Roll Over and Die: Season 1 Episode 1 – Recap and Review
It’s a bit of a gender swap from what we often see, when a hero is betrayed by one of their own and forced to start from nothing against a world that looks down at them.
Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
Additionally, some images and text may include affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission or receive products if you make a purchase.
Episode 1 “The Beginning and the End” Recap and Details
- Director(s): Nobuharu Kamanaka
- Writer(s): Mariko Kunisawa
- Public Release Date (Crunchyroll): January 8, 2026
- Check out more of our “Roll Over And Die” coverage.
The Girl Who Was Supposed To Be A Hero: Flum, Jean, Cyrill
Flum, like Cyrill, is a girl from the countryside. Both felt out of place being selected to be heroes by God, but Cyrill found herself catching the leader, Jean’s, eye, while Flum got his ire. For while Cyrill was useful in battle, Flum didn’t have much in the way of battle skills. At best, she was good at cooking and cleaning, basically a travel maid.
Which, for most of the group, was fine. However, Jean wanted to isolate Cyrill socially, to pursue her romantically, and in order to do that, he needed to get rid of Flum. So, he had her sold into slavery, and he pushed the idea that Cyrill and everyone else wholeheartedly agreed that Flum had to go. In truth, most didn’t know what happened to Flum, and Cyrill was convinced that Flum would be better off going home.
Making it so no one but Jean knew the whole truth.
Understanding Your Affinity And The World: Flum, Milkit
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, depending on how you look at it, Flum doesn’t get sold into slavery. A broker does purchase her, but with her stats basically 0, Flum isn’t seen as useful. So, as the broker did with any he couldn’t sell, he had ghouls attack her and others for entertainment, and he’d leave a curse sword, which would melt the layers off of a person, as their only defense.
Now, for others, this sword was a painful, but at least quicker death than ghouls devouring you. With Flum, however, while others have an affinity for magic and like that, hers is “Reverse.” This is why her stats were zero, and when it comes to the cursed sword, it has the opposite effect on her. She heals notably and is able to kill the ghouls and the broker.
This leaves her and Milkit the only two alive in that dungeon, and to convince Milkit to join her, Flum has to claim to be her master. Which is uncomfortable, but with Milkit trained and knowing only how to be a slave, Flum accepts this is the only way to save her, in some capacity.
Setup For Failure: Flum, Dein
While free, Flum does have the mark of a slave on her face, no easy means to get home, and is not responsible for a girl younger than her. With that in mind, she thinks going to the local adventurer’s guild is the best idea. After all, she understands how her affinity works now, so she can make money doing different missions.
Problem is, the guild’s secretary, upon looking at her, thinks sex work is a better idea, and she seems to actively recruit women in her spare time. Dein, however, a cheat rank-A adventurer, decides to give Flum a D rank task, knowing they are five times more difficult than the lowest, a F rank, for kicks.
Flum, of course, doesn’t know this, so we’re left hoping that between her and Milkit, they’ll survive this potentially deadly prank.
New Characters in Episode 1
Flum (Ayaka Nanase)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Flum is a young woman from the more rural part of the kingdom who was chosen to be a hero since she had a notable affinity. Unfortunately, her affinity for “Reverse” wasn’t something clearly defined, explained, or something she was trained in. So while she has the ability to do notable things, her lack of understanding presented the idea that, as a hero, she was useless.
Jean (Makoto Yasumura)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Jean has fashioned himself as a leader of the heroes, and with an interest in Cyrill, he made it a priority to isolate her from Flum, even if it meant being unnecessarily cruel to a girl he knew was barely an adult.
Cyrill (Miki Kariya)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Cyril is similar to Flum in that she is from a rural part of the kingdom, but unlike Flum, she has fighting abilities. But, with being one of the younger members, and country like Flum, the two bonded until Jean got between them.
Milkit (Miku Itō)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Milkit is a slave with notable eyes and a face and head that are mostly bandaged up. Upon introduction, not much is known about them besides that they are so socialized to be a slave, they refuse Flum’s kindness without her accepting the position of their master.
Dein (Masakazu Morita)
- Check out other productions we’ve covered starring this actor: [Link to Actor’s Tag]
- Character Summary: Dein Phineas is an A-Rank adventurer, nicknamed the Intrepid Scoundrel, because he played the game to become an A-Rank adventurer. He isn’t smart, or notably strong, just cunning in all the worst ways.
Review and Commentary
Highlights
Similar Setup To Many A Revenge Show, But Now Starring A Woman [84/100]
Whether you compare this to Redo of Healer or The Riding Of The Shield Hero, one thing that isn’t apples to apples is now we’re focused on a young woman instead of a man. Now, it isn’t clear how dark things could get, and I doubt it will go the borderline hentai route Redo of Healer went, but there is potential for this to not simply be Flum moving on and going home.
In my mind, Flum, already dealing with PTSD, is going to take Dein’s betrayal, maybe others, and it is going to change her, make her dark, and that journey is what will make Roll Over and Die notable. For while I’m sure there are other productions out there about women getting revenge, especially in movies and live-action television shows, a woman doing so, in a fantasy world, that feels notably rare.
So, here is hoping that while Roll Over and Die has a certain level of brutality, be it physical or social, like its peers, it creates a unique voice and builds its own pedestal.
Overall
Our Overall Rating [84/100]
With enough familiarity to easily get into the show, but more than enough that doesn’t fit the mold to stand out, Roll Over and Die could become a major breakout of the 2026 winter season.
What To Check Out Next
Visit our main TV shows page to see other shows we’ve covered or check out our latest coverage for “Roll Over and Die” below!
No posts
