Anime is a vast and interesting genre with contrasting opinions on characters, actions, and dialogues. Our differences in opinion are what make discussions about anime interesting. As an anime lover, I’m sure you’ve found yourself in a situation where you are completely rooting for a character, only to find that your friends find that same character rather boring and not worth all the hype. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where a friend recommends an anime, hyping it up, telling you that you would find it very interesting, only for you to watch it and realize it wasn’t all what your friend mentioned? When it comes to anime, we all have different likes, preferences and opinions and that is exactly what makes the genre interesting.
A while back, I came across a reel of an anime on Instagram. The part I watched piqued my interest that I got so interested in watching it. So, I checked the comment section to see if anyone mentioned the title of the anime, and boom! “The Eminence is Shadow.” Luckily, someone mentioned the title in the comment section and immediately, I added it to my to-watch list. I told my friend about this anime which I intended to watch, and surprisingly, they had already seen it. They claimed that the anime is a 10 out of 10 and that I would totally enjoy watching it. In their words, “The Eminence in Shadow is one of the top anime I have ever watched.”
This comment from my friend motivated me to want to watch it. At the time, I was watching Hunter X Hunter (which has about 150 plus episodes). But I had to put that on a pause to watch The Eminence in Shadow, afterall it only has 24 episodes. I was so curious to watch “one of the best anime in the entire anime verse.” Sadly, I was disappointed by what I found.
Don’t quote me wrong, I enjoyed watching the anime, but it is totally far from “one of the best anime in the animeverse.” The fight scenes are not bad, but the anime itself had one major gap—the main character. I’m sure you’d agree with me that Cid (shadow) is overpowered. This has to be the most extreme case of power inflation I’ve ever seen. Throughout the whole 2 seasons, no one stood a chance. He dominated every fight, effortlessly taking down villains without breaking a sweat. I have seen other animes where the main characters were super powerful, but they still struggled with villains. Let’s take Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen as a casestudy. Gojo is definitely stronger than Shadow. But in JJK, it is shown that Gojo, as strong as he is, faces strength and struggles against some villains. Like Geto.
The first episode of The Eminence in Shadow caught my attention and drew me in. However, six episodes into the anime, I realized how powerful Shadow was, and I expected that at least someone would pose a threat or at least put a scratch on him, but he came out of every battle flawlessly. On the other hand, I enjoyed the dialogue. "I am atomic" is probably one of the most famous lines in the entire anime, and it's by far my favorite line.
In summary, while I enjoyed watching The Eminence in Shadow, it's definitely not the best anime I've seen. In my opinion, it doesn't fit into the top 15. And one reason why it falls short is because the main character is overpowered. I had a conversation with @fashtioluwa, who was disappointed when I shared my view on this anime. Have you seen The Eminence in Shadow? What's your take on it?
Thanks for reading.
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