While there are many reasons that gamers game, one of the biggest reasons is escapism. Games offer worlds and stories that let players experience things they can’t in everyday life, from exploring fantasy kingdoms to flying spaceships. Many gamers enjoy anime as well, which is why you see a lot of overlap between the two. The new anime on Crunchyroll (starting July 2) The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System combines gaming and anime into one, and while it sounds intriguing on paper, it offers nothing new.

The first episode introduces Elymas Edvaughn, who was born into a prestigious family of master swordsman. When he comes of age however he choses to be a Heavy Knight, a defective class of warrior that is highly frowned upon and leads to him being disowned by his father. Elymas however  knows there is something about the class that no one else knows, and sets out to prove to the world that the class is stronger than most people realize. Of course he also knows he lived another life, a life where he played a VR game that mirrors the world he finds himself in. And a life where the Heavy Knight was a class he learned how to master.

If the synopsis is confusing, join the club. Even watching the first couple of episodes doesn’t help make things any clearer than that. Of course this type of plot isn’t anything new and can be found in several anime currently found on Crunchyroll and beyond. Where The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System excels however is the animation. It’s bright, with strong colours and very hyper-stylized animation. While there is a lot of movement that can be hard to follow, it stands out.  Many find this type of style to be very distracting from the plot, but since the plot is rather weak it doesn’t really matter. It’s actually better to watch this type of animation on a small screen instead of a big one to help avoid experiencing nausea from the quick cuts and odd angles.

The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System is not for everyone. In fact it’s more for people who enjoy watching video game clips on TikTok and YouTube that it is for other anime watchers, because at times that’s all this particular anime feels like. Many people who watch those however eventually like to get their hands on the game and give the techniques a try themselves, but unfortunately this is an anime, and not a game. There is no game to play.

Perhaps it would be best to give the series a few more episode before judging it too harshly, because it does seem to have some promise. Or maybe it’s better to wait until after season one ends to see a complete review. So far however it feels more like something to avoid than to spend your time on.