Since when has there been an anime season without an Isekai anime with some Harem on top? This Summer(2022), we had an anime called, “Black Summoner.” It’s a relatively straightforward fantasy anime, you can easily expect most of your favorite Isekai tropes to play out, there’s some satisfying world-building, and plenty of gorgeous women too. All in all, it’s the kind of anime that can be easily enjoyed on a random Friday night when you are tired because of the entire week’s fatigue, your brain is hibernating, and all you want is just some nice, hilarious, Isekai anime to help you relax. It’s perfect for that kind of thing!
It’s indeed yet another “Generic Isekai Anime,” but it also manages to subvert your light expectations every now and then. So, what do we have? Basically, a random guy dies but as it turns out, his death was a mistake. Like calling the “Wrong No.” kind of mistake. And so, in order to make amends for his untimely death, his soul is confronted by the goddess of reincarnation, she is an absolutely stunning lady and despite the fact that our boy is now free of all carnal desires, he still couldn’t help but be charmed by her unparalleled beauty.
Anyways, so he is given a chance to enjoy a new life in another world, but he decides to take things further up a notch. Right then, in that very moment, he puts forth all of the memories of his previous life in exchange for overpowered skills and abilities, not to mention the Rank of an S-class summoner. He sacrifices his past for the sake of becoming overpowered, or maybe, there’s more to it? The goddess is pleased with his choice and offers him the chance of choosing any one individual of his choice to accompany him on his journey.
Fortunately, the choice was very easy for our protagonist, he declares that he wants her to be his partner. By the way, her name is Melfina. Yes, he won’t even have the memories of this choice, but considering Melfina’s beauty, he knows for a fact that he’ll fall for her once again without a shadow of a doubt. At the most basic level, someone might say that this situation is similar to the beginning of KonoSuba, but we know that isn’t the case. Melfina’s IQ is not under room temperature like Aqua, and unlike the protagonist here, Kazuma wasn’t head over heels for Aqua either. All right, so just like that…
He is about to be given life in this fantasy world without any recollection of what happened before whatsoever. His name will be Kelvin Celsius, and right before he loses his memory for good, he wishes that Kelvin will find happiness in this new world now that he’s free from the memories of his past. When he wakes up again, he is in the middle of a forest, and of course, he knows nothing about his situation. Conveniently, a game Menu pops up in front of his face. It enthusiastically congratulates him and states that this is a fantasy world of Swords and Magic. She then tells Kelvin to go to the city and register in the Adventurer’s Guild or else nothing will start. He is also told about the fact that he has been reincarnated, and then about his current stats. His stats go like this, As a 23-year-old, he is an S-ranked Summoner, but an F-ranked Green Mage or Wizard, whatever that means.
Kelvin starts referring to Menu as “Menu San,” and as it later turns out, she is the reincarnation of Melfina, her current form is that of a menu, but if he acquires enough magical energy, he’ll be able to give her a physical form as well. He was the one who tamed her as a Summoner, so it’s only befitting that he takes care of her. In total, Kelvin can have 10 followers as his summons, Melfina is one of them and so there are 9 more to go. Then after Melfina explains how she became one of his followers and also adds that she is quite happy, she has always been reincarnating people all the time, so a little vacation like this wouldn’t hurt, besides, just like how Kelvin fell for her, she also fell for Kelvin.
This is kind of awkward for Kelvin at first though since he wasn’t the one who asked for her after all. When they go to the Adventurer’s guild, Kelvin meets a sweet girl named Ange at the reception. He is given a form and everything, but when is about to write Summoner as his class, Melfina advises against him because of the sheer rarity of this class. Furthermore, even if there is a Summoner or two around, they barely reach Class B. An S-class Summoner? Now that is a practical anomaly in this world. In the end, he is convinced by Melfina and decides to write his second class.
Of course, he’ll be starting at Level F as a Green Mage and if he wants to get a better rank, all he can do is clear quests of the same rank or higher. He asks Ange to recommend him a few quests.
But they are all too meek, we’re talking about killing three innocent slimes, collecting herbs, and then retrieving a cat that ran away. He goes with the Slimes’ quest, gets himself a wooden wand because that’s what Mages are supposed to have on themselves, and then they proceed to confront some Blue Slimes. He uses his appraisal ability to gauge their stats. Instead of using his potent abilities, he uses his wooden wand to first weaken them but the Slime was a better stud, he lands a solid blow in Kelvin’s stomach. Though this wasn’t enough to take our main character out. Kelvin continues hustling and finally manages to tame the Slime, he names it Clotho, and comes to realize how a Summoner is able to communicate with their Summons through telepathy. He then uses Clotho to destroy the neighborhood Slimes community.
This was indeed a job well done. They get enough money to get themselves a room for the night, but with time to spare, Kelvin starts taking a stroll around the town, he goes into an alleyway where he comes across a Slave Trader.
Kelvin is interested enough to look closely, and when he finds a half-blooded Elf, his interest arouses even more, but not enough to bother getting it considering how he didn’t have enough money in the first place. From there on out, Kelvin starts going to that forest to level up every day. Both he and Clotho gradually start getting stronger, but this is still the beginning of the countless adventures that await our Lively protagonist.
Getting Melfina a physical body, buying that Elf Slave, making his mark on this world, and discovering the implications behind his past life. If you want more on this story, definitely give it a watch. Now, as I said before, this anime isn’t meant to be a profound literary experience, it is only meant to be a light watch for you to enjoy when you’re feeling tired or lethargic. Just let yourself and your brain relax, and trust me, Black Summoner is good at what it does try to do. The Source material is even more so.
The protagonist could use a stronger personality and the plot definitely feels directionless, but there is enjoyment in those aspects as well. Kelvin may not be the loudest person in the room, but he is no pushover either. Honestly, it’s the girls who could use more personality and not the protagonist himself. Also, his voice actor is the same person as the one who voiced Meruem from Hunter x Hunter and Kei Tsukishima from Haikyuu, so no way, he isn’t a stud.
I haven’t read the Light Novel or the Manga, but I recall some fans explaining how the anime leaves too much out. So, why should you watch Black Summoner? It’s a surprisingly relaxing fantasy anime, the girls are adorable, the protagonist knows what he is doing and he’s definitely having a good time. It’s kind of weird he doesn’t have any memories of his past, maybe at some point, Melfina discloses his past in the light novels as well as the reason why his Past Self wanted him to be free of those memories, but nothing to go off on at the moment.
I don’t know, what do you think? Not just about the premise, but also the anime as a whole. Have you watched it? What did you think about it? Or are you planning on watching it? Let me know in the comments section below!
If you like our review on Black Summoner and why He Sacrifices His Memories to Clap A Goddess make sure to check out our other anime reviews here!
