Review of Banished From The Hero's Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life In The Countryside

Minor/ non-specific spoilers in this review. This anime centers around an adventurer turned apothecary and his “slow” life in the countryside with the woman of his dreams. However, Red’s life is anything but slow, as he encounters numerous obstacles that could hinder his slow life in the countryside. It also features a side story with the Hero, Ruti, on a quest to gather a party to defeat the Demon Lord. Story: 5 The story in this show is mediocre at best. It’s basically about how each person has a special gift, or “Blessing” that makes them good at something. The show explores a common trope in Japanese culturein that it should be okay to move beyond the confines of one’s chosen role and live life as you see fit. Japan is a very collectivist society, so seeing a message like this is not surprising.

The main reason why people came to this show (myself included) was the romance between the main characters Red and Rit. The romance was the only good thing about the story, in my opinion. Anytime the story tried to get serious and dramatic, it came off as boring, average, and contrived. There was nothing there to make the story interesting. Each episode (except episodes 10-12) are comprised of 80% boring drama and 20% romance. Episodes 10-12 are purely drama, which make them easily the worst episodes of the season. The show would have benefitted greatly from more slice of life moments and romance and little to no drama. Some drama is okay to keep things interesting, but the drama needs to be interesting in the first place to make the show better.

Art: 7

Overall, when used in the slice of life/quieter moments, the art is nice. There are scenes in this show that are very well designed and drawn, such as some of the scenes that take place at night. The characters are all well drawn. Rit is especially beautiful (and voluptuous). She is the best designed and drawn character (other than maybe Ruti) in the show. However, the art begins to falter when action occurs on screen. The action is poorly animated and framed. The fights are all boring and poorly choreographed. The fights feel lazy and rushed, which only brings down the show more. Once again, the slice of life aspects of the far exceed any drama or action the show tries to throw in.

Sound: 5

The sound is average. The music and sound effects aren’t bad, but they’re not good either. There is nothing that makes it stand out in any way. The music is a list of extremely generic tracks that simply exist to meet the mood of the moment. Sound effects are pretty standard. Nothing spectacular in that department.

Character: 6

Overall, I liked most of the characters in this show. The main ones seemed to have some sort of character growth throughout the show, especially Ruti. Of course, there are some characters who are extremely one-note (mostly the side characters).

One of my biggest problems with this show is how the writer’s treat Rit’s character in the show. After introducing her to the audience, we learn why she arrived in Zoltan and her history with Red. Her and Red’s relationship soon escalates after that. Once their relationship is established, however, Rit’s character development seems to fall right off a cliff. She becomes a one-note fan-service character with a large boob window for viewers to gawk at. We see her in numerous nude scenes just because she can be. She feels more like a plot device for developing Red’s character than she does her own character. It’s quite a shame, as she is perfectly capable of being top tier waifu material, both in her character and looks. If there is a second season, she needs to have significant character development alongside her inevitable nude scenes. While she had one character flaw that she was trying to overcome throughout the show, it wasn’t really wrapped up well enough in the last episode.

Enjoyment: 6

When there were happy slice of life scenes and romance, I immensely enjoyed the show. Whenever there was drama, I really didn’t like the show. The best way to watch this show is to skip all of the drama and just watch the slice of life moments and romance.

Overall: 6

I came back to anime after a long time to watch this show after seeing clips of it online. I am definitely disappointed that the show didn’t live up to my expectations of being primarily slice of life, but it had its good moments. If the show was purely slice of life and romance, it could easily be an 8 or 9/10 for me. On the contrary, if the show was strictly drama, it would probably be a 4 or 5/10 at best.

I definitely can’t give this show a 7/10 or call it “good,” but it has enough good moments that make me believe it is an okay show for the most part. Therefore, I’m giving this show a 6/10.

If there is a season 2 planned, I hope the team behind the show can improve it for the future.