“Osamu can make it to the away mission. That’s what my Side Effect is telling me.”
If you know World Trigger, or even if you’re just getting curious about it, I want you to start by watching the opening for Season 2.
To me, it is incredibly cool. I love the silhouette-based direction at the beginning, and I find myself rewatching the scene at 1:03 over and over—the way Yuma faces off against Viza, with his expression slowly lighting up from below like a flickering candle.
Recently, a reboot project for the World Trigger anime was announced. We don’t know all the details of what will change yet, but just the thought of it—including the new openings—is enough to get me excited.
The appeal of World Trigger is vast, and its fanbase is broad. The story is undeniably excellent, and because there aren’t any overtly malicious characters, you can enjoy it without feeling stressed. The battle scenes, particularly the strategic team-based fights, are thrilling, but the tactical maneuvering outside of combat is just as gripping. What makes this series unique is how some adult readers take these strategic interactions and apply them to business, even writing long-form analyses on how the logic translates to a professional setting.
While the series features several protagonists, the balance is perfect. You have powerful, gifted characters like Yuma, but you also have Osamu, a character who doesn’t have much of the “it” factor in terms of raw power. Watching his struggle to produce results despite his limitations is deeply relatable. Rather than winning by becoming the strongest, it’s often about finding a way to win while remaining weak. This lack of obvious “protagonist plot armor” makes every victory feel convincing and earned.
Now, let’s talk about a Japanese term called Chuunibyou. It refers to the slightly embarrassing, overly dramatic behaviors or fantasies we often have during puberty—those moments we look back on as our “dark history.”
A famous example is in Attack on Titan, when Hange teases Eren for talking to his reflection and saying, “Fight, fight.” Most of us have probably done something similar: mimicking Naruto’s Rasengan, writing names in a DIY Death Note, or trying to fire off a Kamehameha like Goku. If you’re an anime fan, chances are you’ve done at least one of these before, right? We all have that inner Chuunibyou side that loves to imitate our favorite scenes.
This is actually where one of my favorite lines from World Trigger comes in. There’s a character who can see the future, and he often says: “That’s what my Side Effect is telling me.” If you’re a fan—or a “Wa-min” (“min” means people in Japanese)—you’ll know the feeling. It’s exactly the kind of line that makes you want to lean into that Chuunibyou side and act like you have mysterious powers, too. It’s a phrase that just makes you smile when you hear it.
The next time you feel a gut instinct about something, just say: “That’s what my Side Effect is telling me.” Once you say it, you’re officially a Wa-min.
