ARIFURETA: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (ありふれた職業で世界最強, Arifureta Shokugyō de Sekai Saikyō) is a 2019 television anime series based on the light novel of the same name written by Ryo Shirakome. It was adapted by studios Asread and White Fox and directed by Kinji Yoshimoto. Hakuhodo DY MAP published the series and was first broadcast in Japan on July 2019 as part of the Summer season.
Background:
“Hajime Nagumo and his high school class are summoned to save a fantastical world. But when Hajime is separated from his classmates and falls into the depths of a dungeon, he’ll have to welcome the abyss to survive the monster-filled world.”
Plot Synopsis via Manga Entertainment, December 2020
Isekais are still a popular trend for anime these days. Yep there’s a lot as I have mentioned in the past. During 2019 there were at least a dozen anime that was part of the genre and as you would expect, they are either a mixed bag or done before. ARIFURETA is one of those stories that I couldn’t help enjoy a lot and I was surprisingly invested for in terms of its story, characters and the world building.
That being said, good fucking lord this anime. Everything I said above was from reading the first four volumes of the light novel, because the first episode of the anime adaptation was so messy it motivated me to read the source material, so in terms of getting people interested in the story it kinda did the job. The best way to summarise ARIFURETA‘s anime adaptation is one word – heart-breaking. This should have been one of the most popular Isekai anime shows in recent years and instead loses its reputation because of the production problems.
White Fox was well-known for their adaptations of Re:ZERO, Steins;Gate and heck they even tackled Cautious Hero. For ARIFURETA they dun goofed on the character designs early on, which resulted in backlash from both the fans and the author. This was pretty much the reason why Asread had to step in to help with the production because it basically meant redoing the whole thing and as such we had a messy product. Considering ARIFURETA‘s anime did so well it managed to greenlit a second season, I hope that upcoming season can rectify the problems and be more faithful because cramming four novels into 13 episodes (with one of the volumes trimmed and butchered into two episodes) in the first season was a terrible decision.
The show’s opening theme song is a banger though.
Getting back onto the topic of this post, despite it’s massive problems I don’t think ARIFURETA will ever get a proper remake so this is what we get. Funimation acquired the English rights for the series and as I expected, offered a limited edition package which surprisingly sold out in North America. Manga Entertainment brought the series over into the United Kingdom and Ireland, with some major delays caused by the limited edition.
Limited Edition Contents:
Funimation is rather inconsistent in their limited edition presentations. While the general core aspect is intact (a rigid box with an Amaray case), the rest depends on the amount of bonus features and items included. ARIFURETA adapts a concept that was used for Darling in the FRANXX and Violet Evergarden by having the set take a horizontal approach than the usual vertical standing design.
Included in the limited edition is the series on both formats inside an Amaray case and slipcover, unfortunately Manga once again re-used the slipcover artwork for the amaray’s front cover which is disappointing because I really liked the promo artwork that was used for the front cover on the Funimation set.
In terms of physical items we have a 40-page booklet, 6 art cards, 3 vinyl stickers and 2 exclusive enamel pins that double as lapel pins and cufflinks. Some decent items and I suspect the lack of materials from the Japanese side is probably why there’s not that much in terms of content.
Also much like my Cautious Hero limited edition UK set, I am also missing one of the items for this release. Poor Shea, her sticker ain’t with my copy lol.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with amaray packaging and clean artwork
- Specification and BBFC description on amaray, slipcover & info sheet
- 40-page Booklet with exclusive voice actor interviews
- 6 Art Cards
- 3 Vinyl Stickers
- 2 Enamel Pins
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Manga Entertainment
Released: 21st December 2020
The limited edition release for ARIFURETA: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Season 1 covers episodes 1 to 13 plus 2 OVAs and recap across two Blu-ray discs and two DVD discs. The encode and authoring were done by Funimation, but Manga included their logos at the beginning. Speaking of the discs the episode count is split evenly, so episodes 1-6 are on the first disc and 7-13 on the second disc for both formats.
The audio options available for the series include Japanese with English subtitles and the Funimation English dub. The two OVA episodes included were not dubbed, thus its audio option is Japanese with English subtitles. The white subtitles are locked during Blu-ray playback, and the regions are locked to B for Blu-ray and 2 for DVD.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
DVD Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Video | Standard Definition in NTSC format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | 2 |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 1:
- Episode 5.5 Omnibus: Great Orcus Labyrinth
Disc 2:
- OVA: Yue’s Diary
- OVA: Hot Love Springs Eternal
- Twitter Picture Drama
- Promo Videos
- Commercials
- Textless Opening Song “FLARE” Ver. 1 & 2
- Textless Closing Song “First Song”
DVD On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 1:
- Episode 5.5 Omnibus: Great Orcus Labyrinth
Disc 2:
- OVA: Yue’s Diary
- OVA: Hot Love Springs Eternal
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
ARIFURETA: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Season 1 is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. You can order the limited edition Blu-ray & DVD set over on Amazon UK.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
Leave a comment