Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu! 3476y

I Shall Survive Using Potions! - 1st time's a fluke, 2nd time's a borderline , and 3rd time's the charm? NOPE, this trend has finally ended here...

If you've been on the anime bandwagon for about 4-5 years now, you might have seen this Fall 2019 show called Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne! a.k.a Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!. Despite the rather lackluster premise and subpar production, it was a show where the simplicity of the fantasy Isekai reincarnation OP genre, by meandering away from many of its contemporaries at the time, it was a ... solid show that was created by the pseudonym novelist FUNA.

But within the span of a year, the author's 2 remaining LNs were adapted...and they were absolute stinkers at best. Winter's Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu a.k.a Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement (which was said to be the best, but I didn't buy that crap and found it just decent), and now Fall's Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu! a.k.a I Shall Survive Using Potions!, which is just a side-story-ish shell of Rougo 8-man and a "perfect" backup for inching the former series being inferior over the other as the worst series of the author's biography. Oh, did I mention that both LNs were released just a month apart from each other? That's how you know that FUNA did think of an idea to run two simultaneous series at once: one about money and the other about potions, and to spice the story up, interchange story mechanics between both works, so neither will ever be the wiser. Hello, we are NOT idiots who can't tell the difference between this and the other.

If you're familiar with either NouKin or Rougo 8-man, Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!'s story elements are so predictable that you can tell straight away: someone dies unexpectedly in real life, only to be Isekai reincarnated into the fantasy world where the gods or goddesses bless the MC with what she wants to have in her new second life. And in this show, for an office secretary turned 15-year-old girl by the name of Kaoru Nagase, this is her new life now: meeting the world's goddess Celestine to get blessed by her with the ability to make potions of her choice, along with an infinite Item Box to supplement with it, and much more.

Right away, when you put Potion-danomi and Rougo 8-man side by side, it's the same goddamn story progression with a different purpose and outcome, and even the characters exhibit the same goddamn personality: Kaoru is NO different from Mitsuha Yamano, being smart young girls who can defend themselves with their vast knowledge (until they need assistance from the world's authorities to protect their back). Of course, if you're new to either series, I won't relent as much, but after having watched all 3 FUNA-adapted LNs, it's safe to say that while the author's marketing was done quite well and had some traction in Japan, over in the West, we don't care for the same copy-pasted blurb each and every time, as is the case for both shows (NouKin IS the exception that the author attempted and was fairly well received with the anime).

Back to Potion-danomi, Kaoru's goal is not just potions alone, but to find love and have her descendants spread out in the world...hey, just like Rougo 8-manmai in of money! But being a commoner, she does not know of the cultures of the various places she goes and has to rely on two groups of people: the nobility (aided by tte, Roland, and Alan) and the orphans (Emile, Belle, and the rest of the many abandoned children) that they dub the Goddess cult, given Kaoru's close friendship with Celestine. That's fine and all for the community that said girl is seeking to create to better the lives of everyone, but I can't help thinking that this goody-two-shoes formula has been replicated twice in a row and that Kaoru seems to be a subset of Mitsuha in her own good and bad ways.

Somewhat expectedly, for the worst show in FUNA's lineup, you have one of the most unknown studios out there to be assigned to adapt this work. Jumondo as a studio, they're easily seen as worse than 3rd-rate, starting from their Spring 2022 show, Kono Healer, Mendokusai a.k.a Don't Hurt Me, My Healer!, whose low-tier production actually suited the show quite appropriately. Next to come would be the production of Satoshi Mizukami's Hoshi no Samadare a.k.a Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer for Summer and Fall, and it easily looked like garbage. This brings us today to Potion-danomi, and FUNA's rather simplistic art, once again, suits the production being just a lower-than-average show. Honestly, there is just nothing great about the animation.

The music fares even worse. katagiri and harmoe's OP and ED songs were subpar to decent, but just not that memorable, and it sure sounds cheery...provided if you just listen once and skip it the next time.

On this basis, I can shout: THANK F***ING GOD!...that FUNA's LNs have all been adapted into anime, so we won't have to suffer anymore from mediocre to subpar writing, especially with this and Rougo 8-manmai. NouKin will forever be the ONLY show that I'll recommend; Rougo 8-manmai if only for the interest, and this show? Please skip it entirely.

Another anime from FUNA sensei light novel works (FSLNW) and indeed, it is basically 'saving 80000 gold in another world 2: electric boogaloo'.
Comparing both animes, we have:
a female MC of ages around 18-21 getting reincarnated as a 12-15 year old looking loli in another world that is way too similar to earth in middle ages of Europe and both isekai worlds not having magic in a common sense,
being very wise and intelligent but sometimes dumb enough to not use their cheat powers that are bestowed upon them by a certain god or goddess,
characters and world design building that is going more detailed than other off ... the shelf isekai animes (i guess this is a good thing? or bad?) but more detailed as in narrator-san and mechanics wise,
having cheat level powers and using them in intentional and unintentional ways to achieve their goals and sometimes thinking outside the box,

well, basically like that. in this anime we have a girl who can make potions out of thin air. she uses this to gain money, open shops, help poor people etc. and she is not afraid to be seen as a goddess or an angel (not figuratively, too).
The anime is made by Jumondo, the studio that often helped other studios in anime making, and also made "dont hurt me my healer" or "kono healer mendokusai" which was... i dont know. if you have watched it, you know it. this anime feels similar to that in of animation quality. not good. not worst.
i didn't really paid attention to op/ed, music, bgm, ost, etc. so i don't know.

But personally, I like FUNA sensei's female lead MC's. they are fun and unique in the anime region. if you like the other works of FUNA, which are "didnt I told you to make my abilities average" (mile chan, or adele von ascham) and "saving 80000 gold in another world" (mitsuha von yamano), you might as well like this one too.

There is notihng unique about this anime. it is basically saving 80000 gold in another world's second edition, or you could even call it an "alternate edition". But hey, if you liked those before, you might as well like this one too. just, don't expect a second season, and the manga is not that far away, so you'll end up in light novel reading sites hell.

The animations is nothing to write home about, the designs are ehh, and almost every aspect of the show points to it being another bland generic isekai, but there are a few distinct factors that make it a hidden gem in the isekai genre

Firstly is that the pacing is fucking insane

The show moves at a breakneck speed, new plot points are constantly being started as soon as the previous ones have ended and it's always going to new areas when old ones have gotten dull.

The tone kind of gets fucked in the process as dramatic scenes can be undercut with comedic ones and vice versa, ... but you kind of get used to the fucked up tone as the show progresses

And secondly the main character Kaoru is uniquely Entertaining
She’s a woman in her 50’s in the body of a loli and she’s just constantly lying and fucking with people around her to get what she wants.

99 percent of the time she doesn't even need to lie, she could just get out of the situation with her powers, fucking with people just for the sake of it just kind of how she is and i find that really entertaining.

If you’re more pedantic I can see how that could piss you off, but personally her fuckery is entertaining enough that I could ignore it.

And The show drags a bit at parts, particularly the scenes where she’s chewing out people for being bad or whatever, but even those scenes are only slow if you compare it the rest of the show’s pacing

but overall the show is pretty entertaining and decently enough written, which seem like the bare minimum but you’d but surprised how many shows fuck up at this hurdle if you’ve seen the amount of isekai’s i have

I’d feel pretty comfortable saying this is in my top 10 favorite isekai shows, which may says more to state of the genre than the quality of the show but that’s for you to decide

I’m pretty happy to give it a preliminary 8/10

If you're looking for an action anime this is not it, its a very family friendly anime and is just a story about a girl who is blessed, she doesn't hesitate to help those in need.
Animation is decent, it isn't the best and can't be compared to similar anime's like Kobayashi dragon maid.
There are mostly happy moments in this anime and little to no stressful scenes. Very relaxing to watch and wholesome.

The MC, Kaoru has a really mean looking eye, she pretty much scares everyone she gets mad at, shes very smart and can even advise countries about taxes and she doesn't rely on people ... too much and is overall dependent. If she really wants to i'd say she can destroy any country she wants but she mostly uses her abilities to help people in need.

I'd recommend this anime to anyone since its a very filling anime.

Not worth watching at all. It's like a 10yo kid wrote it... The characters have no depth, the plot is very poor, and the main character is literally like a God and can do anything and everything and it simply makes no sense. She ends up achieving nothing and the anime ends pretty much like it was at the end of episode 1.

Kaoru has very little backstory - we only know that she's a young adult with 2 best friends and a kind family but she suddenly suffers an accident because of God's mistake.
She's sent to another world with 3 OP cheats: she can create ... any potion anywhere; she can make any vial for the potions, and she has an item box. All good? NO! Because the anime suddenly makes her able to create pillars of light, cars, and even a prostetic pig nose that can sniff out thermal water.

Not only that, but this anime fails at everything: it's not romantic, it's not funny, it's not political, it's not about overcoming anything, not about self-improvement, not about friendship... This anime has no content! It's just an OP chick with all the power in the world going around and doing whatever she wants while not achieving anything at all besides curing people with what was supposed to be her actual power: making potions.

This anime adaptation is an insult to Funa, who is the author of I Will Survive Using Potion, and I'm a huge fan of his books, especially I Will Survive Using Potion, both light novels and manga.

Why is it a huge disappointment you ask ? Here are the main points:

1) The graphics and the art design my god are horrible. Just wtf is this, especially Belle character? She looks like a koala, and why are they all having baby faces? This is unacceptable. It was so painful to watch that I dropped the anime on the 7th episode. I would rather watch a 1999 ... cartoon or anime instead of this trash anime just because of the art design. some of the anime characters have chubby faces specially Kaoru which is disrupting.

2) The story pacing is very rushed; they even removed or cut important, crucial scenes that happened in the LN and manga which should have happened in episode 7 . thank god the anime wasn't 24 episode's because the animated studio could they have finished the entire 9 volumes of the LN just by cutting the story .

 3) Voice acting hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh What is this? Tell me, who did you hire for the voice acting? especially tte; her voice is so bad, I even thought a man was trying to mimic a female voice actor and her voice is so annoying every time she opens her mouth even other characters had annoying voices the only good voice is Kaoru.

Note : I would prefer watching 1999 cartoon than watching this shit . My advice do not watch this anime just read the manga or even the light novel both of them have better characters design and story.

Isekai starring walking encyclopedia girl, who took the role of Savior to deliver us all, with potions to do some magics. If only she was not so insufferable, then it would be something better than just another mediocre isekai.

All conflicts look too artificial and constructed to obvious end-goal. Which is to push protagonist out of comfort zone, show how good she is and how effortlessly she can solve any problem, and then to force her to continue search for easy life. Absence of concrete targets or goals beside basic survival/money, no visible desire to make lasting human connections or find love - make skin-deep story ... about nothing in particular.

More enjoyable than I thought it would be by the description. The MC was enjoyable, the story was fun, the music fit the show, the art was a bit above average.
The main character is sent to a new world, and deals with differences in expectations from expected to her new reality.
The story never takes itself too seriously, and provided me a few laughs and an enjoyable watch. Binged it over 2 days.
Music fit the show, nothing special but nothing negative. These are not songs I would listen on apple music, for example.
The art was nice, no jarring CGI or borders around objects. ... Nice pastels to fit the story.

It takes 5 episodes to really get rolling, but it is turning out quite well!
It is 'good clean fun' with actual plot, interesting side characters and a delightful MC: Kaoru-chan. How many shows can say that?
The art is clean and looks good. The music is nice, calm and non-invasive. Characters are well presented with easily identifiable looks and personalities. Lots of well-done details.
It doesn't take itself too seriously, which is good too!
The MC has a plan, the universe is well constructed & so far it has been a treat to watch it unfold. Sure, her ... powers are OP and the people of this isekai are, well, pretty naïve. Still? Every episode holds new revelations, plot twists and character development.
A solid 8 so far.

I have a deep love for the Isekai genre as a concept, it can create interesting characters who have life experience who are thrust into new circumstances and must use their wisdom to overcome them. Unfortunately the Isekai genre has for some years now been plagued with lazy writing and tropes. I Shall Survive Using Potions! is one of these cases.

The power system which the show revolves around is allowing the main character to generate potions to survive the new fantasy world she finds herself in. However, she immediately manages to break the power system by creating potions in any shape and in any container ... that she wants. In danger? Just spawn potions inside your enemy's heads. Beloved friend mortally injured? Just have them drink a potion. Any actual obstacle presented? Easily ignored thanks to this story's magic system bending over backwards to make sure our main character never actually has to think or overcome any bad thing coming her way.

It should not also go unmentioned that all antagonists in the show suffer from isekai dumb-villain syndrome and are immediately knocked down many pegs on the IQ totem when facing the main character. All solutions she presents to problems in the show are immediately accepted by would-be antagonists with gaping mouths and claims of how smart she is and how they never could have thought of that on their own.

The show offends its audience by assuming the viewer doesn't have enough intelligence to understand what's going on the show and it must therefore explain everything through exposition. Thoroughly unenjoyable and just another in a long line of shows that shamelessly use the Isekai genre to make quick cash.


Final Ranking: Maroon
Cheltome’s Ranking Tier System:
Gold (Legendary- 10 Stars) - Reserved only for the most incredible animes of all time. Animes that reach this rank expand the boundaries of their genre and are a must-watch.

Purple (Great- 8-9 Stars) – Great anime did everything it needed to.

Blue (Good- 6-7 Stars) – Enjoyable anime but had some minor issues worth noting.

Green (Mixed Review-4-5 Stars) – This Anime had some positives, but also a lot of negatives.

Red (Bad-2-3 Stars) – Anime was plain/bad/unenjoyable.

Maroon (Terrible-1 Star) – Not only was this Anime bad, but it managed to move its genre backwards in some way.

"NO SPOILER"

Basically the story is about a female MC who got killed by accident and gets reincarnated into Another World with the Op skill "create potions" and how she used this skilled to live and survive daily in this new world.

Pretty generic huh?

If you have read the synopsis you would've known that already, so you can ignore that lil info up top.

Generic intro aside.
So far it's ok, I actually look forward to watching it every week. I'm currently 5 episode in and it reminds me of the anime "Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement"
...
So if you like that one you should definitely give this a watch. You'll love it.

Plus Karou-chan is a very likable MC so that's a bonus

So here's my Rating:

Main Genre- Isekai

Art style-7.5/10

Story/plot- 7.5/10 (isn't unique but it's good)

Characters- 6.5/10 (some of them are easily forgotten)

MC- 9/10 (Sigma female lead + she got the brains)

OP/ED- 7/10 (it's ok)

This anime is very bad. I gave it the opportunity to read the first 3 chapters and that's it. The good thing is that you can get there and stop watching it and I think it doesn't affect the perspective, since if you leave it there, it doesn't leave you with doubts and it ends as an ending and that's it.

Being someone who watches Isekai, but a good one and I enjoy watching relaxing animes. This one didn't catch my attention, if I want to see an isekai of this type, I'd better watch another generic one with better action. And I want to see ... a relaxing one, I better watch Non non biyori.

In any case, this anime is not flashy at all.

The Story follows the protagonist, who can make any potion and the bottom that comes with it at her will.

One of the standout aspects of the anime is Mariela's resourcefulness and intelligence. Mariela does not use brute force or magical powers, she use potions and her intelligence. Throughout the show she starts making bottle that should not be counted as bottles, however it makes you want to watch to see what she makes next. There is not a lot of action or push back for Mariela in this series.

This world is not as developed as most Isekai worlds. So even though she only make ... potions she is very OP.

Overall, " I Shall survive using potions" is a Watch. It has a well crafted world building. If your into a lot of action and fights this is not an anime for you.

YT- Iseking IG- Whoateddi

If you like power fantasies or FUNA's other works, I Shall Survive Using Potions is definitively a must watch, but it's also a worthwhile watch regardless. True to other FUNA works the characters are very likeable. The story and world, while not as deep as they could, be are still complex and compelling enough to be interesting and, more importantly, it manages to introduce them with a good pace in a way that feels natural. The pacing may be fast, but all that means is it shed all the meaningless fat present in so many other isekai to instead focus on how Kaoru ... has affects the world around her. The story doesn't ever pretend to be something it isn't, which would be a simple, fun, and relaxing story about a girl who takes the powers granted to her to logical extremes between bouts of living a "normal" life. Overall it executes an ideal 7/10 power fantasy isekai with precision.

Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!" is a refreshingly original isekai that stands out thanks to its clever premise and lovable protagonist. Rather than relying on brute force or grand destiny, this story is all about wit, resourcefulness, and turning a simple yet unique ability into a powerful survival tool.

The pacing is smooth, offering just enough adventure and tension to keep things interesting, but it never loses sight of its light-hearted and feel-good tone. The main character, while incredibly capable, remains relatable and easy to root for, and her interactions with the world around her are often funny, wholesome, or surprisingly thoughtful.

Visually, the anime is colorful and charming, ... with character designs that perfectly complement the warm and sometimes quirky atmosphere. The world-building is gradually explored through everyday challenges, making each episode a small delight.

It’s a great pick for those who enjoy a softer kind of isekai — one where the power fantasy is grounded in creativity and heart, not violence.

This anime is honestly one of the best isekai stories when it comes to not too flashy or action-focused, calm, funny, and loads of wholesomeness I've watched in a very long time! I enjoyed every second of it. I never felt bored, not once. This anime is so funny and wholesome! The animation is pretty decent and these types of anime shows rarely get a good Opening and an Ending song, but I loved this show's OP and ED very much. Especially the Ending song, that song is so soothing, I never skipped a single end-credit scene. In the post-credit scene of the last episode, ... they even thanked us for watching the anime, which I think is a good way to thank your audience. And they even hinted at the possibility of it getting a Season 2! which I wish it gets, I want to see how the story develops. I want to see Kaoru getting herself a hubby and Goddess Celestine with Earth's God.

It's a 7.5/10 show tbh, but I will rate it 10/10 because I'm a veteran isekai watcher and I never got bored watching this one, which is huge because when you watch something similar you get bored of it. See ya 😉👍

This show is fine, just not good enough to make me want to watch anymore of it.

Plot:
Kaoru is an office worker (surprise, surprise) and one day, out the blue, she just up and dies because the god made an oopsie. The male god of the real world that accidentally killed Kaoru, has her go meet the goddess of the isekai world that she will be reincarnated to, and Kaoru asks for two things from the goddess, to look young, but old enough to be considered an adult, and the ability to make potions that can do whatever she wishes, and the bottles can also ... come in any form she wants.


Review:
That's basically the base plot, and it's nothing new or really all that exciting. My biggest problem with this anime, is the fact it's way too similar to the author's other work "Saving 80,000 gold in another world for my retirement" Both got a smug female protagonist who's good at lying their way through situations, both are more friendly, lighthearted isekais, even if only one actually has the permanent reincarnation bit. They're just way to similar for me to overlook, not saying that authors making their stories feel similar is a bad thing, but if your two stories are almost the exact same, that's a problem. The characters and setting also are kind of boring, Only character with personality is Kaoru herself, everyone else kind of just feel like NPC characters. I'm also a bit sick of the medieval magical setting.


Overall, not a bad show, just not for me

up to episode 5 still good. but strange happened after the latest episode aired. let me going at it the round way so spoilers would be 99% avoided.
my main point are:
isekai'd yes
preferences more towards loli, yes. ehmm hi the episode before, well, give potion-up until being healed is fine- but loli'ed?-then it happened at episode 6?
imba main protag(gender irrelevant) yes in this case the potion skill. but perhaps too imba that it cuts through some animations in the latest episode? if u are the type read manga then anime maybe could understand. but potion that create portals-sudden phoenix down?? ehmm up until that point ... still panacea or poison then no explanation whatsoever given and just bam cut through that included that cliffhang ending and let me guess shining bilink blink potion that have phoenix down effect and you rise again in the next episode. well just see...i give the rating very good before now it just lowered to fine at the moment.