There’s no shortage of OP MC fantasy shows out there. Even ignoring the entire Isekai sub-genre, your still left with shows like MASHLE, Tower of God, Solo Leveling, the list goes on. Point is, there’s a lot of them, and standing out can be hard. Some do it with fantastic animation, good comedy, or compelling writing. Most though? Most fail spectacularly, and are forgotten to history, never spoken of again. Sadly, that seems to be exactly where I Parry Everything, originally created by Nabeshiki, directed by Dai Fukuyama and animated at OLM, appears to have landed. But you know what? I think it deserves better. I think this show, despite it’s average visuals and standard narrative, deserves your attention. So if you take one thing away from this review, make sure it’s this: I had more fun with I Parry Everything than almost anything else this season. Here’s why.
Be warned, this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for I Parry Everything. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents.
Production
First up, seeing as this is an anime, lets talk animation. I Parry Everything isn’t the best looking show this season, or any season really. So much of it is the lead awkwardly swinging a massive sword, screaming parry, and whatever he’s hitting flying off in another direction. Characters sit static on the screen, conversations are mostly people just standing in a circle talking with hardly any interesting shot composition, and there usually isn’t a lot of effects work. There are some exceptions to this, every now and then when something especially ridiculous happens, I Parry Everything kicks things up a strong notch. And sure, these happen more and more frequently the deeper in you get. But even then these are roughly 30-second highlights in a 23 minute episodes. Despite this however, I still found I Parry Everything fun to watch, and for one simple reason: Sincerity.
What’s that quote about if you do something with enough sincerity, commit to something hard enough, then others will see and recognize it? That’s sort of the vibe I get from I Parry Everything. Despite the generally middling animation, it felt like those working on it were actually having some fun, or at least didn’t hate themselves while doing so. And that bled through the screen into my viewing experience. Yes, the guy is running across the screen screaming “PARRY” and a bunch of CGI swords are flying into the air. But then the shields go to. And the artillery. And entire freaking trains. At no point does I Parry Everything try to make itself seem serious, or dour. It commits to being stupid the entire way through, and that stupidity wraps back around to being a good time.
All in all, while I Parry Everything won’t wow anyone, it’s certainly fun and dials things up when it really needs to. While it would be nice for every little conflict to have some bonkers animation like Elusive Samurai, or for the conversations to be shot dynamically and with a clear purpose like Shoushimin, the simple truth is that like most anime, I Parry Everything doesn’t need that to succeed. You don’t need to be a generational work of animation to be fun to watch, to be worth sitting down for 23 minutes and having a good time. So long as the production doesn’t get in the way of that, your probably fine. And I Parry Everything is well, well above that floor. So yeah, there’s enough action for the people looking for that, but don’t expect anything insane.
Narrative
Speaking of fun, let’s talk about something surprising about I Parry Everything, the narrative. I said it at the start, this is an OP MC fantasy show. The classic “Powers everyone think are weak are actually really strong”. Hell it’s even in the name, all the guy can really do is parry… well, anything. By all metrics it shouldn’t be good, the premise reads like your average light novel slop. But where so many of those immediately jump to grand epics about slaying the Demon Lord, or becoming recognized by those around you, I Parry Everything is just about a dude who has no idea how strong he is getting roped into events grander than he knows. One minute he’s lugging rocks, the next he’s fighting a minotaur to save a princess. Except he doesn’t know it’s a minotaur, nor that she’s a princess, and just wants to go home.
In a lot of ways, I Parry Everything is similar to One Punch Man. The lead has no real idea how strong they are, and they don’t go seeking out these conflicts. Instead they get dragged into them by their friends and comrades, deal with the problem simply by existing, and then go home like nothing ever happened. Naturally a lot of the fun in these kinds of shows is in the reactions of the rest of the cast. While our lead may not understand what they accomplish, everyone else in this world does and are in awe of it. You can’t see a man parry a train and not say “Holy crap”. But where One Punch Man is a tad more comedy focused, caring more about the absurdity of it all, I Parry Everything is more concerned with having an dramatic story, for better and worse.
In some ways this is nice, I Parry Everything’s escalation feels natural. Monster to bigger monster to experienced warrior, etc etc. Every single conflict feels connected, every “monster of the week” builds on this larger conflict, giving a sense of progression that I very much appreciated watching week to week. However while this is nice and ties each episode into the next, it’s not a very complex story. The conflict is very straight forward, there’s no intrigue, no real twists, and you know the outcome of every fight before they even begin due to the nature of our MC. There’s nothing wrong with that really, straightforward stories can be a lot of fun when done right. But to accomplish that, you need something else to really draw the viewer in and engage them in the work. I Parry Everything does this with it’s main character, Noor.
Cast
To say Noor carries the show would be an understatement. He is the show. His good natured attitude and sincerity towards those around him, the way he approaches every situation directly, his earnest ignorance of everything happening around him, is the glue that holds I Parry Everything together. Watching an MC with an OP ability solo a dangerous Goblin Lord is one thing. Having him think that’s the weakest form of Goblin, something that every beginning adventurer is supposed to be able to defeat, and never being corrected on it and refusing any sort of praise is another. He’s just so… likeable, and makes every scene he’s in good natured and fun. There’s no needless drama, no love triangle crap, no angst. Just a good man helping people out who isn’t afraid to do anything from cleaning latrines to fighting dragons.
That said, there is one thing I need to be clear on and lightly spoils the ending so I’ll keep it locked up. For those that don’t care, read on. Otherwise, just know that some may see Noor’s ending as a bit of an anti-climax, though personally I think it fit the show perfectly.
So like I said, I Parry Everything’s ending could, to some, feel like a let down. The reason is because Noor never actually gets that recognition that is so common in other OP MC fantasy shows. He never becomes that “Big Damn Hero”, and so you may feel the series was a waste of time, that you didn’t get that payoff. Personally however, this is a plus. The payoff isn’t in the world knowing how great he is and being recognized as a hero throughout the land by everyone around him. It’s in that feeling of satisfaction of a job well done, in knowing you helped those around you, and that those who are close to you care. There is a bit of recognition for Noor at the end, but it’s only amongst the main cast, so it still feels rather constrained.
As for the rest of the cast, they really don’t do much. There’s Lynee, the princess, who is sort of our audience surrogate explaining the life of an adventurer to Noor and putting his feats into context for us. Then there’s the various Sovereigns, masters of the various “classes” of this fantasy setting who largely serve to be “wow’ed” by Noors accomplishments, and occasionally give us backstory since they each tried to train him a little early on. There’s also Rolo, the “demon child” we meet about halfway through for Noor to show how caring he can be. And… That’s about it. Ostensibly there’s a villain, but he’s nothing more than your bog standard evil emperor, existing solely to start conflict and get defeated. There are no real arcs, none of them are much more than card board cutouts filling out the cast to make the world feel populated.
In that sense, I Parry Everything’s cast is kind of weak. It lives and dies on a single character. But that single character, Noor, is a lot of fun, and his enthusiasm and earnestness breathes life into the otherwise static characters around him. I’ll be frank, in a months time I’m not going to remember anyone other than Noor. But him I’m going to remember fondly until at least the end of the year, probably longer if I’m being honest. It’s not often an OP MC sticks with me so strongly. That’s something worthy of praise.
OST
Next we come to the OST. Composed by Tatsuhiko Saiki, this is sadly not yet publicly available, at least not as I could find it. That means I’m not going to be able to link any specific songs to support what I’m talking about. Add to that how I’m not the best person to ask about music, and you’ll have to take what I say with a grain of salt. That said, I liked I Parry Everything’s sound. It’s very “generic adventure”, but there’s a liveliness to it that puts a spring in your step. Fast paced flutes and strings that reminded me of the old Fairy Tail bagpipe theme song. Not quite as unique, but the energy is still there, which is good considering just how often it’s used and how repetitive I Parry Everything’s OST is.
And that’s really my biggest criticism of this OST, the repetitiveness. There were no tracks that sounded bad per se, nothing that took me out of the moment or ruined a scene. But by the time the anime finished, I could swear I’d heard every song 3, maybe 4 times. Again, not a big deal so long as the tracks work and are enjoyable. The Fairy Tail song I linked above plays in almost every episode of its show, but it’s still a banger to listen to. It just means that you probably won’t be buying this OST or streaming it anywhere, and that those looking for variety, or something unique like a Mabanua OST, won’t find it here. I imagine audiophiles will find this show lacking. But if I’m being honest? Audiophiles probably wouldn’t like the show to begin with, considering they’ll be hearing “PARRY” every episode.
Sincerity Goes a Long Way
With that we come to the final, personal section of this review. This is where I try to give you look into my experience with a show, all the pretense of a review left behind. That means no-holds-barred spoiler territory, so only continue if you’ve seen the show or don’t care about being spoiled for a show like this. If you choose not to read in, just know it’s a lot more praise for Noor and the less tangible aspects of the show. So without further ado, in we go!
Now I’ve said it multiple times before, but I need to say it again so you know what this section is about: I Parry Everything is perhaps the most sincere, earnest show I’ve watched this year. It’s hard to feel bad while watching it. Every episode leaves that same warm fuzzy feeling I get from some of the best Slice of Life, but packaged in an OP MC Fantasy show skin. I get both the over the top action scenes as a guy runs around at the speed of sound parrying entire trains or cataclysmic laser beams into the air, and the feel-good moments like basically adopting an abused kid or giving them all the credit because of course it was them talking the dragon down that saved the day, not beating it into submission. It’s a different kind of happy feeling than the hype of Deku beating up Shigaraki.
In that sense, I think I Parry Everything is actually very bingeable. Episodes go by fast, and with no complex plot there’s no chance you get lost with what’s happening. It’s a continuous stream of good enough to actually decent action that culminates in an oddly satisfying flashback of all things. We get to see that, for all his ineptitude in the more advanced skills, the experts were still able to recognize what made Noor special. The same thing we came to recognize as the show went on. It’s a nice little… “Don’t judge yourself by the standards of others” sort of thing, and an interesting way to do a flashback ending I hadn’t expected. Instead of trying to recontextualize the everything that happened, it just reinforced it. And I think that’s part of what makes I Parry Everything work. It makes it clear what it’s about, and doesn’t diverge from it.
Conclusion
So yeah, all in all I Parry Everything surprised me. I went into this expecting another bottom-of-the-barrel OP MC fantasy show with about as much personality as a bland fish. But what I got was one of the most earnest, sincere fantasy shows of the year about a simple guy who doesn’t know his own strength helping those around him. He’s a classic gentle giant, only fighting when necessary and supporting anyone he can. No complicated plots, no world-saving quests or globe trotting adventures. Just a straightforward, good natured, simple fantasy show with some fun action and wholesome interactions. In a world filled with edgy light novel protagonists, ecchi loli-bait, and the same “Awkward girl joins a band” show we see every season, I Parry Everything is a breath of fresh air, if a simple one, and one I enjoyed a lot.
Couldn’t agree more.
Nothing to write home about, but thoroughly enjoyable with no real let-down episodes. Most shows would kill for this.