Healer Girl

DekorationXanNex

webm(https://i.imgur.com/JxYMgkY.mp4) ~~~ __focoso (fiery, passionate)__~~~ Those who might be familiar with the studio behind Healer Girl, 3Hz, or the director, Yasuhiro Irie, might be keen in the precedent that Healer Girl presents. This precedent is another original show but, a show that has probably never been seen before. A musical. And I mean “musical” and not “music show” quite literally. As in, the key emotional moments and pivotal character growth happens through song and dance. As in, expect the show to have characters sing during dialogue. Shows like Revue Starlight would be far closer to Healer Girl than idol shows, since Healer Girl is not an idol show. But, the director went on to say he didn’t want an idol show or even a show like Starlight where battle and music was combined. To the utmost ability of his team, he wanted Healer Girl to be one of a kind. The result is an incredibly unique show oozing passion. This passion permeates prominently in every episode through the expressive characters, the careful selection of music, and the vibrancy of the writing. webm(https://i.imgur.com/PwfXEu4.mp4) ~~~__scherzando (playfully)__~~~ Healer Girl’s narrative can be sectioned into two components: the world (setting), and the characters. The “plot” isn’t necessarily a big part of Healer Girl, and instead it focuses on developing a trio of apprentice healers through slices of their lives. The world of Healer Girl isn’t too far off from reality, with the only exception being the ability for certain people, “healers” able to physically affect others through their voice. This blends perfectly well with the main trio, Kana, Hibiki, and Reimi, who are apprentice healers. These three serve as the core of the storytelling that Healer Girl employs, which, forgoing a larger overarching arc, is about their development and progression as they become better healers and people. This can be in the form of literally just training and studying technical terms and practicing harmonics for their healer exams, going out to the country to learn about each other and their goals, and aiding in surgery. But no matter what situation they find themselves in, the characters are at the core. Kana is an air-headed leader with splashes of genius honed through her hard work. Though, at the end of the day she’s extremely energetic, and provides an atmosphere of lightness and gentleness whenever she’s on screen. While Kana might be the leader, it wouldn’t be far off to see that Reimi, who comes from a music family and is very skilled, might be seen as such. Her aura of pride is aggressive, and it shows whenever she’s on screen, even when she isn’t being prideful and just being frenetic. Reimi, just by being herself always seems to take the screen by storm with her presence. To balance her energy is Hibiki. She’s the reliable mediator, but also has her own subtle brand of brilliance, being quite humble at the things she’s good at. That often creates for humorous situations as we gradually learn about Hibiki’s varied interests and ability to just pick up on things. While being on the more energetic and light-hearted side like Kana, she doesn’t encroach to feel too similar to her at all. All three of the main cast is so colorful in who they are and it’s shown thoroughly. The team’s care in carefully crafting characters made watching and getting into the world of Healer Girl so gentle and welcoming, but also instill a level of energy that made it fun and engaging. webm(https://i.imgur.com/KhZmVlY.mp4) ~~~__da capo (from the beginning) __~~~ The watch time for Healer Girl for me is quite unique. For each episode of Healer Girl, my average watch time has undoubtedly reached beyond the 24-minute mark. Was I re-watching and analyzing all of the intricate directing, details and dynamic scenes? Well yeah there is a lot of that, especially in the ornate imagery that the show can provide, especially when they sing, as songs often create explosive imagery and metaphor in the show. But I was also rewinding just so I could listen and watch as the songs unfurl. The musical selection of Healer Girl ranges from slow, beautiful arrangements that touch upon a layer of sentimentality within the characters, orchestral epics that entice with bewilderment and splendor, and more carefree and silly arrangements akin to taking a vibrant stroll on a sunny Sunday morning. The range of emotions and the variance of each song make their inclusion always a pleasure. Even when certain songs are reused in terms of melody, the new arrangements are often different enough that it doesn’t feel unsatisfying. And even more so, when a song is reused, it’s often done with enough purpose that bolsters the narrative and of course the audience’s own excitement of hearing it again. This excitement was a huge part in how much fun I had. After all, each episode gave us a different song, and it was always a treat listening to either something new or seeing a spin on something we’ve already heard. This is not even mentioning that these songs often blend into the episodes naturally. The main cast are healers, whose main job it is to sing. This lets the show wave away some of the more silly musical segments that might appear. After all, in a world that doesn’t treat such moments as silly, then why should we. If the characters want to sing and give us a musical number while they do something as simple as studying for an exam, hey that makes sense. If the characters want to sing to make each other feel better and to better express their feelings to another, that makes sense. If the characters want to sing to literally heal and mend physical ailment, well, that’s the point of the show. Everything, from the characters, to the music, feels so purposeful to what the team envisioned. webm(https://i.imgur.com/XdjnL0l.mp4) ~~~__allegrezza (cheerfulness)__~~~ I’ve mentioned this before, but the main draw of Healer Girl isn’t exactly in the immediate “plot.” While many exciting events do happen, and there is a good deal of drama for the characters to overcome, the show is also hesitant to dive too deeply into darkness. The emotions are definitely there, and the characters do go through struggle, but it’s not plated in an oppressive way, nor do they dwell too long on certain moments. Healer Girl, by every chord of its being, is a positive show. It’s extremely uplifting in how they resolve conflict. For some that might make the episodes feel a little lacking, and it may make the show feel, well, akin to a slice of life. Events may not seem to string together in a larger way. They might meander and literally just spend some episodes messing around and building their friendship more than anything. And yet, at the same time, the show also has a good handful of episodes that really dive deep into the characters, focused on their unique troubles and again, resolving them in a very “Healer Girl” way, with absolute positivity. Admittedly, if the show wanted to dial back and really let some of their more poignant moments last, it would have made certain moments stand out even more. But to what they did show, and to the way the show was so stalwart in what it wanted to show, I can’t help but respect the decisions it had. It wasn’t that I came back to Healer Girl each week because of its outwardly fascinating narrative or “plot,” but that I was having so much fun following the exploits of the main cast, and seeing how they grow with each other in such a gentle and healing way. webm(https://i.imgur.com/SDQNbf4.mp4) ~~~__al fine (to the end)__~~~ Healer Girl is a hard show to recommend, only if you don’t like music shows or musicals. But if you have even the slightest inclination for a music show, then I can’t help but wholeheartedly recommend giving Healer Girl a shot. It may not have the high stakes drama, or engrossing writing as other shows within the genre can have, but Healer Girl doesn’t have to be that. It never threw its gauntlets into that ring at all. Instead, it’s uniquely its own show, with an undeniably passionate team shown through the characters, the music, and the story’s penchant for optimism.

planetJane

img880(https://i.imgur.com/DY0RS36.png) ----- ~~~All of my reviews contain __spoilers __for the reviewed material. This is your only warning.~~~ -----

The first thing to know is that Healer Girl was inspired by Symphogear. Comparisons between anime rarely do either work any favors, but for Healer Girl, knowing the name of its stylistic ancestors puts some things into perspective. The Symphogear comparison is merely the most recent in a list that also included Macross and, less centrally, G Gundam. Ostensibly, these are strange bedfellows for what is at its heart an iyashikei series / sometimes-musical. In practice, it makes perfect sense. Like in Symphogear, the music in Healer Girl is not a background element; it’s diegetic, and the very source of the protagonists’ abilities itself. I’ve taken to calling this sort of thing the “dynamic music” genre, perhaps you have some other pet neologism. In either case, understanding that the music is not just a plot element but what the entire work is built around is key to understanding Healer Girl at all. It’s not a complex series, but there is stuff going on here beyond pretty songs. img880(https://i.imgur.com/8zL0bBd.jpg) Take our protagonists. Three young girls; Kana (Carin Isobe), Hibiki (Akane Kumada), and Reimi (Marina Horiuchi). For the majority of the series, they serve as interns at a clinic run by their teacher, Hibiki’s cousin Ria (Ayahi Takagaki). img880(https://i.imgur.com/XrJbAfO.jpg) A clinic, because as Healer Girl quickly establishes, in its world, the power of music is literal. Carefully-applied musical treatments can literally heal injuries, soothe sickness away entirely, and aid in surgery. This sort of there-is-power-in-the-song thing is something idol anime have been flirting with for years but never really commit to. (A personal frustration of mine.) Part of me enjoys Healer Girl just because it has the stones to actually dive into this idea. At twelve episodes, it doesn’t have the time to answer every question I had (I really want to know what healing music looks like around the world, but the show sadly doesn’t really go into it), but maybe it doesn’t need to. From that central premise, Healer Girl builds a few strong, simple metaphors. Healing music as art is the easiest to understand, and effectively renders the series as a defense of itself. Taken through this lens, the anime is a series of iterative exercises; how much can art really help with? In the first episode, Kana sings a song to a boy who’s scraped his knee to take the pain away. Just three episodes later, the girls assist in a surgery where someone nearly dies on an operating table, and they face the truly harrowing experience of possibly failing to help someone. Much like conventional medicine, healing music definitely has its limits, but also like medicine, it certainly helps. Is this Healer Girl‘s argument, that art can heal the world, if not by itself, at least in a supporting role? It’s a strong reading, and I do think that’s at least partly what the series is going for. img880(https://i.imgur.com/ggOS3MU.jpg) Consider also the show’s actual music. A lot of people—including myself—initially assumed Healer Girl was going to be an idol series, and it is true that there is an associated idol unit, the Healer Girls themselves. But, if we consider it a part of this idol anime lineage, it’s a highly unconventional one, at least for 2022. In style, the Healer Girls are a lot closer to forgotten ’90s American soft-pop sensation Wilson-Phillips than anything presented in, say, its seasonal contemporary Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. More to the point is the presentation; the titular healer girls don’t really dance, and their songs are not performances. They’re tools. And learning how to use those tools forms the show’s other main theme; the passing of knowledge and love from one generation to the next. Much is made of the girls’ relationship with their mentor Ria, a well-developed character in her own right. Reimi has a cute, one-sided crush on her, and much is made of her incredible skills. (Which we finally get to see in action in episode 9.) Over the course of the series, Ria guides the girls through simply being her pupils toward being healers in their own right. In the show’s finale, it implies via paralleling that Kana may herself one day take students of her own. It’s rare to see teaching and imparting wisdom treated as something beautiful and graceful, but that just makes appreciating it when a show can properly pull it off all the more important. img880(https://i.imgur.com/mpUqzQ2.jpeg) And look, all this writing about what the show means, and I’ve barely told you anything about why you might want to watch it! The simple truth is that, like most of Studio 3Hz‘s productions, the show is just damn good-looking. It’s beautiful, colorful, wonderfully vibrant, almost a living thing itself, in a way that is truly rare and all too easy to take for granted. That vibrancy makes Healer Girl something to be treasured. Naturally, it translates to the soundtrack as well; Healer Girl is at most half a musical, but enough of the show is sung—including incidental dialogue, in some episodes—that if you enjoy that medium, you’ll like Healer Girl as well. And on top of that, it’s simply fun to watch. Rarely are anime fans starving for some classic slice-of-life antics, but Healer Girl‘s are a particularly well done set thereof. The show is very funny when it sets its mind to it, and not working in that mode 100% of the time only renders it more amusing when it does. img880(https://i.imgur.com/A5hOuQG.jpg) There’s even a pastiche of an old, old slice of life trope, the obligate “high school rock band” episode—episode 7, here—that’s been sorely lacking from most modern anime for a whole generation at this point. I have to admit, seeing one in this day and age made me nostalgic, so I suppose that’s another emotion that Healer Girl can effortlessly tap into. Because of this kaleidoscopic emotional approach, Healer Girl‘s characters feel truly alive as well, even comparatively minor ones like the girls from the rival healing clinic (of course there’s a rival healing clinic), Sonia (Chihaya Yoshitake) and Shinobu (Miyu Takagi). And, of course, we should discuss Healer Girl‘s visual ace in the hole. The girls don’t merely sing; the world changes around them as they do, a literalized, visualized version of the consensus fantasy-reality created by the most powerful music here in the real world. But in Healer Girl‘s universe, it can change the world in a truly direct and immediate way, and these bubbles of magic are called image songs. Episode 9 is the best showcase of them, where we see Ria greatly aid a surgery with hers; she influences literal events by manipulating abstract visual material within the image song. In doing so, she herself is a metaphor for the real impact of art in our own world. It’s a curious, but justified little thematic mobius strip, something that impressively never feels pretentious or self-impressed. Healer Girl knows what it’s doing, maybe that’s why there isn’t a weak episode in the whole thing. img880(https://i.imgur.com/GXEknCy.jpg) The only real tragedy about Healer Girl is that its strongest moments are those where it instills pure awe in the audience. And that, unfortunately, is not something I’m truly able to replicate in text format. You will just have to take my word for it, that my jaw dropped more than once throughout the show, that I teared up a few times, and that several episodes—particularly episode 5 and the latter half of the finale—left me frustrated, although in a strangely positive way, over my inability to fully convey their emotional impact in mere words. You will just have to see it for yourself, and if you haven’t, I again strongly recommend that you do. If there’s justice in the world, Healer Girl will be a watershed moment. But even if it inspires nothing, even if this artistic lineage ends here, I find it impossible to imagine that it will ever lose its potency as a work unto itself or, indeed, as a healing tool. There is often a desire—spoken or not—in seasonal anime watching culture for something to get “another season.” Healer Girl, however, was clearly crafted with just these twelve episodes in mind. That renders the show small, certainly, but it does not rob it of its power. In a way Healer Girl is like the over-the-counter medical records mentioned in the first episode. It will soothe your sickness if you let it; simply rewind the tape and play it all back again. One more time; if you feel it, it’ll heal you. img880(https://i.imgur.com/uApkaou.jpg)

------ ~~~***Notes & Disclaimers*** *Usage of Anilist's review feature does not constitute endorsement for Anilist as a platform, the Anilist community or any individual member thereof, or any of Anilist's policies or rules.* *All views expressed are solely my own opinions and conclusions and should not be taken to reflect the opinions of any other persons, groups, or organizations. All text is owned by me. Do not duplicate without permission. All images are owned by their original copyright holders.* *This review has been reformatted and re-edited to comply with Anilist's site guidelines.*~~~

Treepy

>Kindhearted, powerful songs heal the world. These are beautiful miracles sung by humanity.

Shows with "Heal" in their titles don't really have a very good track record, so I was reluctant to give this a shot at first, but seeing its main focus on Music and being made by Studio 3Hz, I decided to give it a try. And from the very first episode, it definitely felt that this show had the potential to become something special.

The concept of Healer Girl is fairly straight forward - it's a show about girls that heal, through the power of music. My first thought was that this show would be done in some sort of fantasy setting, so it was a nice surprise seeing that these elements were actually incorporated into a modern, normal life setting. Though simple, finding an original and unique concept used in a music anime was a nice change of tune.

At its core, this is a slice-of-life about cute girls striving to chase their dreams, with each of them having their own motivations for choosing the path of becoming a healer. The three main characters have good chemistry with their own unique personalities and quirks complimenting each other. The rival and supporting cast have also been fairly fleshed-out, albeit less than the main trio.

For the main focus of the show – the music. Combined with the voice acting, they have all been done phenomenally. The seiyuus present a very convincing performance on both spoken dialogues, and song segments especially (also worth noting that the main 4 are the ones that sung both the OP and ED), they are all definitely very talented both as singers and voice actresses. From the incorporation of singing in fun casual conversations à la musical theatre, to the more serious choir-like healing sequences, it definitely feels that you – as the viewer, are also being soothed by their melodies as they sing. Without a doubt, it is the strongest aspect of this anime.

The art and animation are fairly well-done, especially during movement or dancing sequences which flow naturally. Backgrounds are nothing too special, but it gets the job done and even has the opportunity to shine in certain scenes such as the healing sequences. As for the main character designs, I quite like their color schemes, it fits the characters’ personalities well.

If there was something I felt that the show was lacking though, it would be the lore and worldbuilding. I think it would've been nice to see a full explanation of the concepts of healing through music, such as explaining how certain songs get healing properties, or rules and limitations needed to make them work. This would've made for a more immersive experience, but has only been teased in little snippets of dialogue. Aside from that, my biggest peeve with this show was the episode where they switch the opening and ending song without changing the animation, then showing them play instruments through big ass animal costumes. But despite its flaws, I think the story still wrapped up and concluded nicely.

Overall, the comedic, serious, and musical moments of Healer Girl all work together to offer an enjoyable experience, and watching it feels much like drinking a nice blend of coffee that fills the cup of a slow Monday morning. If you’re looking for a light-hearted, comfy, feel-good show, and are a fan of cute girls doing cute things, definitely do give this one a shot.

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~~~img620(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/926086695009525820/988630088230780988/1112.jpg?width=1106&height=669)~~~

ZNote

__SPOILER-FREE!__ In 2007, famed British neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks published a book through Knopf called __Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.__ In that book, Dr. Sacks tried to establish the connection between the human brain and music, examining several case studies in which music has a perceptible physical or physiological effect on people and, more specifically, medical patients. The book itself is a fascinating glimpse at trying to figure out the interplay between music and neurology, and argues in various ways that music is a legitimate form of healing and therapy, and is worth further study. It does not call for replacing modern medicine or other therapeutic techniques, but rather says that music can be a quintessential ingredient in the comfort and healing process, especially for those whose minds are ill or troubled in some fashion. But even so, we don’t necessarily need to be mentally troubled to witness or experience music’s gravity. We sing lullabies for children because we know that on some physiological level, it comforts them and helps them fall asleep. We attend karaoke nights at bars with friends or play music in groups because they contribute to a communal something that allows us to experience a soothing happiness we can’t attain by ourselves alone at that moment. Music’s force seems to operate on a level so inherently tuned to the human experience that its possibilities are endless. So then, why do we sometimes tend to resist musical entertainment? When I teach my class on music and media, the musical as a genre always seems to be the one week of the semester that students dread the most. When I press about why this is, they insist that they find it so hammy, so ridiculous, and so over-the-top that it defies all sense of entertainment value. The idea that people can just burst into song or break out into dance numbers that hijack the story for a few minutes? What’s supposed to be entertaining about that? On the other hand, the students I’ve taught who adore musicals insist that it’s precisely because of those things being possible that musicals, and musical entertainment, is fun to experience. Given, there are plenty of more dramatically inclined musicals where tragedy and high melodrama are at the forefront. But nevertheless, the idea that music takes over and either helps the story along, or puts it briefly on hold, allows a moment of repose, or simple comforting happiness. To put it another way, musicals allow for moments for healing. __________ webm(https://v.animethemes.moe/HealerGirl-OP1-NCBD1080.webm) It’s within that realm of comforting, happy, healing possibility that _Healer Girl_ resides. Released in Spring 2022 by Studio 3Hz and directed by [Irie Yasuhiro](https://anilist.co/staff/101232/Yasuhiro-Irie) (because after you’ve made _Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood,_ you can pretty much do whatever you want), the show’s existence almost seems like a miracle. Its production was actually finished before the first episode started airing, which is too much of a rarity in the anime industry, yet its concept on the surface can sound like a bit of a hard sell – a 12-episode series with the occasional happy musical number that is meant to make its characters feel better in the medical sense? Its easy to take a cynical stance on a show selling itself on a premise like this. It just sounds so…happy. Despite its positioning of music as healing, the show is not focused on trying to make the case for music in our lives or in our health. Since we recognize inherently that that’s already true, it doesn’t waste time arguing that. Instead, _Healer Girl_ wastes no time in announcing the tone of its content, as the spirited, cotton-candy-hair-looking Kana uses her lovely sound to help heal a boy’s injury. As she rushes over to her two friends and fellow healer girl trainees Reimi and Hibiki, we already are given all the information we need to know – vocal healing has a hierarchy of certifications involved with exams, and that it’s both beautiful to witness and not an easy thing to do. As such, the ability to sing one’s problems away is not just something that the everyday layperson can do, but it can in fact be honed and trained into a learned art and actual, practical medical usage that Dr. Sacks would surely smile at. Since performing music is such a given in _Healer Girl’s_ world, it leads by example. What better way to advocate for your own show’s power of comforting presence than to have all of its performances and performers be full of a comforting presence? The three main characters, Kana, Hibiki, and Reimi, are starry-eyed for their sensei and their own dreams for becoming certified healers. The rivalry they have with each other is playful rather than antagonistic, with their friendship and respect overriding any potential negativity that exists. They’re all such pleasant people on the screen, it gives the impression that essentially anything that they choose to do will involve pleasant times as well. Situations almost-completely divorced from music still manage to declare that the exuding warmth is never far away. Even Sonia, a C-ranked healer who declares herself the rival to the main characters’ sensei, is herself not an antagonistic presence, becoming a fixture of the cast so quickly. It’s the lack of an antagonist that makes _Healer Girl_ such an intriguing little series, even for cute girls doing cute things or an iyashikei – because of music’s abstract quality to fill space emotionally, the show allows its art direction to adopt, or insinuate, similar abstract spaces. [Senou Sou’s](https://anilist.co/staff/165269/Sou-Senou) hand fuses music unfurling its melodies to parallel the girls unfurling their own evocative imagery – whether it be green valleys and grasses to soothe the soul or [Murakami Yuusaku’s](https://anilist.co/staff/146125/Yuusaku-Murakami) compositing helping to wash away the dark and dreary fears and apprehensions of the patients or audience, _Healer Girl_ strives to accomplish nothing less than to have oneself feel cleansed. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/c007512ded46fc6aee36587bbb84f88b.mp4) However, it’s also true that music’s use in this universe is not just for healing the medically-afflicted, but is also a means of coping, and the show is careful to make the few times when the happiness gets put on hold matter a great deal. _Healer Girl_ remembers that, while the main characters involved are all healers and tasked with making their patients feel better, they themselves are also the ones who sometimes must undergo their own healing or rely on music to convey and communicate what it is that they need. Moments like this manifest not only during times where the actual musical healing occurs, but even in their day to day. This allows the show to hold the mirror up to itself and diagnose its own inner structure to determine when songs are needed to heal whatever needs healing to achieve that happy feeling again. And part of that happiness also comes from the fact that the series is quite self-aware about its own conventions and dramaturgy. Series composition writer [Kimura Noboru](https://anilist.co/staff/97415/Noboru-Kimura) seems to have an affinity for musical entertainment and is not afraid to point out the fact that, well, musicals can sometimes be incredibly silly. Whether it be Reimi gushing over virtually anything that the Karasuma-sensei does to the point where it’s a bit much, or the characters asking why the hell they’re even singing in the first place when it doesn’t quite behoove them, or whether the girls just burst into song when it’s flat-out unnecessary, it makes for a quirky time. In holding the mirror up to both its own characters and its own genre convention, it manages to succeed comedically for the purposes of jokes and as a metanarrative. webm(https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/73007e362b74f7fc96777e11195cf4a7.mp4) As an iyashikei series, the sense of drama is limited and therefore does not quite lead to what we would readily-identify as “character arcs” in the most-dire sense. The show is sometimes static when it comes to building to a series of defined, clear end goals. Yet, I feel that the material doing so better complements the tone overall. Music, and musical entertainment by extension, need not necessarily be grandiose or ambitious to be comforting; it doesn’t need to be profound to be precisely what one needs to heal. Music can sometimes be purely that – just music, nothing more, nothing less. And more or less, that is precisely what the show aims to be – simply…itself. There are no seedy, dark thematic underpinnings waiting to be unearthed, no hidden macabre twists even when characters are in the operating room seeing bodies be worked on, and no cynical snide remarks secretly critiquing the audience. The show dares to simply ask, “We’re here to make your day a little brighter, so will you join us for 23 minutes at a time? And do you mind if we sing some songs while we’re at it?” It’s a surprisingly honest series in that respect; drama is always in vogue, but the ability to just stop and put worries on hold for even a little while can do wonders for one’s spirit. In that sense, we are all patients waiting for our dose of the music’s spoonful of musical sugar. _________ _Healer Girl_ is, more than anything, a commitment to good, pleasant feeling and uses music as the primary device for communicating that sensation. At once acutely aware of its wholesome message while also not being afraid to poke fun at its own ridiculousness, it manages to situate itself in anime’s optimistic, twinkling space. It freely incorporates the abstract and the colorful, and the sound mixing and performances by the actresses exudes a warmth that lingers. It may not argue with the same sort of rhetoric that Dr. Oliver Sacks would use in his __Musicophilia,__ but _Healer Girl_ understands that music’s power is quite real. Its message is at its most resonant when the characters draw in their breath and sing. And the message is, indeed, resonant – music, and musical entertainment as a whole, is a very good, comforting, necessary thing.

Zailyz

~~~**Review on Healer Girl** (Note: I’m not a pro this is literally only the second time I’m doing this) ~~~ One of the animes I strongly believe is underrated this anime season. I’d say not as underrated as “Let’s make a Mug too!” but I don’t see Healer Girl talked about as often as it too. The art, story, voice acting, animation and music is all good. Here’s the synopsis: > An established discipline on par with conventional medical approaches, "vocal medicine" is the practice of using songs to treat health conditions and injuries. Young people around the world strive to master the art and become "healers" to help people through the power of their voices. > Among the many healers in training is Kana Fujii, a naturally talented singer who was inspired to pursue the profession after a life-changing experience. Along with the driven Reimi Itsushiro and the easygoing Hibiki Morishima, Kana trains at Karasuma Phoniatric Clinic under the stern yet kind mentorship of Ria Karasuma. As they endeavor to achieve their dreams, Kana and her friends meet various colorful healers along the way, discovering that there is much more to vocal medicine than just diligent studying! The anime focuses on healing by singing, something that I’ve never seen before. Now I can say that I want to see another anime focusing on something similar. ~~~**__Characters__**~~~ I personally liked all the characters, including the supporting ones. Everyone did their role, mains being mains and supporting charas being the supporting charas. Idk when it comes to uniqueness as I can’t recall every anime chara I know, but even so they don’t remind me of anyone so I guess they’re kinda unique for me. ~~~img220(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/988228448419991603/1002232414929694880/IMG_4117.jpg)~~~ ~~~**__Character Development & Story__**~~~ I’m not really the person to notice these sorts of things, but I can say that the characters really all changed by the end of the 12 episode series. They gained more confidence when singing and more control under pressure. They improved in a lot of areas imo. That definitely includes their control when singing. ~~~img220(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/988228448419991603/1002232611650932797/image0.jpg)~~~ ~~~**__About the OST, or the songs__**~~~ The songs we’re without a doubt amazing. Perfectly fits the theme of this series, by being songs that people feel healed by listening to. The OP and ED are definitely poggers too imo. I definitely liked them. Just thought that needed to be talked about first, as I felt like the songs we’re really important when it came to this series. As Healer Girl focuses on singing songs that can heal people. So the songs need to be real good, which the song writers really were able to do, big props to them. ~~~img220(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/988228448419991603/1002232818073604116/image0.jpg)~~~ ~~~**__Art, Animation & Backgrounds__**~~~ All of these more or less fall in the same area for me. The art style was definitely great, I like the smooth feeling of it. The colors we’re great too, really showed that this story is happy, and when it turns around the colors chosen also really showed the feeling of that scene. Animation was not as great as the big animes, like Demon Slayer, AoT, etc. But for what it is I’m very satisfied, felt smooth and not like meh, it was pretty good imo. For backgrounds, not really a big part of my review, but I could tell that work definitely went into it, so props to the backgrounds artists. Idk how to even draw a tree. ~~~img220(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/988228448419991603/1002233148760932392/image0.jpg)~~~ ~~~**__TL;DR__**~~~ Healer Girl is a 12 episode anime that focuses on healing by singing. Underrated, I don’t see much people talk about it, which is sad imo. Story good, character development good, art and animation good. Big props to the song writers for the music, I thought it was fantastic. Tbh songs do kinda soothe people, and some can even affect how one can feel. The healing part is definitely true and it was shown in this series. A definite recommendation from me, but take note that I’m literally pleased with anything. I watched a lot of anime this season and approved of all of them after the first eps. So I’m sorry if you thought that I was praising this series too much. Not feeling like putting this one in my favorites, but it’s definitely very good. I suggest ya’ll give it a watch. ~~~img220(https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/988228448419991603/1002233422397308928/image0.jpg)~~~ If ya read all the way here, appreciate it. :D

Juliko25

One thing I really love about anime is that in Japan, pretty much anything goes. People could make anime and manga for pretty much anything, from simple, slice-of-life stories with little to no conflict, or they can go balls to the wall wild and come up with the absolute craziest premises you can think of, and Japan would have no problem putting them on TV. I mean, where else can you find an anime about a general from imperial China being reincarnated into modern day Japan and helping a girl pursue a music career? Or a show about a bunch of buff dudes using sentient monsters named after famous songs and bands to fight each other across generations and family trees? Or about a guy who fights crime while his head is literally a chainsaw? Or a show about a spy, an assassin, and a mind-reading child becoming a fake family in order to fulfill a mission sanctioned by their government? So the fact that Japan just recently made a cute anime about high school girls using singing acapella as a means to heal peoples' injuries and have it be treated as a valid medical pursuit, along with basically making it a musical at points, should be just as fun and interesting, right? Ehh..._Healer Girl_ is fine for what it is, but it stumbles a lot in terms of how it handles its premise and many other things. Me saying that _Healer Girl_ is about high school girls singing as a means of healing people medically is not an exaggeration. Basically, three young women—Kana, Reimi, and Hibiki—work at a medical clinic in a small town as apprentice healers alongside their famous mentor Ria. In this world, singing and music can be used as medicine and has been officially recognized as a valid medical pursuit. Kana in particular is eager to become a healer after having been saved by one as a child, and is determined to follow in their footsteps. But so far, she and her friends are trainees and still have a lot to learn before they can earn their licenses. They also have to deal with a rival healer from another clinic, Sonia, who is determined to beat Ria at her own game, and their own personal flaws if they want to grow as healers. So...yeah. _Healer Girl_ is basically an anime musical in the vein of _Sing a Bit of Harmony_, complete with characters bursting into song at completely random times, even when it's not needed. I mean, when your whole premise involves having magic healers work side by side with surgeons, pharmacists, and traditional medical doctors, and leaning very heavily into the musical themes, it's kind of inevitable. Now, the premise by itself is actually pretty interesting, and _Healer Girl_ does manage to do things with it, from showing the main trio actually learning the ins and outs of healing with song, having them actually partake in singing while an actual surgery is going on, the limits of what they can do at their current level, and so on. Plus, Healer Girl also manages to smartly avoid going the pseudoscience route in the vein of "You can cure cancer by singing!" by empathizing that healing with song isn't without its drawbacks, and that even in the show's universe, advances in medicine still can't cure everything. On that note, I can definitely respect _Healer Girl_ for going all in on its premise and having a more nuanced, holistic approach to health care. The colorful, smooth animation also helps with this, making for some great visuals and imagery...though, whose bright idea was it to have the main girls have two-colored hair? It just looks weird! Of course, that doesn't always mean _Healer Girl_ sticks the landing, and if you couldn't tell by the rating, there's lots of areas where the show really stumbles. For one, _Healer Girl_ as a show is extremely cheesy, treacly, and saccharine. The whole show is a bright, candy colored piece of fluff where any and all conflicts are resolved pretty easily, leaving it without much in the way of tension, and any resolutions it does offer are pretty anticlimactic. The middle section especially suffers, with the sports and cultural festival episodes being the most egregious offenders, what with having the characters sing-talk for 80% of the former, and somehow being able to flawlessly play instruments while wearing full body animal costumes in the latter. Both were completely ridiculous and really dumb. There are also times when _Healer Girl_ seems to have very little regard for following its own rules. In one episode, when the main trio sing to soothe a surgeon's nerves, which has all the complexity of your typical Disney fairy tale wave a magic wand and get your happily ever after, they sing in a closed room, but in another episode, the girls sing WHILE in the operating room, not wearing any masks or scrubs or anything of the like, just three feet away from the surgeons and the operating table. Uh, hello?! Did the staff behind this show just forget that hospitals have strict hygiene rules, especially when surgeries are being conducted?! Say what you will about _Gray's Anatomy_, at least that show didn't feel the need to have surgeons and nurses not wear scrubs and masks while in the operating room! I'm pretty sure anyone who doesn't wear masks or scrubs while in the operating room would get fired for putting a patient's life at risk for infections if they did that. Basically, at times _Healer Girl_ goes all in on its premise, but also makes serious missteps and undermines itself at times to the point where your suspension of disbelief is broken and you can't take the story seriously anymore. The characters by themselves are perfectly fine. Nothing groundbreaking, since they start off as pretty blatant archetypes at first, and their character development is pretty predictable as well. Most of the side characters don't really do much, with Shinobu being the biggest victim of this, though I do appreciate that the anime put in the effort to give Sonia more depth to her over making her another typical alpha bitch stereotype. If there is one thing that the show does manage to nail, its the chemistry between the main trio. By themselves, Kana, Reimi, and Hibiki are pretty stock standard, but their interactions and banter do feel genuine and organic, and they actually feel like a close-knit group of gal pals who do everything together and truly cherish each other...though Reimi's whole exaggerated, obsessive, crush-like worship of Ria is pretty creepy and annoying. Plus, the show also gets some points for having plenty of adult women as respected leaders in the medical field. But as it stands, the characters have about as much depth as the cast in every _Love Live_ series ever, which is to say...not much. Plus, for a series that banks itself on its music, the actual songs are pretty...dull. I mean, I liked most of them, but many of the songs are the exact same boring acapella ballads but with different lyrics, with very little in the way of variety. On one hand, I could understand not wanting to have the healers sing or play heavy metal music during an operation on a patient, as that'd probably ruin a surgeon's concentration to the point that they'd put their patients' lives at risk, but nowhere does the series make any mention of this in-universe. Every single song is just plain generic, well sung as they are, and feel copy-pasted from other ones that came before it. It says a lot that the actual background music feels more inspired than the actual songs. Then again, I do listen to the opening theme song a lot, so I'm a complete hypocrite, and other shows have done far worse than _Healer Girl_ has, so I don't want to be too hard on the show. Basically, _Healer Girl_ is sweet, saccharine, treacly, nice and fluff. Nothing groundbreaking, but nothing really bad either. It stumbles a lot, but it does have its heart in the right place. _Healer Girl_ as an anime is perfectly wholesome, though doesn't have much to offer than that, but it could be a great anime you can use to get your preteen relatives into anime for the first time. The show feels like it was made specifically for girls, so it'd be a nice gateway anime for your daughter, kid sister, niece, or what have you. It may be a little too overly sweet and sugary for me, but _Healer Girl_ is better than most if you're into anime about cute girls singing wholesome ballads and want a nice musical to bop your head to.