Arifureta 3rd Season Review

Overall Rating 3.6 out of 10 - Disappointing conclusion of once promising series

I do not recommend watching.

Before writing this review, I had to go back to my reviews of the first two seasons to even understand why I did not drop it back then. Read them to get the idea as I do not want to repeat myself.

After taking from 2nd season a premise of a grand battle between Hajime and the demon army, 3rd season just went and straight betrayed it. They are not fighting; they are just going back home. Imagine say Starwars Episode 1 where after all the preparations to take back Nabu, they just decided to retire on Tatooine and snack woopi woopi instead. People will be burning cinemas. Here they did just that.

However, that is not the only problem. If they could take story interesting from there it would not have been that bad, but they could not. This season is the longest and most of that time is wasted on countless self-tests and battles with themselves in a repetitive boring labyrinth. Overused stereotype that despite some originality mixed in, still handled poorly and unpleasantly. Only bad people who want to use you for their selfish agenda would tell you to overcome yourself and deny yourself.

Characters took turn for the worse as well. Girls from Hajime's harem now lacking things that made them likable in the first two seasons. They no longer crave his attention more than anything in the world. 3rd season no longer provides that ego trip that make harem shows so popular and likable.

Not only that, but Hajime's classmates now tag along on a permanent basis. It would have been strange of him to forgive them for what they did to him in the beginning of the show, but that is what scriptwriters did. Sad.

The whole focus of the show is now about returning home towards boring school life or something. Why would one do something so stupid and dubious, when with the powers you got in this world you can live not just as kings but as gods?

Hajime is now not relatable at all. He lacks all selfishness, ambition and indifference to other people problems that made him so unique in the first place. He feels like an old self-hating man. He now serves girls in his harem instead of using them for his amusement. Sad.

The only redeeming quality of the show is that it occasionally can keep you interested, but very rarely so. In fact, it is not even clear if it's the last season or they plan another one.

Overall, a clear disappointment and an example of how not to make sequels. Sad.