Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. People are pretty decisive when it comes to isekai anime. You either like that anime genre or you hate it. There’s no in-between and it’s a real shame as there are a number of isekai anime that fall into this category. Not every isekai anime is going to be a homerun or strikeout. They can go up to the plate and still get a hit off that puts them on a base. One of those animes that comes to mind is The Faraway Paladin. Based off a light novel written by Kanata Yanagino in 2015 and still continuing to this day, The Faraway Paladin kind of came and went. Most people didn’t watch it but it gained an underground following over the years. So much so that it got a second season. The first season was produced in 2021 by the relatively small and unknown studio Children’s Playground Entertainment. In honor of that second season coming out I figured why not take a look at this isekai and see if it is deserving of a second season. Let’s get ready to answer this age-old question: https://youtu.be/_oRiWJWXVPM, and take a look at The Faraway Paladin.
Opening and Ending Theme
The is “The Sacred Torch” by H-el-ical//. A very nice and beautiful that captures the fantasy aspect of the anime perfectly. The song honestly feels like a callback to old-school anime openings. It doesn’t go into detail about what the anime is about. It instead sets the mood for the story you are about to hear and watch.
For the ending, we have “Shirushibi” by Nagi Yanagi. Looking back this is a better ending than I remembered. There’s this rush of emotions I get from listening to the song. The images of me just sitting by a campfire and looking into the night sky reminiscing about the past comes into mind whenever I hear this song.
Episodes 1-4
The anime starts by focusing on a 3-year-old child named Will voiced by Shōya Chiba who comes from our world but was mysteriously sent to another world. He’s raised by three undead creatures in an abandoned monastery. There’s Gus the wise ghost, Blood the unruly skull knight, and Mary the motherly zombie. As the years went by Will learned magic from Gus (scene here: https://youtu.be/Axc6DdwdMg8), how to fight from Blood (scene here: https://youtu.be/VvCNk_q-a_0), and Mary taught him practical skills (she was the most important of the bunch) as well as give him holy bread that she received from the gods by praying.
More training continues in episode 2 as Will gets older and his lessons become more intense and harder such as fighting undead and surviving in an undead city by himself. During his training in the city he comes into possession of a magic spear (rare find) and wins a fight against Gus (scene here: https://youtu.be/ymPIvLvM7hA). As the episode ends his coming of age ceremony is close and he’ll have to make an oath to one of the gods to get their divine protection (but I can’t help but shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen on that day).
In episode 3 Will has his adulthood battle against Blood where he loses, but still performed incredibly well (scene here: https://youtu.be/9jzxs5GrWyw). He receives a demonic blade called Overeater from Blood, and we finally get to learn the truth about Blood, Mary, and Gus. In the past, the demon king tried to conquer the continent and many heroes were sent to face him. The demon king raised an army unlike any the world has seen in the very city they’re living by. In fact, Overeater was his weapon of choice (you gave the kid a weapon that belonged to a demon lord? Are you mad?). The adventurers led by Gus mounted an attack with Blood and Mary serving as his main companions where they managed to get Overeater away from the demon king so that Blood could kill him. While they succeeded in stealing the sword, Blood was not able to kill the demon king (you had one job~!). The demon king transformed into a demonic beast that Blood couldn’t hope to kill, so Gus and Mary went with plan B, seal him. Through their combined powers, Mary and Gus sealed the demon king beneath the land they’re currently standing on. As Mary and Gus got done sealing the demon king, they were approached by a god who struck a deal with them. Become undead, fight by his side and he would eliminate all the demons in the city. They accepted and each one became an undead who would watch over the seal of the demon king for all eternity. For 200 years they’ve been stuck in the city watching over the seal unable to interact with the outside world or know what’s going on (you’ve missed so much. Streaming services are destroying cable companies and social media is controlling our lives). Eventually, Will came into their lives where he was meant to be the sacrifice to break the demon king’s seal (how is one kid going to break the seal?), but they instead raised him so he could go out in the world and be reunited with his kind as well as face any hardship that comes his way. After they finish their story, Stagnate the Undead God who they made a deal with arrives to end the episode.
At the start of episode 4 Gus appears and tries to defeat Stagnate himself. At first, it seems like he gets the job done with his spells (but that would be too easy) only to lower his guard and lose. Stagnate takes him down along with Mary and Blood as part of their contract. When the three would eventually lose their attachment to the demon king, they would fully become his servants. After spending years raising Will they lost their attachment and now their souls belong to him. The god invites Will to join his army so that he can continue to live with the others and gives him until the next day to decide. The next day Blood, Mary, and Gus return with Will blaming himself for what’s going to happen to them. Mary slaps him (so hard that she broke her arm. Damn) and tells him to stop being a baby and man up. Will snaps out of his depression and says he’s going to fight to protect what he loves (and thus a new God of War is born). Will heads out to fight Stagnate himself where the odds are stacked against him. The fight starts with Will fighting against a horde of undead valiantly earning the praise of Stagnate who once again offers Will the chance to join his army, but he uses Overeater to try and take down Stagnate where he almost succeeds only to fall short and become unconscious (scene here: https://youtu.be/nOKf2xepR9Q). In his unconscious state he meets Gracefell, the Goddess of Light, where he receives her grace and blessing. With Gracefell’s blessing Will is able to put the souls of the undead to rest and appears to be on an even playing field with Stagnate who retreats and instead heads for Blood and Mary (scene here: https://youtu.be/QqNX09zilD4).
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 starts off on a thrill as Will arrives just a little too late to save Blood and Mary. However, just before Stagnate can touch them, the two get saved by Mater the god-mother of Earth and the god who Mary originally received her grace and blessing from. All this time Mary believed that Mater had disowned her for becoming an undead, but nope, Mater never forgot about Mary and has been watching over her (giving her bread and burning her just like she wanted. They have a weird relationship). With this moment of spare time and with a distraction from the others, Will is able to defeat Stagnate who vows to get his revenge (scene here: https://youtu.be/KLYiG_Q6jdU, a new God of War is born). Just when you think everything has been resolved, tragedy strikes as Blood and Mary are going to vanish as well (no god, no contract, no living). We get a tearful goodbye, all four of them share a drink together (scene here: https://youtu.be/b-o2rsajnWw) and the next day comes around where Will builds a grave for Blood and Mary. Gus will be sticking around as he made a deal with Gracefell last night. He’ll be allowed to live for ten years guarding the seal of the demon king and until Stagnate regains his strength. In the meantime, Gus will become Gracefell’s errand boy and Will will be going on a journey in the world to make new friends, start a family, and spread the good word of Gracefell (have you accepted Gracefell as your lord and savior?). Will finally sets out on his journey adopting Maryblood as his last name (should have been Bloodymary).
In episode 6 we see Will’s journey is in full motion where aside from a few monsters he has yet to come across another living person. He eventually does come across an elf named Meneldor where they share and eat the parts of a dead boar Will killed. After this, Meneldor gives Will directions to a settlement and takes his leave as he doesn’t seem particularly fond of humans. At night, after traveling a few days, Will receives an epiphany about a nearby village about to be destroyed. Will rushes to the village to defend the people where we see that the attackers are being led by Meneldor (you bastard. I knew we couldn’t trust him). Will manages to subdue Meneldor and the attackers and questions them on why they attacked (scene here: https://youtu.be/u2T_jP7ftvg). We find out that the attackers are from another village that was attacked by demons. Half of the villagers are dead, the rest are wounded and the village is now being occupied by demons. While the elder of the current village understands their plight, he decides to hang them so that they don’t loot again (prepare the noose). Not wanting to see anyone die, Will steps in and offers to eliminate the other demons himself. He pays off Meneldor and others’ bail and hires Meneldor to escort him to the village and take out the demons. After healing the villagers who were injured from the demon attack, Will and Meneldor head to the village to eliminate some demons.
Episode 7 goes by fairly quick. Will and Meneldor make it to the village where Will single-handedly kills the demons (and Meneldor got two or three good shots in. Scene here: https://youtu.be/SUl7ZXLHvOU). They then search the village hoping to find any survivors but all they find is death. Will does lay them to rest and the two eventually come across an elderly lady who is Meneldor’s guardian. We find out that Meneldor is a half elf and was rejected by his village so he ran away. He soon joined a party only for one of them to betray and poison the group with Meneldor being the sole survivor. He eventually came to the village where this elderly lady looked after him like he was her own son (who is a troublemaker). She became a ghost because she was worried what would become of him after her death, but with Will by his side she’s confident that he’ll be alright from now on (scene here: https://youtu.be/2U_D_hg0gZ8). After this, the other villagers return, bury the dead and have a celebration to honor them. Near the end of the episode Meneldor and Will have a good chat with each other where Meneldor asks to receive a blessing from Gracefell thus becoming one of Will’s followers and friend.
In episode 8 Will and Meneldor head to the port town known as Whitesails to get supplies for the village. Along the way they run into Robina (or Bee) a troubadour and a peddler (or hawker as they call them) named Antonio (guitars should be playing whenever his name is said). They’re also on their way to Whitesails but the bodyguards protecting them ran away after a giant ape appeared (cowards). Will manages to scare the ape off and our two adventurers agree to escort them to Whitesails in exchange for introducing them to sellers (scene here: https://youtu.be/2iXDjTog3As). From there not much happens in the episode as the group travels. We do get to see how Bee and Antonio make a good team. Bee attracts people with her singing and Antonio sells his products to them (since people are relaxed and in a good mood they’ll be more willing to buy stuff). We also find out that stories of Mary, Blood, and Gus are still being sung in the world meaning they haven’t been forgotten (scene here: https://youtu.be/CXWcX4rJ1o4, good for them).
Episodes 9-12
Episode 9 opens up with the group reaching Whitesails (and to their credit this does look like a really nice city). They see the sights as well as the public baths before taking Will to the church where he can pay his respects to Gracefell. Unfortunately the clergymen as well as the vulgar bishop Bagley are a bit suspicious of him seeing as Gracefell has barely any followers in the world and believe he might be up to no good. They do give him and the others guest rooms where just as they settle in the city gets attacked by a wyvern. With the help of Meneldor, Will is able to bring the wyvern down and stab it in the heart but even that’s not enough to kill (next time aim for the head). Just when the wyvern is about to shoot fire Will just says fuck it and uses brute force to bring it down. He locks in a rear-naked choke hold to bring it down and then snaps its neck with his bare hands (scene here: https://youtu.be/m_IUxA_aW_M, okay, Will is officially a badass). Will and Meneldor get an audience with Ethelbald the crown prince of Whitesails and governor of Southmark. When Will says it was just him and Meneldor who took down the wyvern he doesn’t fully believe him and once again finds him suspicious. However, he decides to push all of that aside, thanks Will for defending his city, and wants to reward him for his heroism. Will asks him to send soldiers to defeat the demons threatening the villages and he says that’ll be difficult. We find out that this wyvern is only one of many frequent incidents that have been happening in the region. Ethelbald suspects toxic miasma is behind the recent demon attacks and can’t spread his troops out more than he already has. It also doesn’t help that Will is keeping his whole identity and background a secret which makes him very suspicious. Will decides to go in a different direction and hire adventurers/mercenaries to organize an army and defeat the demons from the city. An absurd request that doesn’t sit well with Ethelbald.
At the start of episode 10 Will manages to win over Ethelbald with sweet words of honey. Bagley then barges in where we see he and Ethelbald don’t get along with each other and he doesn’t want to lose Will to him. Ethelbald takes a liking to Will and wants to make him a paladin (https://youtu.be/_oRiWJWXVPM). Will would then be under joint authority of the temple and Ethelbald and they would both share in his glories. Bagley takes his leave to consider this knowing he’s being played (like a fiddle) taking Will and Meneldor with him. From there we actually do see that Bagley isn’t as bad as we originally thought. He can be rude and even come across as corrupted at times but in truth he is on the up and up (it’s quite refreshing to see a religious figure not be corrupt and secretly evil). He tries to get Will to refuse becoming a paladin, but Will says no and Bagley gives him his support in building the army he needs to defeat the demons and miasma. The next day Will and Meneldor go to the Adventurers’ guild to get adventurers to join their cause where they find Reystov and his men who are willing to undertake his suicide mission. As the episode closes we get Will’s paladin ceremony and everything seems to be set for the battle in the Beast Woods.
In episode 11 Will and his rowdy party of adventurers head into the Beast Woods to deliver supplies to the villagers, chase off any demons, and settle any disputes going on between the villages. Months quickly pass and the area improves for the better with summer just around the corner (which means it’s time for shit to hit the fan). When a group of adventurers fails to report, Will, Meneldor, Reystov, and a search party go out to find them. The adventurers are unfortunately dead and Will’s group falls into a trap where they’re surrounded by demons being led by a chimera. They try to fight back but the numbers are just too much for them and Will lets his rage get the better of him and unleashes his demonblade fighting blindly with fury and killing anything that moves (Seras: Disgusting. He doesn’t look like a gallant fighter at all. He’s nothing more than a wild animal swinging wildly in the wind). It actually takes Reystov to calm him down and he rushes over to an injured Meneldor trying to heal him but passing out from exhaustion (scene here: https://youtu.be/dwC-X8oRLqk). Will wakes back up in the village where Meneldor is still alive but in bad shape. Will blames himself for what happened and this leads him down a sad path of trying to handle everything himself and not trust others.
The final episode starts with Will about to head out to the demon’s nest alone only to get stopped by Meneldor. The two have a fight where Will breaks Meneldor’s arm (well that’s a friendship breaker), but Meneldor continues to fight Will calling him a coward for running away. Meneldor manages to get a hit in on Will and says that they’re friends and how he won’t abandon him no matter what. He says that Will isn’t a monster and that one day he will catch up to him. This manages to return Will to normal (well that cliffhanger from last episode was rather pointless, but at the same time I’m kind of glad they fast forward through this cliché). With them back on the same page they spend the next few days preparing for battle with everyone. The day of battle finally arrives where they do a frontal assault. We surprisingly don’t get to see much of this part and instead go to the next part of the battle where Will and Meneldor are the first to arrive at an abandoned monastery where the chimera from last time was waiting for them. We see that the chimera can talk (ain’t gonna help it here) and they fight it where they fight pretty smartly. They take each head down one at a time and manage to kill the chimera. They then head into the monastery to kill the dragon that summoned it, but Reystov already beat them to the punch (nice). With the demons dead the forest starts to become lively again, people are going to start moving into the area, and Will unknowingly has become the lord of this new piece of land.
Final Thoughts
So that was The Faraway Paladin and boy this is a weird one to give my thoughts on. It’s not a bad anime, in fact I thought it was good. I think the only real downside was the pacing near the end was rushed and a few of the fight scenes looked clunky because of the animation. The character of Will has a certain charm to him. Despite being strong when compared to everyone around him he still lacks knowledge of the world and requires the help of others to know what’s going on. His friendship with Meneldor was good and funny. I like how Meneldor denied being friends with Will until it mattered the most and his drive to catch up and be on the same level as Will to not make him feel like an outcast was rather moving. The anime for the most part goes at a slow pace which I actually do like. We get a chance to see Will’s relationships with his parents, get an idea of the state of the world and the various gods they worship. While it’s not the most creative world I’ve seen it’s a world I understand, get an idea of what it’s like, and want to explore it more.
The animation for the most part is mediocre and the fighting can be choppy at times. Like I said before the pacing near the end was rushed which is a shame because it had good pacing up until that point. I also feel that this anime didn’t need to be an isekai. I honestly think it works better as just a straight-up fantasy as Will’s past life really doesn’t play much of a factor into the story (at least not yet). The music on the other hand is very good. It does a good job of setting the tone and conveying the emotions of the characters and the scene we’re watching.
Final Score
The final score for The Faraway Paladin is a 6.5/10. A good anime that falls into the footsteps of Mushoku Tensei where the anime takes its time and focuses on the characters more rather than send them off on a world-changing journey. It’s already been announced that a second season is coming so I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next for Will. Thanks for reading and I’ll see yon next time on Project Nitsuj.