Souzouden Wataru Ep 1 Review: Here Comes Gen-Z Wataru!

January 14, 2025Episode Review,  Mecha Discussion,  ,  
Well this is the age of Gen-Z and their inexplicable affection with Minecraft, Youtube and streaming. Japan is known for being technology-chasers as they are always lacking just a bit behind. But now the new modern generation has caught up to them in anime – particular the kids. The nostalgic Isekai hero from the 90s has return with a new modern motif!

Well the name of the anime is Souzouden Wataru – which means Creation Wataru. And true to the name, Wataru is a creator – well, a content creator. He’s a Ryutuber (a pun of Youtuber) that makes video as well as livestream on RyuTube for likes and followers, and he and his cousin – Kakeru – is always trying to attract more subscriber with their high-tech smartphone and selfie stick. Now, before you cringe, the anime put a wholesome coat onto all that social media stuff, but yes, it only happens in fiction – so do be careful when you let young children on the interweb. I think the show is trying to educate young children on what to look out for on social media, and let’s hope it works!

But of course, it wouldn’t be Wataru without a bit of Isekai – so he and Kakeru got randomly pulled into another world by Ryunjinmaru – proclaiming him to be a saviour. In the new world – Chubukai (another pun on Cube Sekai – world of Cube) – we meet the new Shibaraku Tsurugibe – named Offline (probably another pun, better get used to it) which is a much younger version of the original Shibaraku we always knew. He actually knows who Wataru is and vowed to follow him to protect Chubukai. It’s kinda weird that Wataru is well-known to some people in this world. My theory is that this world is connected to RyuTube – and the residents here know of famous RyuTubers.

We also get a new opponent for him. An old man with a Channel that uses all kinds of dirty methods to get views and subs (well, well, well look at that!). He also uses funny attacks that are all named after terminologies on social media like subscribe, ban or follow etc… Basically this is Da Cider if he is a Twitch Streamer.

Right then, Wataru show off his “Souzou” skill of Creation. And this is where the “Cube” thing is in play. Wataru can manifest “cubes” out of thin air and uses them to construct things. Afterwards, he can make those constructions turn into real things – which in this case, is Ryujinmaru. The new Ryujinmaru design is pretty awesome – with an asymmetrical design and dragon head on the shoulder, really give it the warrior vibes. The way Wataru pilot Ryujinmaru is the same as previous series, where Wataru stands on top of Ryujin’s head and hold his horns. We also got an Obari pose which marks the 2nd one this season, which is pretty awesome. His finisher is still the same Toryuken – Soaring Dragon Slash.

Well, that’s about it for the first episode really. We establish all the things that are similar to previous Wataru show, as well as introducing the new RyuTube platform that will be important to the plot. The series is still a kids show after all, and furthermore, it aims to familiarize extremely young children with social media. It is going to be extremely hard to guide them in the “right way”, since there’s a lot of abstraction and the real world is soooo different. And also the fact that Wataru is also very concerned with “views” and “subscribers” is also a not-so-good thing for young people, but it may be an established trait that can change later as he develops. It would be interesting to see how this turns out. But still, I can’t believe we get Minecraft mecha before GTA 6.
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