OP Sequence

OP: Iki o Suu Koko de Suu Ikiteku 「息を吸う ここで吸う 生きてく」by Yui Nishio

「俺は真の仲間じゃないらしい」 (Ore wa Shin no Nakama ja Nai Rashii)
“You’re Not a True Comrade”

If you’re expecting the instant gratification of Cheat Kushi no Slow Life, you might not find exactly what you’re looking for with Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasareta node, Henkyou de Slow Life suru Koto ni Shimashita. But instead of leaning on slice-of-life antics, the anime carves out its niche easily as the story of a man who wishes to put aside the worrisome internal politics that come from adventuring.

The serious tone that the anime goes with works well with the story considering how it doesn’t feel entirely out-of-place for Red to want to retire to sell herbs at an apothecary. Namely, many of his skills on the battlefield come in handy when he has to cultivate riskier herbs that other merchants would have a harder time gaining access to. It makes it all the more rewarding when Red is able to gather these herbs in secret and benefit the town as he sets up shop and is always well-stocked with life-saving remedies.

At the same time, the central conflict posited by Episode 01 is a bit silly. Red was one foot out the door with his party, but it was odd that all it took for him to retire from adventuring was getting gate-kept out of being a warrior by one of his bitchier comrades. Ares thinks Red is unfit to help out Red’s kid-sister Ruti and takes it upon himself to kick him out. It’s a dick move because nobody else came forward wanting to give Red the boot.

But with how Red views adventuring, even if Ares wasn’t being catty, he would have likely found the quickest excuse he could find to retire and build his pharmacy way out in Zoltan. In his eyes, adventuring frankly sucks and it’s not worth it to rank up or deal with the internal politics of the party you got dumped into. Not when you could always just use your abilities to be a small town’s beloved pharmacist who could use his talents to help others and not bask in another person’s glory.

It’s definitely more plot-heavy than the other slice-of-life pharmacy anime, but the music helps to sell the laid-back atmosphere it wants to steer towards. Both the opening and ending songs are bouncy and lovely songs that might end up sticking out more than the show itself. Composer Hashimoto Yukari is credited towards the soundtrack, and her contributions build on the theming behind the slow life that Red aspires towards.

There is a ton of competition in this season, and this anime is likely to get buried underneath all of the higher-profile shows, but Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasareta node, Henkyou de Slow Life suru Koto ni Shimashita is shaping up to be a worthwhile experience for the Fall season.

ED Sequence

ED: Minna Onaji「みんなおなじ」by Jyocho

9 Comments

  1. The main character has abandoned his adventuring party, by using Ares as an excuse. A proper thing to do was to talk with everybody, explain his situation and wishes and then leave. He acted in a cowardly and selfish way. Now he gets to relax and have fun, while people he abandoned without a word would bear the burden of their difficult mission.

    I suspect the story will go on to show, that his comrades actually relied on him and how they are really missing him and his support. Which in usual “kicked out the party” Isekai`s would be karmic jutisce and sympathy for the kicked out hero. But that won`t work here, because Red chose to abandon them. Well, maybe they won`t go that route, we`ll see.

    Kessler
    1. Well, there’s some interesting twists in the backstory that were probably retcons created after the first volume of the original work came out, but none-the-less add some interesting depth to the Hero and to Red. Ares is about as stupid and shallow as he appears. You can see what you think of it as the show goes on.

      heiro001
  2. I have NO freakin’ idea what that awkward “You’re Not a True Comrade” was
    all about, but after that weird introduction, I like how the story went. Maybe a
    more serious Slime Taoshite 300-nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level Max ni Nattemashita
    (not that Slime was bad, just really fluffy)?

    Anyway, I’ll be following it a bit…

    mac65
  3. Wasn’t expecting this one to get an animated adaptation, but happy to see it getting one. I like the setting, I like a lot of the protagonists, and I like the general thematic bent of the story. I hope they can at least get through the first two volumes, since that’d make for a pretty nice stopping point.

    heiro001
  4. Read the manga for this, which explained the whole “getting kicked out” thing a bit more. (Ares being a jerk is part of it, but there is some logic to it). It got alluded to a little in the conversation with Ares. Hopefuly they cover it later, maybe when the blonde girl at the end shows up.

    Still, this is pretty fluffy I think, which isn’t really bad.

    Knot

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