Is ‘My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered’ a Parody Anime?

Summary:

• My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered is a new isekai this season which is so generic and ridiculous fans feel like it’s a parody.
• Even if it is a parody, it’s clearly not working, especially considering other series have done similar things but executed them better.
• Perhaps the issue is that this kind of joke doesn’t really work in anime.

My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! (Sokushi Cheat ga Saikyou sugite, Isekai no Yatsura ga Marude Aite ni Naranai n desu ga) isn’t talked about much this season. There are, of course, good reasons for that.

To many, the anime feels like a parody of itself. The main character is so incredibly overpowered that the series feels ridiculous, and every conflict is solved pretty much instantly.

The anime follows most of the isekai tropes, and even the name looks like a parody. Some viewers have suggested that the anime is a parody, akin to One Punch Man — but others aren’t very convinced.

What is it about?

Instant Death Ability is just about what you would expect from the name. The main character can just kill anyone and anything, from humans to abstract concepts. As if that wasn’t enough, he can also sense malicious intent and can’t really die himself.

This ability is, as you can guess, incredibly overpowered. In fact, there are no stakes in the series — there is literally no obstacle Yogiri Takatou, the protagonist, can’t instantly overcome, and the only real drawback he has is the fact that he’s too bored.

This setup seems ridiculous enough to be funny, but it just doesn’t work for most viewers. The scenes feel like they drag on too much, and it’s the kind of one-joke premise (if it even is a joke) that is only funny at the start.

Similar anime that did it better

Some of these setups work for different reasons. One Punch Man, despite initially being a parody, has surprisingly realistic character writing and an incredibly detailed world. The Misfit of Demon King Academy (Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha) also has a similarly overpowered protagonist, but the anime centers on him being incredibly cool — and it ends up working because he has many different strengths.

Even something like The Eminence in Shadow (Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute!), which is also on the border between parody and ridiculousness turned up to eleven, works because of how hilarious the protagonist’s antics are. Instant Death Ability has nothing like that, and many fans are considering dropping it.

Perhaps it doesn’t work as an anime at all

Arguably, the light novel or manga might be better ways to experience this series. You don’t have to constrain yourself to the pacing of the anime, and the female lead, Tomochika, might be less annoying (anime viewers complained about her).

Also, the anime adaptation seems to heavily censor the violence, which further drives people away.