Isshun de Chiryou shiteita noni Yakutatazu to Tsuihou sareta Tensai Chiyushi, Yami Healer toshite Tanoshiku Ikiru

“The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows” is what happens when a good idea is butchered by incompetent writing. I don’t think there is another way to put it so here it goes: This show is a self-jerk fest. The protagonist is a boring, blank slate with no personality except what a 13 year old would think is cool. And I probably insulted a lot of 13 year olds right now. There are no stakes at all in all 12 episodes. There is no real point in watching this show. There is no story, no morals, no lessons… Well, there is one: “Always get paid forYour work”. Honestly? It’s not the worst lesson, but the way it is introduced is really lazy. Actually that term can be used to describe all of the plot, it’s full of cliches, overused tropes and lacks anything that could be called original. There are some twists, mostly towards the end, and almost all in the last 2 episodes but they are the effect of bad writing and not planning anything instead of organic progression and setups. That said, before we start I would like to explain something. I will be talking about “plot” and “story”. Many people use those terms interchangeably. I’m not one of those people, so to make sure everyone is on the same page… I use the definitions for “plot” and “story” as Lisa Cron describes them: “What happens in the story is the PLOT, the surface events.” “STORY is about how the things that happen affect someone in pursuit of a difficult goal, and how that person changes internally as a result”. I’ll start with this: The idea is top notch, the execution… utter garbage. Despite having really good ideas about the locations, faction interactions and character dynamics the show decides to ignore all that and just rush everything. The result? Everything is flat and devoid of meaning and stakes. The worst offender? The incident that was the catalyst of the whole show. So picture this. You have an adventuring party. This party has a healer (I will omit other types of magic the MC can use). One healer. Despite that the whole 5 man party leaves every encounter without a scratch. Ok, so You might be an idiot and think that it’s all because of everyone but the healer. So You get rid of the healer. See the problem? Let me count them: 1. Why the fuck would You think that the healer does nothing, when Your party is fighting beasts that are considered dangerous of almost everyone, and get out of it without a scratch? Let me accent that part. “WITHOUT A SCRATCH” 2. It’s healer. Healer. Do live in a place when healers have sway and can be used for political gain. 3.Llooking at it more utilitarian, a healer is a walking health potion and “Oh crap, I fucked up” button. Even if You think (I’m being really generous here with that word) that he’s useless, having him in a party in case You need him is a far better option than not having him when shit hits the fan. Those are just the 3 problems that are the most obvious ( I don’t want to make this too long after all). Listen. I get it. You need to have a healer with a tragic backstory (because of course You do. You are a writer with no skill or imagination so You just take the most pathetic trope for MC You can) and have him make something of himself. Ok. I get that. The idea is solid. So why in 9 circles of hell do you give him everything from the get go? Our MC - Zenos has the skills and mannerism of someone towards the end of his journey. Someone who should be at the verge of evolving from an actor to a mentor. Yet the writers put him in an actor position. But he has nothing to gain, no real goal to stride for. He has everything internally and is given everything externally on a silver platter. You want a genius MC? Fine. I’m all for it. But give him something to strive for. He has no real challenges, no one on his level who could act as his antithesis and give him a proper conflict. Honestly? I get why the MC seems bored all the time. He has nothing to strive for. Not all MCs must start with a goal. You can have them wander around the world for a bit, but at some point, sooner rather than later, the main character must have a goal. You could make an argument (a pretty bad one but still) that running his clinic is his goal. Ok, fine. Then make him do that instead of dealing with shit not connected to the damn place. Him beign unawareness of just how powerful he is is a pathetic trope in this case. Anyone in the slums could tell him his healing is on a whole nother level, but they don't. Why? Because they want to keep him in the slums? The world is presented in a way that even if others knew about him he still would have been better staging there so there is no real reason for it. And even if someone would want to get him, that alone would make a far better plot point than the conflicts he is given. The show has three, almost competently set up, conflicts. The first one is the tension between factions in the slums. The second is Zenos’s encounter with his old party and the consequences of it. The last one is the mystery at the end of the show. They are not bad ideas. The problem lies with the execution of them. Each and everyone of them could carry a 12 episode show organically and with ease if given a competent writer. But, since the show doesn’t have one, everything is resolved almost by a deus ex machina (aka Zenos pulling out something out of his ass with no setup. Well… that’s not entirely true. There is small information that hints of his abilities in the first episode but because this is a soft, very soft magic system they are not exactly reliable) in max 3 episodes. 1 in the case of a battle with the BBEG. Each of these conflicts could organically yield at least 5 episodes. There is a place in them for proper interactions, drama and world building. Especially the first one. The tension in the slums was set up as some sort of feud that lasted for years and was resolved… in about 5 minutes. No proper confrontation between the leaders, no negotiations, not even a damn lazy ceasefire and declaring the clinic a neutral zone. Nothing. 5 minutes and everyone, and everything, is daijoubu. No. Just… just no. Eff off. Of course no one dies or has any meaningful injuries because that would require a writer that can write above the level of a 13 year old, writing fan fiction. This premise alone should have been our gateway into the world. Showing us (not just telling) how the slums work, what’s the hierarchy, how different factions interact with each other and the basis of their conflict. But all we get is “They don’t like each other”. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? A competent writer could have made all 12 episodes about that premise with a satisfying, organic ending. But why do that? Let’s give our white bread with no taste MC a harem of idiots. That is another problem with the show. Everyone is an idiot in one way or the other. The MC has a harem and either doesn't get it or pretends to not get it, the faction leaders all want to jump on Zeno’s healing staff to the point it seems they don’t even manage their factions and I am not even touching, with a 50 meter pole, the subject of a kid elf in love with him. They are all one character with just slight differences that don’t differentiate them from each other much. Also they are pointless to the plot after the first 3 episodes. Everything that happens would happen even without them so why keep them? At least give them some role or function that would justify their existence in the show. No, it’s not comic relief. “Comic relief” implies that something should be funny. Everything in this show is just so childish. Someone need a new arm? Yeah, no problem, lie down and I’ll just cut it off and in 3 minutes You’ll be good as new. What? Infections? I have magic. A giant Golem, a creature of fierce power, is destroying the slums and wants to kill me? Yeah. Give me a sec, I’ll have it done in an instant. Oh and nobody has to die. That would create stakes and possible internal crisis and we can’t have that. The writer is too incompetent to write this properly. There is nothing in this show that would create a sense of danger, loss, hell, it can’t even properly convey a feeling of gain. It’s just so boring and sterile. The MC starts out as a powerhouse with little to no personality and ends as a powerhouse with little to no personality but with a harem. The show has no sense of progression and I think that’s the thing that kills it. If everything stays the same, why even watch it?

The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows - It's actually better than you'd expect, though as the title alludes, it's not brilliant. For as long as the AniManga industry has existed and churned out titles that have quickly become sub-genres of their very own, one such trope that always seems to make its resurgence time and time again is this "banished from the hero's party," though its execution will differ based on the story beats and how authors choose to execute their creations on the plate that's the deciding factor between mediocrity and decency (I don't even bother to mention good or bad, because what'sthe use of the metric at this point?). Some can be rather ludicrous, and others can be plain and simple and worth at least a watch (even if they aren't good to begin with), and one such case to prove is novelist Sakaku Hishikawa's Isshun de Chiryou shiteita no ni Yakudatazu to Tsuihousareta Tensai Chiyushi, Yami Healer to shite Tanoshiku Ikiru (or Yami Healer in its shortened form), a.k.a. The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows: a story that, while not original, at least has a soul that I think is worth a second look compared to other 3rd-rate shows of similar stature. The setting of an unremarkable young boy living in the slums and growing like many of the marked "diseased" kids that are only destined for death, as the typical fantasy societal differences between nobles and commoners put it, gets quite the boost learning of a power that reigns supreme in the kingdom, a skill that is only used to benefit oneself and impoverish all others: Healers. And this has to be certified by the kingdom itself before official licenses can be given out to show that the chosen people are "called" to be as such. However, this young boy learns it differently from a "wise mysterious man" who teaches him the skill willy-nilly, and as he grows up, he gets the attention of just about any adventuring party that requires Healers because of the reputation they bring. However, the young boy, now a young man, being in aid of the party he's attending, gets booted out unceremoniously not because of him, but because of their inability to recognize who he truly is and what he can do for them. So, back to the slums where he came from, and his reputation is built from the broken buildings and dirty streets, with the help of some people he saved and managed to get their trust in him to uphold an underground clinic to earn his keep, that functions more like an actual clinic than those found right in the kingdom itself. This is the story of Zenos and his newfound "harem party" of girls and creatures of all sorts living in the slums of the Kingdom of Herzeth, which at least has somewhat of a semblance of potential plot devices, go figure. From the outset, Zenos as a character is a lot more profound and not average, as many people would think he is. Despite his hidden self always wanting an unremarkable life where he'd work and earn his pay appropriately, his "New Life in the Shadows" begins to show more of what's truly underneath the substance of the rather unremarkable character. What you would find from Zenos is that he's a largely no-nonsense guy who acts on what he is told to do, and despite toughening out on the growing notoriety of the people he'd interact with, his calm, collected, and coolheaded politeness is matched with his intelligence and professionalism as an underground Healer who is exactly the "you get what you get" treatment. He doesn't come around for people who (un)intentionally waste his precious time, because it's time that he could've spent saving lives instead of just parading like a fool. He's the Healer for the People, not for the arrogant and prideful man. Alas, of all the characters Zenos could've gotten for help, it had to be a "harem party" of girls of all sorts who idolize and love him, yet also give him ample respect for his utmost dedication to the slums and their kin, despite him always constantly nitpicking at their obvious advances on him, given his being skeptical and naive at times. Starting with the girl he saved from slavery, Lily is the typical elf girl that easily could be the target of slave traders, and the need for Zenos to be her saviour "just feels right" enough for her to therefore work as his close attendant and skilled chef. The abandoned mansion in the slums is also home to the wraith girl of Carmilla, though when both Zenos and Lily "attempt" to raid her home, she finds that she's no match for the underground Healer and concedes the ground floor for their clinic operations. But none can be compared to the rowdiness of the slums' Big 3 leaders of the demihuman gangs: the lizardkin of Zophia the Tornado, the wolf beastkin of Lynga the Tyrant, and the ogress of Loewe the Mighty. Each leader with their unique circumstances, finds themselves being at the mercy of Zenos's hands, whether it be with the healing of their own kin or that the intense rivalry of the 3 gangs has him put on a pedestal to decide his standing in the slums (which he eventually becomes their big boss). Not to forget, there is an unexpected ally from the kingdom with "Iron Rose" Krishna, whose operations allude to when she first investigated the slums' happenings of peacetime rather than the standard and expected rivalry and soon finds herself being a ditz when it comes to the underground Healer himself. All in all, it definitely feels like a cheap way to get any form of characterization, but at least there is a sense of purpose in each and every existence that affects Zenos in one way or another, and I'd rather take a story like this and just wing it as a mildly enjoyable work than suffer through one that just doesn't work for whatever reason. The surprise bit that I find with Yami Healer is in the animation department. Not that it is good, mind you, but it's at least better than the likes of similar 3rd-rate studios we've seen for quite some time. And all of this is coming from the rather new studio of Makaria (with production assistance from Luminas), which has the bold act of debuting with 2 shows this season (this and Zatsu Tabi: That's Journey) for a start. I am definitely looking forward to more opportunities for the new studio's offerings to be released in the future. The music is decent, though I will say that it doesn't really stand out much in the way of trying to overshadow the fantasy elements. Sure, the one selling point of Yami Healer is its homemade harem, and that's where the music complements it best. But otherwise, both of J-Pop rock band bokula's OP and solo female artist sorato's ED, being debut Anisongs at that (which is a few of the many new debuting artists this Spring season), are honestly OK and nothing memorable, just alright. To you, the reader, you might think that I'm giving Yami Healer a.k.a The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows the benefit of the doubt, and I really do want to come out as positive as my own watching experience with the anime itself. It has potential for a growing plot, and I would appreciate it if Zenos actually had a sense of manhood within him (though I'd be hard-pressed on how to improve his character more), and the harem is generally a mess, but a good kind of mess to begin with. It's easy to just "switch off the brain" and watch Yami Healer, because this is the ONLY brilliant way you'll get some enjoyment out of this generic but better-than-expected fantasy anime. And yes, let's just leave it at that, OK?

The first episode is pretty bad, as it's one of those one offs that is a random story from the middle. I'd say just skip it. Well, I'd say just skip the show, since it's your generic fantasy with an overpowered protagonist and everyone else acting super dumb. Like the main thing of this show is everyone being really impressed with how talented the main character is, while he's just like "it's no big deal" even after repeatedly being shown it's a big deal when seeing what other healers can do. I finished it since I had it dubbed and it was kinda on in thebackground a bit. Some other very dumb plot points are the pevious party somehow not noticing that they were getting healed the whole time. Like even if they are healed, they would feel the pain of being cut before they were healed. Then they also sent him down inot a dungeon with a ton of ghosts, and when he came back unharmed they didn't think anything of that. I get really tired of these lazy plots that are just excuses to start harems. Anyway, I went particularly hard on this one, but I'm sure there's people who like this kind of slop and don't care about the plot. For sure not me though.

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