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

I read and watch a lot of this sort of JRPG-esque fantasy, partially because I think there's always something new to be found at the end of someone else's rainbow. Shin no Nakama is no different, and for all the similarities I could point to with other series, it's the differences and the conceit that were striking to me. That being said, in spite of how much I like this series in concept, I found the delivery to be lacking. The general conceit of this first season is the idea that a person isn't born for anything; they aren't supposed to BE anything. Nothing decides whata person is other than them. I think this concept is hammered in a bit too far considering that it runs across the entire 13 episodes, only reaching a crescendo in the final two episodes. In dragging out the point as far as the show did I found myself losing interest along the way. In my mind it really shouldn't take 4 hours to tell me that one big thing, and while the romance between the leads, Red and Rit, was something of a salve to tide me over, I kept wanting the show to be about more. The drippings of lore presented in the last arc felt like they were the solution, but at that point in the story that lore was intersecting with the climax of Ruti's arc, which detracted massively from the impact for me.

I felt the world-building was lacking slightly. When the fantasy world has a combination of steampunk airships AND future-tech AND magic it sort of makes me scratch my head a bit. You want the things contained within to make some semblance of sense, but here I don't think they do. This isn't to disparage to the lore, whatever it may be, but it's to say that the world sort of feels hollow, like the things within it aren't because of a past society that crumbled to dust, but merely placed there by the author because they're cool. The only heart to be found is in the show's core; Red.

Red's relationship with Rit is what saves the show's first half. Their romance is small and understated. It progresses smoothly and in a way that makes sense. It's simple and uncomplicated; the quintessential slow-life romance. Red's relationship with his sister, Ruti, is what almost saves the second half. Ruti on her own is a somewhat compelling character, and her kuudere nature is used to its fullest to express the things that can't be said. Red's devotion to her is also compelling, and the bond between them is tangible and believable. What ruins this completely is the antagonist, Ares. He devolves very quickly into a cartoon-y mustache twirling madman who can't tell up from down and it breaks verisimilitude for me. This is a story that takes itself seriously and when you've got a cackling madman in the middle of it, it's hard to accept the things that are happening especially when the main characters are still as serious as they were to begin with.

If I had to say whether or not I liked Shin no Nakama I would say I like it. There's undoubtedly good elements to the show, but as far as recommending it, I don't think I can unless you're really hankerin' for a fantasy romance that develops quickly and you think that spending an entire cour hammering the same point home is a worthwhile investment. I don't, but I can see the argument for it, especially considering the show doesn't really repeat itself in the plot department. All things in moderation I say.