The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat (2021)

[世界最高の暗殺者、異世界貴族に転生する]

Season 1

Director: Masafumi Tamura
Studio: Silver Link, Studio Palette
Starring: Kenji Akabane, Reina Ueda, Yuki Takada
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
An assassin betrayed by his organization is given a second chance at life in a fantasy world on the condition that he assassinate that world's Hero.

Impressions:
When I started this series, I didn't realize it came from the mind that gave us Redo of Healer (which, by the way, I hard noped out of in Episode 2). Fortunately, this series never gets that dire. It has a lot of the elements of typical isekai trash, but somehow the way those elements were put together and presented just clicked with me. Maybe part of it is that the protagonist earned his original skillset and that even with the advantages he was given by his patroness, he's still sorely outclassed by the Hero and is going to have to use his brains to win. Another part is that he isn't obnoxiously horny and/or milquetoast. When he does form a romantic attachment, he's clear on it and pursues it in a mature manner. His little battle harem is rather appealing, too. I particularly like Maha for her intellect and straightforwardness. The magic system is fairly interesting and I'd actually like to see it explored a little more, but the main focus here is getting all the pieces together to set up Lugh's eventual confrontation with the Hero. While the gag of the failed reincarnates is amusing enough, it would spice things up if there were actually some that were capable of being serious allies or rivals. (If I understand correctly, this was anime-original material, so it wouldn't factor into the main story.) Anyway, I liked this probably more than I should've, enough for me to comfortably recommend it for a watch.

Rating:
Watch It