Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (真の仲間じゃないと勇者のパーティーを追い出されたので、辺境でスローライフすることにしました, Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yūsha no Pātī o Oidasareta no de, Henkyō de Surō Raifu Suru Koto ni Shimashita) is a 2021 television anime series based on Zappon’s light novel series of the same name. The adaptation is directed by Makoto Hoshino and produced by studios Wolfsbane and Flad. Staff credits also include writer Megumi Shimizu and music composed by Yukari Hashimoto. The series first aired in Japan on October 2021.
Background:
“The fresh country air is perfect for a fresh start. Convinced he’s not needed in the Hero’s party, Red retreats to a peaceful life as an apothecary. But when a beautiful adventurer from his past enters the shop, he must face the life he left behind.”
Plot Synopsis via Crunchyroll, December 2022.
With the isekai genre constantly overcrowding each anime season, you have a few regular fantasy shows appear from time to time. DanMachi is often the one that many are more familiar with but over the years there are others that become a popular favourite. One of those is Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside which is a long name in itself but the premise alone peaked many people’s interests.
Rather than delving into a revenge type story, our main lead decides to chill at a village with a friend joins him on his daily work basis. What also interested me with this series is how the relationship between the two leads were portrayed, as a lot of modern anime stretches out the teasing until the last second or goes into a harem approach, so this anime is a surprise in that regard. The adaptation has received some mixed reception by the light novel readers especially with its last few episodes but I think it’s still an entertaining fantasy series regardless and worth a watch.
Funimation acquired the streaming rights for the series about a month before it started airing and was also given the English dub treatment. As the distributor rebranded as Crunchyroll due to the merger, Crunchyroll released the series on home video for both the United States and United Kingdom. The UK received the series a month later but only the US provided a limited edition.
Limited Edition Contents:
Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside is packed with physical contents for its limited edition in a similar fashion to Crunchyroll & Funimation’s recent releases like Mushoku Tensei.
The limited-edition box set features a rigid box that houses an Amaray case (with a slipcase) as well as a 64-page artbook and a cardboard box featuring 6 art cards, a chibi sticker sheet, and a fabric poster. Both the standard and limited edition share the same artwork. The booklet includes character designs, interviews and illustrations.
The artwork is free of any information and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Crunchyroll and Funimation limited edition releases.
The SRP for the limited-edition set was $84.98 and there’s no exact unit count. I acquired the limited-edition release from United Publications as they had stock at the very last minute when I was initially going to order the release from Rightstuf. A standard edition Blu-ray & DVD combo is also available in the United States, while the UK will have the standard release in separate formats.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specification
- 64-page Artbook
- 6 Art Cards
- Chibi Sticker Sheet
- Fabric Poster
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Crunchyroll
Released: 13th December 2022
The limited edition release for Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside contains all 13 episodes across two Blu-ray discs and two DVD discs, with the encode and authoring done by Crunchyroll.
Audio options include Japanese audio with English subtitles and the Funimation English dub. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback and the disc regions are playable on A & B for Blu-ray, and 1 & 4 for DVD in NTSC format.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | A B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
DVD Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Video | Standard Definition in NTSC format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | 1 4 |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 2:
- Banished from the Hero’s Party I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside: Lightning Round
- Web Preview
- Promo Videos
- Commercials
- Textless Opening Song “Iki o Sū Koko de Sū Ikiteku”
- Textless Closing Song “Minna Onaji”
DVD On-Disc Extra Features:
No extras across all discs
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside is available to order through multiple retailers across the United States. The limited edition Blu-ray & DVD release can be purchased through Amazon UK (via AmazonGlobal), Amazon US, Rightstuf, and United Publications.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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