At first glance, the Butareba anime may seem like an isekai anime with a silly premise.

Well, we have our main character here who becomes a pig after fainting from eating a pork liver.

From there, he meets Jess, a girl who can communicate with someone using her mind and also the one who takes the protagonist out of the pig pen.

Knowing that the pig that she saved wasn’t an ordinary pig, she suggested he head to the capital since the king may have a way to turn him back into a human.

So here we are, we have our protagonist here who is now a pig traveling with Jess to the capital that coincidentally she has to go to there for a specific reason.

If you’re into the isekai genre, it’s nothing new to see the main character reincarnating into something unimaginable.

But reincarnating as a pig?

It sure never crosses your mind that our main character here will get reincarnated as livestock, do you?

But believe it or not, the story in the Butareba anime turns out to be far more than its silly premise.

It’s not what you would expect in an isekai anime

What comes to your mind when it comes to an isekai anime with a silly premise?

You must be thinking that it must be a comedy anime since that’s the label you see in Anichart, right?

Well, you’re not wrong about that since it’s indeed a comedy anime.

Just imagine when your ecchi thoughts and fetishes are now out in the open because of someone like Jess who can read your mind.

It sure is hilarious to see how Jess would respond to what our Mr. Pig here labeled as his monologue.

And let’s not forget how you get to see our Mr. Pig here dancing with something akin to Dance Dance Revolution in the background during the festival.

I’ll spare you the detail that leads him to dance in front of people at the festival.

But as far as the funny moments are concerned, that’s just about it.

The story itself takes another darker turn when Jess and our Mr. Pig embark on a journey to the capital.

The fate of being a Yethma

Since this is an isekai anime we’re talking about here, you must be thinking it’s nothing unusual for these people to communicate through telepathy, right?

Well, the answer to that question is no.

The only person who can communicate with the people they want through their mind is none other than a Yethma.

They’re the only ones who can use telepathy to communicate with whomever they wish.

A normal human doesn’t have such ability.

And that’s what Jess is, a Yethma.

The thing about the Yethma is that no one knows their origin and how they came about. But one thing they know for sure is that the Yethma possesses such a strong magical power.

For the most part, they tend to get adopted into the family and work as servants until they turn 16.

Once they turn 16, they will have to travel to the capital alongside their chabirone. Think of it as their chaperone of some sort.

But here’s the kicker – their journey for the most part isn’t anything but dangerous since a Yethma tends to be the target of those who are coming after their bodies.

Because of that, only a handful of them made it to the capital since many of them got killed on their way to the capital along with their chabirones.

And that leads me to my next point.

The mysterious capital

Most people are aware of the capital’s existence and its location.

But for whatever reason, no one seems to know what the capital looks like, let alone being there.

The only thing they know is the Yethma will have to travel to the capital once they turn 16. And the capital is off-limit to the non-Yethma, saves for their chabirones who accompanied them.

Even if they managed to arrive at the capital safe and sound, no one knows the fate of the Yethma and their chabirones after that either.

If it’s important for the Yethma to be in the capital, then why doesn’t the capital do anything to prevent the mass murder of the Yethma by the Yethma hunters?

Well, it’s likely that the capital isn’t that much different from the areas where the Yethma hunters lie in wait to hunt them.

For all we know, it serves as a sacrificial place for the Yethma and their chabirones if the Yethma hunters failed to kill them all.

It’s something similar to the Crown Contest in Tales of Arise where nobody knows what happened to the winner after they won the Crown Contest.

Sure, the winner will grant the power to rule over Rena.

But that was just about it.

They didn’t make any public appearance at all after returning to Lenegis which is a space colony situated between Dahna and Rena.

Depending on when you read this post, it’s likely that the capital turns out to be not as sinister as we thought.

But I won’t find it surprising at all if the capital works the same way as Rena in Tales of Arise.

They’re in the lowest caste of all

When you think of a Yethma who possesses a strong magical power, you may think that people will treat them with respect, right?

Well, it should be considering anyone who possesses such a strong magical power is above their rank.

Think of it like in Black Clover where the people who possess a strong magical power tend to be well-respected than those who have little to no magical power.

But nope, what you see in Butareba anime is nothing but discrimination against the Yethma.

What kind of discrimination do they face, you wonder?

One of them is that they’re not permitted to travel with a transport.

It’s because of this reason you see Jess traveling from one place to another by foot.

Sure, it may not seem that odd to see her traveling by foot since she’s only a servant to the House of Kilitryn.

Heck, it doesn’t seem out of place either when you see characters in the fantasy genre traveling by foot.

Sousou no Frieren, anyone?

But nope, it turns out to be there’s a reason why she can only walk to wherever she has to go.

They don’t see a Yethma being equal to them.

Thus, their reason for not allowing them to travel anywhere with a transport.

Butareba anime isn’t as bad as it seems

On the surface, the Butareba anime may seem like another run-of-the-mill isekai anime with a silly premise.

But who would have guessed that the situation in Butareba would turn out to be far more grim than we’ve ever imagined, right?

I won’t deny that there are plenty of isekai anime that have a sinister plot brewing in the background, with the anime Isekai Yakkyoku being one of them.

But I will say that Butareba anime is by far one of the darkest isekai anime I’ve ever seen.

Give it a try if you want something dark despite its silly premise.

P.S. Are you in the mood to read something dark during the holiday season? Then you may enjoy reading my psychological suspense light novel, The Diary of Modern Cinderella.

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The Diary of Modern Cinderella by Sekina Mayu