The Weakest Tamer Goes on a Journey Collecting Trash may sound at first one of the many dime a dozen Isekai fantasies of recent like Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout or Reborn as a Vending Machine I Now Wander the Dungeon but make no mistake this may be one of the few in the entire genre that matters and is beyond a worthy watch.

The title of my summary is exactly as I can describe it, it is barely an isekai and the only element of such is a voice in the back of the head of Femicia that recounts parralels from their old life and what Femicia encounters and nothing more. Think an isekai but basically just an imaginary friend within a fantasy show, with that out of the way we can talk the parts that truly matter and where other shows need to pick up on.

This show is somber and the closest I can ballpark without saying why is for those that remember those old movies that were made for kids but were messing up those kids with its content like the Don Bluth Features of Land Before Time, Secret of Nimh and An American Tail. Ultimately wholesome and likeable but for those who shudder at the kinds of trials those movies would impose on the main character I would say to temper your expectations.

The story is about the main character Femicia who is a young girl and at the age of 5 discovers that she is a "starless" Tamer when being given her god granted skill that everyone receives when coming of age, she leaves the village on a journey of survival brought upon by one of her few supporters the Fortuneteller who tells her that she must make a pilgrimage to the city next to the capital to broaden her worldview and find her own happiness under her new identity as Ivy. On the way she discovers a rare species that according to her books is a disintegrating slime that has very little in the way of a long life or a strong constitution and Ivy using her limited taming ability takes care of the slime by rummaging through garbage piles for old potions and clothes.

What this show does that other shows don't do which is SO great is no constant flashbacks, every episode is like a mini movie with its organic flow making each encounter to be a event for our weak protagonist. The character is NOT overpowered *actually* which seems to be a grand trend of fantasy shows is either a retelling of the ugly duckling where the weakest actually was SO broken because they applied themselves like Arifureta or Fired From the Demons Army. There is also the isekai path of being given infinite power that most concerns are eliminated like Kuma Kuma Kuma Reincarnated as a Slime and Farming Life in Another World. The direction and grounded nature of this show is what makes it so good, if this show had flashbacks or pratfall comedy it would stick out a whole lot less than it does. The only real joke is Ivy using the funds she trades for field mice as a scale for the large sums she stumbles into with quest rewards but other than that the show is very grounded and ripe with emotion. More than a few times that bring a tear to an eye and the final part of episode 12 after the credits is just a little ribbon on the whole package and is definitely a tearjerker.

I could not recommend this more without spoilers but if you've been wanting a Fantasy or an Isekai that took things a bit more seriously then you need look no further.