English Dub Season Review: Jack-of-All-Trades, Party of None Season One
Overview (Spoilers Below):
Betrayed by his childhood friend and cast out of the Hero Party, Orun Dura (Tom Aglio), once their loyal Enchanter, is branded by his former comrades as “a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none”. Alone, he sets out to forge a new path as a solo adventurer. His journey sparks explosive battles, deadly rivals, and unexpected allies, and he’ll rise to shatter every expectation. The ultimate solo comeback begins!
Our Take:
Jack-of-All-Trades, Party of None is an anime adaptation of a light novel series written by Itsuki Togami and illustrated by Yuri Kisaragi. It is directed by Hiroyuki Kanbe, with Masashi Suzuki writing the screenplay and animation studio42 producing the anime. Naoto Nakamura designed the characters, and Tsubasa Handa composed the music with Lantis. The opening theme song, “Sylve”, is performed by Tokoyami Towa, while Nowlu performed the ending theme song, “Sukuu”.
Every now and then, we come across several anime that involve isekai reincarnation, high school romance, or a secretly formidable adventurer being banned by a hero party. Don’t be surprised if we get one that features all of the above in the near future. Until then, we have yet another anime that sees another adventurer getting kicked out of the hero’s party for being “weak”, but is actually a lot stronger than they think. Seriously, these so-called “heroes” should learn not to underestimate their allies.
That adventurer happens to be Orun Dura, who develops skills as both an Enchanter and a Swordsman, yet is proclaimed as “a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none” by his teammates, including his childhood friend, Oliver (Ben Stegmair). However, his utilization of original spells and combinations makes him a formidable adventurer, capturing the attention of the Night Sky Silver Rabbits, mainly Enchanter Selma Clodel (Corinne Sudberg) and her sister Sophia (Monica Flatley). Now, as a member of the Night Sky Silver Rabbits, Orun embarks on a new journey that has him training the guild’s newest recruits, particularly Sophia’s party, consisting of her, Logan Hayward, and Caroline Inglaud. Additionally, he’ll encounter several adversaries that will prompt him to revisit his childhood oath to protect those he cares about.
Obviously, if you’ve seen other anime featuring an overpowered adventurer who gets kicked out of a hero’s party, then you’ve basically watched Jack-of-All-Trades, Party of None. It provides most of the narrative elements we should expect from this premise, including a banished, “weak” protagonist who’s secretly an unstoppable force of nature and joins a new party. You also got an arrogant hero’s party that’s too stubborn to think things through, regardless of the consequences they’ll receive for their reckless actions. Well, except for Luna Flockhart, as she’s the only member of Oliver’s Hero Party who showed empathy towards Orun. Granted, that’s the only trope I don’t mind, since I love seeing these “heroes” get the karma they deserve. What you see is what you get from a genre that highlights the overpowered “underdogs” initially identified as “useless”. While it would likely win over specific followers of this familiar premise thanks to its tolerable characters and action, its execution of those tropes lacks the mastery to set it apart from the “banished” crowd.
That’s not to say it’s a horrible addition to the anime’s “people banished from a party“ trend, as it had enough moments to make me tolerate its familiar plot. One of them is Orun, whose generosity and knowledge of magic and swordsmanship make him another OP adventurer who’s anything but a master of none. Tom Aglio was a respectable choice to convey this type of personality into Orun, whose hatred of selfish hero parties and his oath to protect his friends play key roles in his new journey. He may not carry the same impact as similar anime heroes like Luffy and Midoriya, but Orun proves to be a likable “Jack of All Trades“ through his personality traits and incredible skills. As for the supporting characters, most of them are cut from the same cloth in terms of personality, notably Selma and Sophia for their secret feelings towards Orun, and Oliver’s “douchebag childhood friend“ persona. Some of them were all right, including Caroline, whose traumatic past compensates for her overly cheerful personality, while others would likely be forgotten until the next season comes out.
The other aspect I was okay with was the animation. Jack-of-All Trades marks the first anime produced by animation studio42, as I couldn’t find anything else that the company worked on. Its presentation doesn’t quite reach the OP status of Orun, but it’s not weak in animation terms either. Regarding the art design and action scenes, animation studio42 didn’t do too badly in adapting the source material’s blueprint, especially during moments when it combines 2D animation with CGI, though the color grading can look a bit murky at times. Its sixth episode, “The Jack-of-All-Trades Overcomes His Limits“, was another passable example of handling the blend of 2D and CGI properly, without the uncanny valley overshadowing its thrilling battle. Accompanied by the Black Dragon’s formidable strength and Orun’s background, the sixth episode is the season’s best episode that suitably utilizes the anime’s derivative tropes.
Jack-of-All-Trades, Party of None juggles plenty of familiar tropes seen in other “banned from hero party“ anime with middling results. While tolerable in its characters and animation, this latest addition to the overexposed category doesn’t master its narrative formula well enough to overcome its derivativeness. It’ll likely satisfy a few people who enjoyed this kind of genre, but other than that, it’s another middle-of-the-road anime that’ll likely get banished a week after viewing. Its second season has already been announced, so maybe it’ll give the show a chance to improve its familiar concept, like how Orun will improve on his immaculate skills.
