May 2, 2020
I really like this anime and while I agree that it has a couple flaws and is for certain people not everyone. It starts slow and keeps a mediocre pace so if you only watch the first few episodes you don't get as much pay off. For example the first fight the characters have is against a goblin but they can't kill it right away, which makes sense as the only had basic training and are teenagers that we just thrown into battle.The story itself takes a more serious turn on the RPG genre, a bit like Goblin Slayer but a lot less edge. It
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takes small insignificant fights that are usually brushed over in other stories of the same genre and shows the realism as the characters fight for survival just trying to meet ends meet to survive another day. The story focuses on 6 main characters each with different classes:The levelheaded priest (Manato), the hotheaded DreadKnight (Ranta), the cheerful Hunter (Yume), the gentle giant Warrior (Moguzo), the shy Mage (Shihiru), and the apathetic Main character/theif (Haruhiro) The characters themselves while albeit generic at the start, you can sense true relationships form as they try to understand each others standing in the party inside and outside of fighting. Haruhiro is used as a narrator through the story tracking the teams progress and often times acting as the strightman of the group Ranta acting as the ladder.
SPOILER (Skip ahead or read I'm not your boss):
When Manato the leader of the party dies, the story has a big shift as the character have to find a new member to fill that Manatos place. This death in the family effects the characters through the rest of the anime especially Haruhiro as he takes the acting role of leadership and often times questioning himself in his role leaving him wondering "what would Manato do?". This topic is never taken lightly and is brought back many times thought the story, like when the kill their first goblin the death is not clean like in most RPGs it's gritty you see the goblin struggle and try to run away before it is taken down by Ranta who deals the final blow taken aback at what he had just done in taking a life, and the rest of the party horrified of how brutal and senseless the death is. The death of Manto is taken in a similar manner the death is a symbol of how gritty the world truly is. Manto's death makes Haruhiro more of a interesting character in the end as we see how he deals with leadership and the internal struggles he constantly has.
SPOILER END(You can read from here spoiler free):
The art for this anime is truly one of its best features, it uses a more watercolor like style making it look like it come right out of a picture book. The settings of each part of the land our heros explore are realistic and breathtaking. The action sequences are very well choreographed as the take weight of weapons and class into consideration, for example the lightly gear Haruhiro being a Theif class can move fast and swing quickly weaving in and out of enemy attacks with light swipes while the heavily clad Warrior Moguzo has a more slow approach in battle however his attacks are very heavy and carry power behind them. This consideration of weight and other aspect in the fight make each battle interesting and fun to watch. Beyond the art the music is quite good the opening song is a 10/10 in my opinion as it has a kickass fiddle solo true to the whole medieval RPG setting. and the battle music takes many shapes, a more punk hard metal for serious intense moments in fights and a more light jazz tune for less high stakes battles, the contrast helps to understand the mood of the characters during each fight. The ending song felt a bit generic but it is all right in its own right 7/10.
Overall this anime was a solid 9 in my eyes, if you watch the anime and are thirsty for more the lightnovel is a great read as it goes into more detail and delves more into the mindset of Haruhiro making him a more interesting character as he deals with his internal struggles of being a leader. The manga was unfortunately discontinued, I myself am not much of a lightnovel reader but this story is super interesting to read and I highly encourage anyone who is interested in starting to read lightnovels start with this one.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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