Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki Part 2

I watched Part 1 and Part 2 as they aired, but I've had the time to go back and re-watch and subsequently write a proper review for the series as a whole.

In terms of Isekai, "Realist Hero" is not your typical trash or enjoyable slop. Yes, the cliché "Demon Lord is out to destroy the world" plot-thread is there, but it's more a narrative device used for world-building, rather than anything to do with the actual core of the show (as of yet).

Our MC, Kazuya, is not a typical level 999 Hero with all skills maxed-out, nor does he have a cheat that allows him ... to slay hordes of enemies and save everyone. He's a humanities student, with a vast knowledge base of modern-day political and societal practices, along with a good understanding of civilisation's history on Earth.

The story is about him using that knowledge to help save the Kingdom of Elfrieden from economic collapse and potential starvation, after the throne was suddenly given to him without much explanation by the previous King.
Quickly realising that he's out of his depth, he uses the tools at his disposal in a modern-thinking way to recruit multiple talented individuals that can help him in his endeavour, eventually bringing the Kingdom of Elfrieden back from the brink and into an age of prosperity.

When compared to typical isekai stories, this one is novel, and I personally found it to be a very enjoyable watch. Now, some may say that this show is a bit too much "tell, not show", as sometimes it's mentioned that Kazuya put such-and-such a reform into place, or something happened far too quickly, but, honestly, I cannot imagine watching several hours of a guy writing documents and talking with retainers about a reform or new law. It would have been a boring snooze-fest had that been the case.

The anime at least tries to strike a happy medium with showing certain things and only bringing up others in dialogue, and again, I think it does a good enough job at this to keep the story and watching experience enjoyable throughout.

I do however understand where some of the complaints are coming from though, as it's revealed (not really a spoiler) in EP12 of Part 2, that Kazuya has only been in the new world for 8 months, and although each of their months are 32 days long (a year is 384 days there), he accomplishes a hell of a lot in those 8-9 months.

Then again, when it's a world of magic that is semi-industrialised, you're King and can push whatever law/reform you want through, and you have incredibly loyal and talented retainers, it's not as far-fetched as it may first-appear.

Another benefit of this show is the varied cast. Each member of Kazuya's team is recruited due to a talent that they possess, and they therefore have their strengths, but they do also have their weaknesses. They're specialists in a specific field.
Now, yes, there's a harem here, especially in Part 2, but all the ladies have their own goals, personalities and reasons why they fall for Kazuya. It's not a case of simply looking at him once and wanting his babies. It's also refreshing that we have decently fleshed-out men present here too, who are wildly different from one another.

In regards to the harem, it's fairly well done here, and as the story is a bit more grounded in the sense of typical medieval politics, it makes sense from a narrative perspective too. I definitely don't think it ruins the story.

Lastly, the art and animation are serviceable. Definitely not some insane quality stuff, but passable for a series that has a lesser focus on hard-hitting, fast-paced action.

Overall, if it wasn't already clear, I really liked this series. It's something I've had no issue re-watching, and can't help but hope for a follow-up season in the future, even if it seems unlikely.
As this is kind-of a joint review of Part 1 and Part 2, as a whole I'd rate the show 8/10 "Very Good", and I would recommend it.

I really wanted to like this but the amount of focus this show has on the harem elements completely degrades any actual progression of the plot. I can tolerate a good amount of it, but when the pacing shifts from somehow things finding themselves to revolve around some girl that for whatever reason finds some kind of appeal in the most boring "realist" protagonist of all time, it starts to look feel like that's the only thing the writer of this slop actually cares about.

However, there are a few saving graces which is why I've labeled this at Mixed Feelings. The first half of this ... show is pretty decent, it establishes some decent world building and builds some of the characters up to your normal generic isekai level. The concept and applications of politics, government, and finance are all pretty good.

But once we pass that threshold, the characters regress back into plot devices to uplift the protagonist for zero reason.

If you're bored watch it. But just go watch genius prince instead, it's the same concept but executed significantly better.

The second season of realist hero continues to suck at being realistic. All people in the world are still retarded and treat an average person as god incarnate for saying the most basic things. My favourite scene this season is when the main character repeats someone's plan back at them and then commends the person he stole the plan from for being 'quick to catch on' to the plan. Add in a suggestion to exchange receivers and apparently this interaction is enough for a character to beg him to marry her sister because his sheer inventiveness would be such a big deal for their nation!! ...

Sadly the issues are not contained to a collection of lobotomised characters worshipping someone with half a brain. This season reveals slightly more about the worldbuilding and manages to ruin most of it. Part of that is due to the pacing, apparently the first two seasons span only nine months but he basically fixes all problems, turns slums into a place I could live and manages to deal with the 'refugee crisis'. By the way, this refugee crisis was a thousand people living in tents (A third of the continent was conquered and this nation has two million people??) and dealing with them was less of a priority than 'beautifying the city'. Overall the world building is just bad, the pacing is too fast and the progress feels like a minecraft youtuber doing some 'mining off-camera'.

Credit where credit is due, this season does attempt to explain the weird actions by the king in the first season but I didn't find it to be a particularly good explanation.

All in all this is a watchable anime but it's just not good, which is a shame. If you weren't sure whether you liked the first season, it doesn't get better and I can't recommend it.