The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic S1 Anime Finale Review
Written by Rei Caldombra 4/5/2024 Video Version: https://youtu.be/sJ6t8jl15A4
Previous Part: https://www.blogunderalog.com/blog-collection/wrong-way-to-use-healing-magic-anime-episodes-4-9-review-rose-is-a-1010
They said the title!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back with The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic for its last section, episodes 10-13, which are focused on the large-scale battle with the demons and its aftermath.
For this part of the story overall, it was a mix of great, good and just ok. The large-scale size of the fight is portrayed kinda well but does fall a bit flat. There’s some really great stuff, particularly with the character focus and the main fight, but there’s also moments that are just fine or arguably disappointing.
Figuratively and literally a very flat battlefield.
The large-scale size of the fight is not executed super well. It is shown very well when the characters are running around saving people, where we see how much time it takes to get around even for the super-fast rescue team members to move. But if we had gotten more action outside of the Black Knight this could have been portrayed better. The above shot is an example where the scale could’ve been portrayed much better.
I think the fight with the black knight was a solid fight but nothing spectacular. For Kazuki and Suzune’s part of the battle, we get to see some good analysis and planning from them on how to take down the Black Knight. It’s a shame that they did not get to actually do any notable damage, but seeing the fight play out was entertaining. Since we saw the future where they are dead on the ground it did not end up being too surprising. With Usato’s side of the fight, the healing punch is a return to the fun and unique application of healing magic. I like that it was as simple as a punch while healing so the enemy just takes the impact damage of the hit. Which will whittle them down physically and mentally without doing lethal damage. This is a fun way of avoiding him having to kill anyone. The execution of this is another spot where the show is refreshing because we did not need a long speech or argument about the ramifications of killing and why Usato won’t do it. Instead of humoring that, we see exactly why he does not need to kill and understand his character well enough to understand why he chooses not to. Usato does come in and pretty much win with little struggle, but I am more okay with this because of how much we did get to see him struggle in this series. This is what all the tortuous training was for, and it's satisfying to see it work out. This is also a case where we get to a strong application of healing magic, where it completely invalidates a type of magic that most fighters would lose to.We have some cool visuals in this fight too.
I do not agree with the argument of Usago being a standard bland isekai protagonist. We get to see a lot of his emotions and opinions on display that keep him being an engaging character. We see him cry and be vulnerable with people multiple times, showing his emotional side. We see his more jokey side when he spends time with Suzune, making friendly jabs and insults rather than just laughing along with her antics. He gets very angry and aggressive when it comes to Rose and the other rescue squad members, which we usually do not see from the chill and neutral character type that Usato fits into.
These aren’t exactly novel character traits but here we actually see these traits exhibited by him rather than just being told these traits exist. This anime does a better job with showing rather than telling, which a lot of anime struggles with. I really like Usato crying at the end of the battle, the emotions of all of this coming flooding out. I appreciate that despite his bravado and profession on the field, he was terrified. The show even goes out of its way to remind you that a 17 year old is young and should not be witnessing people die. Anime as a whole is very guilty of treating bloody battlefields like they’re just a casual day for high schoolers with superpowers, so it’s so nice to see recognition of this.
Rose’s affirmation really hits you in the heart. And he is overjoyed that he not only got through it, but succeeded in having an impact. This calls back to his motivation of wanting to be more than an average person who doesn’t make a difference. And this fits into why Rose believes strongly in him. I’ve already mentioned plenty of how great of a character Rose is, and the relationship she has with Usato truly feels special. Despite all the brutal training, they have a very supportive bond. I feel this show is great with showing characters openly being emotional and not portray that in a negative light. With the end of the last episode, we got to see how much someone having great expectations from him means. I think great being the word rather than good has a strong meaning to it for something who struggles with believing in their worth. Often in the real world we feel like our efforts are not recognized and do not make a real difference. We see that Usago is happier here because he does get that recognition and validation. He was given a role where he can see the tangible positive effects of his efforts, which many jobs in real life do not give us sadly. He may not be a deep or complex protagonist, but I think he has plenty of personality and I greatly enjoy following him around.
To me this is less of a straightforward action show. The fighting is not the main point. The point is what's happening around the fighting and what it means for the characters. So if you are looking at this expecting mostly action, then it does disappoint. But I can see how it may not live up to expectations after how long it took for this moment. I don’t have an issue with the pacing personally, but it was pretty slow. I can understand people dropping off in the middle section. That seemed to have happened based on viewer numbers and ratings. I like that we had time to build our characters up before they were thrust into true life and death battles. I could also understand the great opening, which has a big emphasis on the fighting and more intense energy, could make something think it would’ve had more action. One place I agree with the action related disappointment is over the 2nd snake. The fight with the snake basically happening offscreen is a real shame. It would’ve been cool to see how those two and the knights have to fight the snake differently due to not having immediate healing. They couldn’t afford to tank hits the same way Usato was able to, especially the fast acting poison. This could have been an awesome fight giving us a new experience with a similar enemy. The giant snake also could have been a way to better show the scale of the battlefield. Imagine it swings its tail and we see a huge space in the battlefield get emptied, with soldiers being flung into the air. In total we basically got 2 legit Usato fights (the first snake and Black Knight), 1 legit Kazuki and Suzune fight (the Black Knight), and 1 legit Rose fight (the flashback). With some minor action scenes every so often. I can see how that would be disappointing if you went into this wanting many serious fights. I think we could have used that 2nd snake fight and ideally a practice fight between Kazuki and Suzune, but I can accept it as its. And since I am planning to read the manga I’ll be looking forward to upcoming fights. Big breaks between them does allow them to have more impact in my opinion.
I really like these characters so I didn’t mind the slower moments where we just spent time with them. These moments are when the comedy is pretty solid. I love the last episode for giving us a lot of this, returning to the warm and calm tone the show primarily keeps itself in. We get more time spent with these lovely characters. The characters are really where this series shines outside of the healing squad stuff so I am glad we got these moments.
Everything with Fel (The Black Knight) is great. Fel is really cute. I'm a sucker for cute demon girls who act tough (her, Shamiko, Satania, etc.). This also sets the tone that we can expect redemption in this story. Which fits with healing. Giving felt the chance to change is effectively giving her the chance to heal herself in the figurative sense. Just like how Usato has been succeeding in pretty much everything he has done by literally healing himself. It was also smart to use her as a way to have Usato’s training go full circle by bringing her into the rescue squad. We get call backs to what Usato went through at the beginning of the story while giving Usato the chance to do some of the teaching himself. The moment of Usato giving Fel a diary is so sweet.
When it comes to the side characters I really want to point out the King. I love how from beginning to the end in this season the king was never a jerk, corrupt or anything along those lines. He is just a good king doing his job. This is so nice when the usual medieval king is almost always a morally bankrupt character who often exists just for the main character to clash against and eventually oust. And usually there is no subtlety and the king is a major asshole right out the gate, which makes it more annoying of a trope. This is another time where this series is refreshing while being simple. There is no amazing writing concerning the King, all the show is doing is just not doing stale, obnoxious tropes. The King being a good guy also further supports the cozy warm tone this series has.
I did not compliment the overall designs yet, I think they're very good. I especially love Usato’s outfit, it's a simple design but looks really nice. And maybe it’s just me but the Black Knight’s armor with the cape tries so hard to be dark and cool that it loops around and succeeds. I think it’s genuinely pretty rad. Black and red armor pretty much always goes hard.
It’s been interesting to see the variety of responses to the show, from thinking it's boring during its calm moments to thinking those calm moments are the best part. I think this is a case of action favoring people and the slice of life favoring people both being present and vocal for this show. I think both camps are pretty valid in their praises and criticisms. I think it's a case of people not knowing what to expect from the action side of the show. I’m in the camp of thinking the show is at its best when it's building its characters and world. I think the show can do solid action and drama but it's at its best when it has a lighter tone. I’d rather the action be a break from the peaceful stuff rather than the other way around. I don’t think the quality of the action that we did get was as disappointing as some people feel it was, but I totally understand the point that the quantity of action was not enough. I love the mundane stuff and training, but I did want that 2nd snake fight and would’ve been ok with some of the content in the middle of the series being cut down in exchange.
I enjoyed this final arc, but the more dramatic scenes to me don’t have as great of execution as the more wholesome scenes do. I recognize why the show did not click as well with other people, but it clicked for me. When I have the time I plan to check out the manga and would absolutely watch a second season. I’m very interested in the worldbuilding we will be getting and seeing these wonderful characters grow. Thanks for reading!
