Ningen Fushin | You Just Can't Trust Anyone!

Ningen Fushin

“Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World”

To move forward as a team, we occasionally need to set our differences aside and work together. Whether it is a regular person's day-to-day activities or a hero's duty to save the entire world, that's what brave people do. This story is about four individuals with different upbringings saving the world together.

Ningen Fushin | You Just Can't Trust Anyone! | Review | Pinnedupink.com

At the MF Books 8th Anniversary livestream event on August 15th, 2021, the anime "Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World" was revealed. Later, it came to light that Itsuki Imazaki wrote and directed the television series. Frontier Works, Pony Canyon, Studio Mausu, Hakuhodo DY Music & Pictures, BS11, Kadokawa, and Geek Pictures were the producers behind the anime, with Geek Toys, in collaboration with Seven, handling animation duties.

Hiroo Nagao was in charge of character design and the soundtrack, and Ryo Takahashi was in charge of the primary animation director duties. The show was streamed on Crunchyroll with an English dub called “Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World." Muse Communication licensed the series for the Asia-Pacific region, and Muse Asia's YouTube channel broadcasts it.

The light novel “Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World” inspired these 12 episodes. Each 23-minute episode run of this anime fell under the action, adventure, and fantasy categories, while teenagers aged 13 or older could experience it under the PG-13 rating. In January 2019, the user-generated novel publishing platform “Hōsetsuka ni Narō” began serializing the Shinta Fuji-authored series. Later, Media Factory bought it, and under their MF Books banner, they published it with pictures by Susumu Kuroi. By December 23rd, 2022, four series volumes had been published.

On October 25th, 2019, a Masaki Kawakami-created manga adaptation started its serialization on Kadokawa Shoten's ComicWalker website. Yen Press announced at Sakura-Con 2022 that they had acquired the rights to publish the series in English.

Nick, a seasoned traveler, Tiana, Zem, and Curran, a half-dragon, all arrive alone at a pub only to find themselves sitting at the same table. They alternately share their complaints and the pastimes they have chosen as coping mechanisms during the evening. Even though their experiences are wholly dissimilar, betrayal is a recurrent theme.

These defeated explorers are unaware they will save the world from unimaginable danger. They share a significant shortage of money and have similar worldviews. Due to their betrayals, they mistrust other people. They decide to start a party, climb the ranks, and earn millions for their interests.

The narrative of a sweet journey with four individuals, each with a troubled history, is nothing new. Numerous anime series have taught us that just because someone has a terrible history doesn't mean they are also dark within! Now we get to watch these characters go on their quest to stop the Demon Lord while carrying a tremendous load in their hearts. Since there isn't much mystery or thriller in the concept, the execution of the story was flawless. However, it has just enough intrigue to keep the story from being overly superficial or obvious!

A story is only complete with the characters, so what about them? The protagonists of "Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World" are Nick, a seasoned adventurer; Tiana, a mage; Zem, a cleric; and Curran, a half-dragon. The story takes place in the Holy Kingdom of Dinez and follows these four down-and-out residents of the city.

Nick, our protagonist, was a member of the adventuring group All Martial Arts until an argument over some stolen money led to his expulsion. After his con artist girlfriend leaves him, he spirals downward and blows his money on idols.

Even though Tiana is a talented wizard and the daughter of a nobleman, her fiance allegedly expelled her from school and dumped her. She eventually becomes a gambling addict. False accusations of sexual assault led to Zem's removal from his priestly position. He's sunk to the level of drunken playboyhood.

Curran is the only non-human member of the party, and she has special abilities because she is a "Dragon Person," a hybrid of a dragon and a human. Curran's past is sad, as she once served Kalios, the human she once thought would become the hero. A merchant tricked Curran, but Kalios caught him and forced him to give her the necklace she cherished. Kalios eventually betrayed her by stealing her Dragon King Gem, a jewel sacred to the dragon-kin she had been tasked with guarding her entire life.

How they dealt with the tragedy and eventually moved on was only natural. And this often makes for an intriguing combination of not the perfect team but the betrayal team that they call "Survivors" because they have survived their peril to live to tell their story and who, one day, like any other typical Hero's Party in the most generic of generic storylines, save the world from ruin.

These characters have suffered injustice in such heinous ways that it makes you want to cheer for them. Each of their painful betrayal stories is shared with the others to make you feel everything. No further detailing will be given here to avoid robbing this show of some of its significant aspects.

The animation quality of Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World is not exceptional, but not bad either. The animation is bearable when the story is compelling enough to compensate for it. The character designs hold up reasonably well when the characters aren't in motion but deteriorate when action is introduced. After the first few episodes, the animation became even more glaring.

It does its job. Colors, lighting, and sound cues are meticulously calibrated to set the tone for each possible outcome. The anime has acceptable visual and audio quality regardless of animation quality, which is fine. The sounds they used were all appropriate and tailored to the animation. The outro was the show's high point. Shun'ichi Toki's "Glorious World" is the opening theme, while Mao Abe's "Never Fear" is the memorable closing theme.

Tying this all together, Ningen Fushin: Disillusioned Adventurers Who Don't Trust Humanity to Save the World deals with skepticism, exploration, and world-saving themes. The protagonists have lost faith in humanity and modern culture and no longer harbor any utopian hopes of changing the world for the better. But they undertake a heroic quest that will test their empathy and grit, and who knows, they might save the world. The anime is an adventure-themed fantasy animation with black comedy and satire elements.

The show tackles some deep and meaningful topics but needs to pull them off better. It could have been great, but the low-budget production values hurt it. Nonetheless, it should be appreciated more than it is at the moment.

The show is a typical fantasy show that deviates quite a bit from the norm. Rather than following the story of a single character, it follows the stories of the entire party, which brings the story to life. Similarly to Grimgar, this anime follows the lives of numerous characters—albeit minor ones—to create the illusion that the story is set in a "world" rather than a "setting."

The premise isn't special; it has been done before. Rather than actual combat, the story focuses on the party's backstory. I was interested in seeing what new things they brought to the party and what they decided to do as a group.

Ningen Funshin was a welcome change of pace from the usual anime fare, but I know I can always count on anime to keep me entertained. I wouldn't call it a guilty pleasure, but it's an anime I could watch to kill time and feel connected to the characters. The fact that today's audiences are much more critical of anime than their forebears is just one example of how dramatically tastes can change over time, and I recognize that not all viewers share my opinion. I'm making an effort to focus on the bright side by doing this.

So, in conclusion, if you're tired of the typical "I want to protect my friends, the world, waifu, etc." heroes in adventure or fantasy series, this anime could be a good choice. So if you can stomach its few flaws, it's a reasonably good anime that I recommend.