English Dub Review: Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside: “The Chaos After the Storm”

Overview: Rit (Dani Chambers) investigates the drug plaguing the village when she runs into an old friend in that of Danan. Red (Aaron Campbell) helps his friend Tanta (Kristen McGuire) while teaching him the way of the sword and some life lessons along the way. 

Our Take: Village affairs involving the drug that is circulating throughout its citizens is becoming less than interesting. This is mostly due to how poorly it makes one care about the actual victims with how little consequences it brings other than some injuries. Not to mention the people who did actually suffer and die were faceless characters, reduced to nothing but a throwaway line that is unable to build any emotional connective tissue to them. Also with this episode guilty of the common issue of intentions being discussed rather than actually being shown, it’s just a bland continuation of the story it started. On another note, the character designs begin to deteriorate with just the simplest of motions that aren’t action or even movement heavy. 

Danan reunion with Rit leaves a bit to be desired in how it doesn’t really clarify on why Danan wouldn’t instigate Gideon’s return to the hero party. Besides that, it does make one question why Rit wouldn’t say anything to Gideon about Danan’s resurgence, despite Danan not wanting him to know. But that’s much more understandable and forgivable than the other trivial problems in this episode. But it’s what comes out of Rit’s rendezvous that continues to foreshadow an impending disruption to Rit and Red’s quiet life that may not be far off. The training sequences with Tanta in the way of the sword are brief but nice scenes that show how seasoned both Rit and Red are. Also Red’s heart-to-heart with Tanta is a meaningful scene going back to a lesson that is reflected in Gideon’s journey as well as one of the main themes of the show that no way of life is invalid if one truly desires. This episode’s main goal is to work as a set up of plots to come, which is necessary at times, one of which takes the shape of a very mustache twirly looking figure plotting with Tanta and tracking sword. It is the tail end of the episode with Ruti getting an airship that shows her understandable contempt towards Ares. But most importantly, it serves to leave us with the terrible regret Ruti lives with in not being able to see her brother quite yet, even with the incredible transportation capabilities she has at her disposal.