If you're a weeb who frequently loiters on Facebook or Reddit, Redo Of Healer is one anime that you might chance upon recently. This hype is due to the significant impact that it brought before and after its release. The show is enough to cause flames of controversy across almost all media platforms available.
But how did this show and one vengeful guy give rise to a massive firestorm on the internet? What shall be the effects of the controversies to its continuation, then?
Warning: Spoilers Ahead.
Redo Of Healer Season 1: Overview
Redo Of Healer, a dark fantasy anime series, introduces us to another OP magician in the otaku realm. With the power to heal and acquire skills, Keyaru did not get the respect he deserved from his tormentors. After stealing the Philosopher's stone from the demon lord, he decides to turn back time and exact revenge against his real enemies.
The introduction of this anime adaptation gives off a Ragnarok: The Animation (Complete Quest Blu Ray here) or Log Horizon vibe. But everything will completely turn around in the second episode.
The plot provides the key to understanding why Redo Of Healer earned itself a hot seat in the anime realm. The inherent ravenous nature of this revenge story paved the way for the scenes filled with controversies.
His Soiled Story
Redo of Healer is about Keyaru, a boy blessed with healing magic. When the Jioral Kingdom granted him Hero's insignia, Keyaru saw it as a simpleton would. To him, it was a great honor to fight alongside other known names within the kingdom. Unknown to Keyaru was the fact that his fellow heroes are more demonic than what they are up against.
It was Keyaru's time with the heroes that he suffered excruciating four years, enduring all sorts of maltreatment. His whole tormenting life revolved around four figures that treated him like a scum: Princess Flare, Blade, Bullet, and Princess Norn. These people abused him sexually in a sadistic way as he begged for a drug he became too dependent on.
"Heal"
During the desperate times he needed to endure, Keyaru discovered the power that lies beyond his skills. Keyaru learned that his healing magic does not only "construct" matters through healing, but he can also "deconstruct." The healing magician subtly developed his skills until his keyword "heal" is just a mere activation of a plethora of his skill sets.
Revenge Arc Starts
Determined to stray from the current fate he's in, Keyaru defeated the demon lord, stole the Philosopher's stone, and went back four years prior. He adopts a new name Keyarga, as he swiftly exacts vengeance from those who wronged him. He also gears up to spread the retribution mindset against the corrupt kingdom where they're at.
Redo Of Healer: Characters
In all honesty, Rui Tsukiyo is not the best at personality design. But due to its nature, the predictability of character constructs contributed to why the anime is successful at being provocative.
Keyaru's antagonist is not the demon but people embodying pure evil. Characters like Flare, Blade, and Bullet are clear manifestations of characters lacking substance. Their names seem like a product of lazy thinking, though in anime, such signatures sound perfect.
Tsukiyo never gave these characters some redeeming quality whatsoever. This single fault in character designing gave birth to personas that lacked depth, thus making the plot linear.
As such, the only tendency of the plot is to devolve into a premise of chaotic good versus bad people. Only Keyaru, who eventually morphed himself into Keyarga, exhibits a probably written character depth in him. The major drawback with our healing hero is how the author radicalized his persona.
Alas comes to the final issues with the Flare and Norn's brainwashed versions: Freya and Ellen. Like their malicious counterparts, they also lack substance in character designing.
Setsuna from the Ice Wolf clan, the slave Keyarga purchased in a poisoned town, had a lot of character opportunities. Like the main character, Setsuna wanted revenge on the troops that killed her friends and enslaved her. However, the mangaka did not consider growing this persona and focused on our protagonist's desires.
Aside from being convenient plot devices, it feels like these characters, except for blade, are only there for the sake of fan services.
Redo Of Healer Light Novel Series And Manga
Redo Of Healer anime series has its source traced back to the light novel. This novel began its serialization in 2016. Because of its "popularity," it was until 2017 that the book received a manga adaptation. The manga first makes its appearance on Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace website in eight volumes.
Like its anime successor, the manga version of Redo of Healer lived up to both its popularity and controversy.
Anime Controversy
At first glance, many audiences see Redo of Healer as a copy of Shield Hero. After all, the show's surface looks like your generic fantasy genre show that you can imagine. But what separates the two TV shows lies in the controversies of the former.
Spark of Controversy
The year-end was 2020 when a managing editor at Anime News Network posted her sentiments about the growing hype of Redo of Healer. In her defense, Lynzee Loveridge notes how the show's publicity can turn the comment section into two things:
People watching others' upset reactions in the show. This is, ironically, an act of revenge for the same people who took the slavery and misogyny in Shield Hero seriously.
People are defending the show's sexual motive. This is due to the fact people see this as a justified revenge arc.
The CEO of the same mainstream website also posted his sentiment revolving around how rape is not a punishment.
Otaku's Polarization
As the ANN's sentiments sparked outrage, many shared their insights regarding the release. Eventually, all of the internet's insights boiled down into two stands:
- The people and critics who are against the release of the anime
- The people and fans that looked forward to the release of the anime
Why Redo Of Healer Garnered Hate
Simply put, critics pointed out how savage every episode can be. They also suggest that these blatant brutalities of an assault should never reach open platforms in the media. As blasphemous as the sex scenes are, critics put an intensified pressure to stop placing the show in mainstream media.
Every Redo Of Healer episode seemed to cross boundaries between an ecchi anime and outright hentai. It's obvious the showcasing of breasts and bodily fluids in sex scenes sprinkled throughout the show.
Another group to call out on the show is a group of social justice advocates. For them, the Redo of Healer message is normalizing rape as a form of retribution. The show also normalizes the notion of presenting these ideas to the masses.
Redo of Healer Season One Garnered Support
Amidst the chaos, fans quickly defended why the Redo Of Healer deserves an airing schedule to mainstream media.
Fans impugn the critic's claim of availability of unnecessary brutality. They reasoned that too many anime shows out in public are far too brutal compared to Redo Of Healer. Some people also pointed to the anime's presence of gore elements, but in a much milder sense only.
Many fans also supported the idea of welcoming explicit scenes, as it is high time to do so. This is because moralists failed to place a concrete distinction between hentai and implied sex in anime. For some reviewers, the most optimal solution is to adopt selective viewing in this growing trend. The viewing of the anime limits the discretion of the audience themselves.
Authors like Tsukiyo Rui also expressed their sentiments, calling for the creative freedom of artists to prevail in this issue.
Will Redo Of Healer Anime Continue?
We can confidently say that Redo Of Healer Season Two has a high chance of continuing.
Redo Of Healer's Tsukiyo had just finished his light novel works as recent as 2021. But the anime just finished airing its season one last March. The manga series is nowhere close to the Redo Of Healer light novel's progress.
Aside from the fans, the progress within the anime's original sources is a good indicator of season 2 pushing through. Sure, critics were trying to shun the show shut. However, the trend in radical anime reveals that most of these controversial anime push through. As such, many expect the second season to air sometime in 2022.
Is Redo of Healer a Good Anime?
Critics of Redo of Healer take their criticisms against the anime for its blatant expositions on every sex scene and abuse. What these critics failed to do was to criticize the anime as an anime itself. The bigger question now stands, is Redo of Healer a good anime to start with?
Redo Of Healer: Plot Review
The plot of Redo of Healer is a pretty straightforward storyline of vengeance. This linearity is a problem on its own, hinting at its lack of uniqueness. The show also sticks to the speed of its source. Thus the pacing is not a problem here.
What's more of a pressing issue is how authors and studios alike tend to copy Meta concepts to the audience.
Take Keyaru, for example. While his means of acquiring power is unique, the fact that he's the strongest character in this heroic tale makes for a cliché-ish move by the author. Anime fans can also see this copying act back when Isekai was still new. This terminology is but a pseudo-genre on its own due to the wide range of anime included.
Visuals
The studio that took the role of producing the anime was TNK studios. Otaku fans recognize TNK as a studio that also handled the same infamous ecchi shows like:
- High School DXD Series
- School Days
- Seireitsukai no Blade Dance
- Sin: Nanatsu no Taizai
This studio worked a lot with ecchi shows. It's only natural that the Redo of Healer would receive the same skills and expertise in the genre. The show does, however, fall flat in fight scenes.
Although Redo of Healer is expository on its gore, true hardcore gore fans disapprove of the show's take on the gore scenes.
Sound Design and OST
An Animetuber named Gigguk said that he could tell a good anime based on its sound designs alone.
As for Redo of Healer, the sound designs within the show are generic, if not mediocre. This level of mediocrity manifests in the fight scenes. Even the clashing of the swords feels crackly, quickly failing the realism of sword clashes.
The Opening, "Zankoku na Yume to Nemure," by Minami Kuribayashi, doesn't do a great job of convincing the audience to watch the anime either.
Where To Watch Redo Of Healer
Because of the brutality, even the Japanese TVs had to censor parts of the show. International licensors such as Funimation, Hulu, Netflix, and Crunchyroll would go as far as banning the show on their sites.
There are three versions of Redo Of Healer:
Censored version: Most streaming sites used this version at the beginning. They later adopted the redo version. During intense scenes, a silhouette covers 50% of the picture.
Redo version: This version is a more fan-friendly adjustment, where the silhouette only covers the explicit. See this comparison from HIDIVE.
Uncensored: The most popular and controversial sort is the uncensored version. KBS, SUN, BX-11, and TOKYO MX stream this version every week at 11:30 PM JST. On the other hand, AT-X airs the show every 4:00 AM.
The few premium streaming platforms that released a censored version of this new anime dissolved most gore and sex scenes. They did this by covering the exposed body parts and editing out the explicit subtitles.
If you're a fan of this show, you might want to get your copy of Redo Of Healer Blu-ray DVDs.
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