Anime

The Eminence in Shadow (陰の実力者になりたくて!) is the anime adaptation of Daisuke Aizawa's The Eminence in Shadow light novel series, animated by Nexus.

The first season began airing on October 5, 2022 and concluded on February 15, 2023. A second season was announced on February 22, 2023. Season two will take the story to the Lawless City during the Red Moon Incident, and is projected for release in late Fall 2023; it will have the least number of episodes, being just twelve (as of now; may subject to change) rather than twenty or more.

Synopsis

 * -|English = Great heroes and diabolical villains are the types of characters that people long to be—but not Cid Kagenō. He longs to become the true mastermind behind it all, pulling the strings, and having his machinations drive the entire story. In his previous life in modern-day Japan, he was not able to achieve his goals. But now, reborn into a world of magic, he will show the true eminence of shadow!

As Cid pretends to be just another average mob character, he recruits members to his (fake) organization Shadow Garden, aiming to take down the mysterious cult who lurks in the shadows. With plenty of ad-libs, Cid leads his (fake) organization against the foul (yet surprisingly real) Diabolos Cult.
 * -|Japanese = 『我が名はシャドウ. 陰に潜み、陰を狩る者......』

「陰の実力者」 それは、主人公でも、ラスボスでもない. 普段は実力を隠してモブに徹し、物語に陰ながら介入して密かに実力を示す存在. この「陰の実力者」に憧れ、日々モブとして目立たず生活しながら、 力を求めて修業していた少年は、事故で命を失い、異世界に転生した.

シド・カゲノーとして生まれ変わった少年は、 これを幸いと異世界で「陰の実力者」設定を楽しむことにする. 「妄想」で作り上げた「闇の教団」を倒すべく(おふざけで)暗躍していたところ、どうやら本当に、その「闇の教団」が存在していて......?

ノリで配下にした少女たちは勘違いからシドをシャドウとして崇拝し、 シドは本人も知らぬところで本物の「陰の実力者」になっていき、 そしてシドが率いる陰の組織「シャドウガーデン」は、やがて世界の闇を滅ぼしていく――.

Differences Between Media
The anime covers the first two novel volumes; however, many things are left out while others are added. In general, most of these changes were made for aesthetic and dramatic purposes, while they have tried to respect the narrative of the work in general.

For example:
 * 1) In the Original Light novel, the Other World's technological level is at the traditional typical medieval-level of a world with swords and magic. But in the Anime, it turns out that Other World's technological level has reached a mixture of late-medieval architecture amid the Industrial Revolution, with the Cult having an advanced technology hidden from the world and Shadow Garden possessing the revolutionary scientific knowledge of advanced technologies from Cid Kagenō's knowledge from our modern-day world of Earth.
 * 2) During the season one finale battle between Cid, War Goddess Beatrix and Princess Iris, the fight is spread to the entire city and Shadow's warning regarding the Cult of Diablos is omitted. These facts do not alter the general narrative of the story since they only seek to increase the emotion and drama in the anime.

Season One

 * 1) The Hated Classmate
 * 2) Shadow Garden Is Born
 * 3) Fencer Ordinaire
 * 4) Sadism's Reward
 * 5) I Am...
 * 6) Pretenders
 * 7) A Fencing Tournament of Intrigue & Bloodshed
 * 8) Dark Knight Academy Under Attack
 * 9) The End of a Lie
 * 10) The Sacred Land, City of Deception
 * 11) The Goddess' Trial
 * 12) The Truth Within the Memories
 * 13) A Bloody Showdown as an Offering to Annhilation
 * 14) Your Lie, Your Wish
 * 15) The Strongest, Weakest Man
 * 16) Unseen Intentions
 * 17) Moonlight That Pierces the Darkness
 * 18) Betting on a Moment
 * 19) Dancing Puppet
 * 20) Advent of the Demon

Season Two (Episodes 21-32)

 * 1) TBA
 * 2) TBA
 * 3) TBA
 * 4) TBA
 * 5) TBA
 * 6) TBA
 * 7) TBA
 * 8) TBA
 * 9) TBA
 * 10) TBA
 * 11) TBA
 * 12) TBA

Staff

 * Original Creator: Daisuke Aizawa
 * Original Character Design: Tōzai
 * Director: Kazuya Nakanishi
 * Series Composition: Kanichi Katou
 * Character Design: Makoto Iino
 * Animation Production: Nexus
 * Music Composition: Kenichiro Suehiro

Cast

 * -|Japanese =


 * Tsuyoshi Koyama as Juggernaut
 * Shizuka Itō as Yukime
 * Tomokazu Sugita as Crimson
 * Ai Kakuma as Mary
 * -|English =

Promotional Material
Promotional Images =