Sara Talks Anime

“Could you hold on a minute before you continue?”

CONTENT WARNING: This post includes discussions of slavery within the show. While not a MAJOR content warning, I just want to make it clear that I believe that slavery is a big no-no.

Video version:

Text version:

Rewriting this intro section because it made more sense with the video compared to being in text. But did you ever feel left out? Did you want to help out without getting your name hugely out there? Then you’re probably Zenos IRL. This is a show for the lonely folks…if you’re willing to ignore some of the more egregious flaws that Zenos has. Anyway…

The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows is a show that Crunchyroll has rated as 16+. And this show also has one of the most confusing Episode 1s I’ve seen in anime ever.

We begin with meeting Lily, who we learn in Episode 2 is a slave that Zenos got into his possession. Yes, bringing this up now is important. We also spend BASICALLY 10 MINUTES HAVING THE GIRLS THAT FREQUENTLY VISIT OR LIVE WITH ZENOS COME OVER AND DO SOME DUMBASS ARGUING COOKING! LIKE, HELLO?! THIS IS THE BRILLIANT HEALER’S NEW LIFE IN THE SHADOWS! NOT “WATCH THESE GIRLS FIGHT FOR BASICALLY 10 MINUTES”!

There’s also a plot in that episode regarding a demihuman slave getting like possessed or some shit after getting beat up by their owner. Yeah, I may not be of legal drinking age yet, but somebody pass the alcohol. Preferably StroZero, if you can.

But Zenos ends up getting ownership of that demihuman slave after he cured what I can only assume to be depression. He has her help him find some herbs and heals her (paired with a scene where Zenos asks her to undress which is good for examining her but due to the circumstances the other character is under could’ve had Zenos just as easily…”do the deed” with her if ya know what I mean), and then rips up the contract that makes her his slave and is like “you’re free now”. *slow clapping* Congratulations Zenos, you are literally doing the fucking bare minimum.

Or are you? After all, if I got the vibes from Episode 2 right, you technically own a slave yourself in the form of Lily. And before people go all “b-but she’s more of an assistant!”, Lily is referred to as merchandise, Zenos buys her, and we never see Zenos being all “you’re free now, kid” with her. As such, isn’t it the natural assumption to make that Lily is still a slave by technicality?

But yeah, this show fucked up with this first episode. Hell, after that episode, I was originally going to only use Episode 2 as my cutoff point. And then I read a comment on a blog post made by somebody else who had watched Episode 1, particularly by one of this blog’s readers. If what they stated is to be believed (which I am because I highly doubt people would lie about reading the source material of an anime), then this entire first episode is ANIME ORIGINAL, and as a result, falls under MY DEFINITION OF FILLER.

For a bit of context, my definition of filler is “anything that was not in the source material of an adaptation”. So, for example, Long Ring Long Land from One Piece is unfortunately not filler under my definition, but Chubby Paradise from Naruto fortunately is. Trust me, we do not fuck with Chubby Paradise in this household. Which means you can take everything I just told you about Episode 1 of The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows and just throw it out the window. The second story window, might I add.

So, I’m just going to say it now. If you want to watch this series, just skip to Episode 2. Since Episode 1 is an anime original, there is literally no reason to watch it. Give yourself a better introduction and save yourself from the frustration that is episode 1.

So, how does the series actually start? Well, our main boy Zenos gets kicked out of his party because his former party members fail to recognize the amazing prowess that is Zenos’s skill. He gets his severance pay and is then forced to wander the night on his own. Poor guy, to be honest.

Then we have the stuff with Lily. The people who are selling her get rough with her and stab her, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THEY ALMOST KILL HER. Thankfully, Zenos arrives just in time and is like “ayo, if you’re just gonna leave her like this, I’m gonna buy her”, and heals her.

Then the rest of this episode and a good chunk of Episode 3 is about Zenos and Lily getting their place to live, meeting the leaders of the different factions in what the series refers to as the slums, and the government or whatever finding out and trying to stop him. Yeah, I think that’s the most I can say without getting heavy into spoiler territory. And to me, this entire show is just…average so far. It feels like it’s doing just enough to be like “see? I’m doing the bare minimum!”, and doesn’t really feel like it has anything to make it stand out so far. Maybe it’ll get this in future episodes, but right now, I’m not seeing any reason to call it out as a hidden gem. However, with the exception of Episode 1, this series isn’t outright terrible. I’m going to continue watching The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows to see if it ever does something to make it really stand out from the crowd, but until then, I can’t really recommend this show to anyone yet. However, if you still decide to watch this show, then I recommend skipping straight to Episode 2, like I most likely pointed out earlier.

The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows is simulcast on Crunchyroll in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Jeezus, that’s a lot of places. Is this because of politics?