Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest - Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest - Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

A cool edition with some extra swag.

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is an action-packed fantasy odyssey based on the popular light novel series by Ryo Shirakome – which began as a web-only publication. The series is produced by animation studios White Fox (Tears to Tiara, Matoi the Sacred Slayer) and Asread (Lord of Vermilion: The Crimson King, I Couldn't Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job). Aired on Tokyo MX in Japan, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is distributed by Funimation Entertainment in North America.

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is produced by Aya Iizuka (The Helpful Fox Senko-san, How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?), Satoshi Fukao (Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Chivalry of a Failed Knight), Yoichi Sekine (Cat Planet Cuties, Girls und Panzer), Yuichi Izumi (Goblin Slayer, Iroduku: The World in Colors), and Yuta Kashiwabara (Hajimete no Gal, My First Girlfriend is a Gal). Full of action, adventure, and spectacle. An anime series which seems to be inspired by the world of MMORPG.

Hajime Nagumo begins a new odyssey that takes him to worlds beyond his imagination. When he finds himself zapped in to a fantastical land with dangerous otherworldly creatures, Hajime and his fellow classmates are put to the task of saving the land from a fate of destruction. As Hajime meets some unexpected allies along the way – a vampire princess named Yue (Yuki Kuwahara) and a so-called “rabbit- girl” named Shea Haulia (Minami Takahashi), the journey heats up as danger and romance intertwine! Can Hajime survive the dangers of the new world and save the day?

One of the most impressive components of the production is the animation. The art style is distinctive and effective. Under the chief animation direction by Chika Kojima (The Future Diary, Sword Art Online), the art work is fluid and heavily stylized. The animation soars during fight scenes and is complex when it needs to be. The animators clearly put forth a lot of effort in to the production. Everything looks impressive and the cinematography by Kenji Takehara (Clockwork Planet, Noir) makes it even more so.

Check out that art-box. Nice!

The character designs by Chika Kojima (Big Order) are distinctive and memorable while the art direction by Naoki Aoyama (I couldn't become a hero, so I reluctantly decided to get a job, Drive Head: Tomika Hyper Rescue Kido Kyukyo Keisatsu) makes the landscape of the series seem all the more convincing.

Another area of the production which impressed was the original score music composed by Ryo Takahashi (Special 7: Special Crime Investigation Unit, Please tell me! Galko-chan). The series features compelling score compositions which are dynamic and expressive – bringing the anime characters to life. The fantasy elements are even enhanced by the music score and its integration. Throughout the series, composer Ryo Takahashi found moments to bring some extra intensity to sequences of action-packed adventure.

The screenplays by Kinji Yoshimoto and Shoichi Sato (Lost Universe, Galaxy Angel) are sometimes entertaining (and sometimes frustrating). The storytelling itself is one element that I was mixed on. While the characters are decently written and the action scenes are sometimes intense, the use of juvenile humor was unnecessary. The series could have been better with more tightly written stories. Even so, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is decently written.

Directed by Kinji Yoshimoto (End of Summer, Unbreakable Machine-Doll), Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is perhaps best for its action beats. There are some really entertaining fight scenes with otherworldly creatures that made the series far more fun. Some adventures with dinosaurs and the like make the series more enjoyable and kept me engaged. Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is far from perfect but director Yoshimoto manages to keep it an entertaining ride nonetheless.

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest - Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation Entertainment, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series looks quite impressive in high-definition. Color reproduction is superb and the stylistic flourishes of the production are well preserved. The animation manages to be crisp and clean throughout the presentation. The encoding is superb, too. Fight scenes flow well and don't suffer from any egregious compression artifacts. I noticed some slight banding in a few scenes but never anything too distracting. A good effort overall.

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest - Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes two lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (with English subtitles). The audio tracks are impressive and add to the experience. English dub fans will be pleased with the quality of the performances and the crisp audio quality. Dialogue remains clear and easy to understand. Sound effects are well integrated in to the mix. The music is also well reproduced.

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest - Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The limited edition of Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest comes with a deluxe art box holding the standard-edition package within and some extra goodies exclusive to this version. The set includes a booklet, six art cards, enamel pins, and a set of collectible stickers. Fans of limited edition versions will find the set to be superior to the standard-edition packaging. The bonus pack ins are decidedly nice (especially the art cards).

The release comes with a printed o-card slipcover. The combo pack edition includes Blu-ray + DVD + Digital. The Funimation digital code is tucked inside the inner package. The first disc in the set does not include any on-disc supplemental features.

Disc 2:

OVA 1: Yue's Diary (HD, 8:54) is presented in Japanese with English subtitles. No English dub option is provided.

OVA 2: Hot Love Springs Eternal (HD, 8:43) is presented in Japanese with English subtitles. No English dub option is provided.

Twitter Picture Drama (HD, 14:48)

Promo Videos (HD, 6:29)

Commercials (HD, 1:21)

Textless Opening Song Version 1 (HD, 1:32)

Textless Opening Song Version 2 (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song (HD, 1:32)

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest - Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is entertaining (if a bit uneven). Though the series is far from being an anime classic, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest is manages to find a nice tonal balance between comedy and action-adventure. The fantasy elements are also quite enjoyable and the otherworldly creatures are impressive. The animation is great too. The Blu-ray release features a strong video-audio presentation and an assortment of extras.

Fans of collectors editions looking for some nice swag will be pleased with the bonus pack-ins that are included in the deluxe version. The limited edition set comes with a rigid art box featuring fantastic artwork from the series, a booklet, six art cards, stickers, and enamel pins. These are cool bonuses which enhance the collectors edition and makes it the must-own edition for die-hard fans of the production. Recommended.