Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. The fantasy genre has gone through a bit of a change over the last few years. What used to be about going on a big adventure to save the world has instead been changed to focus on characters living that slow and peaceful life. It was bizarre at first but people have come to appreciate these kinds of stories as we were able to relate to the characters more and provide some good writing where the story didn’t need to focus on action in order to make it entertaining. Even I’ve come around and have started to enjoy these kinds of animes, and the one anime that led me down this rabbit hole was Banished from the Hero’s Party. Based off a light novel written by Zappon in 2018, Banished from the Hero’s Party would seer a quick rise to fame as it sold one million copies in 2 years. Thanks to this success an anime was announced for 2021 done by Studio Flad and Wolfsbane (Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time). Let’s enjoy the slow life and take a look at Banish from the Hero’s Party.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Beautiful Day” by Yui Nishio. One of my favorite openings from 2021. The song is simple, the lyrics are sweet, and it just puts me in a good mood whenever I hear it. Yui’s voice is great here as well.
The ending is “Minna Onaji” by JYOCHO. I didn’t care for this ending all that much but can’t deny that it puts me in a good mood. Just like the opening it’s simple with the sweet lyrics and beautiful. There’s a good sense of peace throughout the song that makes you appreciate the life you have and reminds that it’s okay to take things slow once in a while.
Episodes 1-4
The anime starts with a quick backstory about the demon lord Taraxon who dominated over the land of Avalon for 3 years. However, hope came in the form of a girl named Ruti who became the chosen hero thanks to her divine protection an ability that lets you excel in your field (if your divine protection is warrior, you’ll be good at fighting. If it’s mage, you’ll be good at using magic). In her party was our main character named Gideon voiced by Ryōta Suzuki (Yu from Kaguya-sama Love is War) whose divine protection was guide, which allowed him to protect the hero’s party and guide them to where they needed to go. He was also good at negotiations and talking to others. Sadly, one party member felt he was being a burden and not pulling his weight, so Gideon left the party of his own volition. He fled to Zoltan, a rural area home to deserters and other criminals where he changed his name to Red, tries to make an honest living, and earn enough money to open a pharmacy. The next day it gets discovered that there’s an owl bear in the area (it’s like a bear, only wiser) and the guild has sent adventurers to exterminate it. While that’s going on, a young elf named Tanta gets sick and only Red knows where the herbs needed to treat his illness are. Red goes to the mountain to get the herbs where the adventurers stupidly set fire to the area where the herbs are at (dumbasses). Luckily, Red is able to get enough herbs and even takes down the owl bear in one hit all by himself (I’m sorry, how was he not pulling his weight?). Red gives Tanta the medicine thus saving his life. 4 months soon passed where Red finally earned enough money to open his own pharmacy.
In episode 2 a woman by the name Rit voiced by Kanon Takao comes to visit him. In the past, Red and the hero’s party defended her country together so they’re good friends. We learn that Rit is the second princess of this military country where she left because of the power struggle going on for the throne. Rit asks Red if she can work at his pharmacy (hmm~, beautiful blonde girl with a nice body. Let me think. . .YES!) where she shows she has a good sense for business and manages to win over Red who agrees to let her work at the pharmacy as well as move it (Corbin: Ohhh~, they’re gonna do more then make potions).
For episode 3 Red and Rit do a little shopping. Rit buys a new bed for herself despite insisting on buying a double (Red, you wimp! You be a man and you share a bed with her). We also find out in order to level up your blessing you have to kill someone with the same blessing as you (well that’s dark). They get one of their potions approved and then get the idea to put their remedies in food (thus creating medicine food or health food). Meanwhile, Ruti’s party seems to be at odds with each other. We see Danan (the brawler) is upset with Ares’s (the sage and the one who forced Red to leave. That dick) negotiation skills which is hindering the group and gets ready to set out and find Red with Ruti’s permission. Also, did I forget to mention that Red is Ruti’s big brother (you got rid of her brother? I don’t know if you have balls or lack brains to do something that stupid).
Episode 4 gives us such wholesome and heartwarming moments between Red and Rit (just kiss already). Such as Red getting attacked by a B-rank adventurer named Albert who suspects him of killing the owlbear from episode 1 and Rit coming in prepared to kill him for attacking Red (find yourself a girl like Rit). In the second half of the episode Red and Rit help out the local bathhouse which is losing customers to a bigger bathhouse. They introduce some herbs which release a pleasant smell which relaxes everyone and becomes a new attraction to the bathhouse (it also serves beer).
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 the local guilds try to get Rit to return as an adventurer but she says no (she’s in love). Even the Thieves’ guild wants her to become an adventurer again (why, because of uncertainty). When Rit was in the guild she could be monitored, watched and managed (you knew who she was working with and where she was working). Now that she’s off the leash there’s no telling what she’ll do (then my advice for you would be to stand clear of her. Stay out of her business and she’ll stay out of yours. Hopefully). The master of the Thieves’ guild wants her back in the Adventurer’s guild and hires an adventurer named Dir to handle this. We then get a flashback where Rit was adventuring with Red and the Hero’s party. Aside from telling us that Rit loves Red (we already knew that), the flashback also hints how important Red is to Ruti and how much he means to her (that’s her brother after all). If you need more evidence, we get another flashback later on where Ruti finds out about Red leaving the party and knows Ares played a part in it. Her reaction to Red leaving is killing Ares and bringing him back to life. Back with Rit, Dir approaches her and threatens to tell her family what she’s been doing and she says go ahead. She doesn’t care about the power struggle for the throne or her title as a princess. All she wants is Red and nothing else (this is why you need a double bed). She goes about her day and returns home to Red.
We start episode 6 with Red and Rit going swimming by the river and having a BBQ together (the more I watch this anime the more I ask myself why hasn’t Red hit that yet? I mean the body, the personality, the obvious hints that she likes him, I don’t think I could keep my hands off her). Their relationship does take a huge step forward as Red admits he finds her attractive and the two share a kiss (alright, we are making progress). We then go to Ruti where we see that being the Hero, kind of sucks. She doesn’t get tired, doesn’t have to sleep or eat, and doesn’t feel hot or cold. Even her emotions are cut off because she’s the Hero and anything considered unnecessary to be a hero is eliminated (so you’ve turned her into a robot? Nice going). The only one to ever get somewhat of an emotion out of her is Red (and dipshit over there got rid of him for selfish and dumb reasons). Back with Red and Rit people have been acting violent thanks to a narcotic that seems to be enhancing their abilities. At the end of the episode one of the local kids named Al gets attacked.
At the start of episode 7 Red and the local doctor manage to treat Al where as soon as he wakes up he says a man with an axe was about to attack his family. Red rushes to Al’s house and finds his unconscious parents still alive. Al says the attacker was Ademi another kid in town who is the son of the townguard captain and whose divine protection makes him more aggressive than the average child (he’s on steroids). Once word of the attack spreads and Ademi disappears, people are outraged and believe the townguards are protecting him. Things get more chaotic when the townguard take Tanta away for no reason (and there’s the abuse of power). Red and Rit go to the adventurer’s guildmaster for help where he gives them permission to see Tanta along with his dad. After speaking with Ademi’s dad we find out that the townguards believe Ademi was set up and now there’s a line drawn between the people and them. Rit gets tasked with investigating these attacks where she runs into Danan who has decided not to bring Red back after seeing the life he has here. He decides to stick around and help out Rit with her investigation as it appears demons are at play here. We get a nice scene of Red training Al and a cute moment with him and Rit (good God this couple is cute). The next day protestors being led by a guy named Bighawk continue to gather and cause trouble. Meanwhile, Ruti and her party find an airship (oh shit. A staple of all JRPGs. This is going to make traveling so much easier).
Episode 8 opens up on a hot note. Finally listening to everyone (and his dick), Red gets the double bed (thank you) and shares it with Rit where they’re officially a couple now. Sadly, their night of fun will have to wait as Al is staying with them (goddamn it) and the last thing they want to do is traumatize that kid more. After this the episode moves fast as we find out Albert, the master of the thieves’ guild, and Bighawk are working together with a demon to take over Zoltan (why? It out in the boonies. What importance does this town offer?). Albert wants to turn Zoltan into a military nation where he’ll build up an army and fight side by side with Ruti to become a hero (a good dream except you’re teaming up with a demon to accomplish your goals. That’s like taking steroids to win a game. Okay bad metaphor but you get the idea). Al gets captured and brought before the adventurers where Bighawk wants him to kill Ademi thus starting a revolution. Al refuses so Bighawk tries to kill him only to fail thanks to Red who rescues Al and Ademi. We then get a short fight between Red and Albert (you’re not on his level Albert) where Albert rants about living in this backwater town and not fulfilling his goals of being a hero (then leave. Stop sitting around and whining. Go out in the world and see where you land in the pecking order). Red wins and chops off Albert’s hand allowing the townguards to come in and arrest everyone. Al and Ademi patch things up which disperses the adventurers and returns things to normal (or do they?).
Episodes 9-13
At the start of episode 9 Ruti and Tisse leave the others behind and take the airship where their destination is Zoltan in order to get a medicine made. We find out that Ruti got approached by a demon who represents a faction of the demons who don’t want to go to war with the humans. The drug that she has supposedly weakens one blessing without diminishing her skills or powers (that is a terrible leveling up system). Supposedly the only way to level up a person’s blessing is to fight someone whose blessing is of equal level and since Ruti’s blessing is so high level she hasn’t been able to level up. She takes the drug where she doesn’t feel any different and wants a steady supply of the stuff for her journey. Back in Zoltan, Red and Rit continue to be the cutest couple in this anime (God these two are so sweet you could use them as sweeteners in a coffee). Ruti and Tisse make it to Zoltan where we see Ruti breaks Godwin out of prison to make the drug. Despite trying to keep a low profile she seems to be standing out quite a bit and at the end of the episode the siblings finally meet each other once again.
Episode 10 starts with introductions and the siblings sitting down to talk (with Tisse being the awkward person in the room as she has no idea what to do). Ruti tells Red that things are not going well (party members are leaving, Ares lied about Red leaving and he’s fucking up because he sucks at his job) and wants him to come back to the party. Red says no as he’s found a good life in Zoltan and Ruti understands and makes the decision to move to Zoltan (she is such a brocon). After this, Red takes Ruti around town and shows her the sights. We see how isolated she truly is as the hero as she gives off an aura that unfortunately scares people and they misjudge her except for Red (one of the hidden skills of being a big brother I guess). He doesn’t shun Ruti and is instead proud to call her his little sister. We get an interesting scene in the bath between Rit and Ruti with Tisse being the odd person out once again (I feel so bad for her. She keeps finding herself in these awkward situations nobody wants to be in and her thoughts are so relatable). Ruti talks about how Red saved her when they were children and how she always envied Rit because of how she was able to laugh, cry, smile, and get close to Red (you know, be a human). The truth is Ruti hates being the hero (can’t say I blame her. She’s essentially a robot forced to follow the orders of her blessing. She’s been ordered to save the world, but has anybody ever stopped to save her?) and with tears in their eyes, Rit and Tisse make a silent vow to save Ruti.
We start episode 11 with Tisse telling Red and Rit about the drug Ruti’s been drinking and they’re worried that sooner or later she’ll develop an addiction to the drug. Red wants to meet with Godwin and heads down to the port where he finds Danan who is missing his right arm (and this complicates Saturday night fun time). It turns out the Danan we’ve been seeing all this time is Shisandan, an Asura-like demon that Ruti defeated a long time ago, but apparently he survived and is now out for revenge. He approaches Ares who has obviously gone off the deep end. He destroys Red’s shop and bed (asshole) and then takes off to look for Ruti. Red arrives at the old elven ruins where Ruti is keeping Godwin and finds him and Ruti. Red reveals that he’s also been looking for a way to suppress a person’s blessing as well but hasn’t had much luck. He says that the drug Ruti has been using doesn’t work on her blessing and that she’s free to do what she wants just like everyone else. Ruti then tells Red that an unknown blessing has emerged within her, something unheard of. The good news is it hasn’t fully manifested yet so she should be fine. As they talk, they get attacked by monsters courtesy of Ares who confronts Red and Ruti and attacks Red (he really has lost it. Why would you attack the one person she loves the most?). Ruti attacks him missing his vitals and says they’re done (you’re fired). Ares heals his wound and Shisandan approaches him where he reveals a relic in the ruins belonging to the first hero. Shisandan says that if Ares gets the relic then Ruti will come back to him.
In episode 12 Shisandan and Ares journey deeper into the ruins to retrieve the relic with Red and the others chasing after them. We see Danan catch up to Shisandan and Ares. He fights against Shisandan and beats the hell out of him (he fights well for a man with one hand) until Ares decides to be a dick and steps in to help Shisandan take down Danan (he just continues to make himself unlikable more and more). Shisandan and Ares finally make it to the relic which are bunch of sword replicas the first hero used to vanquish the demon lord. According to Shisandan if Ares gives one of the swords to Ruti it’ll enhance her hero’s blessing and put her right back on the path to defeating the demon lord (and how does that help you Shisandan?). They grab the swords and head back up to face Red and the others where Ruti destroys all the swords with one powerful swing (well I hope you guys have a plan B). Theodora, another companion of Ruti arrives and attacks her. Just like Ares she too wants Ruti to become the hero. Not for her own selfish whims (like a certain dick sage) but because if she doesn’t become the hero then many will suffer. She must sacrifice her very being in order for the world to be safe in Theodora’s eyes. Rit of course calls that bull and says that they’re more than just their blessings. Ares blasts Red and Rit down an elevator shaft where they get saved by Danan. Red returns to slice off Ares’s hands (aim higher) and then slices Ares (that works too). Ruti manages to take down Shisandan but she picked up one of the sword replicas which has enhanced her hero’s blessing and now she’s going to destroy the one thing that’s keeping her from fulfilling her mission, Red. Tissa takes a fatal slash protecting Red to end the episode.
The final episode begins with Red fighting Ruti. Once he’s able to disarm her she returns to normal and for the first time ever cries (and they said she didn’t have emotions). Ruti then tries to heal Tissa but her hero powers aren’t working (the one time she needs them they abandon her). Luckily, Theodora heals Tissa and saves her life. She then offers her life as compensation for harming the others but Ruti refuses to kill her. Ruti says she’s done being the hero and is going to start living as herself from now on (and screw the rest of the world). Red then tells Theodora to be the hero as she’s far more suited for the role than Ruti ever was (sure, whatever. Everybody’s a hero now). The next day we find out that Ruti developed a new blessing called New Truth which has the ability to control other blessings. This blessing is being used to control her Hero blessing and allowing her to live her own life where she plans on buying a farm with Tissa and growing medicinal herbs (I didn’t know they made weed in this world). We see them hold a funeral for Ares (that’s very big of them. I would have given him a Jedi funeral and called it a day). Red and Rit finally have sex (thank you! It’s about time my man got some. He’s earned it). After this things wrap up as Red spends the next day with Ruti and that about ends the anime.
Final Thoughts
So there’s really not that much to say about this anime. It’s not as big or action-packed as some of the other fantasies I’ve reviewed in the past and I’m weirdly okay with that. This anime is more wholesome and instead of focusing on the hero we instead focus on a party member within the hero’s party who at first glance doesn’t seem all that important but once he’s gone everything falls apart. I did enjoy Red’s character and his outlook on life. He’s not the strongest character but rather thinks things through carefully to overcome his opponents and those stronger than him. His presence and personality have a way of affecting and inspiring those around him. He’s not seeking glory or power, he just wants to live a quiet life doing what he loves and helping others. He doesn’t need a grand life to be happy, all he needs are the simple things and I think that’s a lesson everyone should learn. I also like his relationship with Rit as the two do make a cute couple and understand each other really well. The story of Ruti was good. I like how they present the hero in a new light. Instead of being this inspiring hero who will save the world they turn her into this emotionless drone who feels nothing showing that being the hero isn’t a blessing but a curse and everyone around her forces their expectations on her without considering her feelings as shown by Ares and Theodora. Ares only wanted Ruti for himself while Theodora wanted Ruti as a sacrificial piece for the world. While her story gets a little rushed at the end it was nice to see her finally free herself from the burden of being a hero and live the life she’s always wanted to live with her friends and big brother.
While all the characters are good the anime does fall short in other areas. The animation isn’t really all that good, the music forgetful, the pacing was off, and it can be boring at a few parts. Thankfully, the wholeness of this anime kind of balances it out and it’s just one of those relaxing animes. There’s no major drama or conflict going on. It’s just characters living their best lives and doing what makes them happy.
Final Score
The final score for Banished from the Hero’s Party is a 5.5/10. A good wholesome anime to watch if you’re looking to take a break from all the action and dramatic anime you regularly watch. It’s good, wholesome, and warms your heart as you watch. It’s not the stuff of legends, but I don’t regret watching it and I think you won’t either. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.