When light novel titles swap the same dozens of keywords, I don’t blame you for confusing them.
Last season, there was an anime called Banished from the Party of Heroes, I decided to live a quiet life in the countrysideand this season there is one called The exiled hero lives as he pleases. Based on those titles, you’d think they were the exact same story, but in reality they couldn’t be more different. And one is definitely much better than the other.
First of all, you may be wondering: “What’s with all those light novels about MCs being ‘banished’ from their parties?” This trend has really accelerated on the Narou website in the last seven years, I’d say. The idea is that small interpersonal dynamics (usually jealousy, arrogance, or simply stupidity of the other group members) deprive the protagonist of his archetypal role in his traditional role-playing game.
What the protagonist does next often deviates greatly from the original genre of the story. Healer’s Redo, For example, it becomes a pornographic revenge story, while Banished from the Party of Heroes, I decided to live a quiet life in the countryside It’s a slice of life. In beast tamer, the “hero” character is cast as a villain, and the abandoned protagonist becomes the true do-gooder. Because the concept has so many variations, no two “Banished” stories are the same, which might explain why it is such a popular way to start a story.
The two animes I’m going to talk about in this post—Banished from the Party of Heroes, I decided to live a quiet life in the countryside and The exiled hero lives as he pleases—However, they are superficially very similar. Both are about “quiet” protagonists who never really wanted the burden of heroism anyway, so when their former allies reject them, they take it on the chin.
However, the two stories soon take very different directions. Gideon of Banished from the hero’s party he puts down roots in a specific rural town and more or less spends the rest of the series there. Former banished hero Alan wanders the borderlands aimlessly and quickly returns to adventure when he encounters his ex-fiancée in mortal danger. Overall, Gideon comes across as having a specific idea about what he wants to do, while Alan passively reacts to the plot.
In my opinion, this is not due to a huge difference in artistic vision. Both stories set out to explore how role-playing skills and stats would affect your personal agency. In Banished from the Hero’s Party, Everyone in the world has a “blessing” that determines which occupation they are best suited for. In Former banished hero, People have “gifts,” which are innate talents, and a higher threshold to determine the level they can reach. In both series, the biggest sources of conflict come from characters expressing resentment against their world order and attempting to change it through extreme methods.
But the two series have very different ways of executing that plot point. In Banished from the Hero’s Party, Everyone is subject to the same rules, even the all-powerful heroes. Meanwhile, Former banished hero undermines his rules by having Alan transfer abilities from a previous life that cannot be measured in his current world. So while everyone else is struggling with their lot in life, he can simply walk up and crush his opponents while alone. looking like he was too weak to amount to anything.
There is no catharsis in this because he is just an arbitrary exception. No one else can be inspired by what he does and use their own powers to free themselves. In the end, despite saying that he wants to do whatever he wants with his own life, the narrative revolves around him as the hero because he is that special.
Compare this to Ruti, the hero character in Banished from the hero’s party. She suffers great disadvantages due to her Blessing, such as not being able to experience simple pleasures like eating a good meal or taking a hot bath. She is only allowed to live to fulfill her duty, and when she rebels against this, the entire world rejects her. Your decisions are meaningful because you face real consequences for them.
It just goes to show that two stories can use the exact same tropes and story beats but have completely different vibes. Looking Former banished hero made me appreciate Banished from the hero’s party further. Not only does it Former banished hero suck ass in terms of animation (Banished from the hero’s party is just mediocre in that department), it just… has no themes. I read the first volume of the light novel and all it does is add additional details about the RPG-like systems without tying them into the characterization or larger plot.
it’s not like Banished from the hero’s party However, it’s considered a pillar of the genre… which, honestly, is a shame the more I think about it. Despite the “quiet life” of the title, the series is far from uneventful. It has a very deliberate pacing between the scenes and the slower paced action, and both sides complement each other. The second season in particular has a constant and gradual build-up to its climax, where every incidental detail ends up influencing the eventual showdown. In other words, it’s really well plotted.
Also, as I mentioned before, the role-playing game elements really mean something to the plot. People are not just “heroes” or “NPCs” because of the logic of video games; Everyone has their own individual feelings about their place in the world and how they compare to others. In that sense, “Blessings” are analogous to things that people have no say over in the real world, like how much money your parents have or how you need to have some kind of job to live. Not everyone is born equal or happy with where their decisions in life have taken them. Others, however, are perfectly content with where they are or find ways to feel in control of their lives. the world of Banished from the hero’s party It seems like a compelling scenario because the series takes the time to explore the diversity of the human experience.
I guess what I’m trying to say with this post is…titles can be misleading. A wordy title and an RPG-like setting are not inherently signs of a poor quality story. What really matters at the end of the day is how well those elements integrate with the themes and narrative. And there are good and bad examples of this.
tldr; look Banished from the Party of Heroes, I decided to live a quiet life in the countryside. Don’t watch the other “banished” anime.