Am I Actually the Strongest? - The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Am I Actually the Strongest? - The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Am I Actually the Strongest? is an action-adventure fantasy. Created by Sai Sumimori, Am I Actually the Strongest? features animation production by Staple Entertainment (Tales of Wedding Rings, Vermeil in Gold). Am I Actually the Strongest? features theme song performances by Lezel (opening) and Star★Shiμʼne!!! (ending). The series also includes voice-performances by Ayumu Murase, Atsumi Tanezaki, and Ayaka Shimizu.

Haruto “Hart” Zenfis (Ayumu Murase) wanted nothing more than an easy life. Haruto enjoys having a laidback lifestyle. The easy days are all Haruto longs for and he is determined to find a way to live an enjoyable life – one where he is confined to his own shut-in lifestyle while having a breezy day. Yet unexpected trouble happens when he is reincarnated as a baby!

Not only is he now reborn as a little baby child, Haruto has little power and capabilities in his reincarnated state. In fact, the low powers reading made his new royal parents skeptical of keeping him. Haruto is abandoned. Now Haruto must fend for himself somehow. As a new life and journey begins, the reincarnated Haruto sets off on new adventures. Demons, superheroes, and more await. Can Haruto rise to the top and prove his true magic abilities are actually off the charts?

Haruto makes for a compelling character for Am I Actually the Strongest? The exploration of Haruto’s journey as he attempts to pursue his own dream is something that adds some charm to the character as well. The production features original character designs by Ai Takahashi. The character designs by Shōko Yasuda (Happy Sugar Life, My Girlfriend is Shobitch) are solid. The designs work well for the central characters. The design for Haruto is especially compelling and well-done. The character design works well for the genre and style of the series.

The animation is impressive and has some compelling merits overall. Am I Actually the Strongest? features art direction by Masazumi Matsumiya (Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, My First Girlfriend is a Gal) and chief animation direction by Shōko Yasuda (A Certain Magical Index III, Wasteful Days of High School Girl), Toshimitsu Kobayashi (Demon King Daimao, The Legend of the Legendary Heroes), and Yukiyo Komito (Dr. Stone: Stone Wars, Vermeil in Gold). The animation adds to the series production aesthetic.

The series has solid animation with decent background art and line artwork. The animators did a good job with providing the series with the bright colors and stylistic flourishes important to the production. Am I Actually the Strongest? is more visually compelling because of the animation and the efforts made by the animation team.

The cinematography by Fei Yu and Ryōma Kudō (Tales of Wedding Rings) is well-done and helps with enhancing the bright visual elements. The cinematography certainly shines. The cinematographer is talented with showcasing the vivid and deep color elements. The result is a more visually effective production.

The score composed by Yukari Hashimoto (Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Tada Never Falls in Love) works well for the series. The score is solid and works well as decent background music for the anime. A decent enough score and one that provides some whimsy for the genre and fantasy elements. While it might not be a top-tier score, it adds some quality to the production.

Written by Tatsuya Takahashi (I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn) and Tetsuya Yamada (Knights of Sidonia: Battle for Planet Nine, Kaina of the Great Snow Sea), Am I Actually the Strongest? has a decent concept and solid characters. This is a light anime and one that has some fun. Fans of these types of anime series will especially enjoy the production.

Directed by Takashi Naoya (Tales of Wedding Rings, Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru), Am I Actually the Strongest? has some excitement for genre fans. The series has a lot of personality. Naoya has an impressive style that works well. While Am I Actually the Strongest? isn’t a classic, it has some fun, providing something worthwhile for a rainy afternoon. It certainly doesn’t break any major new grounds but for a laidback anime to sit back and relax too, there are some decent elements to the series and fans will enjoy it. Am I Actually the Strongest? is worth checking out.

Am I Actually the Strongest? - The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Crunchyroll, Am I Actually the Strongest? is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation is impressive overall and there are some notable strengths to the series encoding. A pleasing transfer with good color reproduction and detail. The line art and background animation impresses, too.

One of the strengths of the Blu-ray disc format is the superior picture-quality. Streaming video services tend to provide a lower video bit-rate compared to streaming platforms. Streaming platforms tend to provide a more compressed image and one that is not quite as pronounced as on the physical format. Streaming also has a lot more variables, too – such as internet speeds.

Am I Actually the Strongest? - The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release preserves the series sound direction by Takuya Hiramitsu (Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen). The lossless audio sounds crisp. The presentation capably preserves the dialogue. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand.

The English language audio option has a somewhat more expansive soundstage comparatively with the surround sound presentation being 5.1 surround compared to the 2.0 stereo of the Japanese language presentation. Nonetheless, the Japanese language option will prove impressive for fans of the original language version. The English subtitles are well-done and free from egregious spelling or grammatical errors.

One of the essential elements of the Blu-ray format is the delivery of lossless audio. Lossless audio provides more data and more depth to the sound presentation and soundstage. For home theater enthusiasts and audiophiles wanting the absolute best presentation possible, Am I Actually the Strongest? provides lossless encoding and that can make a nice difference.

Am I Actually the Strongest? - The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release comes with an o-card slipcover. The slipcover adds a nice collectability element to the production. The packaging for the Blu-ray set adds some extra quality to the release and will look nice on a collector's shelf. The slipcover is limited in quantity and only comes with the first print run of the release. The release does not include a digital copy code. The release does not come with other extra pack-ins or collectables. Some art cards, stickers, or other collectables might have added some extra collectability for some potential purchasers.

On disc supplements include:

Promo Videos (HD, 2:56)

Textless Opening Song (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:31)

Unfortunately, the release does have a somewhat sparse and underwhelming supplemental package. The bonus features could be more interesting. The Blu-ray release could have benefited by having some additional extras such as audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes documentaries, making-of featurettes, cast/crew interviews, and more. Alas, the box-set underwhelms with a sparse assortment of extras. This aspect certainly could have been improved.

Am I Actually the Strongest? - The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Am I Actually the Strongest? is a decently entertaining anime series. The series has some nice production merits. The protagonist was compelling. The series has nice animation. The score by Yukari Hashimoto adds to the series charm, too. Serious fans of the series will be pleased to own it on disc.

The Blu-ray release provides a solid high-definition presentation. The release also includes a nice lossless audio presentation. Unfortunately, the release has a sparse supplemental package. Sometimes that can make the difference between a pass or purchase for collectors. This is one area that certainly could have been significantly improved on for the release. Even so, die-hard fans may find it hard to resist. Recommended.