I Parry Everything
“What Do You Mean I'm the Strongest? I'm Not Even an Adventurer Yet!”
Do you have playstyles and preferences you cannot overcome when playing games? I, for one, just can’t see the allure of Melee playable units, always opting for Ranged units wherever I have a choice. Something about attacking foes from a distance rather than upfront and personal has always been my thing; whether this is a matter of cowardice or skill issues, this is how I prefer to play. This doesn’t mean I’m the type to snipe enemies from miles away; I simply choose to have a healthy amount of “social distancing” with opponents, where I can see and interact with them but not be close enough to make physical contact. Different playstyles find their home in various games, typically those we stick to because games are generally meant to be fun. So, what’s your playstyle?
“Ore wa Subete wo Parry suru: Gyaku Kanchigai no Sekai Saikyou wa Boukensha ni Naritai,” also known as “I Will Parry All: The World's Strongest Man Wanna Be an Adventurer” and “I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I'm the Strongest? I'm Not Even an Adventurer Yet!” or simply “I Parry Everything," is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from the 5th of July till the 20th of September in Summer 2024. It was produced by Mainichi Broadcasting System, Half H.P Studio, Earth Star Entertainment, Tokyo MX, BS11, JR East Marketing & Communications, MAGNET, AQUA ARIS, NetEase, and Bandai Namco Filmworks, licensed by Sentai Filmworks, and brought to life by Studio OLM. Its primary staff includes producers Cao Cong, Aoi Hiroyuki, Nakano Yurika, and Maeda Yoshiteru. Each episode lasts 24 minutes and features action, adventure, and fantasy genres. It received a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years or older.
The series is based on the light novel of the same name, which began publication on the 15th of September 2020 and is still ongoing. The work of author Nabeshiki and artist Kawaguchi started as a web novel on Shousetsuka ni Narou on the 17th of October 2019. As such, the first official volume was published in September 2020 via Earth Star Entertainment under the Earth Star Novel label. It was then published digitally in English by J-Novel Club on the 28th of February, 2023. An Alternative Version is a manga titled “Ore wa Subete wo "Parry" suru: Gyaku Kanchigai no Sekai Saikyou wa Boukensha no Yume wo Miru.” It began publication on the 30th of September 2020 and was serialized by Comic Earth☆Star, done by the same author but Artist KRSG instead.
Parrying Expectations
The story is centered in the Kingdom of Clays, where an assassination attempt on its Princess Lynneburg Clays sparks a great crisis for all. Its neighboring countries are now eyeing the aftermath of the incident akin to starving vultures while plotting the kingdom's downfall in due time. There’s no doubt that the imminent conflict will decide the face of the entire continent for many centuries to come, but our protagonist, Noor, hasn’t a single clue on the dire matter. After all, he had just arrived at the Royal Capital following a decade of rigorous and isolated training at his mountain home!
He simply has one goal: achieving his childhood dream of becoming an adventurer, and he refuses to back down even if the skills he possesses are said to be "useless." His unique ability to "parry" thousands of swords within a single breath is impressive, but surely you need more than that if you wish to become an adventurer of worth. So it shouldn’t be surprising that his path towards this set-in-stone goal will be long and arduous, but luckily, Noor is no stranger to good ol' fashioned hard work. What awaits him might as well be surprising and odd, but he is determined to stop at nothing!
Before you even start watching this show, please be prepared to part ways with some of your brain cells; none of the creators will assume responsibility for any brain functions lost. Does that mean this anime is terrible? Not necessarily; it has its perks and is watchable; it’s just that you need to abandon your brain to enjoy it. I’m no fan of unnecessarily long titles since most proved downright nasty over the years. Why do people do this? Because this show can easily be described perfectly by the short title “I Parry Everything." Either way, the fanbase is primarily split on this series, and the biggest reason for that is the titular protagonist.
When Obliviousness Meets Overpowered Skills
You may think this MC is just another personality-less blank piece of paper, but luckily or unlikely, that isn’t the case in this anime. A protagonist with a clear-cut personality and room for character development is essential to any good story because it allows viewers to decide about the character. The “problem” with Noor is that he is basically like an NPC in a game, a country bumpkin who somehow gets approached by a GM that tells him to go out into the world and become an adventurer because “he's the strongest." This prophet then vanishes and leaves the MC with the “tutorial stage” of his journey.
As stated earlier, Noor only has a "Parry" skill, which is a very OP-defensive ability, but he had failed in the pursuit of his dream in the past. He doesn’t realize that his ability is a skill buff that constantly levels up his parry skill, fueled by his blatant lack of common sense and inability to understand social cues. His "personality" has always caused misunderstandings with the people around him, failing to get it even by the end. So we can call him a literate walking plot device, but what stands out is his superhumanly inept EQ...
The story is different from most power fantasies. Instead of having an MC naturally gifted or buffed by unorthodox knowledge, we have a country idiot who is unafraid to work hard and train daily to achieve his simple dream. This man is sane but is plagued by severe gaps within his logic, probably owing to his upbringing, so it’s not fair to get mad at him for it. But this ineptness leads to many questioning moments throughout the show, which can even become annoying sometimes. For example, he thinks things aren’t going his way, but the other characters try to make things go his way, as if he were the “chosen one,” deserving all the attention and love. Depending on your preferences, this can be a pro or con for you, but it sometimes feels very one-dimensional. The plot is excellent, but there is nothing special or super engaging about it. The conclusion is way better than I expected, making the watch worth it.
Onto the character department: the deuteragonist is Princess Lynneburg, who meets Noor when he parries a monster that crashed her coming-of-age trial. But of course, Noor doesn’t think it’s enough and vows to work even harder. Eventually, she gets the King to give him the Black Blade sword, which the King used during his days as Adventurer, but our MC remains humble and doesn’t think much about the rescue. Eventually, the duo set off on the princess’s coming-of-age journey.
Speaking of Lynne, you’d think she’s super intelligent, though physically weak, as the perfect opposite of Noor, but NOPE. Her secluded royal upbringing had kept her utterly out-of-touch with the outside world, ending up as big an airhead as Noor himself. It doesn’t matter where they go and what they do; misunderstandings always occur, which are either plain annoying or hilarious. The author pushes this “MC is stupid” trope into oblivion as it makes for accessible content. As irritating as it sounds (which it is on occasion), there are situations where it serves as subtle humor springing from an airheaded but OP MC.
All the brain cells he lacks have been converted into physical capabilities, but he needs to be made aware of how broken his Parry skill is. He still makes up for his shortcomings when they count because that insane blade can parry anything under the sun and possibly beyond. There’s not much to say about the other characters; the bottom line is Noor is downright retarded but full of compassion, a man fighting to meet people’s expectations.
While the plot is simple, the series offers entertaining misunderstandings and decent animation.
The art and animation department has no notable flaws. All the training and battle scenes throughout the show have flowing animation and are pleasing to the eyes. The art style is nothing spectacular but suits the Royal Fantasy setting well. The character designs are distinctive, and you can tell a lot about each character by looking at them; I particularly liked that Noor doesn’t look like your typical male MC and is notably rough around the edges. I barely noticed the backgrounds, but at least they don’t steal anything positive from the show.
The Sounds and Music department is decent as well. The OSTs are easily forgettable but do their job during their respective scenes. The opening theme is "AMBITION" by Maika Sakuragi [Utahime Dream], and the ending theme is "No Gifted" by Utahime Dream All-Stars, both of which were just there and did nothing notable. The VAs do a fantastic job, though; everyone sounded so natural in their roles, and there were no off-putting accents to annoy me here. It’s not easy portraying Noor-levels of stupidity, so props to Hamano Daiki for nailing it!
Overall, “I Parry Everything” is not a bad show, but it sometimes tests your patience and frustration limits. It’s a challenge to see how much of Noor’s stupidity your brain can take before it shuts down and lets you enjoy the show. If you’re looking for a casual show that won’t use your brain at all, with some decent comedy and somewhat likable characters, I recommend this show to you.
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