Okay, season 2 of Magia Record has already been a lot better than the first season. The plot seems like it's going full steam ahead, and the animation has seen a significant upgrade.
Really appreciate that Rimuru didn't even bother with Clayman himself, just had Shion beat the ever living crap out of him for like, 22 minutes until the very end of the episode. And Veldora was great as always. Next time he needs to use Ultra Instinct, though.
Also is it me, or is this season's version of Clayman way more incompetent/stupid than S1? It just feels like the character fell of a cliff and is now hitting every branch on the way down.
I guess technically Rapheal can pull full manga from anywhere so this is possible
On Clayman
We've gotten the info that Clayman isn't the mastermind. I kind of like how the story presents information to the audience that makes Clayman seem far more competent than he actually was. It isn't until like last episode that we are given any hint that he doesn't control Milim. Also I feel like it's implied that he was working from a script that Rimuru pretty much shredded and has pretty much been playing improve ever since.
Yeah, it makes sense.
Since Anti-Rimiru essentially sic'd the most powerful character in the world on Rimiru, all his plans sort of revolved around Rimiru dying and the monster nation unraveling under Clayman's plan. Which like, ALMOST happened, and arguably should have, but slime's be slimin.
Really appreciate that Rimuru didn't even bother with Clayman himself, just had Shion beat the ever living crap out of him for like, 22 minutes until the very end of the episode. And Veldora was great as always. Next time he needs to use Ultra Instinct, though.
Also is it me, or is this season's version of Clayman way more incompetent/stupid than S1? It just feels like the character fell of a cliff and is now hitting every branch on the way down.
I guess technically Rapheal can pull full manga from anywhere so this is possible
On Clayman
We've gotten the info that Clayman isn't the mastermind. I kind of like how the story presents information to the audience that makes Clayman seem far more competent than he actually was. It isn't until like last episode that we are given any hint that he doesn't control Milim. Also I feel like it's implied that he was working from a script that Rimuru pretty much shredded and has pretty much been playing improve ever since.
Yeah, it makes sense.
Since Anti-Rimiru essentially sic'd the most powerful character in the world on Rimiru, all his plans sort of revolved around Rimiru dying and the monster nation unraveling under Clayman's plan. Which like, ALMOST happened, and arguably should have, but slime's be slimin.
Does Nega-Rimuru actually know that everyone's favorite slime is still alive?
Haha, okay, I'm fully onboard with Magia Record now. This shit has gotten bonkers.
Season 2, Episode 5
So a cabal of magical girls is trying to outdo Kyubey in the amoral science-magic department, huh?
I still don't understand how this one girl was able to make the Rumors, but the idea of a pocket dimension called "The Infinite Sickbed" where normal people are kept and forced to suffer to feed Witches that are themselves subdued and weaponized by a magical girl supremacist cult is my kind of crazy. That's on top of The Infinite Sickbed itself being within another pocket dimension fortress/Witch factory/corrupted magical girl storage facility called Hotel Faint Hope, which is developing an artifical super Witch called Embryo Eve.
Hrm, I think they might have blown their animation budget in the first few episodes because there was a significant dip in quality with this one. I hope this is just a brief lull.
Season 2, Episode 7
* Magia Record OCs arguing*
Kyouko: "What are you guys doing?"
* Shot of Kyouko, Sayaka, Homura, and Madoka staring, having been silent and off-screen this entire time*
Seeing Glasses Homura interact with the other characters is an unexpected treat. We've never really gotten to see much of what she was like before her traumatic experiences eventually caused her personality to shift. It's also interesting to see her take in some of this information and silently contemplate it, as if she's thinking "how can I get this to work to my advantage..."
Okay, Coordinator is a very interesting character, and it's easy to see why she would join up with Magius.
Coordinator: "I've seen so much despair. Some girls would seem bright and cheerful on the surface, but on the inside the shadows of their heart had eaten them away to the point that there was nothing I could do. I pretend I don't see it so I won't break from trying to carry their despair."
Ahh, here we go. I guess they decided to skimp on episode 6's animation budget in favor of this one.
Oh shit, surprise body horror with Tsuruno. I'm assuming that since curing her and Mami involved someone being able to know the real person and using magic to extract the Uwasa from them, it won't work correctly if the person attempting it doesn't know what someone is like deep down. I'm curious/concerned how Sayaka fucked-up Mami on accident just now.
Chairman Meow on
0
silence1186Character shields down!As a wingmanRegistered Userregular
edited April 24
Dandadan on M+/Viz is highly entertaining. It has the chaotic Chainsaw Man energy.
Yeah, Dandadan is (extremely iffy bits of storyline aside) very good for being almost impossible to tell what's going to happen next but somehow whatever it is, it still makes sense.
Yeah, Dandadan is (extremely iffy bits of storyline aside) very good for being almost impossible to tell what's going to happen next but somehow whatever it is, it still makes sense.
Fena: Pirate Princess is continuing to be my AotS by a long shot (even if it's off by half a cour)
Just, continuing to keep the remarkable production value and otome-adventure charm going, even as the middle act intensifies from a Treasure Planet-esque romp into far heavier stuff
My Next Life as a Villainess Season 2 finished. Katarina was still Katarina, but I felt like half the Season 1 cast didn't get to do much this season.
Also apparently they announced a movie. Not sure if it's going to follow the sequel hook at the end of the season or if that's been saved for a potential season 3 while the movie does it's own thing.
BakaRina is very much in the same kind of quality warning zone that Slime-kun was in for me at the beginning of the season
Slime-kun has since gone from the warning box to a very hard drop*, so dammit BakaRina writers you're being warned now
*actual Slime-kun spoilers:
The Milim "oopsie I faked it" reveal was the cheapest damn thing, and the last two episodes weren't enough to overcome the 6 episodes of mostly repetitive talking before, so that show's vibes are absolutely putrid for me now
Ah and Mm are all she says - Artist is turning 18 now and the company boss is like yaaay, happy birthday, here's some expensive gifts and ooooh nooooo this dude seems greasy as hell. Otoh this manga's been so weirdly wholesome the whole time that maybe he'll just turn out to be a nice guy? In theory of course his flirting could lead to more development with the person she's actually having chemistry with, her editor, but I really doubt we're ever gonna get any of that actually acknowledged out loud.
Watamote - has had like 2 different special chapters come out for the 10th anniversay and meanwhile the regular story has been building towards the big movie special project. I kinda like that Tomoko started out with this big, ambitious, unique idea, and then after a while they were like, uhh, y'know actually we're just high schoolers who don't know how to make movies, this is way too ambitious for us, lets tone it down a lot. A little disappointing but a lot more realistic.
Anyway I love all the alt universe Tomoko designs, if she had ended up in other groups instead of as a loner - delinquent Tomoko, bitch squad Tomoko, and popular girl Tomoko.
Chairman Meow on
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
decided to watch some Aquatope and it's the first PA Works show I've ever actually stuck with
but then I've also been to a gajillion Japanese aquariums (ok maybe more like 7) and that includes the real big one in Okinawa so I might be biased
it's about as melodramatic as I can readily tolerate but, then, the amount of melodrama actually feels some degree of earned rather than forced so that helps
I'm curious who on the staff decided to make "redeem Jet Jaguar in the franchise" one of the main priorities of the show, because I loved it.
Godzilla vs Megalon: Jet Jaguar somehow becomes sentient and somehow reprograms himself to become larger to help Godzilla.
Godzilla Singular Point: A space/time distorting super computer allows two AIs to combine into a new Jet Jaguar that can utilize theoretical physics to make itself giant to defeat Godzilla.
I kind of hope they tone down the science jargon if they make a season 2. I'm not against it, but I feel like these super genius characters need to be fleshed out more and didn't have the opportunity in the first season.
Finished SSSS Gridman today, will be picking Dynazenon back up now that I'm caught up.
Thoughts:
The entire show was very new viewer friendly, but the ending didn't really feel that way to me. I do feel like I'd have gotten more if I knew the basic concept of the old Gridman show, for the finale. I'll end up wiking it eventually but like... alien guy wanted... human brainwaves? Human suffering? Human creativity, but only if he could make it negative? Unclear to me. It seemed like he let Anti go too easily earlier in the series, possibly as a way to get at Shinjo, but in the end it was... an oversight? Very detrimental to his plans? The redemption arc for Shinjo also felt half-baked to me. Yeah, you're misanthropic to the point of being a serial killer but hey, good job briefly feeling empathy for your intentionally human-like creations. Good enough, call it a day! It also felt extremely weird for Gridman to bring up Hibiki's crush on Rikka after it had been dropped after the swimsuit episode, essentially? Like, they realized it was weird and gross for Gridman to be in love with her (since we never saw even a SECOND of Hibiki the whole series), so they just quickly threw a lampshade on half the series and briskly walked in a different direction. Likewise, that ED seemed... really Yuri-baity for that to not be anything at all? I guess you can just file that under fanservice and not worry about it, but uh huh. Sure. Overall, I enjoyed the week by week of watching it, but expected the heavy mystery elements to develop into more than "the evil alien guy is the main bad guy, the series about using a computer to fight takes place in a computer, and the two main heroes are the same guy, but there was no substance to differentiate them in the first place, so... neat?
Finished SSSS Gridman today, will be picking Dynazenon back up now that I'm caught up.
Thoughts:
The entire show was very new viewer friendly, but the ending didn't really feel that way to me. I do feel like I'd have gotten more if I knew the basic concept of the old Gridman show, for the finale. I'll end up wiking it eventually but like... alien guy wanted... human brainwaves? Human suffering? Human creativity, but only if he could make it negative? Unclear to me. It seemed like he let Anti go too easily earlier in the series, possibly as a way to get at Shinjo, but in the end it was... an oversight? Very detrimental to his plans? The redemption arc for Shinjo also felt half-baked to me. Yeah, you're misanthropic to the point of being a serial killer but hey, good job briefly feeling empathy for your intentionally human-like creations. Good enough, call it a day! It also felt extremely weird for Gridman to bring up Hibiki's crush on Rikka after it had been dropped after the swimsuit episode, essentially? Like, they realized it was weird and gross for Gridman to be in love with her (since we never saw even a SECOND of Hibiki the whole series), so they just quickly threw a lampshade on half the series and briskly walked in a different direction. Likewise, that ED seemed... really Yuri-baity for that to not be anything at all? I guess you can just file that under fanservice and not worry about it, but uh huh. Sure. Overall, I enjoyed the week by week of watching it, but expected the heavy mystery elements to develop into more than "the evil alien guy is the main bad guy, the series about using a computer to fight takes place in a computer, and the two main heroes are the same guy, but there was no substance to differentiate them in the first place, so... neat?
The ending of SSSS Gridman is tough to process, and going by your complaint about the ED you might have missed a pretty key thing
This is the video I like linking that helped me with the bigger themes
Tonight on AniMenagerie we finished Bubblegum Crisis.
That was a good anime.
But its soundtrack was better than the collective show.
God, what a soundtrack...
Dare ka ga itta
"Koi o sureba sabishikunaru" to.
Yowai mono ne maru de watashi ja nai mitai.
Chairman Meow on
0
cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited April 24
I wish I liked Singular Point as much as the premise. Group of would-be occultists and sci-fi nerds take on Kaiju should be better than it is.
(Love the OP though.)
Robotics;Notes is a very similar series, and does the premise a lot better(though it still isn't great like Steins;Gate).
Really appreciate that Rimuru didn't even bother with Clayman himself, just had Shion beat the ever living crap out of him for like, 22 minutes until the very end of the episode. And Veldora was great as always. Next time he needs to use Ultra Instinct, though.
Also is it me, or is this season's version of Clayman way more incompetent/stupid than S1? It just feels like the character fell of a cliff and is now hitting every branch on the way down.
I guess technically Rapheal can pull full manga from anywhere so this is possible
On Clayman
We've gotten the info that Clayman isn't the mastermind. I kind of like how the story presents information to the audience that makes Clayman seem far more competent than he actually was. It isn't until like last episode that we are given any hint that he doesn't control Milim. Also I feel like it's implied that he was working from a script that Rimuru pretty much shredded and has pretty much been playing improve ever since.
Yeah, it makes sense.
Since Anti-Rimiru essentially sic'd the most powerful character in the world on Rimiru, all his plans sort of revolved around Rimiru dying and the monster nation unraveling under Clayman's plan. Which like, ALMOST happened, and arguably should have, but slime's be slimin.
Clayman's complete ignorance of who he was messing with didnt feel like a 'reveal he was being controlled' really. it felt more like bad writing. It's entirely able to introduce a new baddy that can compete with your MC's power creep without making his previous baddy look like hes a complete idiot.
Letsee, so this slime has managed to wipe out a million orcs, its king which is essentially a majin-level or higher threat, make allies with other demon lords, and races, oh and for some reason veldora just happen to 'dissapear' at the same time the slime appeared.
Well I'm sure im stronger anyway. Lets get the humans to kill his friends. I'm sure nothing will go wrong.
It's like he wasnt paying attention at all to the power level of his enemy since the orc incident. Even with that mage(whos name i can't remember) giving him information that had to be accurate, he was definately not reading his mail.
So i could use some new manga to read. (totally not at work while things are slow of course.....).
Looking for an Isekai thats chill but not boring. Ones that ive enjoyed and would like to find similar ones:
The wise mans grandson
the 8th son
Reincarnated in another world with my slimes (Not sure if this is the right name...it was the one where the guy becomes a kid who tames a crapload of slimes).
Resturant in another world
Nobu in another world
make my life average in another world
moonlight fantasy
I've enjoyed heavier ones like overlord and shield hero but looking for lighter ones now. preferably with good length manga runs (on mangadex).
I know about the upcoming 'reincarnated the worlds best assassin' one thats coming up.
I'd like to avoid ones that are *too* cutesie...average in another world comes close but its funny so i give it a pass.
I didnt care for the 'slow life pharmasist' one that just got an anime, or the 'killing slimes for 300 years' one...they were just too much sweet, not enough plot.
So i could use some new manga to read. (totally not at work while things are slow of course.....).
Looking for an Isekai thats chill but not boring. Ones that ive enjoyed and would like to find similar ones:
The wise mans grandson
the 8th son
Reincarnated in another world with my slimes (Not sure if this is the right name...it was the one where the guy becomes a kid who tames a crapload of slimes).
Resturant in another world
Nobu in another world
make my life average in another world
moonlight fantasy
I've enjoyed heavier ones like overlord and shield hero but looking for lighter ones now. preferably with good length manga runs (on mangadex).
I know about the upcoming 'reincarnated the worlds best assassin' one thats coming up.
I'd like to avoid ones that are *too* cutesie...average in another world comes close but its funny so i give it a pass.
I didnt care for the 'slow life pharmasist' one that just got an anime, or the 'killing slimes for 300 years' one...they were just too much sweet, not enough plot.
Isekai Tensei Soudouki might be another good one. The name is somewhat of a half truth in that it's technically not an isekai...kinda.
The basic premise is that Balud is the son of a noble who, upon his birth, was found to have two additional souls residing in his body. The first is an old soldier from the Warring States period and the second is an average Japanese high schooler. He grows up with these two advising him in various things and while he's the one in control 99% of the time the other two can sometimes take over the body when they get excited. Mostly the old soldier in fights beyond Balud's capability.
The setting does have magic in a medieval sort of world, but it's not super powerful magic and Balud himself is no mage. He can use some magic, mostly body enhancement, but his real skill lies in the spear and martial arts thanks to the old man and his mother, a very famous warrior. As for what the high school student contributes, that'd be the usual Otherworld knowledge in isekais. Things like gold plating with water jug batteries he saw in an elementary science special, records keeping, and other random bits of trivia from someone who watched a ton of YouTube videos on different subjects. Nothing super specialized though.
Aside from Moonlit Fantasy it's one of my favorite manga to read. There's a real world in the setting, the protagonist is a native inhabitant, and the only actual isekai elements are the soldier and student living rent free in his head.
SSSS Dynazenon ep. 7 (stopped at 6 before when it was clear to me something important from Gridman was being referenced).
The tokusatsu energy was off the charts when the Dynazenon and Gridman Knight teamed up at the end. I was rocked by an extremely nostalgic memory of watching the Megazord and Dragonzord team up with the exact same body language as a kiddo. When I started both shows, Dynazenon struck me as the harder one to get into the vibe, but after going through all of Gridman, I might like this one more by the end, depending on where it goes.
So i could use some new manga to read. (totally not at work while things are slow of course.....).
Looking for an Isekai thats chill but not boring. Ones that ive enjoyed and would like to find similar ones:
The wise mans grandson
the 8th son
Reincarnated in another world with my slimes (Not sure if this is the right name...it was the one where the guy becomes a kid who tames a crapload of slimes).
Resturant in another world
Nobu in another world
make my life average in another world
moonlight fantasy
I've enjoyed heavier ones like overlord and shield hero but looking for lighter ones now. preferably with good length manga runs (on mangadex).
I know about the upcoming 'reincarnated the worlds best assassin' one thats coming up.
I'd like to avoid ones that are *too* cutesie...average in another world comes close but its funny so i give it a pass.
I didnt care for the 'slow life pharmasist' one that just got an anime, or the 'killing slimes for 300 years' one...they were just too much sweet, not enough plot.
The Beginning After the End would be my recommendation looking for a lighthearted-but-serious, with the caveat that folks who have read the light novel have been implying stuff gets a lot more serious soon.
But it's largely an isekai-played-straight (well, other than he was from a fantasy world before, too) but which takes time to actually live and breathe in the world, too.
I'm not sure how almost missed it but the 4K remaster of the original Ghost in the Shell is playing at a local IMAX for two more days. I bought a ticket for tomorrow evening.
Posts
MHA:
Yeah, it makes sense.
Season 2, Episode 5
I still don't understand how this one girl was able to make the Rumors, but the idea of a pocket dimension called "The Infinite Sickbed" where normal people are kept and forced to suffer to feed Witches that are themselves subdued and weaponized by a magical girl supremacist cult is my kind of crazy. That's on top of The Infinite Sickbed itself being within another pocket dimension fortress/Witch factory/corrupted magical girl storage facility called Hotel Faint Hope, which is developing an artifical super Witch called Embryo Eve.
This is fucking great. I heartily approve.
Season 2, Episode 6
Season 2, Episode 7
Kyouko: "What are you guys doing?"
* Shot of Kyouko, Sayaka, Homura, and Madoka staring, having been silent and off-screen this entire time*
Seeing Glasses Homura interact with the other characters is an unexpected treat. We've never really gotten to see much of what she was like before her traumatic experiences eventually caused her personality to shift. It's also interesting to see her take in some of this information and silently contemplate it, as if she's thinking "how can I get this to work to my advantage..."
Okay, Coordinator is a very interesting character, and it's easy to see why she would join up with Magius.
Coordinator: "I've seen so much despair. Some girls would seem bright and cheerful on the surface, but on the inside the shadows of their heart had eaten them away to the point that there was nothing I could do. I pretend I don't see it so I won't break from trying to carry their despair."
Ahh, here we go. I guess they decided to skimp on episode 6's animation budget in favor of this one.
Oh shit, surprise body horror with Tsuruno. I'm assuming that since curing her and Mami involved someone being able to know the real person and using magic to extract the Uwasa from them, it won't work correctly if the person attempting it doesn't know what someone is like deep down. I'm curious/concerned how Sayaka fucked-up Mami on accident just now.
1st chapter has a content warning, mind you.
I think he legit just thinks guns are cool.
I have no idea if this will ever be brought up again or go anywhere.
Sonny Boy!
The art is also amazing.
Just, continuing to keep the remarkable production value and otome-adventure charm going, even as the middle act intensifies from a Treasure Planet-esque romp into far heavier stuff
I just hope it sticks the landing it's setting up
These golfers are doing 10k runs every day and then intense core training exercises.
Also, it was a real mistake having Robato take off his glasses. Everyone's hair is too similar and that means they're all very close to identical.
That is a very sweaty manga.
Also apparently they announced a movie. Not sure if it's going to follow the sequel hook at the end of the season or if that's been saved for a potential season 3 while the movie does it's own thing.
Slime-kun has since gone from the warning box to a very hard drop*, so dammit BakaRina writers you're being warned now
*actual Slime-kun spoilers:
Watamote - has had like 2 different special chapters come out for the 10th anniversay and meanwhile the regular story has been building towards the big movie special project. I kinda like that Tomoko started out with this big, ambitious, unique idea, and then after a while they were like, uhh, y'know actually we're just high schoolers who don't know how to make movies, this is way too ambitious for us, lets tone it down a lot. A little disappointing but a lot more realistic.
Anyway I love all the alt universe Tomoko designs, if she had ended up in other groups instead of as a loner - delinquent Tomoko, bitch squad Tomoko, and popular girl Tomoko.
Duh-duh-dun duh-duh-dun da-da-da da-duh-duh-dun
Duh-Duh-Dun Duh-Duh-Dun Da-Da-Da Da-Duh-Duh-Dun
DUH-DUH-DUN DUH-DUH-DUN DA-DA-DA DA-DUH-DUH-DUN
DUH-DUH-DUN DUH-DUH-DUN DA-DA-DA DA-DUH-DUH-DUN!
DUN DA-DA-DUN! DUN DA-DA-DUN!
DUH-DUH-DUN DUH-DUH-DUN DA-DA-DA DA-DUH-DUH-DUN!
but then I've also been to a gajillion Japanese aquariums (ok maybe more like 7) and that includes the real big one in Okinawa so I might be biased
it's about as melodramatic as I can readily tolerate but, then, the amount of melodrama actually feels some degree of earned rather than forced so that helps
I'm curious who on the staff decided to make "redeem Jet Jaguar in the franchise" one of the main priorities of the show, because I loved it.
Godzilla Singular Point: A space/time distorting super computer allows two AIs to combine into a new Jet Jaguar that can utilize theoretical physics to make itself giant to defeat Godzilla.
I kind of hope they tone down the science jargon if they make a season 2. I'm not against it, but I feel like these super genius characters need to be fleshed out more and didn't have the opportunity in the first season.
was a hilarious and fantastic payoff.
Thoughts:
The ending of SSSS Gridman is tough to process, and going by your complaint about the ED you might have missed a pretty key thing
This is the video I like linking that helped me with the bigger themes
PSN: Robo_Wizard1
That was a good anime.
But its soundtrack was better than the collective show.
God, what a soundtrack...
Soundtrack is definitely unimpeachable, though.
Dare ka ga itta
"Koi o sureba sabishikunaru" to.
Yowai mono ne maru de watashi ja nai mitai.
(Love the OP though.)
Robotics;Notes is a very similar series, and does the premise a lot better(though it still isn't great like Steins;Gate).
Clayman's complete ignorance of who he was messing with didnt feel like a 'reveal he was being controlled' really. it felt more like bad writing. It's entirely able to introduce a new baddy that can compete with your MC's power creep without making his previous baddy look like hes a complete idiot.
Letsee, so this slime has managed to wipe out a million orcs, its king which is essentially a majin-level or higher threat, make allies with other demon lords, and races, oh and for some reason veldora just happen to 'dissapear' at the same time the slime appeared.
Well I'm sure im stronger anyway. Lets get the humans to kill his friends. I'm sure nothing will go wrong.
It's like he wasnt paying attention at all to the power level of his enemy since the orc incident. Even with that mage(whos name i can't remember) giving him information that had to be accurate, he was definately not reading his mail.
Looking for an Isekai thats chill but not boring. Ones that ive enjoyed and would like to find similar ones:
The wise mans grandson
the 8th son
Reincarnated in another world with my slimes (Not sure if this is the right name...it was the one where the guy becomes a kid who tames a crapload of slimes).
Resturant in another world
Nobu in another world
make my life average in another world
moonlight fantasy
I've enjoyed heavier ones like overlord and shield hero but looking for lighter ones now. preferably with good length manga runs (on mangadex).
I know about the upcoming 'reincarnated the worlds best assassin' one thats coming up.
I'd like to avoid ones that are *too* cutesie...average in another world comes close but its funny so i give it a pass.
I didnt care for the 'slow life pharmasist' one that just got an anime, or the 'killing slimes for 300 years' one...they were just too much sweet, not enough plot.
Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita might be worth a look.
The basic premise is that Balud is the son of a noble who, upon his birth, was found to have two additional souls residing in his body. The first is an old soldier from the Warring States period and the second is an average Japanese high schooler. He grows up with these two advising him in various things and while he's the one in control 99% of the time the other two can sometimes take over the body when they get excited. Mostly the old soldier in fights beyond Balud's capability.
The setting does have magic in a medieval sort of world, but it's not super powerful magic and Balud himself is no mage. He can use some magic, mostly body enhancement, but his real skill lies in the spear and martial arts thanks to the old man and his mother, a very famous warrior. As for what the high school student contributes, that'd be the usual Otherworld knowledge in isekais. Things like gold plating with water jug batteries he saw in an elementary science special, records keeping, and other random bits of trivia from someone who watched a ton of YouTube videos on different subjects. Nothing super specialized though.
Aside from Moonlit Fantasy it's one of my favorite manga to read. There's a real world in the setting, the protagonist is a native inhabitant, and the only actual isekai elements are the soldier and student living rent free in his head.
The Beginning After the End would be my recommendation looking for a lighthearted-but-serious, with the caveat that folks who have read the light novel have been implying stuff gets a lot more serious soon.
But it's largely an isekai-played-straight (well, other than he was from a fantasy world before, too) but which takes time to actually live and breathe in the world, too.
Also just recently got confirmed for an anime
Yesssssssssss