Isekai Quartet The Movie: Another World Anime Film Review

When it comes down to it, the main selling point of Isekai Quartet as a whole is watching characters from across entirely different series interact—and often in comical ways. Does this film do this as well as the TV series? The answer is a simple “yes.”

The film begins with our heroes being transported to a post-apocalyptic fantasy world and promptly being attacked. This, in turn, splits them into three main groups. The majority end up with Subaru—though notably without the rest of the titular quartet and Emilia. This allows for lots of humorous interactions between the characters as their leaders are all notably absent. At the same time, Subaru is forced into the role of de facto head of the class and serves as the main point of contact between our heroes and two of the characters already occupying this world, Alec and Pantagruel.

Meanwhile, Ainz and Kazuma (who make a great odd-couple pair) meet up with the final inhabitant of this world, a woman clad in the same style of uniform as Tanya, named Vera. She reveals that she had been isekai’d to this world and is attempting to return to her old world at the head of an army of golems to bring an end to the war. This has brought her into conflict with Alec and Pantagruel, as they wish to stay in this world and are against her returning to her own.

This brings us to the main themes of the film—loneliness and lies. Vera is a woman suffering from extreme betrayal. The Saga of Tanya the Evil world’s equivalent of a first-generation German-American, she suffered greatly once the war in Europe began. She found herself and her family shunned by the community she had grown up in—and vowed revenge on those responsible.

Yet, in this ruined world with Alec and Pantagruel, she found peace and a new family. Subsequently, being betrayed by them—being lied to about not being able to return to her old world—has made her even more distrustful of others and hyper-focused on her original goal.

However, Vera wasn’t the only one alone. Pantagruel spent 400 years on this desolate world as its only conscious inhabitant. With the arrival of Alec and Vera, she finally had someone to talk to—to live life with. Giving that up, even when she knew she should tell Vera what she and Alec had discovered about traveling to other worlds, was too hard for her to do.

Though this web of lies and loneliness puts Pantagruel, Alec, and Vera at the center of the film’s story, that doesn’t mean our heroes from across the Kadokawa multiverse are unrelated to it. The golems that populate the film are related to both the KONOSUBA and Overlord worlds. Likewise, Alec himself has deep ties with the past of the Re:Zero world that set up the problems Subaru and Emilia now face there.

Yet, the deepest connection in the film is that between Tanya and Vera. While Tanya does not know Vera, Vera most certainly knows about the infamous Tanya “White Silver” von Degurechaff. And through her, Tanya is confronted with her own role in starting a world war. But the real meat of their shared story is the question of how much, if at all, Tanya has changed since the start of Isekai Quartet. Is she still the overly rational, empathy-lacking, stickler for the rules she always was in her own anime? Or has she grown to the point where she can sympathize with the plight of a stranger—or, perhaps, even an enemy?

One of the best-selling points of this film is that it actually feels like a movie. Rather than the school setting of the series, we are instead treated to a true fantasy world of ruins, deserts, forests, and golems. Beyond that, the cinematography is greatly improved with surprisingly clever camera work and some legitimately striking moments of visual composition. And then there’s the big extended fight scene at the climax. It’s far beyond anything we’ve seen in the TV anime, and not only does it look good, but it also creatively uses the characters’ powers and backstories from across all the different series to achieve victory.

Isekai Quartet The Movie: Another World is clearly made by a group of people who have an insanely in-depth knowledge of all the series they’re combining. It’s full of fun moments and comedic beats—but also manages to delve into a surprising bit of heartfelt drama. Of course, the insane bar for entry is the weakest aspect of this film, as it’s best if you’ve not only seen all four main anime plus The Rising of The Shield Hero but also the previous two seasons of Isekai Quartet. However, if you’ve seen at least two of the big four anime Isekai Quartet is based on, I think you’ll be surprised at how much you enjoy this film.