In fact, I think I may very well get the books. I'd thought going in that it was going to be something like Skeleton Knight in Another World but this is not an isekai. And the stories and characters have no relation to each other at all...this one is actually got a fairly good plot going that stands up as not being derivative (at least not much). True, there's almost a harem thing going on, but not really.
But I shall start anew. We meet Rentt right as he's about to die. Twenty-five, he's been a low ranked adventurer for 10 years (and, we learn later, trained for 10 years before that) and thought it a bit of luck that he'd stumbled into a secret part of the local labyrinth...until he runs into a legendary dragon creature and is killed. Or eaten. At any rate, dead.
And not just dead, but undead. He comes to in the next day or so (this in one part that doesn't totally make sense as his equipment looks aged and he's only bone) as a barebones (haha) skeleton. But his mind and memories are intact. He soon figures out that he can "evolve" as he kills other monsters and gets to the point that he's a ghast.
A lucky encounter sees him save a young adventurer from certain death and he convinces her to go into town and buy him some concealing clothing so he can try and return home. Because if he just wandered in, they'd surely kill him because he's a monster now. He might have actually still been just a skeleton when he meets her, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is that they get back to town.
Now, all this time, we're getting his inner monologue about how he's "just" a bronze level and has been stuck there for years. But it's clear from the townspeople (who are wondering where he is and the ones who immediately recognise him in his disguise) that he's beloved because of his hardworking ethic, his willingness to always help people, and that even though he was low in rank, he was high in heart. He immediately heads to Lorraine, someone he's known for years who is obviously in love with him (to everyone but him, I suppose, as all he focuses on is becoming a mythril level adventurer (and that is the way they spelled it, not mithril??)).
Anyway, she's a scholar and sort-of witchy researcher and he stays with her. I'm not going to rehash all of it, but will say that he proves over and over again what a decent guy he is and, at the end of season 1, has evolved again to be some type of vampire (with wings). There was a season 2 announced, though it doesn't have a release date yet. I'll definitely watch it.
The worldbuilding seems decent. The side characters are reasonably fleshed out for an anime with a diverse cast, doing a lot with the little screentime they have. And in the last episode, we get the payoff of why he has laboured so hard for so many years--it's revenge. A wolf monster killed his entire family and best friend and he was saved by a mithryl level adventurer, who set him on the path that he's on. He's just a decent guy. Yes, pretty much every woman that he meets gets a heart flutter, but so far there's no romance in it--though clearly Lorraine has been on that ship for a long time.
So, yes, glad I watched it. Will definitely continue on. Will post about the books if/when I get them.
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