# The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? (2020)

> An ordinary office worker reincarnated as an impoverished noble's eighth son tries to earn his keep and his freedom through magic in a feudal fantasy world.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/83737

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 24 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, fantasy, comedy
- Network: AT-X
- Cast: Asuka Nishi, Junya Enoki, Daisuke Namikawa, Hiro Shimono, Mao Ichimichi, Masashi Yamane, Mikako Komatsu, Shizuka Ishigami
- TMDB rating: 6.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11886172/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: wry, gentle, lighthearted, wistful, comforting

## What critics say

Audiences rate the series as mixed, appreciating its lighthearted take on reincarnation and magic while finding its familiar isekai framework unremarkable.

## Synopsis

The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? (2020) is a Japanese animated isekai series created for AT-X and produced by Shin-Ei Animation, adapted from a light novel. Its protagonist, a twenty-five-year-old office worker named Ichinomiya Shingo, wakes up as Wendelin, the eighth son of an impoverished noble family living far from the capital. Junya Enoki voices Wendelin, with Asuka Nishi as Elize, Daisuke Namikawa as Alfred, and Hiro Shimono as Erwin von Alnim among the principal cast. The engine of the series is simple and concrete: Wendelin has no succession rights and little knowledge of court politics, so he turns to his aptitude for magic to earn his keep and carve out a life of his own. Each episode follows his practical, unheroic efforts rather than any quest to save the world, and the mood stays light and wry even as loneliness and social constraint press on him. The single season of twelve episodes unfolds at a relaxed pace, with an everyday, slice of life texture. Fans of Ascendance of a Bookworm, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation and Re:Zero will find resonance in its reincarnation premise, gentle comedy and grounded fantasy setting.

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