Beast Tamer

Considering the fact that Beast Tamer is basically a load of clichés and a harem where the protagonist catches girls like Ash catches Pokémon, and it's not too hard to notice the flaws here, I have to say (to my own surprise) that it's ultimately a pretty likable show. Rein may be another goody-goody on the anime scene, but at least he's the good kind, his good nature isn’t annoying but rather quite endearing. I was able to root for him, and be happy for him when he found new friends and a family environment. While I didn't shed any tears at the end of the first season, I felt pretty good after finishing it. It’s the kind of harem fantasy that would make me watch a second season. One could argue how OP the hero is. The unexpected solutions to many problems along the lines of "this is what the tamers of our village normally do" (to which the girls would react with a resigned look on their faces, making it clear that it's not actually normal) feel like the writer is pulling it out of his ass. The same goes for the way in which the protagonist extracts abilities from the individual girls. While it makes some sense, it's not an original or good concept, more of a crutch. On the other hand, it’s true that while the main character has a really decent harem at the end, there's no character in it that annoys me or that I find hard to tolerate. Quite the opposite, it's a pretty cool sample of anime ladies. Sure, their personalities aren’t complicated. Truth be told - if I wanted to look for any depth in them, I'd hit rock bottom in a second, but they each have some sort of interesting or sad backstory, so it's relatively easy to form some sort of relationship with them. There's quite a chemistry between the whole group, and it’s all kind of nice. Another thing that worked out well is the villain. It's not hard to dislike him and his whole crew, their actions are really obnoxious, but at least they don't come across as total morons, such as the heroes in Tate no Yuusha. Quite the opposite, Arios can be a bit sneaky and mean, which combined with his demeanor makes you curious to see how he'll end up, thinking you'll probably enjoy his potential final punishment. It's also an interesting question whether anyone in Arios' crew will have an epiphany in the future and possibly redeem themselves. All in all, I'm surprised. I didn't have high expectations for Beast Tamer to begin with. I expected him to turn out miserably, like the farmer from this season and plenty of other undemanding fantasy harems in past seasons. I'm all the more surprised that it wasn't a bad show in the end. It’s not brilliant and there are a lot of flaws, clichés, and some repetitiveness here and there, but it's definitely a 6/10 from me and if there's a second season I'll watch it. (24/12/2022)