Koji Kagami is a modest sort of fellow who loves killing monsters.
The Villager of Level 999 S1
The first two episodes are now streaming on Crunchyroll. Subsequent episodes will debut every Wednesday.
To be clear, Koji is not a bloodthirsty warrior who delights in murdering monsters. He's just practical about it.
Sometime in the future, Koji lives on a planet known as Everclear, in a kingdom formerly known as Japan. When monsters began appearing, everyone was assigned a level; those with special talents, such as heroes or magicians, are assigned higher levels. The most populous group, the villagers, are regarded as the lowest of all, with levels ranging from 1-10.
A Hero arrives at a village one day to recruit higher-leveled people to his war party to do battle with the mighty Demon King, who wages war against the people. The Hero himself is an 80, while his accompanying Sage is a 40, but has the advantage of being a princess. Koji wants nothing to do with the Hero or Sage or their war party; instead, he prefers to hunt monsters on his own.
His monster-hunting leads him to cross paths with the Hero and Sage in a cave, where a certain sacred sword is to be found. Legendarily, the sword, fixed in a stone, can only be withdrawn by someone with a level of 80 or above. (Sounds strangely like The Sword in the Stone, doesn't it?)
Koji, however, confesses that he ignorantly removed the sword from the stone and sold it to a local merchant. The Hero still invites Koji to join his group, which he declines, instead teaming up with a young girl who identifies as a demon. (The horns affixed to the back of her head give her away.) Koji only wanted to save the girl from the Hero's group, who all wanted to kill her. Outside, Koji intends to leave the girl behind, only for her to propose marriage!
Episode 2 also premiered today, and it goes further on explaining the girl's goal -- she wants to help her father, the Demon King, who has become sick. (What? Demons get sick?) Beyond that, she wants to put an end to the endless fighting between demons and humans, so peace can rule the land.
The conclusion of Episode 2 suggests that the quest will take on greater dangers with a dark force revealed. The official synopsis goes further:
"In Earthclear, everyone is born into a fixed role, and villagers are the weakest of all. Most never rise above Level 5--except Koji Kagami, who is Level...999?! On a monster hunt, he meets Alice, the Demon King's daughter, and discovers they share an impossible dream: coexistence between humans and demons. In a world destined for conflict, they charge into battle to defy fate and shatter the rules."
The Middle Ages-style characters and landscapes are pleasant to gaze upon, and the first two episodes keep the action forward while holding light comedy in reserve. It's a pretty good start, and I could imagine myself continuing to watch it, even though it doesn't feel like a top-priority title.
Image ©Koneko Hoshitsuki / KADOKAWA / THE VILLAGER OF LEVEL 999 Partners
Now Streaming celebrates independent and international genre films and television shows that are newly available on legal streaming services.