Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasareta node, Henkyou de Slow Life suru Koto ni Shimashita

With fantasy and isekai being a dominant force in the anime industry these days, you'd have to stop yourself and ask when enough is enough. With an anime title this long, sometimes, it feels like we're reading a meme. For the sake of your sanity and this review, I'll just call this show Banished from the Hero's Party. And you may have guessed it, the hero gets banished from a hero's party.

As the premise detailed, we follow protagonist Red, a D-rank adventurer who was banished from a party. He was formerly known as Gideon Ragnason, before being banished by his party members when they ... surpassed him in skill and level. The general premise sets up for his adventure and life in a fantasy world although his past continously comes back to haunt him. Meanwhile, we also meet Rit, a young charismatic woman who has developed feelings for Red during their time together. Of course, she has her own reasons to live such a carefree life and we find out more about her identity and past later on. For now, let's just say that the anime subscribes to a charming couple together.

Yet, I don't want to call designate this show entirely as a romance because at its heart, the show is more than just about Red and Rit. Treat it more as a blend between slice of life, romance, fantasy, and adventure. When we first meet Red and Rit though, it's obvious they have a mutual attraction towards each other. The anime makes it pretty much straightforward and doesn't do the usual ship teases. It's right to the point early to mid-season with Red and Rit admitting their feelings to each other. In essence, it's doesn't hold back establishing Red and Rit as a character pair bought together by different circumstances. And personally, this stands out as the best way to create a couple. It doesn't make the viewers wait or ask the 'what if' question. Plus, their personalities are compatible with their kindhearted yet also courgeous nature.

On the other hand, we meet also meet Ruti, a prominent hero and sister of Red. Being perhaps of the most emotional prone character in the how, as well as having a tragic past, she represents the darker side of the story. However, Ruti still holds a strong love towards Red, and her actions speaks louder than words. Ruthless and intimidating, Ruti carries an emotional burden on herself. Red seems to be the only light in her dark tunnel, who is able to suppress her emotional outbursts. The show offers a platonic relationship between the two built on trust. Because let's face it, Ruti never wanted Red to be banished by their hero party, namely Ares Srowa.

And speak of the devil. Ares Srowa serves as the antagonistic foil to Red. I can easily say that he is borderline psychotic fueled by jealousy. You ever played an online MMORPG member before and got scammed by one of your own guild leader, then banned forever? That's pretty much how Ares treated Red and banished him from the hero party. It's harsh but also reveals Ares' true dangerous nature: a selfish, greedy sociopath driven by his personal agendas. When we see him meet Red later in the story, it really shows how deeply resentful he is towards him. So yes, the show makes its a priority to make us hate Ares and succeeds. He is easily the least likable character for his actions, personality, and just about every single damn deed he's ever done in the story.

Watching Banished from the Hero's Party feels like it knew the type of anime it wanted to shows to us from the beginning. From background stories to the main character relationships, it's about as crystal clear as it gets. On the other hand, I am also somewhat disappointed by some episodes with its story pacing. There are a few episodes mid-season that drops in us in complex society conflicts, that feels needlessly rushed. Other times, you may also be bored by Red and Rit's relationship, especially if you're not a fan of fairy tale-like romances. However, at its core, the anime maintains a stable balance of storytelling and knows what the audience wants.

I won't be the first to say it or the last, but it appears the anime feels very JRPG-ish, in terms of its world setting. The towns, adventurous landscapes, magic, swordsmanship, battles, and overall, characters look like something that came out of an JRPG game. Hell, there's an actual game to be released on Steam although that has no ties to this story. Studio Flad and Wolfsbane combined their talents together to draw us into its fictional world. The visual quality overall looks colorful, vibrant of fantasy elements, but also contains darker tones of violence. Character expressions also play a key role in showing us emotions, most noticably for Ruti. However, there are some noticable drop in key animation in some episodes. Overall however, it's an anime that used its visual quality to success.

Fantasy adventures are usually a hit or a miss but it can even be more risky when you add in romance or slice of life. However, I can say that after these 13 episodes, Banished from the Hero's Party is without a shadow of a doubt one of the better light novel adaptations of the year.

NON SPOILER REVIEW!

DISCLAIMER: I am a manga reader. I absolutely LOVE Romance/Slice of Life/Fantasy mixed with a little action! If you don't enjoy those genres this is not for you! I'm writing this review because their aren't any reviews yet. Seeing that there aren't any, I figured I'd help some people out who are on the fence about watching this one.


To start, I will say that I am a sucker for wholesome romance so I am really biased towards stories like these. If you're looking for a nice Fantasy/Romance with well developed characters and a super wholesome relationship, it's a MUST WATCH! The two MCs ... (Red and Rit) have amazing chemistry. For me, their relationship is what really makes this story stand out. Most Fantasy/Slice of Life tend to have an extremely dense MC who has a ton of girls falling all over him. This story caught my eye because it's the exact opposite. Without spoiling anything, their relationship develops quickly and realistically. There isn't any jealousy or forced relationship drama, just two people with a really strong bond. They aren't afraid to show affection and it's just super wholesome. It really is a breath of fresh air to see that type of thing in a genre that's oversaturated with harems and random relationship drama. I absolutely love how the romance is written!


Alright so I explained a bit about the romance (which is clearly my favorite part), lets dive into the story next. As much as I love the romance, the story is also really entertaining. It does a really good job throwing in twists and turns that you don't expect to keep it interesting. I feel like it's hard to blend Slice of Life/Romance with Action/Adventure and keep a nice balance between the two. Following the hero's party and slowly learning more and more about them is a nice way to mix things up. It's almost like you are experiencing two stories at once. One that's Action/Adventure which follows the hero's party and one that's Romance/Slice of Life which follows the wholesome everyday lives of our MCs. When the two stories end up intertwining with each other it's really well done and better than a ton of other stories trying the same concept.


Again, this review is mostly based off the manga so I'm not quiet sure exactly how the anime will handle everything. That being said, so far it has done a great job of adapting the story. It's almost exactly how the manga adapted everything from the LNs. There are a few changes that helped progress the story a bit faster (like cutting out extra details when they aren't needed or shortening backstories a bit), but overall it's been great so far!


A quick side note: THE OP AND ED ARE BOTH AMAZING!!!


Final thoughts:

I can't wait to watch how the rest of this story is adapted! If you like Romance/Fantasy/Slice of Life with bits of action or just love wholesome romance it's a MUST WATCH! I really can't stress this enough, if you enjoy those genres it's a MUST WATCH!!!! The romance and daily life between our two MCs is some of the most wholesome stuff you can find. The action is used really well to contrast the slice of life aspect. Honestly it's just a really sweet story to sit down and smile to. I also highly recommend the manga! I know all manga readers always preach about the manga so you're probably sick about hearing this, but it's totally worth checking out if you enjoy the story!

Anyway, I hope this review helped you decide whether or not this anime is for you! Thanks for reading and have a great day!

It's just that, my dude thought it was best to live a quiet life. It was amazing to watch said quiet life.

I thought I'd get into this seasonal because it looked good despite it being a "generic isekai" which is somehow synonymous with modern fantasy, but that is a debate for another time. Anyhow, Shin no Nakama is an exceptional anime with the correct amount of everything mixed perfectly enough for it to be taken seriously without any kind of creases being visible enough for it to tumble on itself as quickly as it started up. It's even good enough to come up with some ... thought-provoking ideas.

What may look like a run-of-the-mill story is actually a genuinely developed work featuring a detailed plot, enough so that there is a substantial amount of info and lore to at the very least keep you immersed. It's true, that relative to other fantasy anime out there, this one fails to bring out some kind of unique content (although, more on that soon), however with the story managing to make use of literally everything you'd expect in a grand story, this just comes across as surface-level masterpiece, or in other words, it is there on the ground waiting to take off as other supposed masterpieces out there in the medium. What makes it a little faulty was the start-up mix between the slow life side and the fantasy side of things having awkward match-ups with easy transitions that'd kill the former side with boring content of the latter. Boring is a little harsh though, it is more, ironically enough, slow. This all changes around episode 7 onwards, however, where the quality drastically improves as every set-up piece serves its purpose well enough to enhance characters and the setting. That for me, not only improved the watching experience but also brought around some nice philosophy I wouldn't have really expected to see here. Truth be told, such ideas come later in the series so I have no intention of spoiling them in this review, but the questions that arise here are interesting to even reflect on in reality as you watch it. It's a good idea.

What honestly made me want to watch this was how this was a romance (who doesn't like wholesome love??). I have to say, in a series as Shin no Nakama, the romantic chemistry is indeed amazing, literally chef d'oeuvre relationship between Red and Rit, I haven't seen something this natural in a long while, and it isn't the kind of romance to shoujo its way to a *confession* in the final episode. It is like, already happening. Happening well. It's a healthy relationship between two individuals who actually understand each other and indeed do love each other. It's one of the selling points in the series and if I had to suggest this for fans of the genre, this is a real go-to if anything. I wouldn't even advise being cynical about the relationship, I really mean it when these two characters love each other, it is a truly wholesome bliss that doesn't find its way into the medium without something drama or the likes taking place. A very natural bond that can only be equally as loved as the couple are with each other.

The production values kinda annoy me here. It isn't bad, it's baseline, but this really tried to push itself to the point where a few awkward moments would show up. Of course, this is a minor complaint, but it kinda ruins some intense scenes so it isn't something that I can honestly praise in a down-to-earth fashion. But honestly, this looks pretty good for a fantasy anime and ignoring the imperfections, most scenes here are something that even impresses its own standards. Otherwise, I wouldn't expect the world here, that's also true for most of the OST. I do bang on about how sometimes memorable stuff makes the moments and what have you better, because it is true, and whilst I would like to say that something simple doesn't necessarily need a true punch in the memory of you to like something, I've seen actual good simple anime manage to pull off some amazing OST regardless. Kinda a shame the same is true for this anime but hey, it is what it is.

So, would I recommend this? 100%, stuff here is truly amazing, and nothing like the other fantasy anime that I've seen before. It's a dark horse in my eyes, in this dry season with literally 3 good shows and that is it. I am happy that this fantasy anime, overshadowed by the garbage history of Japanese light novel copypasta, is actually something very decent and worthy of immense praise. It's a blessing this has come to be, being very serious here, and I wish to see more as such in the future.

To be honest. I thought I would sleep on this slow-life anime. It seems like a plain fantasy adventure anime with nothing special in it to make me continue watching. I was wrong.

The story is simple. Red is formerly a member of the Hero's party who got pushed out for being a liability in the party. He then decided to open an apothecary and live a quiet life in a town named Zoltan. There Rit, a friend from his past adventuring days, shows up and asks to move in with him in exchange for helping out in his business.

Surprisingly, it has something to offer ... a very wholesome romance between Rit and Red. I have no idea what the two of them were back then, which led Red to easily accept her offer to live together since little was presented yet in the anime, but the interactions between Rit and Red are the sweetest thing I had ever seen. It is worth watching the show only for these two, although they aren't an official couple yet. The other characters in the town of Zoltan are nice, and some are annoying. Then there's Red's former Hero party who is looking for him to return. In which I hoped the author left it out instead. Since focusing on the comedic-wholesome daily lives of Red and Rit is the best feature of the anime.

The animation is beautiful and the colors are vibrant. Both the opening and ending are very soothing, and it just makes me smile every time I listen to it. To wrap up, it is worth watching for relaxing and wholesomeness, but I can't recommend it if you are interested in the action as a fantasy adventure anime.

If you still can't get enough sweetness from "Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside.". I recommend trying out "Slow living with Princess." an official spin-off game of the anime. It is available on Steam.

This anime is the definition of wholesome by far.

*Minor Spoilers Ahead*

Shin No Nakama fills the emptiness in my heart, though the main plot of the story is pretty average, but the wholesomeness hits diff.

These past 4 episodes have been filled with overloaded wholesomeness, I can't express enough about how I feel during the episodes, it was just full of enjoyment that is beyond what you'd expect from quite a lowly rated anime, though ratings in MAL practically means nothing because it is making SOME of the ACTUALLY good anime rated <7.5 which sucks.

Well, enough chit-chatting, and now it's time to get down to business, ... Shin No Nakama is in short an "average" anime, but the wholesomeness hits diff which makes it really enjoyable. Shin No Nakama has the plot of "hero" needing to beat the "demon lord" but doesn't really revolves around it(currently), which makes it unique compared to other "average" anime which mostly speaks about Isekai but this anime is not an isekai anime. The "hero" is Red's sister which makes things a bit more complicated: Red was kicked out of the hero's party due to his "incompetency" according to one of the squad members, which ended up encouraging Red to leave the hero's party and now the hero's party is apparently in jeopardy.


Story: 9/10, it's too wholesome to be given lower than 9, well part of it is because it fills my desires, though the main story itself about "hero" and "demon lord" is quite the generic but who cares, as long as I enjoy this show.

Art: 9/10, well what could I say about the art? It just matches perfectly with the show, though it's not "perfect", but as everyone said, "nothing is perfect in life."

Sound: 8/10, well same goes for the art, just what could I say about the sound? Other than the fact that the voice actors/actress do be matching with the characters as intended.

Enjoyment: 10/10, well do I really need to explain it after writing how I felt watching through these 4 episodes? Well just in case some of you are indeed curious and couldn't really come to a conclusion on why I rated it a 10, here's why: It's because this show has most of the elements needed in an anime to make it entertaining, though it's cliche as hell but who cares when it's wholesome right? Well yeah, in short, I gave it a 10 because I have been really looking forward to the latest episodes every week.


Well, there's only so much I could say in 4 eps, to get to the point I basically rate Shin No Nakama a 9/10 because of the wholesomeness that hits diff. That's it.

Overall a 9/10 so far.

**THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE**

My Opinion
After a long time we have a fantasy anime that is not an isekai. Literally I was thinking why don't they change the name of fantasy genre to isekai. But well here we are with a fantasy show. That is not a isekai but still good.

Story 8
Well the story of the anime is quite unique in fantasy genre. I personally didn't see many shows with a story this unique in fantasy. As the story progresses we get to know about various things going on as a side story in the anime. And well this show had some things that ... were it's original. So 8 in the story section

Art 10
Yeah well, It's literally quite obvious we will get see some stunning animations in the show. The visuals were really pretty. The fight scenes were very neat and well choreographed. I will give it a 10 in art & animation.

Sound 8
The basic theme of the anime is really quite good. It's kind of relaxing. The opening & ending are fairy good too. And the OST's have a relaxing vibe to it. I really enjoyed the sounds used in this anime. I would give it a solid 8 in sounds.

Character 8
The characters where give fairy decent spotlight & screen time. No unnecessary screen time was dragged into the anime for some specific character. The character development was pretty good too. We get to know about a lot of characters in such short time. So I would give it an 8.

Enjoyment 9
This show is kind of my guilty pleasure thing. I really enjoyed the show despite it's flaws and drawbacks. It never bored me at any point. So if it is just for enjoyment. I would give this anime a 9.

Conclusion
Overall judging as a critique this anime was fairly decent. This anime can come under "Consider Watching" tier. In the long run this show fails to compete with other shows coming out this season. Still I think deserves an 8 at the very best.

Ah god, the sadness,
this time I do not have anyone to blame

The studio that made these anime are incredibly new with only 2 titles to their name,
So I must say do not expect to be blown away, But I would still insist on watching it, because by no means is this a bad adaptation or anime

Alright think about it this way,

When was the last time we got a fantasy anime that is not an isekai anime, had an interesting premise, and also a good source material?
The immediate one that comes to my mind is plunderer and sadly this anime has also followed suit ... and become morphed from an awesome premise that had immense potential to a mediocre adaptation.

This anime suffers from a low budget so much so that sometimes you wish they had started crowdfunding.

At first one would believe that This would fundamentally stick to its Slice Of Life origins and that it does execute pretty well. what I was most impressed with is the fact that this is a slice-of-life anime at its core, yet it has a story in the making, with a very competent World Building power system and characters that are well written.

Red was kicked from the party because he was not an OP power fantasy isekai protag Kun and was average but had all the experience of a head knight (obviously he was fucked over).

the party he used to be in have still not forgotten him and are also a part of the story, so the dialogue and conflicts that will ensue after it is certainly Add a twist and leave something to look forward to because get real would a medieval setting with magic and monsters really make for a fun story?

And sadly after a clearly well-made first few episodes, the budget started to hit…………….

The animations are bad, the characters are sometimes stiff, too many still frames when they even attempt an action scene, reuse of the same sound pretty much everywhere. This would definitely be noticeable if you are beginning the show if I could notice it weekly.

The decision to make it a 24 episode anime surely would have helped the pacing is a bit off and we are suddenly thrust in and out between slice of life and action, this is a really bad combination if not done properly because take for example Rit, we don’t know when to take her seriously and when not to since she switches from champion rit to must proteccc waifu way too fast.


But on the bright the studios behind this do deserve all the credit since they made it a very digestible work even with the very bad hand they were dealt with, I must appreciate their ambition to take up a unique and challenging project rather than go with sure hit moe or ecchi shows.



Now coming to the individual scores

Story[6/10]
The plot and setting are great. the anime, strictly speaking, suffers from severe pacing issues and shoves action or slice of life at random intervals on your face[this is not a problem in manga or LN]. The romance in the anime is really mature and properly done, all I can say without spoiler is, no more 12 episodes for a confession or handholding. The fanservice is also very tasteful and well-executed.

sound[5/10]
sound is a clear weakness of this anime , from a Slice of life you would expect good relaxing music the kind we see in yuru camp. The music is there but isn't the best and most of it is reused way too many times. the Op and Ed aren't bad but I like the OP and ED art better than the song themselves.

art and animation [7/10]
The art is pretty good NGL for a slice of life it has invested well, make sure the scene is relaxing and beautiful nothing to complain about here. The animation however is very lacking, any action scene is straight-up boring with too much dialogue and still frames.

A good Slice of life that actually has a story! a big surprise and might get better in the long run, Now that the whole Hero incident has ended I can totally see that there will be a much better focus on the Slice of life aspect of this show with many opportunities for action as well (the demon lord is still out there). I wish I could recommend it to everyone since there is always something to like in this anime, be it characters, romance, or the story in the making, but even if I want to believe it people prefer style over substance (as demonstrated by takt op destiny which I just cannot stand). Hence I would only recommend it if you are into mature romance, Slice of life, or fantasy anime in particular.

Without getting to in depth about the story and plot, give this anime a chance. Despite its rating it is definitely one of the better fantasy stories out there. The character development is stellar and the interactions between them is great. This anime feels like an isekai but all the characters are from this world which makes the story pure fantasy fun. One thing from watching this anime is it definitely starts off slow which is my theory for its poor rating. The story really ramps up midway through and episodes 12 and 13 feel like movies lol. Anyways, watch it you wont regret it.

I was out of animes to watch, since all I do after studying is watch animes and play games. I saw someone saying that this anime was getting a second season and I wondered why the hell something so low rated and possibly very, very bad was getting more episodes. The thing is, I started looking for hidden gems and underrated animes about a week ago, since I started getting tired of many hyped up animes that delivers nothing at all. Some of them are always so well rated and they are so bad that I was even scared of picking low rated animes on ... MAL, because I thought they would be even worse. But I NEVER imagined that the risk of watching low rated animes in MAL could bring me something as good as this show. As I write this review, the score of this anime is 6.95, something to be very suspicious right? I can tell you, dear reader, that I have watched my share of anime already. I don't update my MAL list and I am not used to writing reviews, but I think I should do a favor to the community by sharing my feelings and my opinion about how good this anime is.

After being severely broken by the frustration of losing what he you once believed was meaning of his life, the mc finds his new purpose. As the title suggests, we start with our mc being kicked out of the hero's party with the argument that his skill didn't scale as well as the other characters in the group and he started getting in their way, needing protection from other members and not being useful in combat. He then gives up on being an adventurer and to life in the countryside, in a place where nothing happens and he could live a peaceful life as an apothecary. Soon, a princess disguised as an adventurer that he helped in past adventures find him in this city and she is also seeking a quiet place to live, away from the intrigues of the royal family. These two have actually quite the chemistry together and it is very satisfying to see their relationship grow and they becoming closer and more intimate to each other.

The history does more than just focus on the romance of the mc and the princess. That are mysterious events in town to shaking the plot a little bit, the dynamic of the party after the mc left and the feelings of his old partners about it. The anime also invested some philosophy concerning the blessing/skill each person is born with in this world. It can determine what your profession is going to be, what your personality is going to be like and the feelings that people have about their own unique skill. It doesn't go super deep about it, but it was pretty interesting that it brought to question people's free will versus their supposed "fate" and obligations to god and society according to their skill.

It's a hidden gem of romance, adventure, slice of life and action. If I could, I would give it an 8,5, but since I cannot I'm rounding it up, this show deserves it. Try to stick with it until episode 4. If you didn't like it by then, give up and watch something else

I try and be as spoiler free in my reviews as possible;

I have now finished watching this as Season 2 is looming on the horizon; quite honestly, I don't get some of the extremely negative reviews this has.
No, it doesn't try to reinvent the wheel and, well, going simply on the title, it also isn't some run-of-the-mill edgy teenage protag power fantasy - despite the very overdone "demon lord threatens world" plot-thread that does exist here.

The thing is though, is that this is more a slice-of-life, self-discovery and romance story, with bits of action here and there and the whole "demon lord" thread is what ... ties huge parts of the story together.

Now, I will admit that some parts of the negative reviews are correct in saying "well, if this happens at the end, what happens with the whole demon lord thing?", as it is a valid concern in regards to the plot, but - well - as I said at the start, Season 2 is upon us in a few short days of me writing this review, so I can only hope that it will get brought up, as Season 1 does leave it a little open as to what is going to happen to the world; it also leaves an opening for another plot thread of "what is going on with the god and the blessings?".
I cannot hold this against the reviewers though, as for shows like this, it is rare for them to get continuation seasons and Season 1 did initially air just over 2 years ago.

As for the main meat and potatoes of the review -
I personally found this anime extremely enjoyable, as it was definitely a change-up from the typical "isekai trash" that gets pumped out (and that I watch). It's very wholesome, has an actual decent romance plot that isn't the MC getting a harem of 47 wives, has enough action spread throughout and was, in my eyes, just a nice, easy-to-watch anime.

There's flashback scenes to explain how characters got to where they are and act like they do and there's also scenes that delve into world-building and setting up the plot. Each of the main cast has ample time to be developed, although I will say that one of the later additions doesn't really have much outside of "this is who she is", but maybe she'll be developed in Season 2. The romance plot feels quite legitimate and natural, especially when compared to harem stories - here, the MC has one love-interest and although he is a little bit clueless at the start, he very quickly catches on, without there needing to be 6 episodes of major fanfare or fan-service (although there is fan-service here). The family development and self-discovery parts are also, in my opinion, well done, with a nice ending-note to close out Season 1 with (although, again, it does leave the over-arching thread quite open).

Lastly, art and animation are certainly nothing special, but serviceable for this type of show.

I will personally rate this a 7/10 - Good, enjoyable and worth a watch - I probably would have given this an 8/10 had I not watched so many "very good" anime in 2023.

This review contains no spoiler*

I'll be honest this felt like your typical fantasy anime it looked boring to me in the beginning and it still is yet I'm still watching and plan to until the end of the season. This show is so wholesome and even though the story is simple it's still entertaining. That's the best way I can describe the show so far simple yet entertaining enough to make you continue the series.

It's kind of rare for a fantasy/isekai like show to have a slice of life involved with it. This show leans more to the slice of life genre in my opinion.

I'll try to review this anime based on its genres and i hope it helps you to decide whether this anime fit your preferences or not.

ADVENTURE**
Monsters hunting, gathering herbs, save people's lifes, travel a lot, this anime has all of them. The main character often travel to find helpful herbs and to accompany the heroine doing her job, the sceneries are well-made and you won't get bored of it.
score: 8/10 for this genre

FANTASY**
Bashing a group of monsters to level your skill up. it's literally every gamers' fantasy. It doesn't contain any dirty or cliche fantasies even though Red (the MC) is living under the same ... roof as a perfect goddess.
score: 8/10 for this genre

ROMANCE**
This is my duty to say that this anime is non-harem approved! the MC is to-the-point guy, you can clearly see it by how he indirectly confesses a lot early episodes and the heroine is smart! she IS NOT that type of girl that follows the mc without any reasons, punches him for no reason, no desire to live her life. They even often holding each other's arm while walking!
score: 10/10 for this genre

SLICE OF LIFE**
The couple also have life, they, too, need to work to fend themself. It's barely a great romance-adventure anime without this genre, but don't expect too much since it's a fantasy anime so they don't really have a clear family tree, school, or a job that makes sense.
score: 7/10 for this genre

This show is an artificially injected breath of fresh air in the fantasy world genre that's become so over saturated with echi and isekai shows nowadays. The show follows a man who, after being convinced he was a burden to the hero's party due to the other members of the party surpassing him in combat, leaves the hero's party in secret and begins a simple life in the corner of nowhere.

*Spoilers*

In that corner of nowhere, with one side of the kingdom being the known world border, an endless mountain range, another side being the sea, and the other two borders being marshlands, Sir Gideon ... begins his life as Red. A low ranking adventurer who refuses to take on combat jobs in order to avoid drawing attention to himself. Instead, he uses the common skills granted by his blessing of The Guide to effectively find and harvest herbs.

His life begins picking up when he's forced to forage for a rare herb during a forest fire in order to save the child of his friend from becoming blinded by an illness. His friend offers him any reward he can grant, and with that he finally brings his dream of owning an apothecary to reality. Shortly after, a woman named Rit, someone whom Red knew from his life in the hero's party, appears at his shop and decides to retire from being an adventurer in order to live a life with Red and run his shop with him.

While all of this is occurring, especially near the beginning of the show, many episodes are half taken up by flashbacks used to give contexts to relationships or situations. As well as this, at the end of each episode the story turns to the present day hero's party to show their situation without Gideon, which, surprisingly, is not an ideal situation, with the man who convinced Gideon to leave the party trying to control the other party members by filling Gideon's previous roll (that being a strategist and mediator of normalcy among the odd extremes of personalities the members of the party all bear, as well as the person who keeps the Hero herself grounded).

*End Spoiler*

Despite telling you a bit about the story, I'm not spoiling anything too extreme, just the first three or four episodes, so feel free to read my summary even if you do care for spoilers, it has nothing about the end or anything close to the end of the series.

This show is about a man who tries to leave everything behind, but while living his dream is eventually forced to confront his past in order to protect the people he loves, not just from external forces, but from themselves as well. There's no world saving, no grand adventure forged by destiny, and no demon lord the protagonist defeats. The show is all about being able to live the life you want and create a life meant for you, by you, instead of succumbing to the pressures of those around you and slowly losing your ability to live your own life in order to please those other than yourself.

Before I finish this review, don't be fooled, this is, in essence, the same formula as an isekai, it's just that the world the main character comes from happens to be part of the same physical existence as the world he's in throughout the series. It's still a guy who's way more powerful than he should be for the kind of place he's in, and he comes from a completely different "world" than the one he's living in now. So, though not technically an isekai, it contains much of the same elements. Not to say this is an isekai in all ways except technicality, that's not it at all, however, if you happen to enjoy isekai style shows, you will probably enjoy this show as well.

It's really a great show, with a great message, and a great story. There are long stretches of slow parts in this show, so don't go into it expecting a fantasy show like an isekai where the protagonist gains a new ability and has a major battle every two episodes or so. There's only one major fight in the entire show. If you're alright with that then I sincerely recommend this show to anyone willing to watch it.

Score: 9/10
+Great romance
+Good action
+Dynamic story with plot twists and fantasy trope subversions as well as likeable characters
+Colorful art with good opening song and passable soundtracks
+More than meets the eye story and themes that may hit home to young viewers
-Slightly rushed ending, but the show still ends on a satisfying note
(read below for a more in-depth spoiler-free review)

TL;DR - Show subverts expectations and slice of life tropes, tackling relatable dilemmas and themes that may hit home to many young viewers. The story actually moves forward and character relationships are masterfully handled in a mature, natural, and wholesome/cute way especially with regard to the romance. In addition, ... it is a fantasy setting and comes with good action. I don't like slice of life shows so I rarely watch them because I find them boring or too slow since usually nothing happens. This show is the rare exception. On top of that it's actually a fantasy show and not an isekai so it gets bonus points for being original.

The Details:

This show is misleading in the sense that it's a slice of life show, it's actually more than just living the slow life. It's a show about discovering what you really want to do in life, what you want for yourself, and how you want to live your own life. It dives into the dilemma of a skilled adventurer who tries to live a slow, relaxing life after retiring early after being kicked out of the Hero's party. Throughout the show, there are interruptions to his idle life such as events threatening the town, petty or jealous disputes from rivals, and old acquaintances asking for old favors. As a result, it also isn't boring, it actually has a dynamic story as well as enjoyable action segments. The ending was a little bit rushed, but aside from that the show maintains good pacing.

Side characters won't be super memorable months after finishing the show but they weren't annoying or written in poor taste, they're actually cool neighbors. The MC and his lover however will be memorable as a testament to their spectacularly sweet budding romance. This show somehow doesn't have a romance tag yet it manages to build up a great couple in less than 6 episodes in a way that's done better than most other romcoms/romance shows. And the romance is handled wonderfully and realistically without relying on anime tropes such as tsunderes playing hard to get, or the generic nerd who turns into a handsome hero who suddenly gets all the girls by simply breathing or saying nice things about their hair from your typical power fantasy isekai. This couple actually has history as a couple and goes through things together as a human couple, blossoming with each further step they take with their love life. It's an equal relationship where both partners want and need each other in their life, as well as one where they don't shy away from holding hands and acting shy as if they were still middle schoolers. Essentially, it's an adult relationship, and we don't get a lot of those in anime these days, so seeing something cute, wholesome, and spicy definitely brought this anime up on my tier list.

If I can describe this anime with only one word, it will be "relaxing". Yup, this anime will make you relax, the genre should be Iyashikei though. It was a good romance anime too, I didn't get cringe at all. Also, there are things that I learned throughout the show. And it is, [b]don't let fate be your only future, you can change your fate and you can change your future[/b].

Visual: 6/10.
It was basic, nothing special but it's not gonna burn your eyes.

Storyline: 8/10.
I really like the storyline, I can't believe it's already been 4 hours when I finished the show.

Song: 7/10.
The opening is ... pretty relaxing, the ending was so-so.

Final score: 7/10.
I'm recommending this show to any age.

As someone who's nearing the 100-anime milestone, I thought I'd seen it all. But Shin no Nakama ja Nai... (or "Banished from the Hero's Party" for simplicity's sake) has carved a special place in my heart. Red, the protagonist, is more than just a character – he's a beacon of hope for anyone struggling to find their footing.

Red's journey from a banished hero to a thriving individual is nothing short of inspiring. His story screams, "You can rise from the ashes!" and I couldn't help but resonate with that. The themes of adventure, fantasy, and romance are woven beautifully, but it's the subtle exploration of ... adulthood that truly sets this anime apart. It's not just about flashy fight scenes (although, oh man, they're insane!) or romantic escapades; it's about navigating life's complexities, forging meaningful connections, and finding purpose.

What drew me in was the anime's focus on adults navigating the ups and downs of life. Red's relationships with Rit, Ruti, and others are authentic and heartfelt. The character development is phenomenal, and I found myself invested in their struggles and triumphs. The animation? Top-notch. The magic system? Intricate and visually stunning.

I'm baffled by the 6/10 rating on MyAnimeList. Maybe this anime's message of resilience, empathy, and self-discovery only resonates with a select few. But trust me, this is a gem worth uncovering.

If you're new to the anime world or a seasoned veteran, add Shin no Nakama ja Nai... to your watchlist. It's a masterclass in storytelling, character development, and emotional depth. Red's story will linger long after the credits roll, and I guarantee you'll find yourself reflecting on your own life's journey.

Favorite Moments:

- Red's initial struggles in the new town, showcasing his vulnerability and determination.
- Rit's introduction, and the slow-burning romance that follows.
- The epic battle scenes, blending magic and strategy.

Takeaway:

Shin no Nakama ja Nai... is more than just an anime – it's a reminder that life is full of second chances. Don't let setbacks define you; rise above, and forge your own path.

Recommendation:

Watch this anime with an open heart and mind. It's a slow burn, but the payoff is immense.

HIDDEN GEM!!!

A friend of mine recommended me this anime since I´m a fan of Slice of life, fantasy and romance genres and never would have I have thought this anime was gonna be this good. Now since this is a slow pace anime it doesn´t mean it won´t have action, which in this case it does and does a decent job of implementing it by the use of flashbacks or current events in the story., SO IF YOU ARE SOMEONE THAT LIKES FAST PACE AND ACTION PACKED ANIME PROBABLY ISN´T FOR YOU.

Now the story is about a heroes party on a quest to defeat the ... Demon Lord, which is pretty cliche in most fantasy or isekai animes, however the direction that this story takes is non that I´ve seen in other anime/manga. The MC is part of the heroes party but for some various reasons he quits the heroes party to go and live a slow life in a remote backwater town. So far it´s not that interesting however once the story starts to dwell onto the power system known as "Blessings" you start to notice why the MC is the way he is and what his ambitions are because of it.

As the story goes on we get introduced to the MC´s love interest (Rit) and let´s just say there´s MAJOR developments in their relationship unlike most MC´s love interest in other animes. My boy is the DEFINITION of CHAD at times you could say their relationship is too sweet but you´ll keep on wanting to see more as their relationship progresses. I just hope more animes/mangas would take note of how it´s done here. Instead of the usual MC that just gets flustered from just making eye contact with girls or is just too scare to even hold hands or have a normal conversation. The guy actually takes initiative in some moments and accepts the love interest feelings. The story doesn´t just focus on the romance of the MC and Rit. It expands it by having a series of events in town that creates drama to keep us entertained as well as showing us the dynamics of the heroes party after the MC left and the current state of affairs. As well as introducing us the MC´s sister which we come to find SHE IS THE HERO!!!. I will say the story does take a bit of a dark turn when it comes to explaining the sister´s backstory but that just builds more emotions with the charcaters.

Further on in the story we see how the world works and why the "Blessings" are such a big important factor that affect daily life is!. Now I really like how the author makes these such "Blessing" seem on the surface to be this miracle from the gods but they are much deeper than we think. It does question "Free will" and "Fate" but is essential in my opinion since it explains certain actions and behaviour of the characters across the series.

Overall, I highly recommned this anime, if you have some spare time or just wnat a purifying anime this is it!!! The story is definitely good enough to keep you wanting to watch more. Now at the time of this review the second season finished airing so.... I´m a watch that... PEACE!!

(Inspired by Huang-Teizan)
10 - Bendicion de Dios
9 - Now this is Peak!!
8 - Bingeworthy!
7 - Good
6 - Enjoyable
5 - Either Echii or just enough to get by
4 - I´m just here to know how it ends.
3 - "Are you related to Rent a Girlfriend?"
2 - Que cojones
1 - My head doesn´t explode because it can´t.
0 - "Even a Hentai has a better story than you!"

I usually don't write reviews for on-goings, but I feel like this one is getting so much unneccesary and even unjustified hate. I mean yes, if you essentially hate wholesome romance/slice of life, then I understand you won't like this. But this anime can also offer something completely different and unique. Although the main focus of the story is the relationship between our main characters, the world and it's mechanisms are far too interesting for me to not write something about them. Just the whole blessing system shows us, how imperfect the world is and how unreliable their god is. Blessing is something everyone is ... born with and every blessing has its purpose, be it armorsmith, warrior or a thief. And you don't have anything to say in this matter. What you'll be doing is, basically set in stone from the day you were born. And if you refuse to subdue to these blessings, they will force you by altering your behaviour and personality. If you have a thief blessing but you don't want to live as a thief, the blessing will force you to steal, mostly unconciously. This is something that cought my interest. The other thing I loved is a completely new way of seeing the whole "hero" thing. In the anime, hero's party isn't shown as some knights in shining armor. And the hero herself, is something that very intrigued me. You see, a "Hero" is just another blessing, but far more powerful than other ones. But everything has a cost. You will gain immense power and strenght, but at a cost of losing your own humanity. Those with the blessing of a hero don't need to eat, drink or sleep. They also lose any unnecessary emotions and feelings. That is a price someone pays, just for being born, because you don't choose your own blessing.

Even though the initial story would probably keep me going, because the romance is pretty good and enjoyable, it was the worldbuilding with its systems and mechanics that hooked me in completely. This one is a hidden gem - literally. Completely new way of viewing the whole "Hero goes to defeat demon lord" cliché. This and several other factors, mainly how calm and relaxing the initial story is, paired with the mysterious atmosphere surrounding the whole hero's party is something I am looking out for.

Spoiler Warning:

I swear anime titles are getting even more of a mouthful to say. Banished from the Hero's Party (etc.) is an underrated fantasy anime that doesn't feature any isekai aspects. This mix of action and slice-of-life was unique since most anime in the fantasy genre rarely touch on the concept of a slow and quiet life these days. However, that doesn't mean that they don't work the combination of those genres made this series enjoyable. With those in mind, these are the parts of the anime that I liked and what could've been improved more.

The plot focused on two stories at once, the Hero ... and her former party member living their lives. Even though the main protagonist got kicked out of the hero's party, I like how they managed to supplement it, showcasing how he focused on his retirement from his heroic life after getting banished. From that beginning, the story introduces the other central female protagonist, and things start to get interesting there. Eventually, the hero's journey and the couple's developing relationship merge into one story. I loved how they managed to do that, but the pacing for those events seemed off at times, especially with the action scenes, and it left out a bit of detail from the source material. There were some unanswered questions left out from the thirteen episodes, and I wished they could've covered most of those parts of the anime. Nevertheless, the slice-of-life features can be considered the best aspect of this series.

In terms of the story, it's simple, from the long title. The main protagonist got banished from the hero's party, so he decides to live a quiet life in the countryside for his retirement. Throughout the thirteen episodes, the primary focus was the protagonist taking his banishment into stride and eventually getting to live with a beautiful warrior who wanted to be with him. Soon, their relationship blossomed quickly, and the two reunited with the hero, who's also the protagonist's sister. Overall, the story of Red and Ruti was an intriguing part of the series, as it reminds me of a double-sided story eventually merging into one whole plot in total. Once again, it's rare for fantasy anime to also be a slice-of-life series, but it works out so well. I enjoyed how they eventually reunited with each other and let the hero be free. However, the only part that I didn't find most of the action scenes enjoyable, as they were underwhelming at times, and the time I got to know the main couple made me look forward to their wholesome story than any more exciting parts.

For the characters, I loved seeing the relationship between Red and Rit getting developed at a nice pace throughout the episodes. I'll be entirely honest, I felt kind of jealous at the chemistry they had, and it reminded me that single, but I still liked their relationship. You can say that their love is the one thing that kept the interest in this anime alive. In terms of character development, Ruti had the best one in the series. It's a nice change to see that the hero needed to save the world doesn't want to be that person, and I'm so glad that Ruti achieved freedom from her blessing in the end. The character design is generic to other fantasy anime, as it features goblins, elves, and even hybrid monsters, which is nothing new to me. However, one of the character designs was changed from the manga from a demonic woman to a goat, and I felt disappointed how they made that decision. Overall, the characters were very endearing, and seeing how much impact they had on Ruti and how the Red's influence is crucial to her life was bittersweet. Red and Rit are definitely in the contender for best anime couple of fall season. And it was surprising to see their relationship eventually reaching to doing the deed, which is rare for me in other anime.

My one main criticism is the quality of the animation. I understand that a slice-of-life series wouldn't be too flashy, but the action scenes are another story. I've never heard of the studios that animated this series, but the fight scenes were too underwhelming to me. The fluidity for those action scenes got cut into slideshow animation at times. But not as much, but this adaptation got created that way due to the budget for the series. Ironically, the slice-of-life moments between Red and Rit were oddly well animated, which is strange, but I didn't complain about it at all. If this anime gets a second season, I hope the animation quality can improve, even if it's a tiny bit of it.

The soundtrack for this series is generic. As someone who watched tons of fantasy anime, it's nothing special at times. For both the opening and the ending song, they both match the theme of the anime. Just listening to those songs put me at ease, and I loved how it sets the tone for what to expect for each episode. The opening described how Red and Rit will get to experience the start of a new day while living with each other. The ending felt like the end of the day, and the main couple will eventually take it easy for the remainder of their time together. If this series had more action, then those songs would be out of place with the vibe of the anime. In short, the music was a nice change of pace to the other anime music I've heard this season.

Overall, Banished from the Hero's Party is an underrated fantasy anime that did a great job developing the relationship between Red and Rit. It also did a great job portraying Ruti's character development, allowing her to achieve freedom from her Hero's Blessing. The soundtrack and animation isn't the best part of the anime, but I still enjoyed how decent it was, and there is still room for improvements in those aspects. I'm relieved that this series isn't an isekai because I'm starting to get tired of watching many of those despite them being goated. The mix of fantasy and slice-of-life genres in this anime is well done. From how Red and Rit's relationship got further, I'm interested in a second season to see how the story will progress from there.

The story isn't the greatest, the pacing have some flaws, but at the end, this is the one and only anime that bring so much smile to my face.

I feel genuinely happy experiencing this anime.

As I say, the only downside is ep 10-12 where the story kind of go crazy, but not that really. The antagonist is boring af. And the story trope is repetitive and cliche.

The OSTs are amazing and really get the mood down.

The best part is the relationship between the male and female mc though, it just a genuinely happy wholesome nice romantic relationship for once.

Gotta also hand them for actually ... developing the mc relationship though, the progression is really nice and good.

Overall just a joy to enjoy, if you arent into serious anime right now, I recommend this anime strongly! :)

Good times man good times.