The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic
“THE RIGHT WAY TO MAKE AN ISEKAI”
The start of 2024 brought forth titles that fans had desperately looked forward to for quite some time. While Solo Leveling, Classroom of the Elite, and Delicious in Dungeon alongside Ninja Kamui were ready to steal the show every other week, no one could've seen an anime with the name “The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic” getting any recognition anytime soon.
Some people may be the opposite, as a title like that piques their interest for good and bad reasons. But when it comes to an anime with a name that includes the phrase “heal, healing, healer,” or something similar, the PTSD from three years ago comes rushing back.
Thank goodness the anime is not like the abomination we once saw. Redo of Healer was wrong on so many levels. Honestly, you would have to be at the top of the degeneracy ladder to say you like that show.
With that being said, what makes a good isekai? The world? The animation? The characters? The action and adventure aspects? A lot of fan service with panties and breasts all over the place? Well, The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic shows you how that's not the case, and being that narrow-minded when it comes to the isekai genre can be detrimental since you're bound to overlook shows like this. With the winter season now over, let me introduce you to this show, unlike any isekai you've ever seen.
Caught In The Accident
Every isekai has a first episode featuring the main character, duo, or trio getting transported to another world. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic follows the same rule, but here, the protagonist, Usato Ken, is dragged alongside the affluent student prodigy members, Inukami Suzune and Ryuusen Kazuki.
That is not unusual, but his 'not invited' status in this new world becomes apparent quickly, catching both him and us off guard. Usato Ken, as an ordinary student, lacks many qualities and attributes that he can use to make a good first impression.
However, the anime grabs your attention when it's revealed that Usato Ken has an affinity for healing magic, the rarest form of magic there is, and the very magic that was about to cancel the whole isekai genre back in the day.
The demon army is about to invade and destroy this new world, and these three additions would significantly even the odds. Thus begin Usato Ken's days in this new world, as he strives to perfect his healing magic in order to assist his allies during these brutal battles, fighting not as a knight but as a healer who mitigates damage rather than inflicts it.
That sounds interesting on paper, and it makes you want to watch the first few episodes immediately. But you're bound to get disappointed when you see that, aside from some innuendos, the anime doesn't focus on the fan service element, like specific Magic Academy isekai titles. While for some people, that is a major concern, for others, it is a novel twist on the genre that Sword Art Online helped to create 12 years ago. It's one of the most normal isekai titles out there, which sets it apart from the other isekai titles we've gotten in recent years.
Following The Same Route As Everything Else
Like its story, nothing too crazy occurs regarding the characters and the world. You can pick up another isekai and find similar characters, and in my opinion, that's because of the genre's growth, and writing unique characters is as challenging as trying to make Sukuna stop killing every other Jujutsu Kaisen character.
However, this tends to shift the focus to Usato Ken's development, ultimately benefiting the anime. That rigorous training raises the question of how it will help a healer, but the healer in question quickly demonstrates why.
I loved the self-reflecting sequences and scenes we found our protagonist to be in, thinking things through and weighing his options to give us a more uniform storyline that only reaches greater heights as the episodes roll in.
The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic made it seem that even the Isekai protagonists could function like good protagonists. If that practice is followed more in the coming years, we might see the evolution of one of the biggest anime genres.
Some of the settings are direct rip-offs of other Isekai series, so you can say the world is as "magical fantasy" as it gets. It seems unlikely that you even registered that. Who cares about something like that?
The anime focuses on the healer leveling up, and putting that setting on air alongside the king of leveling, Solo Leveling, was either due to the creators' overconfidence or the fact that they were high on acid that day. It certainly worked out, and despite competing with this year's most popular anime, "The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic" has remained relevant and is now attracting more viewers.
Not The Best Comedy
Regarding comedy, The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic is not particularly good. There are a lot of jokes—some weird ones thrown in here and there—but they are all over the place, if that makes sense. The comedic elements have divided opinions; some think they are great and make the isekai even better, while others think they are dull and a poor choice for the series.
I lie somewhere in between. Some of the jokes are great, others not so much, but the comedy is good, but not something great like Konosuba. Given that Shin-Ei Animation, a company that has been dominating the rom-com genre for quite some time, created it, it is quite amusing. We could also transfer some of that comedy here, but that's optional now.
The anime had a great run, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the sequel will bring. I am aware that isekai titles don't always carry over their success into their more recent seasons, which has caused many of these fan favorites to quickly fade away, but for a show that is doing it wrong, as the title suggests, it can't get any worse than that, can it?
The music is decent, and it is not overly wild or anything. I prefer the ending theme, but that is just my preference! "Cure" by waterweed is the opening theme, while "Green Jade" by ChouCho is the ending theme.
After all that, a few opinions, such as "Be a warrior in a world full of worriers," and similar sentiments have been repeated endlessly. But Chiyu Mahō no Machigatta Tsukai-kata: Senjō o Kakeru Kaifuku Yōin puts that into practice and takes on the juggernauts that defined the start of 2024.
I still cannot believe the creators thought it was a good idea to pit this healing leveling anime against Solo Leveling, which is unbeatable. However, the isekai elements broke through, and while Solo Leveling does not feel like an isekai despite the fact that it contains many isekai elements, it was a fair fight despite the disadvantages and handicaps.
If you are looking for titles that slipped under your radar over the last three months, you should check this out to see if it speaks to you. The character development is excellent, which is the title's main selling point. Also, the wrong twist on the isekai genre is all but welcome, as we are sick of watching shows that take the same route and use the same formula over and over.
I have heard that the light novel was completed in 2020, which begs the question of why this anime adaptation was released so late. However, this also means we can see the end to the story that has surprised us all winter. I would give it a solid 7.5. It was a good run and an isekai that everyone could enjoy. If you have not already done so, check out this show. I'm sure you'll love it!
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