As I am writing this review Healer is the trendy new controversial topic on the internet. I wanted to try to give a balanced review of this show. There seems to be two sides forming. One side says this is offensive and should not be streamed, while the other says people are overly sensitive and this is cancel culture. I think that I fall somewhere in between.
The quick version: This show has a target audience. If you are watching Healer for the pornographic and brutal revenge aspect then you will probably like it. If those aspects by themselves are enough for you then this
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show might be good. If you are watching it as an anime then you probably won’t be satisfied with the story. As an anime, it is tone-deaf, crude, unnecessarily vulgar, and more reminiscent of a sick fantasy rather than an actual story. Just know what you are getting into.
The Long Version:
In case you didn’t know, this show contains a lot of rape and sexual violence. Some people claim that rape should never be depicted in anime. I disagree. People don’t object to murder when it occurs in anime. That being said, rape should only be depicted if it is central to the story. If it is used at all it should drive the story, not be an end within itself. When the act itself is the central purpose then a story becomes pornography (I make no judgments regarding pornography, I just distinguish it from other forms of entertainment). It should also not be an easy way to designate someone as an antagonist. Media will commonly make someone a rapist as a shortcut to developing them as an antagonist. Simply put, “The audience should hate this person, well then make them a rapist”. If you have ever watched older movies a common trope was to make antagonists Nazis, regardless of context, as an easy way to distinguish them from protagonists. A story should be driven by actions affecting the world, not our instinctual reaction to those actions.
Other reviewers use Goblin Slayer as an example and for good reason. The show contains very graphic scenes but they serve a purpose. Goblin Slayer does not glorify rape and it is used in the story to show the motivations of the MC. This gives the fight scenes meaning rather than being purely mindless violence. It is not used for sexual gratification nor is it central. While it is used to characterize the goblins as evil, it is not a short cut. It develops the character of Goblin Slayer rather than simply telling us who is the “bad guy”. Goblin Slayers' experience with rape morphs him into who is as a character and as the story progresses other experiences change him further. The way goblins interact with the world at large shapes the tone of the story and the world within the story.
The problem with Healer is that it tries to disguise that it uses rape in a cheap manner. Rape is certainly used to show the motivation of the MC. It is different than Goblin Slayer. What keeps the rape in Healer from being entirely pornographic is the rape is shoehorned into the rules of the fantasy world. The problem is that it is an obviously flimsy excuse to show rape. In Goblin Slayer the vast majority of the rape happens off-screen and what is shown is relatively brief. In Healer the rape is just outright fully shown. The act itself is central, not the character motivations behind it. There is a lot of debate about the scene from episode two and if it is permissible to even depict something as graphic as that. A review isn’t the proper place to make a judgment like that. What I can say is that if it was truly driven by the story then it doesn’t need to be shown in graphic detail. As it stands the scene is unnecessary. It doesn't develop the character at all. It does nothing beyond show graphic content and provide a pretext for the sadistic revenge.
Granted I only saw 4 episodes before I dropped the show. I did read some of the manga because I was curious if the MC would develop as a character. I read one volume and he didn’t. The reason I give this a bad review is that it feels like it builds the story around the sex/rape aspects rather than incorporate them into a story. The anime might go in a different direction but that seems unlikely.
I have heard some people liken this to a revenge story. The difference between Healer and a revenge story is that the character must in some way evolve through the course of the story. From the limited amount I watched, the MC is horribly abused, transforms into a monster (arguable for good reason), and then enacts vengeance without growing as a protagonist. The sexual violence seemingly exists to justify the later sexual violence of the MC rather than give him an arc. There is a large difference between a classic revenge plot and a series of revenge scenarios held together with a thin plot.
Like I said, if you are the target audience you will like it. If you want more than sexual violence and revenge then this isn't for you.
Feb 3, 2021
Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi
(Anime)
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As I am writing this review Healer is the trendy new controversial topic on the internet. I wanted to try to give a balanced review of this show. There seems to be two sides forming. One side says this is offensive and should not be streamed, while the other says people are overly sensitive and this is cancel culture. I think that I fall somewhere in between.
The quick version: This show has a target audience. If you are watching Healer for the pornographic and brutal revenge aspect then you will probably like it. If those aspects by themselves are enough for you then this ... 
Dec 24, 2017
I am a huge fan of the series (both the anime and the previous manga). What I really liked was the balance of action, fantasy, and ecchi. Each one is in proper proportion and it makes the story really engaging. Not to mention the world is interesting and the characters are surprisingly deep for an ecchi series.
I read this installment hoping to get more background on characters or new parts to the story. Instead I was just reading a dirtier version of the series. The is no action or fantasy, and the enjoyable part of the story comes from knowing the series already. So ... 
Jul 14, 2016
When I started Sankrea I was skeptical because I don’t particularly like romances, especially high school ones. Needless to say I was impressed by this one. It proves that romances don’t have to be frilly dramas. They can blend seamlessly into other genres and make a great story.
The best part of this anime is the premise. It is original, interesting and had me hooked. I especially like the blend of romance and psychological horror. It gives the show a very tense feeling that makes the romance lively. So why doesn’t it get a ten? The pacing is too slow. While the premise takes a while ... 
Jul 6, 2016
If you aren’t already aware, this is yet another mecha/school/harem anime. It is the standard plot of guy who has an aptitude for a new military device goes to school where he assembles a harem. More specifically, Hundred blatantly rips off Infinite Stratos down to minute details. Why did I keep watching it if it is something I have already seen? Well, Infinite Stratos had some problems(such as the main character being spineless and clueless, a lack of an overarching conflict, one dimensional love interests, filler, and too much focus on the harem). Initially, it looked like all of these problems were fixed and I
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Jun 14, 2016
This is a funny and entertaining anime.
The premise is similar Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? but more self-aware. More accurately, it is a parody of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? and the dungeon-crawler/video game genre. The best part of this anime is that it is really funny. In fact, it’s one of the funniest animes I’ve seen in a while. Story: While the story isn’t exactly original, it’s well executed. I also like that it starts with a premise and sticks to it. This gives each episode a sense of ... 
Jun 14, 2016
Oneechan ga Kita
(Anime)
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This show was kind of disappointing.
Story: Considering that each episode is 3 minutes I had very little expectation for story. Even with the bar set really low it still manages to be bad. My guess is the show wants to be funny but also touch on some deeper themes. It gets about halfway with both. For the most part it isn’t funny (I can only remember laughing at one part). I get that humor is subjective but even with that in mind there aren’t enough jokes anyway. The plot also tries to be deep and the episode length really kills any attempt at this. ... 
Jun 13, 2016
Before I start this review I wanted to say that I always really liked this show. If you liked this series I would actually recommend skipping this movie because it could potentially ruin it for you. The previous movie really left me hungry for the finale and I was hoping this one was going to answer all the questions that had been building up. It doesn’t. I am a firm believer that any anime should stand alone, instead of using the source manga as a crutch. I have a feeling that only those who have read the manga know what’s supposed to be happening
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Apr 6, 2016
Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai
(Anime)
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This show is great example of great ideas ruined by bad execution.
Characters: The characters are alright though sometimes they have the most clichéd dialogue imaginable. They do become a bit flat once they get forced into the harem plot archetypes. The the villains are terrible. We are never really told what they want except that they are evil and have evil plans. They are so over-the-top evil that they become unbelievable and almost comical. Animation and Sound. Sound is fine. The animation is really good minus one really glaring part. Whenever a powerful character (including the main character) transforms the subsequent animation is just ... 
Apr 5, 2016
To LOVE-Ru
(Anime)
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A lot of people recommended this to me. It took me well over a year to finish but I wanted to give it a review because I think it is overhyped.
Animation and Sound: The animation is ok. The only problem I have it is that the characters look creepily young which is a problem in an echhi anime. Because of that, many parts of this anime are very uncomfortable and kind of gross. The voice acting is hard to judge because the dialogue is so repetitive that it doesn’t really get a chance to be memorable. The voice acting does shine in the final ... 
Mar 26, 2016
B-gata H-kei
(Anime)
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Art and Sound: Totally fine
Story: The story is where the show shines. While many other high school themed animes are tame and almost sappy, this one pulls no punches. It does not condescend to its audience nor does it censor the jokes. It is raunchy and really funny. The story does a good job of drawing you in. Why is it not a ten? The story’s problem comes from it belonging to two very different genres. In the ecchi genre the characters remain very static. The entertainment comes from putting these characters is bizarre situations. The problem arises when B Gata H Kei tries to ... |
