Everyone in the anime community has already heard of the newest controversial anime, Redo of Healer. After just one episode, many articles within the anime industry were published talking about the first episode's intensity. Shortly after the reports came the memes.
As for me, I wanted to wait for a few episodes before writing this so I can get a real feel for Redo of Healer. After watching 5 episodes, both uncut and cut versions, I can confidently say that this anime is more Off-Brand than regular anime. If you don't know what Off-Brand anime is, it's a nicer way of saying Hentai. I want to keep it clean for all.
So why do I think it's more Off-Brand than your typical fan service anime? Well, let's look at some heavy fan service anime. Take, for example, these titles; Highschool DxD, Maken Ki, Monster Musume, Kiss x Sis, To Love Ru-Darkness, and The Testament of Sister New Devil. What do they all have in common? These are all hyper-sexualized, feature harems, and have more sexual innuendos than can be counted on both hands. They also feature partial nudity in the form of panty shots, full oppai (that's boobs in Japanese), and swimsuits.
The Difference in Redo of Healer
So what's the difference between those and Redo of Healer. It's simple. The amount of editing and censorship is one aspect to look at. All of the anime I just mentioned above either barely has any censorship or none at all. I have seen all the anime mentioned above on various reputable streaming sites, from Crunchyroll to Funimation. Again, there is barely any editing. If there was any editing, it doesn't take away from the animation or the story. Redo of Healer is quite different.
Let's first point out why Redo of Healer is more Off-Brand than anything else. If you had the chance to watch the uncensored version, then your eyes would subject to the series and all its unholiness. Redo of Healer has extreme content, more extreme than that first episode of Goblin Slayer. Not only that, in the uncensored version, you get to see all the heinous acts being done on the main character, Keyaru. You also get to see Keyaru perform heinous acts well. There is barely anything left to the imagination, and this is literally in every episode. The previously mentioned anime had nothing so raw as to what Redo of Healer does.
Let's talk about censorship and editing. Like the mentioned anime series earlier, those were aired on mainstream platforms with barely editing done. Redo of Healer had massive editing to it to show on mainstream streaming platforms. You can tell editing was done because many scenes featured very long and slow panning of the camera during very mundane scenes. Whole characters were removed from certain scenes. The audio was changed to a different soundtrack. Instead of using the stereotypical ray of light to cover certain parts of the character's body, it was shrouded in black. Above all, whole dialogues were removed during certain scenes. The worse part about these edits is that it doesn't seem to flow with the anime at all. It was blatantly put there, and the modifications mess the dynamics of the entire anime. It feels choppy and misplaced.
Why Go Through All The Trouble
As you watch the series, you can clearly see that it doesn't look right. What bothers me is that the My Anime List review score is currently at 6.26 as of writing this. I have also seen scores as high as the mid-sevens. This anime doesn't deserve these scores because of its shoddy editing and choppy story. Not to mention it feels like a more sadistic knock-off of The Rising of the Shield Hero, which is a fantastic, well-done anime. The characters are bland and lack proper development. They feel more like puppets or playthings to Keyaru's whims. There is very little world-building throughout the anime. The whole anime is focused on a terrible revenge plot. The entire anime reminds me of the saying, "I only watch Off-Brand for the story." Well, what story is there?
I think the producers wanted to air this on a more mainstream platform to convince the audience there was some fantastic story. Truth be told, I don't see a story. Again it's a cheap imitation of The Rising of the Shield Hero. If you are going to make these massive edits, then it's probably not a good idea to air it in the first place. The whole thing was a bad idea from the get-go.
Last Thoughts
If you haven't seen Redo of Healer and want to check it out, watch at your own risk. You can find the censored version on HIDIVE. Personally, I don't think you should waste your time on it. If I were officially reviewing this anime, I would give it a 2 out of 10 because some world-building elements have potential. But again, Redo of Healer is lost to the outrageousness of "Keyaru's Revenge Plot." After watching Redo of Healer in detail, it is clearly an Off-Brand anime disguised as fan service anime with terrible censorship and editing.
*All images are from the My Anime List website. We do not own any of these images. Credit to all artists of the images.