In and amongst the slew of isekai anime, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything with Low-Level Spells, offers something just a touch different.
It was announced that the story would be getting an anime adaptation at the beginning of the year, and now it’s finally here and heading towards its second episode.
The story follows many of the usual isekai tropes: a young man finds himself in a new world filled with magic and wonder, only this time he’s not alone. His whole class came with him. The story follows Tōka Mimori, and his classmates, who have been summoned to a new world by a goddess to act as heroes. While many of his classmates show exceptional promise and skill, Tōka’s grade is less than impressive and he is banished by the goddess to an inescapable dungeon. Here he learns that he isn’t lacking in power, it’s just a bit more unusual. He is determined to escape and vows to take revenge on those he cast him out.
Based on the light novel conceived by Kaoru Shinozaki in 2017, the story has received a lot of adaptations over the years. From a novel series, it was next turned into a light novel series, then, in 2019, a manga series both published by Overlap, and now, it’s finally getting the anime treatment. The story is being adapted for screen by Seven Arcs and is licensed by Crunchyroll for distribution outside of Japan.
Failure Frame’s second episode release date
This dark isekai was announced at a special event on January 21, 2024. The first episode, titled “The Goddess Announcing Her Summons” was released on July 5, and the second episode will follow a week later on July 12.
What’s next for Tōka?
In the first episode, we met Tōka and discovered that life in his own world hadn’t been that kind to him. We also met other classmates who took on archetypal roles, the class bully, the meek girl, the king of the classroom, etc. Before we knew it, they were transported to a new world by the goddess, told that they were to become heroes, and tested on their newfound magical abilities. Tōka’s abilities seem weak, and the goddess callously sent him away to the Ruins of Disposal stating he would weaken the group as a whole. It was here though, against a fearful monster, that he finally proved he has power after all.
The next episode will likely delve further into world-building as well as exploring Tōka’s abilities. This will probably come in the form of battles and character-driven moments that will likely be accompanied by childhood flashbacks. Though the anime has already started on a slightly dark note, we can only see it getting darker from here.
