Why You Should Start Watching The Eminence In Shadow Immediately

The Eminence In Shadow is an Isekai series that started during the last quarter of 2022 and is now coming to an end in February 2023.

Just the other day the anime was announced to have a 2nd season with another 12 episodes. The anime is adapted from a light novel series.

It’s underrated this season.

The premise of Eminence In Shadow

The anime is edgy but in a comedic way. Cid, the MC, lives his life like he’s a main character of a game. This is in part how he ends up getting killed.

After reincarnation in another world, he continues this way of living, starts an underground assassination group called Shadow Garden to target a certain corrupt cult, and has fun doing it.

The best way to shorten down what to expect from this anime is it’s an Isekai written like a parody, but with violence and themes comparable to Akame Ga Kill.

Cid Kagenou (the MC) is like an edgy version of Kirito but 100x more comedic.

Why The Eminence In Shadow is worth watching:

Table of Contents

1. An entertaining MC like no other

Cid Kagenou, or Shadow as he names himself after reincarnation is one of the most entertaining main characters out there. Especially if we’re talking about Isekai anime.

The guy just doesn’t give a f*ck and it’s not like he’s trying to be edgy. That’s just how he is. He doesn’t pander or kiss ass and only decides to do things he wants to do instead of compromising (unless it’s part of a child-like fantasy he desires to have).

One example being Cid going out of his way to convince certain people of certain things by behaving in a certain way, so he can live his life like a background character in a game. Only to later “shock” that same person by revealing his true talents.

He’s methodical, deliberate, comical, and nonchalant. And the way it all plays out is just fun to see.

2. A double lifestyle

This aspect of the anime, especially the main and supporting characters will remind you of Spy x Family.

On one hand, they live a life that’s seemingly normal to blend in like a background character. On the other hand, their “real” job and purpose are more severe, savage, bloody, and dangerous.

Cid Kagenou, the master manipulator who lives a double lifestyle is entertaining (back to point #1) because of the lengths he goes to just to achieve a seemingly childish goal.

Even his gang of women, not all, have their own version of this like the character called Beta. The anime feels like Akame Ga Kill in another world, written like a parody.

Relevant: 8+ BEST Anime Shows Like The Eminence In Shadow (Recommended)

3. So edgy it’s cringey but a good laugh

Cid Kagenou is obviously a cringey character in some aspects. But it’s not so bad compared to other characters because he’s doing it deliberately. And is getting a laugh out of it himself.

This adds to the humour of the show and makes you not wanna take him seriously. It’s a type of “breaking the fourth wall” element.

4. The anime’s writing is refreshing for an Isekai series

Isekai isn’t inherently a bad genre. It just got overcrowded. Sword Art Online wasn’t the first, but it’s one of the few that popularized it along with anime like No Game No Life and later, Re:Zero and Konosuba.

Since then there’s been anime being pumped out without a care in the world in a lot of cases. That’s brought down the value of the genre (if you call it a genre).

The Eminence In Shadow is refreshing for these reasons. It’s like a mixture of SAO, Akame Ga Kill, Konosuba, and other anime shows but with its own twists and flavour.

The writers clearly know what they’re doing, and have done a good job of making it entertaining despite some of the obvious similarities to other anime that came before it.

5. Strong female characters who work as a unit

I don’t mean “strong” in the feminist sense, that would be nonsensical. I just mean strong as in, the female characters are powerful, smart, capable, intelligent, and have some of the best action scenes in the series.

The elves of this world have beef with the cult of Diablos, and that’s why they work with Shadow under the group Shadow Garden to achieve this goal. They end up being heroes of sorts, similar to Akame Ga Kill’s nightraid.

How they all work together as a unit, using their own individual talents, while also having flaws and managing to balance things out without saturating their value is a sight to see.

Easily some of the best female characters I’ve seen in an Isekai. They could even have their own anime or special arc.

6. The music is solid

Music matters. It’s easy to overlook. But some anime just have better music and sometimes end up being better because the music helps set the mood to a higher level than comparable anime.

The build-up music, the battle music, the iconic music for certain scenes – The Eminence In Shadow is one of the best to be doing it right now.

7. Iconic moments

For anime fans of this series who’ve watched until the end, or enough of the early episodes, they know what I mean by iconic when I say the word “atomic”.

The Eminence In Shadow has a way of making a few of its moments, battles, and action scenes so iconic that even if you forget certain thigs, you;’ll always remember the key moments where sh*t hit the fan.

That leads to my next point.

8. The stunning visuals

Whether it’s the action scenes, battles, regular slice of life style moments, the comedy aspects, or scenery, The Eminence In Shadow has a way with its visuals.

It’s not the absolute best with visuals or aesthetics, but it strikes a good balance and knows how to raise the stakes when the time is right.

The characters as a general rule look good as well.

9. An entertaining plot despite the MC being overpowered

Sometimes being overpowered makes a series boring. The anime Problem Children is like this. It’s an Isekai where the MC is too powerful and there’s no variety or relatability.

The thing with Cid Kagenou and the anime itself is it’s entertaining even though the MC is clearly overpowered from the start. That’s because the anime does a good job of playing on these aspects to make it fun.

Also, the MC does feel relatable since he’s an introvert, is laid back, doesn’t like to be the center of attention unless necessary, and tends to mind his own business.

These aspects, personality traits, and more are what makes the MC easy to connect to without his insane amount of power diluting his entertainment value.

Plus the plot itself isn’t ruined by his OP status either. That’s thanks to the way it’s written.

10. Tons of ongoing potential

With a lot of Isekai series, once it reaches a certain point it starts to feel like the anime can’t squeeze out any more potential to make it more entertaining, exciting, or worth pursuing further.

This is not the case with The Eminence In Shadow. New arcs start fairly fast, but it always finds a way to make it entertaining again and it all connects to an overall point, goal, or purpose.

Maybe that’s what keeps this anime going as far as potential and wanting to see what comes next.

11. Support characters get a lot of shine and development

One of the most obvious examples is the group Shadow Garden. The many female characters get plenty of shine, character development, attention, and screen time compared to the MC in some ways.

It feels like the writer cares about the other characters enough that they don’t feel left out or irrelevant.

Even some of the anime’s best scenes, whether in a comedy sense, action sense, or otherwise, are a result of the supporting characters.

It all plays into the plot and the story smoothly.

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In the end, The Eminence In Shadow is an anime worth watching and is an Isekai that does things a little differently.

If you’re looking for an Isekai that’s not typical, this could be right up your alley.