I happened to catch a clip of this show in my recommended videos on YouTube, and it looked like a good show to check out. Jack-Of-All-Trades, Party of None stars Orun Dula. Orun was an enchanter in the hero’s party before being banished for “being too weak.” He returns to being a swordsman, as he was an enchanter, only to fully balance the hero party dynamic. Of course, with all banished from the hero’s party, we see how Orun is actually rather powerful and is scooped up by another party that appreciates his skills.
As far as the story is concerned, it’s pretty typical of the banished from the hero party theme. It starts off explaining why Orun is banished and then slowly builds up why he’s actually the most valuable member of the party. While it follows the predictable formula that we are so used to seeing, it does this rather well. It takes its time to set up not only Orun’s skills, but also how the hero’s party failed to see them.
It also sets up the various characters, as most of them are far from one-note. The first six episodes are devoted to really showing the viewers what Orun can do while showing the hero’s party the consequences of their actions. The last half of the season does more for world-building. We see what appears to be all of the major characters that are scheming for various unknown end goals. We also get to see that Orun’s past may be more complicated than we thought. Naturally, we get nowhere near enough context to understand everyone’s motives, but we get enough to make a solid hook for the story to come.
What makes this show stand apart from other shows like it is how they handle the characters. We see that Orun is really powerful because he is observant of his own skills and the skills of those around him. So he knows how to boost strengths while covering weaknesses. We also see how he overcame his own weaknesses as an enchanter by creating his own spells, which also helps provide an actual explanation for why the hero’s party failed to notice his skills. Speaking of which, the hero’s party is handled better than most here too. In most cases, the hero’s party is very one-note and consistently fails to see the obvious after the main character is out of the picture. In this case, the party is actively questioning the struggle and reluctantly considers the lack of Orun’s help being a part of the problem. They actually can see the facts in front of them and process them, rather than constantly avoiding them like we’re used to.
The way the story progresses to show off Orun’s talent is done really well too. After being banished, he is asked to take a mentoring role for young adventurers. As he does so, he teaches the basics of dungeon crawling, combat, and how to best support other party members. We slowly see his incredible wit, tactical mind, and great observation skills in play. Then we get to see him in action in a way that makes him show off the upper echelon of his skills, and it is a spectacular fight. The big fight of this season is actually halfway in which was shocking. It’s a great fight, and it made me wonder where they are going from there, but as the second half sets up more story to come, the fights have more emotional impact. So there’s a shift from Orun having something to prove to him and the characters around him having an emotional stake in the fight. It’s a shift that is handled very well.
Overall, this is a show that follows the traditional setup for the banished from the hero party type story. With that being said, its execution is really good. The characters, even the horrible members of the hero’s party, are far more developed than what I’m used to. The fights are great, the story progression is ideal, and it has a nice hook for season two that has me invested.