The full title is "Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World", written by Shinta Fuji and illustrated by Susumu Kuroi. It's a fantasy and adventure series that starts with the premise of misery loves company.
Nick was kicked out of his adventurer party and discovered that his girlfriend was only using him as a sugar daddy. While down on his luck, he acquired a hobby of supporting an idol to cope but this led to him spending inordinate amounts of money which was unsustainable. One night, he comes by a bar packed full of people which left him no choice but to share a table with three other strangers consisting of Tiana, the mage, Zem, the cleric, and Curran, the half-dragon. They learned something about each person's tragic backstory with the help of alcohol and hesitantly formed a party based on the common goal of raising enough cash to fund their own individual vices. This new party is named the Survivors, a team that has yet to relearn how to trust humanity and each other. And by destiny's grip, they are thrust into a greater conflict than meets the eye.
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I know the obvious route for the show is to showcase how character growth for each member of Survivor by divulging more information about their backstories, and trying to get each person to learn how to trust again. And the show does this well that it didn't feel rushed at all.From an animation perspective, it's hard to convey natural pacing because of the limited screen time and amount of resource it takes to render just a few seconds of scenes. This makes each scene where a small adjustment from a smile to a smirk or eye contact becomes meaningful to display character personality.
This is much different from written media where a writer can just describe in detail how much pain and suffering a character has endured in their own mental monologues. Nick and the other members of Survivor had gone through unfair treatment that makes them understandably distrust the people around them. This distrust isn't something that can just be shaken off by kind words and should be proven through deeds. What better way to earn faith that putting your life on the line for others and that's the first hurdle the group has to overcome if they wanted to survive during dungeon raids.
Their struggle to overcome even the most basic enemies as a team was relatable. There is an uneasy agreement between them and this pact is only held by their own selfish interests in mind. That's what makes this anime interesting because you're waiting for how each character will respond for every moment trust is required of them.
I wouldn't really consider this anime as top tier but it's definitely something that isn't average. The art style and character design are basic but distinct enough to distinguish one character from the rest by silhouette and color scheme. There are some dull moments when idle chatter is involved but I had to rewatch them again and see how these dull moments contribute to the trust building exercise the team goes through.
While each member is motivated to work together to fund their own vices, changes start when members display a bit of concern and this isn't forced at all.
I could complain about the antagonist of the show as being underplayed but maybe its just not their time to shine as the entire season is spent building up ground work on the Survivors before the addressing the greater conflict they are hinted to face in the future.
The show is tagged as action but I see it more as a slice of life as the characters are just trying to live out their best in pursuit of their own individual happiness.
It's good a show with a few points above the average adventure fantasy and I hope it gets a second season soon. Ningen Fushin had an interesting selling plot but it's hard to say how they can sustain the interest given the number of subplots that popped up during the first season.
Thanks for your time.