Common Name: Endro~!
Score: 6/10, 4/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure, Slice of Life, Magic, Moe
Summary: Chosen by fate to be the 999th hero of Naral Island, it is Yulia Chardiet's duty to defeat the 999th demon lord and now the time for their battle has arrived. She's gained a party of quirky friends including the ravenous fighter Fai, the motherly elf cleric Seira, and the magical card-wielding otaku Mei. She's battled the forces of evil and saved Naral's citizenry from demon hoards. Yet, just as the fight is starting to reach its pitch, something goes wrong. Rather than banishing the demon lord, Yulia accidentally sends them back in time, back before Yulia had been chosen as the hero. Now, though she looks like a little girl now and lacks all the allies and resources she had as a demon lord, Mao has been given the golden opportunity to outright sabotage the rise of the hero, cementing her as the only demon lord to defeat the fated hero. But fate, it seems, might have other plans in store for both the 999th hero and demon lord.
Review: As I've said in previous reviews, moe comedy is something of a guilty pleasure for me. Despite their general lack of a plot, solid characters, and any meaning beyond what can be skimmed off the surface, their simple, cutesy aesthetic just speaks to me in much the same way shounen trash and misery-fueled edge speaks to other people. That being said, I'm more than aware that these kinds of shows simply aren't for everyone. What I'm also aware of, though, is that that rule of thumb goes double for a niche title focused on channeling an even more niche genre. Designed by Yuru Yuri creator, Namori, Endro~! is a bog standard moe comedy that exists to lampoon the Dragon Quest franchise in much the same way his previous work lampooned the tropes and in-jokes of the moe slice of life genre. In other words, it's a comedy that more or less exists to look cute while it mocks a popular franchise and itself since it is ultimately an offshoot of that franchise.
Or, to put it another way, this is another one of those shows that tries to have its cake and eat it too.
That immediate point of criticism and mild damning aside, though, I can't say I dislike what Endro tries to do. As someone who has enjoyed the Dragon Quest series but never bought into or understood Japan's feral hype for it, Endro almost serves as a mirror to my own feelings on the franchise. Like the show's characters themselves, I enjoy the idea and gameplay of going on an adventure, making friends along the way, and bringing peace to a land I came to love through my interactions with the populous. Yulia Charldetto, or simply Yusha (the Japanese word for "hero"), more or less embodies that youthful enthusiasm I and many others have felt when playing Dragon Quest or another series like it for the first time. Yet, like like many of the other characters in this series, I feel like that idea starts to become more of an outdated tradition than an adventure once it has been repeated so many times. Being the 999th chosen hero of Naral Island, it's understood by the world at large that events are simply going to progress like they always have: the demon lord will resurrect, the people will be put in danger, the fate-chosen hero will rise up, and then the hero and their party will defeat the demon lord.
We all know this song and dance by now too.
Following the idea that this cycle is public knowledge by this point, though, Endro immediately works to set itself apart from that formula in at least one respect: the demon lord knows all this too. So, being the comedy that it is, Endro questions what might happen if the demon lord were given the opportunity to sabotage the hero's rise or if they decided to give up on being the demon lord altogether. Just to facilitate this question, Endro's story follows the daily life of the demon lord, the hero, and the hero's party after she comedically botches the job right at the end, sending the demon lord back in time to before Yusha became the chosen hero. Now functionally given a reasonable chance of winning, the demon lord opts to sabotage the hero by becoming her teacher at the school for adventurers. Through insults, trickery, and quests that should be impossible for the hero in her current state, the demon lord Mao (a pun on the word for "demon lord" being pronounced as "mah-oh" or "mao") attempts to ensure that the cycle ends with this generation.
Oh, I forgot to mention that Endro's demon lord is just a little girl that
cosplays as the traditional demon lord for dramatic effect.
As you might expect, though, fate comedically ensures that everything still goes more or less to plan. Despite Mao's best efforts, Yusha still manages to stumble upon the Hero's Sword and becomes the chosen hero even though the demon lord supposedly hasn't resurrected yet. So, realizing that she can't fight fate, Mao simply opts to give up on being the demon lord, dedicating herself to being an actual teacher for the girl fated to beat her and her party of weirdos. Yet even with that decision, fate and the world still keep on turning with or without Mao's willingness to play her role. Without her even noticing, Yusha progresses as a hero and ends up going on adventures and taking on quests where she does everything from saving a princess to defeating a tyrannical sea god, albeit in the most carefree and zany manner possible. So, when all is said and done, the strings of fate still pull Mao to become the demon lord, fight the hero, and lose to her. The only real difference this time around is that neither she or Yusha actually want to fight each other now that they've, in a bizarre but very literal twist of fate, become friends.
Luckily, since Dragon Quest's rules still apply, friendship has the power to beat anything, even fate.
Now, to be blunt, as effective as Endro's story might be in its final moments, the story doesn't really make up much of the show as a whole. Like many comedy series, the story is only really relevant in the first couple episodes, little establishing segments over the series, and at the very end. While the hero's various trials and journeys do build on the idea that the hero is, against all reason, growing into her role, they mainly exist for the sake of parody and comedy. As a series, Endro is all about mocking the various aspects of the Dragon Quest franchise and the numerous parodies born from it. From fetch quests and fan service to class restrictions and killing gods, Endro touches on pretty much every aspect of the Fantasy RPG genre and turns it on its head for comedic effect. A personal favorite of mine is the show's mockery of how ridiculous some magic systems in RPGs can be. Using a system they call Cartado, Endro's characters essentially use trading cards to summon the spells you'd expect to see in an RPG and a good deal more that are just ridiculous. So, as you might expect, this gives the show the ability to expand the breadth of its parody. From the sheer insanity some RPGs will display for the sake of novelty to the nature of TCG otakus and how artificial rarity is all just a capitalist scam, every aspect of TCG and gatcha culture is made free game because of this one, simple addition.
All the more so when its the sole defining character trait for one of the main cast members.
On that note, though, most of the show's parody comedy centers around how the show's trope characters interact with the traditions of Fantasy RPGs. When I say trope characters, though, that's not so much a criticism as it is a statement of fact. Yusha, for example, is little more than your typical idiot genki girl, running into danger without any thought and dragging her friends along for the ride. Similarly, all the other show's characters are similarly defined by both their class and one other tacked on characteristic. As the party's mage, Mei is presented as both the "random" chuunibyou of the party and an otaku for the show's TCG magic system. Similarly simplistic in her depiction, the party's fighter Fai is presented as being a wild child with a ravenous appetite. As the cleric of the group, Seira is the stern mother figure of the group. Also being the party's token elf, though, she presented as having a bit of a complex regarding her people's natural skill with bows and her flat chest, at once making her the most complex member of the party but hardly original. The only character that really shows any level of thought an nuance is the demon lord Mao whose loneliness and hatred of her fate make her flip-flop in her motivations over the series. Meanwhile, the show adds just one extra layer to her childish appearance and demeanor conflicting with her role as demon lord.
Mao is best girl. Fight me.
To be fair, though, as comedic as some portrayals are, there is a certain level of sense to them. As mentioned earlier, many of this show's casts also work to mirror people's feelings of the Dragon Quest genre in general. Like myself, Mao is just kind of sick and tired of this whole chosen hero versus demon lord affair. The only difference is that she is given a legitimate reason to hate this uninspired cycle of events, as opposed to my just being bored of the idea. As a polar opposite to her, though, Princess Rona exists as the hardcore fan of the Dragon Quest formula, having memorized the adventures and personalities of every hero and their party members. Rather than looking at Yusha and her party as individuals, Rona starts off with just being in love with the hero role, analyzing and evaluating Yusha and her party members in relation to their predecessors. Meanwhile, while these two focus on representing those who are already acquainted with the ins and outs of the formula, Yusha's genki personality and eagerness to make her own adventure speaks to the literal next generation of Dragon Quest fans. As her own person, she's experiencing all this in the first time and it is very much her journey, rather than just another iteration of a longer legacy. Her anticipation and naivete very much speaks to the mentality of those who are picking up the franchise for the first time and having a blast with it, regardless of whether they're playing the first entry in the series or the 999th game in the larger canon.
Even if her adventure is the worst iteration of the franchise yet, she's having the time of her life.
In the end, I'm forced to simply reiterate what I said at the start. Endro is one of those niche shows that isn't going to speak to everyone but will be enjoyable for those who it was made for. If you're a fan or critic of JRPG tropes and love moe comedy, then you really can't do much better than this. If you don't fall into that category, though, it's a mediocre show at best and hardly stands out from the millions of other moe titles available in any given season. Particularly since nothing about the overall presentation really stands out, there's nothing that can be used as a point of recommendation for this show beyond its initial conceit. Still, if nothing else, I can say that I liked what this show had to offer.