Ken Usato is the most normal of high school boys, certainly not the type that would find himself buddying up with the school’s beautiful and smart kaicho, Suzume Inukama, or her pattern on the student council, the handsome and...
Ken Usato is the most normal of high school boys, certainly not the type that would find himself buddying up with the school’s beautiful and smart kaicho, Suzume Inukama, or her pattern on the student council, the handsome and kind Kazuki Ryusen. But when rainstorm after school drags on and on, Usato finds himself borrowing Ryusen’s umbrella and walking home with the duo, bonding with them as he does. But this is anime and friendship isn’t the only thing in the cards for this trio; a magical circle appears below them, and they are summoned to another world where King Lloyd asks the new “heroes” to defend his kingdom against a Demon Lord’s army. That seems to be fitting for the high-achieving Inukama and Ryusen, but Usato is just collateral damage. Or might he be a hero, too? Usato is about to find out the answer as is taken by the Healing Team leader, Rose, a commander whom even the king finds terrifying!
I think I’ve found my favorite kind of isekai: the self-aware, humorous one. And The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic fits right into that type, with so many laughs and engaging, fun characters. Usato is the type of protagonist whose self-commentary carries the show; for instance, Inukama, who surprisingly ends up being an otaku, is funny by herself, but when Usato yells in his brain, “Please stop ruining my image of you,” a smirk turns to straight-out laughter. And the opening episode is like that from beginning to end, full of funny moments. But the characters are easy to root for, too; all three of the heroes are the type of people you want to be your friends. In fact, the humble king is who you’d want to be your grandfather, the wizard Welcie your friend, and Rose, I think, will become the mentor you want to have, too, even if the series introduces her as a demon. This is a world worth being isekai’d into and most definitely a show I’ll be tuning into when it starts streaming.*
*We previewed The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic at Crunchyroll’s winter preview panel at Anime Frontier. It premieres in Japan in January and will stream in the U.S. on Crunchyroll.
