The Beginning After the End Episode 1 will officially be released on 2nd April, as part of the Spring anime lineup. This anime has been one of the most hyped adaptations of the year, right alongside Solo Leveling. Some fans even called it the “Solo Leveling Killer”, but after watching the first episode, I don’t think that is happening.
I got to watch Episode 1 early on Crunchyroll, where it was streamed in real-time for overseas audiences. No archive was available, so if you missed it, you will have to wait for the official release. After watching, I went ahead and read the first 10 chapters of the webtoon. The anime adapted the first 5 chapters, and while there were a few minor changes, it stayed mostly faithful to the source material.
The Beginning After the End (TBATE) Episode 1 starts with King Grey as a ruler. We see him fighting an enemy and killing him brutally. Drones drop bombs on the civilization as he sits on his throne. Suddenly, he finds himself drowning in a void, looking at his mantle and sword. This is a big change from the webtoon.
In the webtoon, the story starts differently, King Grey is already dying and talking to himself about how he does not even remember how he died. The webtoon does not show much about his rule or the kind of king he was, but the anime adds extra scenes to showcase his past life a little more.
Reincarnation And Baby Arthur’s New Life
After drowning in the void, King Grey wakes up, but as a baby. He’s been reborn as Arthur Leywin, the child of Reynolds and Alice. While he still remembers his past life, he is stuck in a newborn’s body, unable to do anything at first. He struggles to process what is happening but eventually accepts this new life. He also finds it embarrassing since he has no control over his body and now sleeps in a baby cot.
Arthur’s curiosity kicks in the next day when he sees his father using mana to break a stone. That is when he realizes magic is real in this world too, just like KI was in his world, and he needs to learn it as soon as possible.
Fast forward a bit, Arthur can now crawl, and he starts sneaking around to learn about this world. One night, after his mother puts him to sleep, he sneaks into another room, grabs a book, and learns about the Continent of Dicathen. The continent is divided into three kingdoms:
- Kingdom of Darv – Home to the dwarves, with vast underground networks.
- Kingdom of Elenoir – A land covered by forests, inhabited by elves.
- Kingdom of Sapin – The largest kingdom, ruled mostly by humans (and where Arthur is born).
Arthur also reads about mana and the two ways it’s used:
- Augmenters – Use to enhance their bodies with mana for strength and speed.
- Conjurers – Use mana to control objects around them.
To control mana, he needs to awaken his mana core, and that is exactly what he tries to do. But before he gets far, Alice catches him and puts him back to bed.
Time skips again, and Arthur is now two years old. His father tries to teach him sword fighting, but Alice isn’t happy about it since Arthur just learned how to walk.
Meanwhile, Arthur is still obsessed with learning mana. He starts training secretly and tries to awaken his mana core, but it backfires, literally. He accidentally causes a huge explosion, burning the house down.
Reynolds and Alice rush in, only to find Arthur floating mid-air. They are shocked, he is only two and already produced a mana core! But the explosion weakens the house’s structure, and a wooden beam falls towards Arthur. Reynolds and Alice jumps in to protect him, showing Arthur just how much his parents truly care about him.
Another Isekai, But A Good One
The story follows a pretty familiar isekai setup, MC dies in his old life and is reborn into a world of magic and fantasy. It is similar to MAPPA’s new anime Zenshu in a way, where the protagonist is also teleported to another world after dying. But even though the concept is not anything new, TBATE does it well. The first episode covers Grey’s past life briefly as a king, his sudden death, and his reincarnation as Arthur Leywin.
The pacing is actually really good. In just one episode, the anime adapts five chapters from the webtoon, covering Arthur’s birth, his first experiences in his new world, and his discovery of mana. The way they structured it makes it easy to follow, and nothing drags on longer than it should.
Animation and Art Style Is A Bit of a Letdown
While the animation itself is decent, the art style does not quite capture the same feel as the webtoon. The character designs look a little off compared to the webtoon’s clean and detailed look. The coloring also feels a bit dull in some scenes, which takes away from the vibrant fantasy world that the webtoon built up.
Studio A-CAT is handling the animation, and while they have done an okay job, they don’t really have a strong portfolio to back them up. The production is being handled by Slowcurve Co., Ltd, but the overall execution is not on the level of a top-tier adaptation. It is not unwatchable by any means, but for a series as hyped as TBATE, a more experienced studio would have made a huge difference.
Can TBATE Compete With Solo Leveling? Not Really
TBATE is a big deal in the webtoon and light novel community, but if we are talking about comparisons to Solo Leveling, it is not really in the same league. Solo Leveling Season 2 just broke way too many records. It is the highest-rated anime on Crunchyroll right now with over 700k+ ratings and the most-liked episode on the platform. Plus, it crashed Crunchyroll’s servers three times in a single season.
TBATE has potential, but the difference in production quality is huge. Solo Leveling had A-1 Pictures behind it, which is a powerhouse studio. Meanwhile, TBATE is being handled by a much less experienced team, and it shows. The fight scenes in Solo Leveling are next-level, with insane animation quality and cinematography, while TBATE looks decent at best.
Final Words
Overall, The Beginning After the End’s first episode does a good job introducing the story. The pacing is strong, the story is interesting, and it stays faithful to the webtoon. But the art style and animation could have been much better.
It is still worth watching, especially if you’re into isekai, but it is not going to break records like Solo Leveling did. Hopefully, future episodes step up the quality, because TBATE as a series has the potential to be something great if given the right treatment.
TBATE first came out as a web novel by TurtleMe in 2016. It got really popular, so in 2018, it was turned into a webtoon (manhwa) with art by Fuyuki23 and was released on Tapas. The webtoon became a big hit. The anime was announced in 2024 and will start airing on April 2nd. Crunchyroll describes the plot as:
After a mysterious death, King Grey is reborn as Arthur Leywin on the magical continent of Dicathen. Although he enters his second life as a baby, his previous wisdom remains. He begins to master magic and forge his own path as the years go by, seeking to correct the mistakes of his past life.
The Beginning After the End Episode 1 Review
Summary
The first episode of The Beginning After the End is finally here, and while the story seems solid and the pacing is great (covering 5 chapters in one episode), the art style feels a bit off compared to the webtoon. The animation is decent, but it could have been better. Studio A-CAT, which is handling the animation, does not have a strong portfolio, and it kind of shows. The production is done by Slowcurve Co., Ltd., but overall, it does not match the level of Solo Leveling, which has been breaking records left and right.
