By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting​

Next month is the release of an anime I’ve been looking forward to, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs (or, in Japanese, Otome Game Sekai wa Mob ni Kibishii Sekai desu).

There are a number of reasons I like this isekai, but the main one would probably be the unique approach it takes to the genre. The main character, Leon, is reborn into an otome video game. He recognizes the game mostly because of his sister who was a major fan and had him play it. Of course, other titles have had a similar premise, like Transferred to another world, but I’m saving the world of an Otome game!? (or, in Japanese, Isekai Tensei, Ore ga Otome ge de Kyuuseishu); however, I don’t believe that I’ve encountered another title like Trapped in a Dating Sim that takes the initial premise and then overlaps it in an amalgamation of other action-type genres. 

Just in the opening chapters, for example, we’re introduced to a significant social problem of the otome-based world he’s been born into. That being the strict difference of classes and an inherently sexist system in which men are, in many ways, second-class citizens to their female counterparts. 

Then we’re set on an adventuring story where Leon needs to find a treasure to escape being married off to an elderly woman. Then, upon finding the treasure, we’re introduced to what I would call a collection of mini-arc, which begins with him getting an over-powered robot that can kill or make just about everything, a title of his own, and entrance into a special magic-academy for the rich, powerful, and popular (with, of course, the game’s heroine as a scholarship student). 

At school, one of the first of the many mini-arcs is the tea party, in which Leon through a single interaction with a Butler-like instructor becomes a fan of hosting the best tea parties. Afterwards we go back to adventuring, then have a mini-mecha arc, and a racing one–and by the mid-20 chapters we’re into an aerial-pirate battle with a short war to be introduced and concluded sometime in the 30-count chapters. 

It is a whirlwind of events marked by comedy though its exaggerated transitions between focuses and emotions as well as premise. 

Some key characters that bring out the best in this series aside from Leon and his talking-robot is the primary antagonist: a low-level villainess who’s taken the place of the original heroine among the Prince’s entourage, Marie (a Viscountess who is [spoiler!] probably the reincarnation of Leon’s original little sister from Japan). 

I started reading this manga about two years ago and it’s only become better and better, which is why I’m excited to put the anime on my watch list and highly encourage anyone looking for a good laugh to do so as well! 

10/10 – Should read 

And definitely a series to look out for this coming season!