Review of Redo of Healer

To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to Redo of Healer when it was first announced and I only gave it a chance because, honestly, I had nothing better to do. So, was Redo of Healer any good? Well, let's hop on and find out, shall we? Story Ever since The Rising of the Shield Hero premiered back on 2019, some anime have tried to rip off its most basic elements without really understanding how did the story made them work, such as the kid-friendly Bofuri or the trainwreck that was Arifureta. The protagonist, much like Naofumi Iwatani, suffers a series of grievous and terrible crimesthat scar him for life and put him on a path of revenge against the people who wronged him.

What's really curious about Keyaru is that, while he calls himself a healer, he can do much more than just healing. He can make people explode, erase memories, copy powers and whatever the story requires him to do. The story calls Keyaru an alchemist, but I don't know how alchemy works in fiction, so let's go with that.

The story is basically a series of acts of revenge Keyaru commits not only against the people who wronged him but anyone in charge of a corrupt regime that oppresses the populace for profit. While this doesn't necessarily make Keyaru heroic or benevolent, it does point out that the people he is going up against are even crueler and more psychotic than he is, which allows Keyaru to maintain some semblance of the viewers' sympathy. It's not a perfect approach towards portraying anti-heroes, but it does help the series move forward (7/10)

Characters
Honestly, I don't know what to think about Keyaru. Sure, the abuse and torture he endured was horrible, but putting his tormentors through the same horrible experiences he went through would make him as vile and terrifying as them, if it weren't for the fact that the bad guys hadn't already proved themselves to be miserable and hideous excuses for human beings. As I understand it, viewers aren't supposed to sympathize with Keyaru, but rather to understand why are is he so screwed up and take satisfaction in his revenge.

Since this is a harem anime, I'm gonna have to talk about the ladies and unfortunately, most of them come off as bland and generic. Keyaru brings ladies into his harem either by brainwashing them or by convincing them to join him so they can fulfill their own quests for revenge against the kingdom. At least, Flare and Norn had personalities before becoming Keyaru's cheerleaders, but Freia and Ellen had no personality whatsoever and they are, well, Keyaru's cheerleaders. Setsuna and Eve are fine, but I don't care that much about them.

My personal favorite has to be Kureha. She has the most developed personality (which isn't saying much, to be honest) and tries to act as the moral conscience of Keyaru's group. She also seemed to be the only one that offered Keyaru some sympathy when he used his healing powers on them, so perhaps the show could have used her to temper Keyaru's darker impulses.

Unfortunately, the character writing isn't one of Redo of Healer's best aspects, and I'm not expected to care about anyone outside of Keyaru's group, especially, when Keyaru kills anyone who wrongs him. (6/10)

Art
Despite the limited budget, Redo of Healer manages to deliver some really good character designs and fight scenes. It doesn't overtly use CGI, the backgrounds are all neatly detailed and the lighting doesn't cause motion sickness. (8/10)

Sounds
The opening and closing songs are good but aren't really that memorable, but the vocal performances are incredible. We get some good acting from Ayano Shibuya (Flare), Shizuka Ishigami (Setsuna), Natsuki Aikawa (Kureha), but the best performances has to come from Yuya Hozumi (Keyaru). I hope they all get more work from this. (8/10)

Conclusion
In closing here, Redo of Healer was fun. More importantly, it's an example of why ambiguity is so important for some fictional stories. This isn't the story of a purely benevolent hero fighting against an evil empire. It's the story of a deeply distrubed avenger who only has the benefit of fighting people who are even worse than he is. Redo of Healer wouldn't work if it told the story of purely benevolent heroes fighting purely malevolent villains. Creativity and originality are important in the anime landscape and you can't do the exact same thing over and over and over again or that will become stale and predictable. This is why I enjoyed Redo of Healer so much, because it dared to be original. I hope this show gets a second season because it was better than people give it credit for. (7/10)