With the Isekai genre of anime continuing to grow, the late summer/early fall of the 2024 lineup is full of new and upcoming Isekai. So far this year we have seen the release of Mushoku Tensei Season 2 PT 2, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Season 3, Suicide Squad Isekai, and KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! Season 3.
Now, this Summer’s lineup looks to introduce new Isekais to anime fans; some of these new animes include Head Start at Birth, Plus-Sized Elf, Quality Assurance in Another World, and No Longer Allowed in Another World (Isekai Shikkaku). Below is an in-progress look at No Longer Allowed in Another World.
Episode 1 (I Must Commit Double Suicide)
At the start of No Longer Allowed in Another World, we are introduced to two lovers who are looking to end their lives together by jumping into a raging river; not wanting to get separated in this life or the next, they tie a red string of fate around their wrists. With the thought of death imminent, the illusion of feudal Japan is rapidly swept away when our “protagonist” Sensei is hit by Truck-kun. Awakening in another world Sensei is greeted by a priestess who explains that he is not in the afterlife but has been summoned to another world, Zauberberg, to be a noble hero/adventurer. Distraught that he has been separated from his love and his death has failed, Sensai tries to commit suicide once again by swallowing a massive amount of sedatives.
Unwilling to let a chosen hero die, Annette uses detox on Sensei to stop his death; she then explains that chosen heroes are brought to the world by trucks. This World transfer service gives people a chance at a new and happier life where they can be a hero. When Annette looks at Sensei’s stats, she sees him as a weak human with no special gift to speak of. When looking deeper at his stats she sees nothing exceptional All he is equipped with are cigarettes, matches, sedatives, a fountain pen, and a notebook. Seeing he’s so weak, she advises him to not go out on his own and to live a peaceful life with a profession; he states that he will be a writer.
Setting out for the town, we learn that the world’s experience system works directly with his cognition alerting him to an increase in XP and sounds when leveling up. While heading to the next town, Sensei encounters a catgirl being held captive by a Death tree; she begs him for help but having no real ability he gets captured as well. Upon saying goodbye and appearing to die, the tree’s roots start to rot, and suddenly explode. Escaping from death once again, he levels up and gains a new companion. Rather than learning the cat girl’s name, he calls her Tama. After the credits, we see that Annette is praying for the hero’s safe return; Annette swears to accompany the hero to protect him despite having ulterior motives.
Now with two new companions, Sensei sets out to reach the nearby town once again. Upon finding a coffin that he can use to nap, Sensei lays down in it and has the two pull him along. The episode ends with a princess staring out over a lake.
Thoughts on Episode 1
As far as the first episode goes, it sets up the overarching world decently without giving too much away. What makes Sensei special? Why was he summoned to this world and separated from his beloved? What was the decay ability that activated when we thought he was going to die? Could the poison symbol the priestess saw on his stats page actually be a special ability?
The characters we see are pretty similar to other isekai’s. The priest appears to be a smarter and more useful version of Aqua from Konosuba while the catgirl seems like a more dim-witted version of Rem Galleu from How Not to Summon a Demon Lord. The show itself appears to be ridiculing or at least addressing the typical tropes found within Isekai while still using them to progress the plot.
Episode 2 (Shall I Tell You How It Feels to Sleep in a Coffin)
The second episode opens with Annette and Tama pulling Sensei’s coffin still and Sensei dreaming of reuniting with his love Sacchan. Upon arriving in Roth, Sensei and the party are able to see how the town lives; with a short scene, Annette states that they will get an audience with the king. Upon meeting the king, the King of Roth, Thomas, states that they are welcome to stay at the castle, however, in return, they must tell tales of their adventures. Our protagonist asks the king if he’d like to hear about how it feels to sleep in a coffin. Rather than taking it in a joking manner, the kind wonders if he is being threatened, but before he can think too deeply about it, Annette praises the princess’s beauty.
With the tale seeming threatening, he asks for the parties’ advice on who his daughter should marry. Should she marry the Hero of the Land and valiant warrior Gomez or the Wandering Minstrel of Love and childhood friend of Princess Charlotte, Otto? Saying that he is too old to decide and since Charlotte hasn’t made up her mind, he asks the adventures for their help. Sensei rebukes the king and calls him a horrible tyrant saying why ask people you’ve just met and why not ask your daughter about her thoughts.
We are then taken to the bed chambers where the party is attempting to rest. Annette asks who Sacchan is until she notices a tail from underneath Sensei’s covers. She then attacks Tama with a pillow and says she is shameless. She responds that she is cold and that it is part of her species’ nature. Rather than dealing with the fighting, Sensei sneaks out of the room and heads towards the lake. He sees the princess and proclaims that he would love to drown in such a beautiful lake.
The princess moved by his words states that she can not choose between the two. Otto is her childhood friend who would lift her up when she was down while Gomez is a soldier of great strength who has proven his skill in multiple battles. He states that she needs to decide for herself and asks what is it that you truly want. The next day, the party is summoned to the throne room to hear Charlotte’s decision on who she wants to marry.
This leads us to Charlotte choosing neither man her father has picked out and accepting to commit Double Suicide with Sensei. When asked about her reasoning, she states that Gomez smells and that Otto is self-centered and only performs to her his own music rather than trying to cheer anyone else up. After proclaiming she doesn’t want to get married, Gomez reveals his true self and proclaims that he was undercover with the goal of becoming King and offering the town to the great Demon Lord.
This leads us to a fight where the party is getting their butts’ kicked. Trying to save his new friends, Sensei, and the princess ask Gomez to kill them first. As Gomez rushes over to attack the two, the princess realizes that she doesn’t want to die but instead wants to live and protect the kingdom. Seeing her resolve change, Sensei pushes her out of the way of the attack. Just as Sensei is about to be hit Annette casts Barrier of Light protecting Sensei from Gomez. This spell stops the attack and allows the party to knock Gomez out of the castle into the lake.
The episode ends with the king realizing how foolish he has been and Charlotte being appointed Queen by her choosing.
Episode 2 impressions
As far as a second episode goes, it doesn’t really progress the protagonist’s overarching goal but does strengthen the party by working through conflict and towards a mutual goal. Sensei is seen more as an antagonist where he questions individuals’ decisions with valid points that make the area’s nobility question their own resolve. By using logic and reasoning, the princess is able to make up her own mind which ultimately reveals a spy within the mix.
Just like in the first episode, the second episode of No Longer Allowed in Another World pokes fun at more typical Isekai tropes: the princess choosing the newly met hero, a traitor within the king’s ranks, and the party being forced to make a life-altering decision despite being new to the area. Our biggest complaint from this episode was how the fight went down.
Gomez is touted as a successful warrior who has won countless battles so we would assume that he would be somewhere between level 50 to 80; Otto is shown to be a level 89 Minstrel. So by speculation, you would assume that Gomez is around the same level as Otto or close to it, so how does Tama a level 14 Martial artist, and Annette a level 18 Priestess take down such a high-level warrior? Presumably, we are expected to believe that it is through the newly formed friendship and their desire to protect Sensei that they were able to take down such a strong warrior. Hopefully, in the future, it is explained that the protagonist had something to do with it rather than just a gaping hole of plot armor.
The episode ends with Annette calling for help and collapsing inside a church with Sensei having a hole through his body. Although it is a good cliffhanger, its vagueness leaves a ton to be desired.
Episode 3 (I’m Ready to Die Anytime)
In the third episode of No Longer Allowed in Another World titled I’m Ready to Die. We see that everyone in the party has leveled from their fight with Gomez. Out of nowhere a demon-looking bat comes flying up to the princess and reveals that it failed to tender her resignation. This bat appears to have been chased by a dragon. Suddenly a mysterious girl calls out to the dragon (Ryuka) and tells it to stop. She then speaks to the dragon in an unknown language and calms it. She tells the party to leave quickly due to monsters in the area. Wondering why they have stopped Sensei pops out of the coffin and asks if it is time for lunch.
This new dragon tamer reveals that she hates other Worlders and plans to kill them all. Attempting to fight back, Annette puts up a barrier but the party is knocked down. While Tama and Annette are on the ground being affected by the Wrathful Dark Lord’s power, Sensei is able to stand up and confront the Wrathful Dark Lord. Without hesitation, she stabs through Sensei with her hand and he falls to the ground. She then reveals her name to be Waldelia.
What should be a lethal blow isn’t and Sensei is able to stand up and confront Waldelia. The Crew panics at Sensei’s wound and begs the priest at the Zweiten Temple to heal him. This leads us to the ending scene of episode 2 where Annette begged for help. After making a full recovery, Sensei feels overly healthy in a sickly manner. While Sensei drinks the merchant’s poison, Annette is reprimanded for abandoning her post and traveling with another worlder. The Zweiten priests, Ysha, explains that the other-worlders are selfish and use their skills only for their benefit; they are interrupted by an other worlder who wants to show off his ability to print money.
Annette states that Sensei is not like the other worlders and that if it wasn’t for him she wouldn’t be who she is today. The priest warns her that his destructive habits will ruin her. Immediately we see Sensei asking for money to spend and Annette giving it without looking.
Ysha then asks what Sensei’s gift is. She is shocked when she discovers that Sensei has no gift. Annette states that they faced off against the Wrathful Dark Lord but Ysha reveals that a group of other Worlders had slain the Wrathful Dark Lord seven days prior.
We then see a human sitting on the throne telling the dragons to stop howling and that their master has been dealt with The woman we met previously is revealed to be the daughter of the Wrathful Dark Lord. With the party finding out that Waldelia was not the Darklord, they wonder who this mysterious woman truly is. It is also revealed that Sensei has now been in the world for seven days, the same amount of time since the Dark Lord has been slain. Sensei gets melodramatic after failing to write his tales so far and ripping them up when he can’t find the words.
While exploring the town, Annette finds well-made armor to put onto Sensei to protect Sensei from attacks but stops him from moving. Annette and Tama set out to go shopping. As they shop, Ysha comes across Sensei and states that Annette will be staying with her from here on out; that as her friend, it is up to Annette to decide if she wants to leave the party.
She is not just some kind of bird that can be trapped in a cage. We then see a pack of wolves enter the town where Lord Suzuki proclaims that the Other Worlders have slain the Dark Lord. As the crowd rejoices, he states that they will now be in charge of the town and anyone who opposes will be forced to bend the knee.
The episode ends with Annette being petted on the head and told to be a good girl. The after-credits scene only shows Sensei Writing as the town burns.
Episode 3 thoughts
In this episode, we learn more about Sensei’s past and how at one point he was so angry that he sent a letter threatening to stab somebody before. This shows that Sensei has a bit of a darker past or some anger issues but has never failed to execute them. We also see that he has trouble writing at times and gets frustrated with his work often and either destroys it or turns to vices. This is probably why he often wants to die or take stuff that will harm him.
Additionally, the other priestess feels like Sensei is being a bad influence on Annette and uses the example of her giving him money blindly as an example. The show fails to explain if this money was her personal funds or the money that the Other Worlder printed in front of them to show off so it feels like a bit of unjustified anger. Before we even meet Suzuki, we can guess that Ysha has had a problem with Other Worlders before and holds a grudge/is biased against them. Ultimately, we learn that her beliefs are valid, but until that point, she just seems like a jaded lover.
Finally, there is a major plot point revealed that the Dark Lord was slain at the same time as Sensei arrived in to this new world. Could Sensei have been brought in to counteract all the different Other Worlders? Did the forces of evil summon him to be their new champion? What is Sensei’s connection to the Dark Lord and why didn’t he die when Waldellia fisted him through his chest? This episode leaves us with more questions than answers but does progress the protagonist’s story along a bit more than the previous episode did.
Episode 4 (Don’t Kill Yourself)
In episode 4 of No Longer Allowed in Another World titled Don’t Kill Yourself, we finally get some of the answers we’ve been looking for. Rather than jumping into those answers immediately, let’s go over what happened in this episode.
The episode starts with Annette being petted and told to be a good girl. We then see her being locked into a cage and falling under the control of Suzuki. When Tama asks what happened, the goofy rapper guy, Kotaro, reveals that anyone Suzuki pets becomes his slave. Going to punch the guy, Tama is then pet and collapses to the ground. Ysha confronts Suzuki and states that they will never yield to him at which point Suzuki states that’s fine, I’ll just burn it to the ground and build a new kingdom. He then sends his pets out to attack the town.
With the town under attack, we see Tama attacking Sensei’s armor. She originally fails to make a dent in it but upon breaking it knocks herself out. After securing Tama in a barrel, Ysha is slammed into a wall right next to Sensei. She starts discussing how Suzuki was when he first came to the world and how his power has corrupted him. This causes Sensei to smirk and start writing; he has finally found his inspiration. With this newfound inspiration, Sensei heads to the church with Ysha’s guidance. She tells him that he’s being careless and that rushing in will be a death trap.
Upon entering the church, Suzuki greets Ysha and Sensei and asks if Ysha has enlisted Sensei’s help. Sensei responds by stating that he is just someone who is interested in Suzuki and would like to base a novel on him. How did you gain your power and why do you want to take over the world? Taking his words insincerely, Suzuki sends his wolf pack out to kill Sensei. Intrigued by his decision, Sensei chooses to write rather than fight and Ysha has to step in with a Pointed Ray of Light spell to attempt to slay the wolves.
With the fireballs flying toward Sensei’s head, the helmet from the suit of armor flies in front of him to protect him from the attack and reflect it back at the wolves. We then find out that Melos slid into Sensei’s helmet after it came off and has been tailing them. Kotaro starts to freak out but Suzuki tells him to calm down and sends his giant white wolf out to attack Sensei. The wolf bites into him but absorbs the poison that Sensei took before the fight. After the wolf dies, Kotaro runs away but Suzuki is determined to not give up. He then pulls out his last card, the controlled Annette which startles Ysha.
Unafraid of Annette, Sensei walks towards her while she brandishes a knife. He states, “I know you aren’t a bird in a cage”, which is a similar depiction to when she was being controlled. This causes her resolve to become shaky. Suzuki proceeds to order her to finish things, but we see that Sensei’s words have opened her cage door and she stabs herself to break the spell. Ysha is asked to then heal Annette.
Seeing that he has no more pawns on the board, Suzuki attempts to commit suicide with the same knife that he gave Annette. Sensei catches the knife as Suzuki is plunging it towards himself and tells him Don’t Kill yourself. He states that he’s in the middle of writing a book about him and if he dies he can’t finish the story. We then get to see Suzuki’s past and how he dealt with constant bullying and rejection from society. How once he got his power, he wasn’t going to let anyone put him down again.
After learning more about him, Sensei proclaims that his novel is done. Originally titled No Longer Heroic, Sensei retitles it No Longer Allowed in Another World. This caused the pages to spit out and start to circle around Suzuki. Sensei proclaims that his story gave him the desire to write again but that he can’t consider it a masterpiece. As he tears up the one page, the pages catch ire and a teleportation circle appears underneath Suzuki. After finishing the tale, Sensei has a gift and it is called Storyteller.
As a reward for saving the town, Ysha has bought Sensei a new coffin. Pulling Annette to the side, she gives her blessing to their adventure and says to stay by his side. She then asks did he turn out that way because the world gave him more power than he deserved; will he be able to live a happy life now that he’s returned to his own world?
The end credits then show Suzuki back in the real world applying for a retail job at a family market. He is then offered the job. As he goes outside it starts to snow. A letter falls with a signature stating to be continued.
Episode 4 Impressions
Episode 4 finally gives us some answers to what is going on while still opening up Pandora’s Box and letting out some other questions. Why was Sensei’s gift not revealed til he wrote? Will all the Heroes/Other Worlders be sent back to earth or will some move on to the afterlife? Once they get back, will they resume their lives where they last left off or will time have passed and they have just a comma gap?
Sensei’s one gift is explained but it still fails to explain the poisoning. Additionally, it is a bit ironic that Sensei tells Suzuki not to kill himself when he himself keeps trying to die or has little regard for his own life and attempts to die each episode. In episode 3, the armor that Annette buys for Sensei is literal plot armor meant to keep him safe in more ways than one.
As a stand-alone episode, episode 4 would fall a bit flat but combined with episode 3’s plot and some of the prior backstory, we get better world-building and the plot moves further at a faster pace than before. After watching the first four episodes over again, there is no clear indication that his ability to write would be his power. The poison is still not explained but that will come at a later date most likely.
As a funny side note, Suzuki’s laugh and demeanor are reminiscent of Mello from Deathnote; with Mello’s belief that he can control all things it feels like a very similar aspect or at least inspiration. The ending of the episode with the snow symbolizes rebirth, however, with the torn letter appearing and it saying to be continued, it would not be a massive surprise if Suzuki gets Isekai’d again and aligns himself with Sensei.
