remains to be seen.
There's not too much dodgy ecchi-wise, which is good. We're both enjoying it and are quite a few episodes in now. I am with him on one thing though -- who the heck wrote this otome? It's like they threw everything but the kitchen sink in, haha. Mecha robots, aliens, spaceships, beast people, dungeons, magic...it's got a little of everything.
Edit: Darn. Didn't realise we were so far along. It seems we have finished season 1 today. I wonder if there will be a season two? I liked it, but not sure I liked it enough to find the manga. Maybe. Would definitely watch another season though!
