The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic (which I must admit is a pretty great title) starts off like many other isekai anime, with main protagonist/everyman Ken Usato (Sakata Shougo) getting isekaied to the fantasy kingdom of Llinger to fight an army of demons. Joining him are two popular students from his school, his classmate Kazuki Ryusen (Kengo Takanashi) and upperclassman Suzune Inukami (Ayaka Nanase). Kazuki and Suzune are the two heroes Llinger intended to summon, making Usato the real accidental recruit for the campaign.
Having seen a lot of isekai anime, I could not help but expect this show to take a deeply cynical turn. Like normally in this type of show, the popular kids would get corrupted by their new fancy powers and start betraying and/or killing each other while the everyman becomes an edge lord. To my incredible surprise, The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic doesn’t actually go that route. Usato is socially awkward and insecure but the premiere doesn’t make him jaded, whiny, or angry in the slightest. His co-stars are just as decent as him and all three main characters hit it off pretty darn well when they first meet before getting isekaied.
Even when the trio gets isekaied, the show still catches me off guard. Kazuki points out to the Llinger’s king Lloyd that he and his friends have families in their world and it’s not right for Llinger to whisk them away. I’m shocked that the show is actually addressing this as it’s often ignored in other isekai anime. Equally surprising is Lloyd actually feeling bad about summoning the kids to his world and pleading with them to lend their services to his kingdom. Normally, the king archetype could care less about these high schoolers’ situation. Usato’s friends don’t mock him for not being a hero and they instead feel bad that he got summoned by accident. Usato doesn’t agree to participate as any sort of revenge against anyone; he just figured he might as well learn if he can help his friends in any way. I don’t know if the show is actually trying to subvert expectations here but whatever the case might be, it’s an atypical approach for an isekai anime to take and that alone nets the show some brownie points from me.
The second half of the episode is where the show starts to explain its title. With help from Lloyd’s head mage Welcie (Maria Naganawa), the main trio learns about their magic affinities. Suzune (who is hilariously way too happy about getting isekaied) discovers she can use thunder magic while Kazuki is revealed to use light magic. It’s Usato’s affinity that concerns Welcie and everyone else in the castle. The show cleverly makes you think it’s something bad but in reality, everyone is concerned of what Usato’s affinity entails for him. It turns out that Usato can cast healing magic and that’s apparently very rare in this setting. In a vacuum, that’s an unexpected but welcomed upside to Usato’s accidental summon and by making healing magic rare, the show can give him a valuable role without making him overpowered (though it would not surprise me if that still ends up being the case). However, this alarms everyone because that means Usato will be recruited by their leading healer, Rose (Atsuko Tanaka).
I don’t know what exactly the wrong way to use healing magic is but this premieres makes it clear that Rose isn’t your average healer. Personality-wise, she’s a very commanding woman that intimidates everyone, including the king. In terms of abilities, she fights a lot more aggressively and up close than a healer normally would. Everyone assumes she’ll put Usato through the wringer and her scenes so far certainly supports that conclusion. I love that King Lloyd tries to “save” Usato from Rose’s tutelage. The man is looking out for the MC more than any other king in an isekai anime.
It’s entirely possible that this first episode is a fluke and the rest of the show isn’t nearly as good as this. I really hope that won’t be the case however as this premiere is a very pleasant surprise. It’d be a huge shame if the goodwill it garners goes to waste. With how oversaturated the isekai genre is, it could really use another good series under its belt.
Watch The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic on Crunchyroll
Xenodude Scribbles 