Literature / Isekai Cheat Magician

"Until just a few months ago, Rin and I were both normal high school students.
We lived mundane peaceful lives.
To think... we would end up here."

—Taichi Nishimura

Isekai Cheat Magician ("Another World Cheat Magician") is a fantasy novel series written by Takeru Uchida. Originally a Web Serial Novel which was first released on Shousetsuka ni Narou in 2012, it later began publication as a series of Light Novels in 2013 under the Hero Bunko imprint with illustrations by Nardack.

As regular high school students Taichi and Rin disappeared in a beam of light. When they came to, the two of them were already in a world of swords and magic. Finally getting away after experiencing an attack by monsters, following the suggestion of adventurers they headed on the path towards the guild. In the guild, the two of them found out that they possessed unbelievably powerful magic. Thus the regular high school students transformed into the strongest cheats...

The series has a manga adaptation by Karin Suzuragi (known for being the main artist for the Higurashi: When They Cry manga) which began serialization in Monthly Shonen Ace in 2016, and an anime adaptation which aired as part of the Summer 2019 anime season for twelve episodes (plus an OVA).

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The page contains the following tropes:

• Always Save the Girl: Taichi will always do everything he can to keep Rin safe.
• An Arm and a Leg: Kasim loses his right arm after the fight in the plantation.
• Anger Born of Worry: Rin scolds Taichi for trying to fight the monster on his own, fearing that he could have died.
• Armed Females, Unarmed Males: Muller fights with a sword, Rin with a sword or her staff, while Taichi most often fights bare-handed.
• Bait-and-Switch: One would think nearing being run over by a bicycle would cause the two to fall into the portal. It doesn't, but they get transported anyway.
• Bait-and-Switch Boss: When it looks like Dortesheim will be the Big Bad, it turns out that Inimeex is the real one, having manipulated Dortesheim to rebel.
• Battle Aura: Taichi glows a variety of colors when using enhancement magic or spirit power.
• Best Her to Bed Her: After Taichi defeats General Sumella in a fight, she immediately asks for him to marry her, and afterwards acts as if he agreed.
• Big Damn Heroes: A trio of Adventurers save Taichi and Rin from a monster attack.
• Big Eater: Taichi. Justified, because he needs to fuel his more powerful magic. After his fight with Kasim and in a coma for a week, he ends up eating the equivalent to five rations. He does have his limits - in the aftermath of the First Battle of Wennifix, he eats so much that he ends up puking it all the next morning.
• Big "NO!": Taichi after Anastasia's death.
• Black Bra and Panties: Lemia's lingerie when she's introduced consists of these.
• Boxing Lessons for Superman: Rin's main strength (aside from being able to use all four elements) is her acute knowledge of the sciences, which she uses to bolster her spells. For example, combining fire with natural gas to create a hotter flame or combining water and fire to create a scalding-hot explosion of steam. She's not quite as powerful as Taichi overall, but these abilities make her a very close competitor.
• Cannot Spit It Out: It's quite obvious that both Taichi and Rin have feelings for each other, but neither is able to muster the courage to speak up and reveal them until chapter 34 of the web novel series.
• Cast from Hit Points: Rings can be used by anyone to cast one spell, but it feeds on the user's life force.
• Chick Magnet: It's an isekai novel, so of course Taichi will be attractive to every girl he meets.

• Clingy Jealous Girl: Rin really doesn't like Taichi looking at other girls, and will cover his eyes when a girl tries to show off.
• Combat Compliment: Grammy, a combat maniac, gleefully applauds strong opponents.
• Combat Sadomasochist: Grammy finds nothing more satisfying (or tingle-inducing) than facing against worthy enemies on the battlefield.
• Creepy Child: Melo and Milo, the twin magicians. They cheer while claiming the goblins will kill and rape everyone in the city.
• Declaration of Protection:
  Taichi: I will use my power to protect those I love.
• Expy: Azuma Rin is identical to Inoue Ritsuko from Those Who Hunt Elves.
• Enemy Mine: Rin fights along with Sosela, the barbarian who has been fighting her, when Inimeex starts the Berserker Spell.

• Fantastic Nuke:
  • Lemia's "tactical spell" is designed to wipe out an army, but takes at least half of her energy to use.
  • Rin's pressure bomb applies her knowledge of physics to explode a giant pressure cooker in the middle of the enemy force, causing tactical-scale damage without the power usage of Lemia's nuke.
• Get a Room!: Sosela tells Rin and Taichi to wait until after the fight to flirt, and then he can snog her or whatever.
• Handshake Substitute: Rin and Taichi fist-bump after promising to each other that they protect each other.
• Hearing Voices: Lemia isn't Taichi's only mentor. Even while he was on Earth, he's been hearing a voice advising him on what to do. The owner of this voice turns out to be Aerial, a wind spirit that later becomes Taichi's bonded spirit and turns out to be Sylpheed, one of the Four Great Faerie Queens.
• Heroic Second Wind: After being empowered by Aerial, Taichi confronts Kasim and Grami to rescue Rin and Muller.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Melo and Milo create (or cause them to spring up) hundreds of goblins under Azpire, but they feel safe because they have a crystal ball that allows them to control them. Then they accidentally drop the ball, breaking it. If it weren't for Taichi, they would have been lucky if they died fast.
• Homoerotic Subtext: Muller is a little more than admiring toward Rin. When she freaks out about how Taichi and Rin might be having sex, Lemia asks if she's interested in Rin too (she doesn't reply).
• I Am Not Left-Handed: Rin and Muller during round one of their fight with Grammy. Round two goes differently when they stop experimenting with new tactics.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: The death of Anastasia serves as a catalyst for Taichi to become a full fledged summoner.
• Imagination-Based Superpower: Magic works in the new world like this. One must visualize the effect they want. Since Rin understands modern chemistry, she is able to surpass her mentor with just a single explanation.

• In Medias Res: Episode 1 of the anime begins with Rin and Taichi, having been in the world for a long time, dropping into the middle of a war, and each of them single-handedly taking out an army. The story catches up to this spot in Episode 11.
• Instant Expert: Both Rin and Taichi qualify. With only the barest of explanations, Rin masters, and surpasses, the magical experts of the world, and Taichi learns all but the most advanced abilities of his new "sorcerer" class in less than a week.
• Just in Time: Taichi frequently arrives in this manner.
• The Man Behind the Man: Lady Shade, who turns out to be the one that manipulated events to bring Taichi to Altia for some mysterious purpose.
• Ms. Fanservice:
  • Lemia's outfit doesn't have any more fabric than the underwear she had on when she first greeted them.
  • Anastasia, a sexy ninja, having an Impossible Hourglass Figure and Cleavage Window.
  • Sumella's armor has an even bigger Cleavage Window, right where you'd want to shoot an arrow, along with a bare midriff.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Dortesheim, when he realizes that he allowed himself to be played like a violin by Inimeex, so he would start a rebellion that would bring enough soldiers together for the Berserker Spell.
• Off with His Head!: Dortesheim's final fate, as punishment for his rebellion.
• Person of Mass Destruction: Sufficiently powerful magicians can be this.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Kasim gloats that if Taichi doesn't swear fealty to him, and do whatever he wants, he'll have Rin and Muller gang-raped until he does. This makes Taichi want to straight up murder the bastard.
• Sacrificial Lion: Anastasia survived her battle against Taichi and landed in his harem, only to be killed by the dragon at the Battle of Azpire, telling everyone that this is not going to be the kind of story where everyone lives.

• Skilled, but Naive: To Stupid Good levels. The whole Hostage Situation wouldn't have mattered if either Rin and Muller had killed Grammy when they had the chance, to then go and help Taichi, or Taichi had killed Kasim the moment he whipped out the elemental to go and deal with Grammy, or better yet, the three protagonists swapped opponents for better compatibility. As it is, those two antagonists got away, to continue whatever shenanigans they're up to, and will be even harder to deal with next time (although Kasim does lose an arm, which will hamper him in the future).
• Strength Equals Worthiness: The dragon refuses to answer Taichi's questions or withdraw from battle until Taichi can prove his strength.
• Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Rin has a modern scientific background, allowing her to develop applications for her imagination-based magic that no mage in the other world would think of.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Lemia has them, and prior to the protagonists showing up, she was considered one of the most powerful magicians on the planet.
• Talking Is a Free Action: During Taichi's battle with the dragon at the Battle of Azpire, there's an almost 6 minute break in the action for Anastasia to say her final words, Rin to ask about them, and Taichi to respond.
• Top Wife: Not settled by any means, but Sumella eagerly discusses the possibility with Taichi after he defeats her in combat. She tells him that she wants to be his wife, but if he's already spoken for, she'd gladly settle for being a concubine.
• Translator Microbes: Rin and Taichi realize very quickly that it shouldn't be possible for them to read, write, and speak the local language, but yet they do.
• Trapped in Another World: Rin and Taichi don't even know if they can go home again, but they're determined to find out.
• Weather of War: During the first battle in the capital, Wennifix, the royal mages cast a spell that creates a thunderstorm, muddying the ground so that lightning strikes, paralyzing the enemy mages.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Taichi is not pleased when Aerial does nothing to prevent Anastasia's death, immediately calling her out and giving her a scathing tongue-lashing. A distraught Aerial tells him that spirits cannot do anything unless either their summoner wills them to do so or the summoner's own life is in danger. After said explanation, Tachi turns around and gives himself a My God, What Have I Done? speech.