Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside - Reviews

A mash-up of multiple genres and yet it's pretty good.

Gideon is a member of the Hero's party but he lacks the necessary raw strength? (the anime doesn't clarify) to stand next to the Hero (who happens to be his sister). Forced to quit the party Gideon decides to run off to a small town, Zoltan, and becomes an Apothacary, where he assumes the identity of Red a mere D-Rank adventurer.

PROS

• No Harem, Red is a one-woman man.
• Red and Rit (love interest) actually confess to one another.
• Red is OP, but not typical Isekai OP trash.
• Fun Side Characters.
• You really do care about the Hero and Gideon's relationship.
• Some cool ideas about destiny and choice are thrown in, with the character Al.
• It has elements of Rom-Com, Slice of Life, Fantasy, etc. Since it doesn't pander to a single genre the story is less bound by cliches.

CONS

• The world isn't expanded upon as well as other anime.
• The Apothecary business is boring.
• There is a secret hidden plot by the Demons but it is very poorly done, and I didn't get invested in it.

Conclusion

This is hardly the best anime out there BUT like with most anime out right now, it's not Escapist fantasy, with a Protagonist who has a Harem with a 12yo in it. It's a good Christian anime, for all us vanilla people out there. 

Have fun watching this unless the last 3 episodes turn out to be bad in that case I'm sorry.

OK so for the most part I like this anime. I like the romance between Rit and Gideon but theres one thing that has been bugging me this entire time. and thats the background music.

The music is always so poorly chosen that it breaks my immersion while watching the show. Like its so bad that I cant even focus on whats happening in the story because the music is so awful. Other than that its an alright anime for killing time. 

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Banished from the Hero’s Party is an interesting idea trapped within a generic framework. It’s a pop song that features a virtuosic guitar solo for about 15 seconds before returning to a bland, uninspired verse followed by a forgettable chorus. While the anime does feature some memorable characters and the story explores features of adult romance that are rarely shown, the overall premise and world of the show was so typical that I couldn’t immerse myself in it. The anime tried being a comfortable slice of life featuring a slow life fantasy. Instead, what should have been the premier showcase of the plot was merely a subplot to the author’s run-of-the-mill Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

To give credit where credit is due, the strength of the anime is undeniably the relationship between its two main characters, Red and Rit. Mature romances, ones between two adults, are a minority in anime, and ones that don’t overuse the hackneyed stereotypes of emotional embarrassment are even rarer. Not only does the story get straight to the point (the characters begin a serious relationship after the first episode), but they largely actually act with the maturity of adults. Even other anime featuring unexpected cohabitation (e.g. TONIKAWA or Taisho Otome Fairy Tale) don’t quite have the maturity of the relationship between Red and Rit, mainly because the characters in those shows are much younger. The best moments in the anime were whenever the two shared time together and gradually grew closer in their relationship.

Unfortunately, these moments were contained within a story that was otherwise so generic and overplayed that I had a hard time getting invested in it. The fantasy worldbuilding barely differentiates itself from any of the others in the genre. It features a class system that at times seems distinctive, where people are granted “blessings” and essentially railroaded into certain life choices. However, even this doesn’t break the show out of formulaic monotony. In fact, it contributes to the issue of characters doing things just because it’s what they’re “expected to do.” Demons are supposed to be evil. Heroes are supposed to slay demons. Thieves are supposed to be morally corrupt crooks. While ultimately the battle of nature vs. nurture was raised, it was too late and too underdeveloped to salvage a story that was already on track to being one of the most forgettable I’ve seen in the genre.

The characters, particularly the villains, suffered from this lack of depth to the story. Ares in particular, the one who starts the whole conflict by kicking Red/Gideon out of the hero’s party, was laughably bogus. I’m sure that Taku Yashiro had fun screaming half his lines, but his single minded motivations were more fitting of a Saturday morning cartoon bad guy than an antagonist in an anime for more “mature” audiences. Sisandan barely got any development at all despite being the “big bad” of the show, and the arc centered around him seemed full of inexplicable twists and plot holes. I felt at times that the story would jump to a scene and I’d have to rewind to see if I had missed anything. Outside of the main cast, the only character with any noticeable development was the hero, Ruti. Her story was strong and emotional, and at times her internal struggle as the hero were some of the best moments in the anime. Although as with everything in this story, it was diminished in quality by being set in a world that is for the most part bland.

Part of what makes the world tedious and boring is the rather mediocre animation and sound designs. The character designs were forgettable. The fight scenes were fine but unspectacular by modern standards. The show hardly gave the audience anything interesting to look at in between fights. The sound from the music to the sound effects were as cookie-cutter as they come. There wasn’t much that was offensively bad by the production, but absolutely nothing about it stood out.

While Banished from the Hero’s Party did some things well and without a doubt had its moments, it’s not something that left me engaged. Although not terrible, I felt like I’d seen many of the good parts of this show included in anime that I enjoyed more overall. It’s one where I found myself checking the progress bar more than forgetting that the progress bar existed. I can see the appeal of the unique elements of the show, but it certainly was not for me. Perhaps if you’re a fan of the slow life fantasy as a trope then you’d like this show, but after being too bored to finish shows like By the Grace of the Gods and Drugstore in Another World and laboring to get through this, I feel this genre is not for me.

Note this is something like ep 8 in season 1, and things are starting to change. But so far this has been a pretty good show. A bit slow at times, and I thought it would get into will they won't they relationship plot. But I'm happy shocked they didn't do that like most other shows. Like they didn't have an instant love or a will they won't they. It felt somewhat natural. 

As far as the overarching story there isn't much to it.

It's another world where you have hero's killing the demon king or whatever. But this one has it where one member doesn't think he is good enough to be the hero so he goes to some lazy town and tries to live a simple life. There is a balancing act between slice of life and the normal action kill monsters thing, with a leaning towards slice of life. 

NOTE: I don't think this is worth another watch, but I hope it gets a season 2.

UPDATE: 

The final ep aired and it isn't half bad. This isn't one of the better ones and ther eis a lot of seen it done it type of things. But it's nice when it slows down. The problem is, when that gets a bit too boring or a story that goes no where. It goes right back to the normal adventure fighting stuff where there is an extreme seen that done that. But with that being said, I like the funeral towards the end. I wish they explained that a bit more.

This review contains spoilers: I completed this anime about 2 months ago but forgot to write a review on it. I really enjoyed this series and the lighthearted, easygoing nature of it. Anyways onto the review:

Synopsis: Red (formerly known as Gideon) is well, banished from the party of the Hero. The hero happens to be his sister, and Gideon is seen as the weak link of the group, even though his sister had no say (the hero is not permitted to have any emotions). After his removal, he moves to the small town of Zoltan, where he opens a medicinal herbs shop and meets the friendly adventuruer named Rit. 

The main storyline intrigued me before starting the series, and I thought it was exectued solidly enough. The other storyline in addition to Red's slow life is the trajectory of the hero's party after Red's departure. It falls apart, and now his sister Ruti goes on her own journey with her new best friend Tisse in order to find her brother.  For a slow life series, it's pretty entertaining I must say. 

The animation admittedly is nothing special. It wasn't bad, but just wasn't unique or any different than your usual anime series from the past 5 or so years. That doesn't mean it's bad however, it's just decent enough.

Now we're onto the characters and this is where the anime excels in my opinion. Our 2 main characters, Red and Rit, have a dynamic that works. As a team they're likable and have good chemistry. The same can be said for Ruti and Tisse as well. Ruti in particular experiences a good amount of character growth. By the end of the series she's able to express emotions, and in fact, slime. It's one of the more heartworking parts of the anime. This series has a good core group of main characters that allows it to flourish in other areas.

The red of the cast is solid. Ares is a totally destable villain, so he fits that role well. Theodora's (one of the Hero's party members) conflict on whether to support the role of the hero or acknowledge the human element of Ruti is also an intersting subplot. I can't forget Gonz, Nao and the rest of the gang. All in all, I don't like to give perfect scores for a category, but I find it hard to deduct points here. Just a great group of characters all around.

Overall: The storyline and characters make for a great watch. Even if the animation won't blow you away, a likable cast should be more than enough to continue. I would definitely recommended this series, particularly if you want a wholesome series that just leaves you feeling happy.