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[series:4908#628] | ||||||
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(Five episodes watched): When episode one began with Allen tactlesssly telling Lloyd that he is fired, I thought for a moment that I was accidentally re-watching the first episode of an isekai anime I had already seen. It's the old 'You got no appreciation for your honest work as a party member but you'll have the last laugh when it becomes clear that you were in fact the best member of all' premise. This must be a common experience in Japan. A good deal of episode one consists of Lloyd's training with 'Master', which is merciless but effective. She keeps it from him, but Master is aware that Lloyd has the potential to be a 'chosen one', whatever exactly that means. She seems to fear that he might make the same 'mistake' as she once did without this rigorous training. So, Lloyd remains unaware of just how good he is as he serves with Allen's party. One party member suspects that he has been contributing a good deal more than he has been claiming credit for. But, predictably, (we can tell from the expression on his face) B-ranker Allen is a jerk who only wants to be praised himself, not give his subordinates credit for what they accomplish. There's a mention of forbidden 'Ancient Magic' and 'Four Holy Swords', one of which Allen possesses, though no doubt not because he deserves it (it would definitely be humiliating if someday Lloyd claims it from him). At the end of the first episode Lloyd is about to get his new job with another party, so as predictable as things have been so far the premise is still not quite complete. This all felt very much like A-Rank Party- and other similar anime, and I didn't feel anything particularly original about it, but I intend to watch episode two and see if there's anything novel there. Episode two only reinforced my initial impressions. Lloyd thinks he's weak and has low self-esteem, but it quickly becomes clear that his abilities are in fact off the scale--like when he easily cures a seemingly hopeless illness that a relative of one of his new party members is suffering from. It's hard to believe that anyone as good as him could become this deluded, and it annoys me. Rather than having much of a plot (so far) this show is seeming like nothing more than an attempt to flatter Lloyd (and thereby anyone in a similar situation) as much as possible. In episode three Lloyd saves the two girls in his party from a giant swimming basilisk then uses his abilities to save the entire party from giant spiders--and still insists that his abilities are modest. It only makes clear, in a ham-fisted sort of way, how much he didn't deserve to be ejected from his former party. More of the same in episode four; the other party members start to wonder if Lloyd doesn't trust them, because what other explanation could there be? We learn that for some reason some evil person is hatching a plot to lure the adventurers away from the town where they are based; Lloyd is the first to sense that something funny is going on. In episode five the party rescues a beastfolk girl who had been kidnapped by the demons (at least some of their personnel look like ordinary humans to me) so that they could use some sort of mana that she possesses to control monsters. This was all seeming very stereotypical and unambitious to me; I wish a greater attempt would be made to use the disconnect between what Lloyd thinks his abilities are and the truth as a joke, because that's about the only way it would make any sense. As always, Allen, the asshole leader of Lloyd's former party, finds that he greatly underestimated him and can't find a replacement who is anywhere near as good (episode six). When will somebody make an 'I was unfairly ejected from an adventuring party' anime in whiich the characters are shades of gray rather than black and white? I would gladly watch it. Last updated Wednesday, August 20 2025. Created Thursday, July 10 2025. | ||||||||
