Autumn 2021 First Impressions – The Faraway Paladin

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Will only has vague memories of his former life; the bits and pieces that he can recall speak to an aimlessness that he once believed would doom him to hell. When he awakens in a temple as a baby, surrounded by three undead figures, he believes that this has come to pass. However, Mary, Blood, and Gus are actually kind and mostly harmless, choosing to raise Will together.

As Will grows, he learns fighting and hunting from Blood, magic (for which he seems to have a particular aptitude) from Gus, and many of life’s smallest (but often most important) lessons from Mary. But each of these individuals seems to carry a hidden sadness that Will is only able to perceive on the most basic level, and they’re reticent to share any details of what is likely a very painful secret with Will, beyond that they made a deal with the god of the undead to remain on earth after death. As he gets older his curiosity starts to get the best of him; when he follows Mary to one of her daily prayers, Will comes away with dire injuries. But through the experience he learns of Mary’s persistence and piety and he grows closer to her.

Impressions: What would you do if given a second chance at life? That’s the question on the tip of the tongue of many isekai stories. In some cases, protagonists may plot revenge. In others, they indulge in the many power fantasies dragged along from their previous lives. In still others, they live the slow lives that being a Japanese office worker never allowed. But my favorite types of stories are those in which the protagonist finds themselves thankful for the second chance at life, and able to use their talents for something greater than themselves. From just this first episode, I’m unsure whether The Faraway Paladin is aiming to address the latter point. However, the former already seems knit into the fabric of the narrative.

There are nothing but brief glimpses of Will’s former life shown throughout this episode; while it’s clear that he was probably the same sort of gamer/otaku NEET that’s a familiar staple in many of these stories, there aren’t a lot of specifics about why his earthly life was so disappointing. But it’s enough; the tropes of the genre are more than able to allow us to fill in the blanks with whatever we’d like to believe. And it’s not really his former life that’s important here. Other than being able to retain at least some of his former knowledge and intelligence, he’s otherwise left to start over from square one in his new world, learning its rules as he grows from his youth toward adulthood.

It’s the lessons he does learn, and the ways in which he learns them, that proves the story’s mettle, I think. One of my former bosses always said something that’s stuck with me – choose kindness. It’s a seemingly simple command, but one that can be complicated to adhere to. In essence, though, it means that, in circumstances where you’re faced with the choice to either lash-out in anger or choose to be kind, it’s better to choose to be kind. I can’t say I’ve always followed it perfectly, because there are definitely situations where kindness is more detrimental to the person attempting to perform it than setting solid boundaries or speaking up (both of which may hurt the feelings of the person being dealt with). But in many cases that don’t involve abuse or manipulation or something more sinister, being gentle and understanding will often serve one well.

From just this episode, I feel like this is a story about choosing kindness, and I like that. I think this is especially evident when Will follows Mary into the temple dome as she prays. Will could feel betrayed by having been fed bread burdened deeply by the struggle undertaken to obtain it, or angry over so much of his caretakers’ lives being kept a secret. And yet, he forgives Mary and asks to remain alongside her so she doesn’t struggle in secret any longer. It’s a heart wrenching encounter that I hope speaks to this story’s philosophy. While I won’t deny the appeal evidenced by other series in the genre that choose to dig further into the dirtiness of what it means to deal with trauma and be a flawed person, if someone put a gun to my head and asked me to choose what sort of series I’d rather watch on any given typical day in my anime-viewing life, more often than not I’d choose one like this one.

Pros: My spouse and I often talk about series we like that are formulaic, but follow their formulas in a satisfying way. There’s nothing groundbreaking about this first episode; I can’t tell you how many anime series I’ve seen that begin with the main character hovering in the void waiting to be reincarnated into whatever new life they’re meant to fulfill. And yet, sometimes knowing the formula allows one to focus in on the smaller yet important aspects that differ from one-another. This series is set up like so many others in its genre, which is likely why its specific tone stuck out so much.

I also enjoy the fact that Will’s caretakers are the sorts of entities that would normally be enemies in a fantasy series – undead minions of some evil god. And yet, they’re incredibly kind and deeply human, with lingering regrets regarding whatever brought them to their current state. It’s an interesting twist on the typical fantasy mechanics.

Cons: This episode feels a little bit anti-climactic. I’m not the type of person who needs non-stop action to feel satisfied, but though the story of Mary’s relationship with her patron god is interesting and the emotional payoff is good, this episode feels a bit incomplete. This is a minor complaint, though.

Content Warnings: Fantasy sparring, burn injuries, brief allusions to past trauma/regret.

Would I Watch More? – I was very impressed by this episode, perhaps partly due to low expectations on my part, but I think it was more than that. I would really like to watch more and see how Will’s story unfolds.