SPOILERS AHEAD Do you regret giving up potentially your only chance to be freed of your burdens? Demon Queen Echidna On the journey to figure out the answer to one of lifes longestasked questions I found myself on a different journey all together. A journey following the hero Leo not on a quest to find out how long it takes for a hero to become a villain but instead the villain becoming the hero. https://www.animesgratisbr.biz/wpcontent/uploads/2022/05/yuushayamemasuepisodio08.jpg Obviously this isnt completely true. Im Quitting Heroing translated from the Japanese title Yuusha Yamemasu is in fact a story about learning how long it takes for a hero to become the villain theres no way around that. However the reason I say what I say is because thats not the only story being told. The hero Leo isnt our only protagonist after all and its here we find a different story the story of the villain becoming the hero. Before I get too far in to this review Im going to warn you all now Im going to ask a lot of rhetorical questions and say things that are meant to make you think about themes rather than speaking clearly about the series so I hope you get where Im coming from. Im writing this review like this because as I watched this series thats simply how I was thinking. I would ask myself questions like the ones Im about to ask you trying to decipher what the answer may be to a riddle with no solution. This review also might not be reminiscent of my others as unlike those shows that made me emotionallydriven to write about them this series simply made me think. Now about those questions allow me to hand out the forms. https://animenewsandfacts.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/04/ImQuittingHeroingEpisode4.jpg In a story like this theres so many questions that float around where the answers are so paper thin and loose that its as if they dont exist in the first place. Morals religion etc. Its questions that can be influenced by things like this that never seem to find an objective answer. For example if I asked Is a hero good? do you believe there to be an answer? How about this If a human hero fights back a demon army are they a savior? The easy answer is just to say yes. If they saved the world then they must be a savior after all... but what if the hero invaded the demon realm to do it? A demon realm full of creatures that had their own lives just like us suddenly taken away by a hero who wanted to protect humanity. If these demons step up to try to stop the hero are they the heroes now or are they still monsters? This question seems as easily answered as saying well that depends if youre a human or a demon but why is that? Cant a human feel remorse for the demons who are getting killed by this hero? Cant a demon feel guilt for whatever reason it may be that a hero is trying to kill them? Its never a matter of which side youre on nor what specie you are but simply what you think. Humanity and demon kind dont matter in the slightest since this answer comes down to you as a single person deciding what you think is the morally correct truth. If demons invade the human world and kill them theyre monsters but if a human invaded the demon world and kills them are they a hero? Questions like these can only be answered by one person. You. Im Quitting Heroing doesnt constantly explore these themes of course. Earlier on in the series its a more episodic tale of the hero choosing against humanity and going to help the demon army. He helps the remaining subjects of the demon kingdom with their menial tasks and works to gain favor towards the demon queen. Its a simple but charming premise at the very least so I never disliked watching this series even if it was nothing special. However the show really took a turn atop a peak. https://i0.wp.com/anitrendz.net/news/wpcontent/uploads/2022/02/imquittingheroingpv2screenshot.png If you were born for just one purpose one purpose that defined your whole existence and suddenly after living your life for that one reason youre told that you dont have to do it anymore what would you do? Could you live a new life without being relied on for that one reason or would you make sure you always have a purpose? Well late on in the series Leo decides to become the villain. Thats his answer to this question. If the humans dont need him anymore he will make them need him. He will save the world even if it means destroying it first and the only ones able to stop this hero who has protected humanity for thousands of years is... the demon queen and her generals. Suddenly the demon army is fighting to save the humans while the human hero is fighting to destroy them all. Suddenly that question I came in to this series searching for an answer to was right in front of me... and suddenly I realized... Heroes dont become villains. They dont become villains because theyve always been the villain. Its the only choice they ever had. Its... depressing. The last few episodes of this series show a hero who defended humans for thousands of years suddenly try to destroy them while these monsters to the human race break down cry and fall apart while trying to stop him. Its like everything youve ever known got turned upside down and suddenly you have no idea what to think or who youre supposed to side with. https://otakukart.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/06/imquittingheroingepisode124.jpg The series does end on a lighter note atleast. Leo is defeated but isnt killed because in the end he only did any of this to prove to himself that the world truly didnt need him anymore... and it doesnt. Not his world anyway. Spared by the demon lord and her generals he joins them in trying to not only protect the human world now but also the demon world to create a world where they can both live in harmony so another hero is never needed. While Im happy with this ending I havent stopped thinking about the questions I asked myself through the series though. I couldve focused this review more on the characters like Lily the cute wolf girl who adores Leo and is the first one to really break down when Leo decides on dying Melnes the assassin who truly wanted to destroy humanity for what they did to him or even Echidna the demon queen who only wanted to make a better world for the demons without ever harming the human world. I could talk more about Leo and his journey how hes lived and grown for 3000 years only knowing one thing the entire time hes ever existed protecting humanity. Im sure I could talk about more and give a well and honest review about this series. However I chose not to. I believe this to be the real review I wanted to write after all. A review where I simply put these thoughts down on a page and asked them to others who will take the time to think on them. If you want to know about the characters or the story the show is available to you but I wanted to get these questions out there even to those who choose not to watch it. Why? I guess I just think theyre fun to think about. Important? Maybe not. But definitely fun. Just like this series. https://otakukart.com/wpcontent/uploads/2022/06/imquittingheroingepisode123.jpg