Cautious Hero: The Hero is Overpowered But Overly Cautious is one of the long list of anime series that’s on my radar but it’s taken me quite some time to get around to and watch it.
Now that we find ourselves in a state of quarantine and self-isolation, I figured it was a good time to start trimming the fat on my “Anime To Watch List”.
Cautious Hero follows the story of Seiya Ryuuguuin, a normal human being that is summoned by the Goddess Ristarte (Rista for short) to help her save the Difficulty-S world of Gaeabrande from the Demon Lord that’s conquered it. Here’s the catch though, Seiya is heavily overpowered but he is overly cautious.
Meaning he takes every precaution possible and pushes that precaution to the most extreme level in order to calculate every possible outcome from a battle or the events leading up to a battle. Including his battles against the Four Heavenly Kings, and eventually his battle against the Demon Lord.
As I embarked on this journey with Seiya and Rista. Seiya’s demeanor and his cold shoulder was a bit of an annoyance to me. While he is reminiscent of Saitama from One Punch Man (another hero who’s overpowered and can kill his enemies with one punch….literally), Saitama is very laid back and calm; while Seiya isn’t.
At about the halfway point of the series I found myself a bit annoyed with the repetitiveness of the story. Seiya comes across one of the four Heavenly Kings, a battle ensues and while the odds might seem against him, he manages to still pull through. If he can’t, it’s back to the Devine Realms for training in order to “properly prepare” before he initiates the battle.
Don’t get me wrong, the battles were great. Especially Seiya’s battle against Thanatos and Warmaster Wohlks Roseguard. These two battles stood out to me the most. The animation was great and the intensity of battles were felt. Especially due to the fact that these two battles really had Seiya’s back against the wall (we’ll get to the Demon Lord later).
Outside of the intense battles and great animation. Cautious Hero has some great comedic moments. And as expected with any anime series, we get all the lovely fan service we could ask for.
All those things aside, despite my dislike of the repetitive plot points. The story finally comes around during its penultimate episode. When the truth about Seiya and Rista come to light.
In this episode (11), thanks to the Goddess Ishtar, we learn about the world Ixphora and it’s group of heroes lead by, wait for it…….Seiya Ryuuguuin! At his side was a Mage by the name of Colt and the Princess of Ixphoria, Tiana.
During this revelation we learn how different Seiya was as both a person and a hero. A completely polar opposite of the person we were presented and have embarked on this journey with. Completely unprepared, not cautious and very affectionate to those around him including Princess Tiana.
Ishtar goes on to reveal to Rista that during his battle with Ixphoria’s Demon Lord. Seiya not only lost the fight against him, but also lost his Mage Colt, and Princess Tiana; who was revealed to be his love interest. In addition, the Demon Lord revealed that Princess Tiana was bearing Seiya’s child.
The biggest shocker of this flashback was the revelation of Rista being Princess Tiana in her past life. This bit of information does a lot of the story. It explains Rista’s inexplicable love/lust and admiration for Seiya. The unfortunate part is that unlike Rista, Seiya did not retain those past feelings and memories after his reincarnation.
That’s not all! We learn that because Princess Tiana (Rista) sacrificed herself in order to attempt to save Seiya. Her good deed enabled her to be reincarnated as the goddess she’s become. It’s a revelation that added all the backbone and emotional weight I knew this anime had the potential of delivering.
Unfortunately, the final battle between Seiya and the Demon Lord starts midway and is short-lived as Seiya delivers two Gate of Valhalla attacks. A move that he learned from the Goddess Valkyrie.
As advised by Valkyrie, using the Gate of Valhalla comes at a cost. A lively cost. Humans who use it die shortly after, while Gods like Valkyrie, just bleed out for a short period of time.
The beautiful moment here is shared by Seiya and Rista as they have their final embrace. During that final embrace Seiya finally remembers who Rista is and who she has become. As he goes to rest his head on her shoulder he breathes his final breath.
HOW DOES THIS ALL LEAD INTO SEASON 2?
During the final battle in an attempt to save Seiya’s life, Rista requests to use all of her Divine Order Power. This unfortunately becomes her second strike as a Goddess and could potentially have her Goddess title removed.
Ishtar requests Rista’s presence as she intends to serve her her punishment for breaking the rules of the Divine Realm. As her punishment Rista is to return to Ixphora, a now Difficulty-SS world with a new Demon Lord and save it. She will also be restricted from using her magical powers.
On a bright note, against the rules of course, Ishtar allows Rista to summon Seiya once again in order to save Ixphora. This time, Seiya will be impossibly cautious. The biggest question for me is, will Seiya remember the events of the first season and will they series build an actual relationship between Seiya and Rista.
Overall, despite some pacing issues and repetitiveness; and the misuse of characters like Elulu and Mash. The penultimate episode of Cautious Hero is what solidified my enjoyment of this series. And I cannot wait to see what season two brings, if Cautious Hero does indeed get one.
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