Anime Review: The Faraway Paladin Episode 1

The Faraway Paladin

Studio: DAX Production

Genre: Fantasy, Isekai, Drama

Streaming: Crunchyroll

It isn’t clear automatically that new anime, The Faraway Paladin, is an isekai – indeed, it’s only hinted at in a few places here and there throughout the episode and indeed it could easily pass for a straightforward fantasy otherwise. The anime follows young Will, a boy reborn into a new world and raised by three rather unusual guardians – a trio of undead former heroes. The series begins with him as a young boy but looks to follow Will as he progresses into adulthood and forms his own party.

If the title didn’t give it away with it’s western-centric use of the word ‘paladin’, the world in this fantasy is very much more inspired by this initially in terms then that of the more traditional Japanese.  Paladin automatically brings high fantasy to mind and for those in the know is a popular class to play as in famous tabletop games like Dungeon and Dragons. The other characters seen so far also seem to fit nicely in these tropes with a cantankerous ghost easily fitting into the wizard role, large and noisy Blood acting the Fighter/Barbarian and the mysterious Mary matching up nicely with that of the devout Cleric. All three are interesting in their own right though don’t really break out overly from the archetype they fall into. The most interesting of the bunch is Mary by far and the first episode goes into some secrets of her own which is both heartbreaking and terrifying. Our protagonist Will, is something of a blank slate so far, but his knowledge from his previous life mean he is much more aware and intelligent then your typical three year old.

The Faraway Paladin isn’t a bad show but this first episode was a bit of a chore to get through. The animation was nice enough but there was such a strong focus in the worldbuilding in this intro that it ended up coming across as mostly exposition then delving into any real plot to get viewers invested. It’s a shame because the premise of a boy being raised by the undead is a unique one and one I was really excited to see in action. The series has been compared online to the likes of isekai fan favourite ‘Jobless Reincarnation‘ and I can see the similarities but thus far at least, it’s taken a rather slow start. I’m all for a more introspective isekai series compared to the typical power fantasy we traditionally see in recent anime seasons but the sheer amount of information thrown out in this first episode was a little detrimental at times. I actually felt a little bored at times which is never a good sign. I do have hopes that the anime itself will pick up speed however once the protagonist grows and inevitably leaves the care of his guardians and the opening animation shows a great array of other characters who look to get involved. The show also made some attempts at comedy throughout, which unfortunately fell completely flat most of the time and I suspect the more humorous moments will not be the strong part of this series.

All in all, The Faraway Paladin is a show with a great and unique premise but is so far falling a little flat in terms of execution. Originally this show is based off a light novel (as is often the case with many isekais of late), and the show creators look to have made some stylistic changes such as altering the physical appearance of Will to stand out a little more – his in novel appearance is very much just the standard average male with dark hair. The other character designs are interesting and compared to Jobless Reincarnation, this looks to be a show which features a lot less in the way of fanservice (a welcome change for those who were put off from the aforementioned show for this very reason). It’s hard to recommend this anime from the first episode thus far, but I’ve heard enough good reviews about the source material that it’s going to be one I keep an eye on despite it’s rather rough and slow start.