Uncle From Another World, an isekai fantasy anime, is based on the manga adaptation of Hotondo Shindeiru. Written and illustrated by Shindeiru, the manga was released on Kadokawa Shoten’s ComicWalker in June 2018.
The anime is produced by Studio Atelier Pontdarc under the direction of Shigeki Kawai. Licensed by Netflix, the anime was to be broadcasted from July 6th, 2022, to August 31st, 2022, but due to the pandemic, the last episode has still not been released.
Due to a truck hitting Yosuke, our main character, at seventeen years of age, he went into a coma for seventeen years. After he awoke at the age of thirty-five, Yosuke had no relatives left who would take care of him or give him shelter. After waking up, he started spouting nonsense, telling everyone that during the time that he was in a coma, he was transferred to another world.
The story revolves around Yosuke and his nephew, Takafumi, who lets his uncle stay in his apartment. Over the time that his uncle was in another world, he learned about magic spells.
Meanwhile, Takafumi had the huge task of helping out Yosuke understand the new world because of the two decades that he had missed. Takafumi had to make him catch up on smartphones, high-speed internet, anime tropes, and the outcome of the 90’s ‘Console war.’
Uncle from Another World Episode 12: Storyline
The 12th Episode of Uncle from Another World is titled as ‘Names are important. That’s what that person said too.’ The episode starts off with Yosuke showing Takafumi and Sumika (another primary character who has a crush on Takafumi), the Sega Saturn warning voice from a Strikers 1945 disc.
However, Takafumi explains that they do not have a CD player in the household, and the new generation has not heard of the warning voice, which makes his uncle very disappointed. Sumika inquires Yosuke about the Sega Saturn CD and what would happen if they played it on a CD player.
Uncle briefly explains the mechanics to her, after which he goes into a monologue about how he encountered a Singing beast once. Sensing the gleam of curiosity from Takafumi and Sumika, Uncle shows them a memory of the encounter.
He had accepted the quest of subjugating a Singing Beast in the Forest. Charging at the beast, he uses his magic but crashes into it. He discovers it to be Mabel, who lives in peace in the Forest. Uncle finds out that despite being in such a dangerous forest, Mabel is somehow guarded because of the Beast Robe she wears, enchanted with illusory magic.
Mabel’s singing voice and the giant ice sculpture that she erected to keep people away from her caused her to be feared as a ‘singing monster.’ After hearing her explanation, Uncle, who was loyal to his quest, readied himself to finish her off. However, Mabel agrees to leave the Forest, and the two of them have an emotional talk about what Mabel should do from there on.
Uncle suggests that she become a bard, but Mabel is too embarrassed to become one, although she enjoys the thought of being an idol. The discussion shifts to Uncle, who desires to return home. Hoping to cheer him up, Mabel sings the music from Sonic the Hedgehog. Hearing the song, Uncle passes out on her lap out of euphoria.
The two remained oblivious to the ambush planned by three of the Knights of Order, who were defeated by Elf. Uncle then stops the memory, prompting Takafumi to ask him about his love for video game music, to which Uncle answers by showing him a clip of his memory playing the game Dynamite Headdy. He mispronounced Fingee’s name as ‘Fingy,’ leading him to a breakdown.
Takafumi and Sumika brush off Uncle’s obsession with pronouncing the correct name, but Uncle argues that names are essential, as once told by Elf, who gave her real name after his encounter with Mabel.
Forcefully playing Uncle’s memory, they see Elf confronting a nonchalant Uncle about why he addresses Alicia and Mabel by their first name, even though he knew her the longest. After a heated argument, Uncle reveals his name to Elf, making her flustered.
He writes it on the ground and proceeds to her its meaning. He asks her about her name to which she softly answers as Suzail Gierer Zegalnelv Zegilrea Granzelga Elga. However, Yosuke admits that he cannot remember such a long name, so he recommends that he call her Sui and explains its meaning to her. The name meant green, like the gem jade, because it reminded Yosuke of Elf’s beautiful green eyes.
Mabel joins the two soon, and they start exploring ruins known as ‘Jato Hokora.’ Uncle destroys the ruin causing Hokora to appear. Takafumi and Sumika asked him why he did so, and he said that he wanted to check whether it would lead him to his home.
A battle ensues between the three and Hokora. Uncle uses his dual-wielding magic to hurt it, but it proves futile. Since Hokora does not have a physical body and contains a lot of divine energy within itself, it starts healing the area, giving power to the dead to rise and attack the three.
While charging to put an end to this, Uncle gets possessed by Hokora, who then proceeds to inflict damage on Elf and Mabel. Uncle is knocked out by Raiga. Alicia and Edgar assist Elf and Mabel, who are injured. Learning that Uncle was under a mind control spell, Alicia uses her wand to snap him out of it, but it triggers dark memories from Yosuke’s past.
Alicia enters the darkness in his heart, where we see Yosuke in his ‘tiny room,’ playing games in front of a ‘black box’ as stated by Alicia. While mumbling about how some people who remain oblivious to games tend to view it in a negative sense, Yosuke walks towards the squad but snaps out of his trance. He then utilizes a bottle containing the Fire dragon to deplete the divine energy, allowing him to defeat Hokora.
Uncle From Another World Episode 12: Review
Uncle from Another World is a unique take on isekai anime. Most of the anime community knows about isekai, especially through Re: Zero and how it is associated with elements of fantasy. However, Uncle from Another World is a unique take on isekai, having originality while maintaining the tenets of an isekai anime.
Uncle from Another World flips around the narrative, bringing the Uncle back to the real world from his fantasy journey, forcing him to get accustomed to the changes in society after nearly two decades of missing out. It is not like the conventional isekai. The anime experiments with the theme of isekai as well as reality. The moment the spectator gets invested in the fantasy, the anime pulls you back into reality.
Our protagonist, Yosuke, is hilariously out of touch with reality, and his obsession with video games is very much prevalent in the anime. Even when Alicia connected with his soul, the script portrayed his heart to be in a dark place, revealing his memories of sitting in a room and playing games to be a ‘dark time in his life.’ This is a very sarcastic take on games, and we see this happening in our everyday lives as well.
Gaming is seen in a negative way by people who do not usually play video games and by older generations. Through humor and sarcasm, the episode does a great job of showing the humiliation that gamers face.
Not to mention the episode also talked about the importance of names. Names bring people closer and create strong bonds. Hence, we see our uncle quite distressed at the fact that he mispronounced a particular name.
Our Verdict
Uncle from Another World is a great take on an isekai anime. Instead of taking us into the world of fantasy and showing our main character’s struggle, it oscillates between both worlds, showing the memories of Yosuke in the fantasy realm while being deeply entrenched in the realm of reality. The comedy, action, and narrative of the anime are spot-on.
Our Rating: ⭐ (3.5/5).
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