I watch these things so you don’t have to.
Earlier this year I caught wind of a particular anime show that had been getting a lot of attention for it’s supposed HORRIBLE, SEXIST content and, naturally, I had to investigate, mostly because the way the Far East and the West categorize HORRIBLE, SEXIST content has reached a point of divergence. While in the West “cat calling” or “wolf whistling” at a woman is now sexual assault, Japan still holds to the ages old definition of actual, physical assault being defined as assault. I don’t think I need to go into a lot of detail to convince readers that the West has gone off the deep end in this regard. Because of this the anime and manga industry has come under fire by Westerners for not hopping on the train of wokeism and changing the way anime and manga are written or, more importantly, drawn. Where Western comics have embraced drawing women like ugly men, anime and manga are still rely very heavily on curvy, busty, scantily clad young women for their heroines and protagonists. This has caused many in the West to howl in agony and frustration, but Japan has, thankfully, stood strong against the onslaught of requests from Westerners to change their ways.
Redo of Healer takes place in a world where some people are assigned a hero status by some unknown source. Our protagonist, Keyaru, finds that he receives the hero’s mark of “healer”, meaning he is basically support for more combat oriented heroes. Keyaru, however, is a particularly talented hero in that he can heal anyone of any wound, no matter how grievous, but his power comes at a stiff price, for every time he uses it he experiences all of that persons experiences, pain and agony. In the end it is too much for him to bear, and he gives up healing, much to the chagrin of his employer, the kingdom in which he lives. The king’s daughter is a hero herself, and she, along with her little clique of kingdom heroes, must have the greatest healer in the land and so they imprison Kayeru and drug him so that they can use him, basically, as a healing whore. Unfortunately the kings daughter is quite the deviant and she takes advantage of him in his drugged state, only to find that the aftermath of raping him leaves her feeling empowered, and she makes it a regular habit. Once word gets around of this power boosting technique it isn’t long before her friends, both female AND male, start to partake, and soon it seems nearly everyone in the castle is taking their turn at him.
Kayeru finally forces himself to stop succumbing to his addiction for the mind-destroying drugs the princess has been feeding him and finds that the same curse that makes his healing abilities awful also has the side effect of increasing his knowledge and power until he finds he can use he can basically “unheal” enemies, doing extreme damage to them, and can even heal time itself, essentially travelling back, if he so chooses.
It is with this discovery that Kayeru decides to take revenge in a fashion most foul, depending on your point of view. Rather than merely escaping and living out the rest of his days as a free man he chooses to go back to the point where it all began and exact a wicked plan. He will travel back to the time just before he received his hero’s mark and from there take revenge on all those who hurt him. With foreknowledge of events to come he destroys each and every person who, in his previous life, degraded him, humiliated him and took advantage of him…
And it isn’t pretty.
Probably the biggest gripe from people about the story is Kayeru’s use of sex to destroy the women who took advantage of him in his first life, and the cringe is understandable. The first tale of his revenge is exacted upon the princess, Flare, the person who, really, got this whole ball rolling. His treatment of her is abhorrent as he sneaks into her room, assaults her and then promises he won’t kill her if she can keep quiet while he breaks each of her fingers (which he does), only to, in the end, heal them and start all over again. Eventually he forces her to have sex with him in return for her life only to wipe her memory out completely, leaving her only with the false memory of her being his slave and serving him….in many ways.
Along the way through the 12 episodes that comprise the first season we watch him obliterate other members of the princesses hero party through similarly horrible means, buy an actual slave (a cat girl named Setsuna who wants revenge on the men who killed the people of her tribe), battle and memory wipe princess Flare’s sister, battle another powerful hero that used to run with Flare’s party, make a harem out of all four of them and take on the job of protecting a demon girl, whom he actually fought in his old life in order to go back in time.
Taken in as a standalone show I can see why some people got their feathers in a ruffle, but taken in as part of the whole of moviedom and tv its not bad at all. The big gripe with people, however, is that its the tale of a MAN getting revenge against the women who hurt him in life, both physically and mentally. These gripes, however, should be ignored, since there are already plenty of movies that use the same kind of plot but with a woman as the protagonist rather than a man. Look at 1978’s I Spit On Your Grave, which got a 2010 remake of the same name along with several sequels (I Spit On Your Grave 2, I Spit On Your Grave 3: Vengeance is Mine and I Spit On Your Grave: Deja Vu). It, too, along with most of its sequels, involve revenge plots against people who committed sexual assault against the protagonist, yet, as you would expect, these films would be hailed as triumphs, with the original film having the original title Day of the Woman.
I suppose some of the complaints come from the fact that, over time, Kayeru becomes a likeable character. Are his actions wicked? Who’s to say? The people he exacts revenge against were far more wicked, and if not for their wickedness, Kayeru likely would not be the person he is. Yet even in his revenge the show indicates that he has growing feelings for his little harem, which at first were purely carnal and hateful in nature. In the beginning every time he takes Flare it is with anger and hatred. Even if she has no memory of the atrocities she committed against him they are burned into his mind and are initially the driving force behind his sexing her, but over time he starts to develop real affection for her. Now, unfortunately because of his wiping her memory he is not falling for the REAL princess Flare, but for her alter ego, which may or may not last. The real princess Flare is an arrogant, selfish and cruel woman, the same woman who allowed her fellow soldiers to rape Kayeru over and over, night after night, with nary a care, while her alter ego is a subservient, playful and happy woman, grateful that Kayeru takes care of her. Who knows what will happen in the end.
Overall the show is an interesting character study when focusing on Kayeru. Is he truly evil or just a vindictive person pushed past the brink of humanity? Sure he does evil things, but the moments where he looks at little harem and his face softens, his eyes change and his stance goes a little less rigid tells us he is still a normal person who wants what would probably have been a normal life. No hero’s mark, no healing, no revenge – just, normalcy.
I don’t recommend watching this if you are squeamish about graphic violence or sexual abuse. As far as violence goes we get to watch some pretty messed up stuff like the breaking of Flares fingers, which would really make anyone cringe, but also some of the battle scenes and other revenge scenes get pretty graphic. Maybe not blood and guts graphic, but certainly they will make you want to turn away over sheer brutality. The sexual violence is much less graphic, but the implication is clear. You won’t see anything more than boobs in the show, but the implication of rape, along with the use of sex for revenge and Kayerus romps with his harem (which really come off more as cute) may be too much for some people to handle. Visually I would say Redo of Healer is nothing particularly special. The animation and visuals are good, and on par with a lot of the other anime I have watched, but I can’t think of anything that really wowed me, visually. Not saying its bad, just saying its nothing that breaks the mold.
Anyhow, watch it if you want, or don’t. I just figured I’d post about it since there was such as stink made over something so benign, really. After all, its been done before, and plenty.
Snapper's Domain 
didn’t read b/c i have little interest in anime, but both my girls love anime. so i asked my Oldest if she’d heard about this one, and she had an instant, huge, strong reaction! “Let’s just say, Mom, that I draw a line on what I will watch, and I definitely draw the line with that one! I will not watch it.” she confirmed that it’s super controversial in the anime world 🙂
as a mom of a young adult, i’m grateful to hear that my daughter has lines she’s drawn in her life and that she’s disciplined enough to keep to them.
Yes, that’s very good that she has self made boundaries and is at least knowledgeable enough about the genre to know what to avoid. I remember reading message board posts long ago on AOL from people working at Blockbuster and other video rental stores of parents who would come in and get their kids a “cartoon” not realizing it was an extremely violent anime. Despite warnings they would rent them anyway and then return angry that their six year old watched some guys head explode. As I said, for some the show might come off as an interesting study of questions regarding morality, choices, revenge and consequences, but that still doesn’t erase the shocking content.
For some reason it has taken me a long time to figure out anime, or at least the basic concept. Probably because I’m not interested.
The concept of animated ‘cartoons’ for adults seems contradictory to me, so I guess that’s where I get stumped. But I’m guessing that’s where others would, too.
It’s taken awhile for me to understand that it’s just the medium, and that through that medium there are movies in every category.
I understand. In the West animation has been almost strictly for children and even “adult animation” is more centered around comedy. Anime encompasses any genre you can think of, and even some you might not. I’ve read that in Japan anime and manga (comic books, basically) are written for everyone from kids to moms to grandparents: There’s just something for everyone. Naturally some of the genre’s tend to rub Westerners the wrong way.
…parents who would come in and get their kids a “cartoon” not realizing it was an extremely violent anime. Despite warnings they would rent them anyway and then return angry that their six year old watched some guys head explode.
That’s just typical Ameroparent laziness-based stupidity, which is in a class all by itself. These are the types of people who, upon encountering a high-tension power tower with warning signs all over the base that warn not to climb the tower due to …well, whaddaya know – risk of electrocution from high-tension power … ignore the warnings and make the climb, expressing shock and outrage as they’re turned into barbecue. One really has to question not only the intelligence, but the motives of parents who expose their kids to violent entertainment content even when the product is clearly labeled as unsuitable for young viewers.
I confess I wasn’t able to sit through this whole show because it got pretty formulaic later on. There really didn’t seem to be much substance to it, which is fine of course. I Could be way off here, but I think edgier works sometimes suffer from a lack of identity and just pile rape scene on murder scene ad nauseam. Nothing wrong with it, but it ain’t no Shakespeare.
Nevertheless, I gotta show respect to the nips; nothing like this would ever be greenlit in the states. It’s part of what draws me to anime and manga — the novelty of a different culture’s mores combined with less creative limitation. Or maybe I’m just coping.
Yeah, like I said, it’s nothing really ground breaking beyond the reversal of the revenge role. That’s really the only thing it has going for it, though the “healing” aspect of Kayeru’s powers is interesting. Still, it follows the formula of a lot of hentai type anime that involve harems, princesses and all that, the revenge plot is the only real twist. Maybe that’s really all it needs considering that, yeah, you could never make a story of a man getting revenge on women here in the West. It would be shut down before it even got started.
The big gripe with people, however, is that its the tale of a MAN getting revenge against the women who hurt him in life, both physically and mentally.
This has ALWAYS been taboo in the West. One wonders if the producers of this series were very well aware of that fact and created the plot because of what they knew would be its “shock and outrage value.”
Coming soon: feminists (female and male, secular and churchian) blame this series for (non-existent) “revenge rape” attacks by men on women.
I wouldn’t put it past some guy to have created it specifically for that reason, knowing it would garner attention. That being said, I also wouldn’t put it past a guy for just creating it because he wanted to, not caring if people didn’t like it or not. It is adapted from a manga, so there was no guarantee it would be adapted into an anime. This also means that someone in the anime world was willing to produce it. This is one of the reasons why the SJW’s of the West detest Japanese animation so much. There are no “f”s given. If you don’t like it you just don’t buy it, but that goes against SJW training to invade and infect. Japan, too, will fall, eventually. They are already showing signs of giving in, but unless the West puts a stop to the SJW’s, they will fall.
Kayeru starts to fall for the princess whose “alter ego is a subservient, playful and happy woman, grateful that Kayeru takes care of her.” Well, does this film suggest perhaps that men find this attractive in women? That’s something that SJWs also do not want to hear!
I agree with you: If it was a woman taking her revenge on men they would celebrate this movie.
I think it lends to the idea that Kayeru only ever wanted someone he could love, but his becoming a hero and getting involved with the princess destroyed any chances of that. He started out the son of an apple farmer, only 15 years old when, overnight, he became the greatest healer in the land. (As a note, I don’t think he is 15 in the anime, though I do not recall, but that is the age listed in his profile for the manga). For the next four years he would be brutalized until finding a way to ween himself off of the drugs he had been constantly fed and coming up with is plan for revenge. During those four years, so literally from age 15-19, he would have had no real concept of what it meant to have a relationship and fall in love with a normal, kind-hearted woman. When faced with the FALSE alter ego of the woman who ruined him, how could he not fall for her? Mentally he is unstable, but still kind of a child. The prospect of a beautiful, subservient young woman as a mate/wife (And the princess, Flare, is very pretty and well endowed) must be comforting beyond belief. As far as the show goes, however, is it enough to make him forget the horrible things the princess did and had done to him?
Overall, though, I don’t think this question enters the mind of the SJW’s and instead their beef is with the fact that Kayeru IS raping not only Flare but her sister and one of her adventuring companions, since all three of them have fallen victim to his memory wiping ability, so though they are acting of their own accord they are not of right mind. The only female in the group who is willingly giving herself to him, while still in her right mind, is his cat-girl, but he literally buys her as a slave, though he doesn’t treat her as a slave the way the West thinks of slaves. No, there are plenty of other things for SJW’s to get their man-panties in a wad over than the prospect of a guy falling for a pretty girl, but as I said, its all for naught because if the roles were reversed it would be all confetti and flowers and everything would be just fine.
For those saying, “if this was a tale of a woman taking revenge…”
Well there’s literally an apples to apples comparison you can use: Elfen Lied.
It does seem like a series more interesting to talk about than to actually watch. Like I am of the opinion that mind rapes/wipes are a fate worse than death (or not much different from a death penalty). Was the healer’s fate also worse than death? Is he visiting justice upon them? And when you involve time travel, are you watching a now innocent person suffering for something they didn’t do (yet)?
Like I said, interesting to discuss, dunno how much I care to watch. (And I actually own Elfen Lied and have strong feelings towards it – though I think you could make both stories a more concise 2 hr film than a single season anime.)