English Dub Review: Banished From The Hero’s Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life In The Countryside “The Hero’s Challenge”

Overview

At Tisse’s request, Albert heads off to search for a girl who has disappeared in the forest. Although she is found to be safe, Van, who has also come to rescue her, takes issue with the creature that led her astray which culminates in a skirmish…


Our Take

In response to Tisse’s plea, Albert undertakes a mission to find a missing girl in the forest. Unaware that Van and Lavender are also searching for the child, Albert succeeds in locating her unharmed. However, a misunderstanding with Van leads to a heated confrontation, putting them both in danger. Despite their conflict, Van suggests an unsettling idea: to prove himself as a true hero, he must defeat the elder hero, Ruti.

Van’s situation worsens as even the Cardinal fails to reason with him. But it’s later revealed that Red’s guidance has left Van conflicted, as his once reliable “blessing” no longer provides him with direction, as Red’s guidance unintentionally pressed the “mute” button in Van’s head and is now forcing him to struggle with the newfound inner doubts he has of how he was raised and re-think everything he used to believe in. The inevitable fight between the misguided Hero and the Guide begins. It’s clear that Van has lost his way, and Red is confident to waver him through emotions just like Ruti had. And if words can’t get to him, he hopes their weapons will…

Overall, this was quite an intense episode. When it first began, shit started to get real extremely fast when Albert failed to de-escalate the situation with Van. And while it’s been established in past episodes the disturbing implications of what a “Heroes Blessing” can do if left unchecked, this episode raises the question of what would happen when an irrational extremist like Van who has relied on his Blessing for so long, stops receiving orders? And how would someone like Van cope with that? But with One episode left. I do look forward to the battle between Guide and Hero to see what tricks Red has up his sleeve and what kind of direction it’ll take next, especially with that crazy twist involving Lavender.