Yuusha Yoshihiko to Michibikareshi Shichinin (2016)

I don't have much to say about it since I've already written a review for the first season. I don't want to repeat myself so I'll keep it short. This continues along the same lines as its predecessor, a low budget parody drama set in a video game. Acting is as excellent as ever, dialog couldn't get any more hilarious, and guest stars great as always.

The reason I decided to write a review here is to encourage everyone to watch this season, even if you haven't tried the previous seasons. Generally each season (three in total) can more or less stand on its own, but enjoyment for me differed with each. This one by far was the most enjoyable for me (season 2 is the most skippable).

While season 1 was enjoyable, I had a hard time appreciating it due to my lack of knowledge in video games. Season 2 was alright but too repetitive of the previous season that it felt tiring pretty quickly. Therefore I had my reservations when I heard of a third season, but once it started airing I got in the mood of watching some good Japanese comedy. And to my surprise the series was completely revamped while its core was left intact.

We start with the usual, Yoshihiko and his companions or on their way to defeat the evil demon, however I felt the missions given to them to achieve their goal was more solid. It was unoriginal but the perfect setup for all kinds to parodies. And this brings me to the reason why I loved this season so much. It makes fun of everything and everyone. It's a parody of Japanese television itself. There are parodies of video games, anime, musicals, boy bands, TV channels, high school movies, Japanese talk show, and so on and so forth. With comedy approaching so many sides of the entertainment industry in Japan, it was easier for me to understand the reference and truly appreciate everything this drama is about.

And we can't for get about Hotoke (Sato Jiro). If you think you've seen everything up his sleeves concerning this character then think again, even he managed to up his game (when you think that's impossible.

And the ending... pretty twisty, shocking and... I'll leave it for you guys to discover ;)

Great comedy drama! If you love Japanese comedies and parodies, I'd tell you to start from the first season and enjoy all three seasons. If you had to choose one of them, then I'd tell you to just watch this one!

-Also just a side note but I always feel it's odd that this drama utilizes an arabic song as one of its soundtracks (this applies to all three seasons), and sometimes when a magical event happens there are arabic letters used in the effect :S

Read More