WEBVTT 00:00:04.589 --> 00:00:07.710 You're listening to the After Hours Arc, your 00:00:07.710 --> 00:00:12.210 new anime podcast. My name is Anti, and I'll 00:00:12.210 --> 00:00:16.929 be your host. Join me as I review, recap, and 00:00:16.929 --> 00:00:20.949 relive anime, one arc at a time. And as always, 00:00:21.230 --> 00:00:23.870 these are all from a manga -free point of view. 00:00:24.949 --> 00:00:29.730 Tonight, we are talking about an anime that really 00:00:29.730 --> 00:00:33.450 flips the script. Because in Jack of all trades, 00:00:33.750 --> 00:00:37.689 party of none, being good at everything might 00:00:37.689 --> 00:00:43.130 actually be your weakness. Off the rip, this 00:00:43.130 --> 00:00:46.770 one surprised me a little. Like I had expectations, 00:00:46.850 --> 00:00:51.130 but it didn't quite play out how I thought it 00:00:51.130 --> 00:00:54.130 would. And I'm not going to lie, this one did 00:00:54.130 --> 00:00:57.869 get me excited. I know I brought it up in the 00:00:57.869 --> 00:01:02.689 pilot episode, but I am biased. I am a nerd and 00:01:02.689 --> 00:01:08.650 grew up playing this text -based MMORPG. And 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:12.709 my main character was an enchanter. Just like 00:01:12.709 --> 00:01:17.370 the main character of this anime. This is literally 00:01:17.370 --> 00:01:21.890 my lane. So I knew I was going to be biased going 00:01:21.890 --> 00:01:26.870 into it. Like I really wanted this to be good. 00:01:27.950 --> 00:01:31.950 I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I'm 00:01:31.950 --> 00:01:35.930 thinking, all right, this is going to turn into 00:01:35.930 --> 00:01:39.549 another overpowered main character situation, 00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:43.890 which that is sort of true. And I really enjoy 00:01:43.890 --> 00:01:47.010 those usually, but that's not really what this 00:01:47.010 --> 00:01:52.010 is. As much as it looks like that at first, once 00:01:52.010 --> 00:01:55.069 it settles, it is doing something a little bit 00:01:55.069 --> 00:01:59.049 different. On the surface, it is set up like 00:01:59.049 --> 00:02:04.150 your typical fantasy trope. Party dynamics, skill 00:02:04.150 --> 00:02:08.990 systems, all of it. This show isn't about becoming 00:02:08.990 --> 00:02:12.849 the strongest. It is about what happens when 00:02:12.849 --> 00:02:16.849 you don't fit in the system to begin with. And 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:20.990 the way that the show handles the main character. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:25.419 is a lot more interesting than I expected it 00:02:25.419 --> 00:02:29.000 to be. So tonight, I'm going to go through all 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.500 the things that worked for me, what didn't, where 00:02:32.500 --> 00:02:36.840 I was surprised, and where I was a little lost. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:42.300 Because at its core, this is a story about how 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:46.080 being good enough at everything is overlooked 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:51.419 in a world that is obsessed with extremes. And 00:02:51.419 --> 00:02:55.479 honestly, that idea is what really carries this 00:02:55.479 --> 00:03:00.780 entire show. Before we get into the story, let's 00:03:00.780 --> 00:03:03.800 set the scene. Jack of All Trades takes place 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:09.400 in a fantasy world setting. We have guilds, adventurers, 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.819 dungeons, all the usual shit. But the important 00:03:13.819 --> 00:03:20.069 part is how everything is structured. revolves 00:03:20.069 --> 00:03:24.610 around roles tanks frontliners we have mages 00:03:24.610 --> 00:03:28.310 support characters like healers and enchanters 00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:32.990 everybody has their own lane and the better you 00:03:32.990 --> 00:03:37.669 are in that lane the more valuable you are which 00:03:37.669 --> 00:03:42.830 i love how they set up the dynamics of the party 00:03:42.830 --> 00:03:46.409 from my gaming experience it was really nice 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:50.740 To see a party have to use strategy and have 00:03:50.740 --> 00:03:55.060 everybody in their respected roles. Because if 00:03:55.060 --> 00:03:58.219 you have played anything like this, you know 00:03:58.219 --> 00:04:03.419 how important roles are. The only issue I really 00:04:03.419 --> 00:04:08.039 had was they ended up making the enchanters basically 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:11.159 the party leaders. You know, they're calling 00:04:11.159 --> 00:04:16.480 out commands and all that. That was not my experience 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:21.500 as a support character. So it did kind of lose 00:04:21.500 --> 00:04:24.699 me a little bit there. Everything else was perfect 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:29.379 though. Having to time your buffs using magic 00:04:29.379 --> 00:04:33.199 to protect yourself. My enchanter was an absolute 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:38.360 beast. I killed way more players on that support 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:43.170 character than with my highest DPS. Getting back 00:04:43.170 --> 00:04:46.089 to the show though, that brings us to Oran, who 00:04:46.089 --> 00:04:51.529 does not fit in just one class or role. And the 00:04:51.529 --> 00:04:54.269 system kind of fails him, because players like 00:04:54.269 --> 00:04:58.350 that are extremely useful, but people don't recognize 00:04:58.350 --> 00:05:02.589 the value in that. See, Oran is not bad at anything. 00:05:02.850 --> 00:05:06.029 He is actually pretty solid across the board, 00:05:06.230 --> 00:05:09.829 but he is also not the best at anything either. 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.100 Even though that should look broken on paper, 00:05:14.379 --> 00:05:17.899 the other people around him do not see it that 00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:21.860 way. This is the main reason that he'll end up 00:05:21.860 --> 00:05:25.139 getting the boot from the hero's party. In a 00:05:25.139 --> 00:05:29.180 system like this, that makes you easily overlooked. 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:33.360 This is where the story really separates itself. 00:05:33.819 --> 00:05:37.860 Because instead of immediately proving everybody 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:42.589 wrong, The show leans into this idea that being 00:05:42.589 --> 00:05:47.569 well -rounded doesn't give you more value or 00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:51.170 any real value. The system doesn't really know 00:05:51.170 --> 00:05:54.029 what to do with him. From there, it becomes less 00:05:54.029 --> 00:05:57.850 about survival and more about finding the place 00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:01.889 you really belong. So we started with Auron already 00:06:01.889 --> 00:06:05.250 in the hero's party, which I actually loved that. 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:08.759 Because we're not watching him grind from nothing. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:12.920 He is already in the position. This matters because 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:16.399 he is not trying to break in. He has history. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:21.139 Him and Oliver, who is the, like, hero. They 00:06:21.139 --> 00:06:23.879 grew up together and formed this party together. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:28.199 So there is supposed to be trust. But the more 00:06:28.199 --> 00:06:31.720 you watch, something just feels off. Everyone 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:36.300 is clearly defined. You know what they do. You 00:06:36.300 --> 00:06:40.959 know why they matter. Auron, he is just filling 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:45.259 the gaps. He is supporting, adjusting constantly. 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:50.319 And because of that, nothing he really did stood 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:54.560 out. And that became the problem. Because the 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:59.660 party doesn't necessarily hate him. They just 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:03.959 do not value him. which is basically way worse 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:07.459 eventually that turns into you're holding us 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:11.980 back you gotta go and with oliver and him growing 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:17.680 up together i had such a hard time with him being 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.120 able to just say goodbye to his friend but that 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:25.379 really solidified the whole idea of these class 00:07:25.379 --> 00:07:30.850 systems and how important it is And the moment 00:07:30.850 --> 00:07:34.509 was very calm because it wasn't as emotional 00:07:34.509 --> 00:07:37.990 as you would think. It was very logical. But 00:07:37.990 --> 00:07:40.529 once he's out, that is where things actually 00:07:40.529 --> 00:07:43.990 start to change. And this is where I felt the 00:07:43.990 --> 00:07:47.050 show actually got better. Like this is where 00:07:47.050 --> 00:07:50.410 it started clicking for me. The first thing is 00:07:50.410 --> 00:07:54.269 how he operates just on his own. Instead of staying 00:07:54.269 --> 00:07:57.810 locked into a support role, he starts combining 00:07:57.810 --> 00:08:00.930 what he already had. which was swordsmanship. 00:08:01.509 --> 00:08:06.310 And that's important because originally he only 00:08:06.310 --> 00:08:09.910 chose to be an enchanter to fill the gap in their 00:08:09.910 --> 00:08:12.829 party. It wasn't because that was all he could 00:08:12.829 --> 00:08:16.990 do, which is so impressive because, and I said 00:08:16.990 --> 00:08:19.709 this in the pilot, but if you've played games 00:08:19.709 --> 00:08:23.110 and you're playing as a class, usually you have 00:08:23.110 --> 00:08:27.189 to delete to change your class. You can't just 00:08:27.189 --> 00:08:30.360 switch it up. So this to me was really amazing 00:08:30.360 --> 00:08:35.159 to kind of look at. Once he's alone though, you 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:39.500 start seeing both sides of the skill set. It 00:08:39.500 --> 00:08:43.100 just gives him this typical overpowered, aura 00:08:43.100 --> 00:08:47.659 farming, main character energy, which I love 00:08:47.659 --> 00:08:51.700 so much. It does not get old for me. I'm not 00:08:51.700 --> 00:08:54.320 gonna lie, that is one of my biggest weaknesses. 00:08:55.629 --> 00:08:59.409 He gets involved with the Night Sky Silver Rabbits. 00:08:59.409 --> 00:09:04.789 Which is this high level adventuring clan. And 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:08.669 the first key character we get is Selma. She 00:09:08.669 --> 00:09:12.350 is known as one of the strongest enchanters. 00:09:12.850 --> 00:09:17.889 Basically the top tier version of Auron. Or at 00:09:17.889 --> 00:09:21.610 least the role he used to play. And instead of 00:09:21.610 --> 00:09:26.110 judging him off of reputation. She is surprised 00:09:26.110 --> 00:09:28.470 that he was even kicked out in the first place. 00:09:28.889 --> 00:09:33.049 This tells you something really important. That 00:09:33.049 --> 00:09:36.690 people who actually understand that role, they 00:09:36.690 --> 00:09:40.590 do not see him as weak. We also get Sophia, who 00:09:40.590 --> 00:09:43.330 is Selma's younger sister and a rookie adventurer. 00:09:43.529 --> 00:09:46.190 Her introduction is important because Auron literally 00:09:46.190 --> 00:09:50.409 saves her after her party abandons her. That 00:09:50.409 --> 00:09:53.820 moment is what connects them. It's not combat 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:58.799 ability, per se. And it's not reputation. From 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.779 there, she just trusts him immediately. Then 00:10:02.779 --> 00:10:06.460 there's Logan, who, he's another rookie in Sophia's 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:10.399 little party. He starts off looking down on Oran 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:12.639 because he got kicked out of the hero's party. 00:10:13.100 --> 00:10:17.139 But once this boy sees him fight and handle real 00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:21.820 situations, his tune completely changes. Oh my 00:10:21.820 --> 00:10:27.059 god. He idolized Auron so intensely moving forward. 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:31.460 It was so funny. And we also get a defender in 00:10:31.460 --> 00:10:34.120 their little group. And her name is Caroline. 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:39.460 This is where Auron actually steps up as a teacher. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:42.679 Because early on, one of the biggest problems 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:46.700 their cute little party shows comes because of 00:10:46.700 --> 00:10:49.600 her. She is supposed to be holding the front 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:53.340 line. But she's attacking with daggers and she 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:57.519 is taking too much direct damage. She is not 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:02.559 trying to avoid hits or reposition herself. And 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:06.799 that puts the entire team under pressure. Logan 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:10.960 has to react instead of lead. Sophia can't fully 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:14.080 focus on her offensive spells. And the fights 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:17.159 start to fall apart pretty quickly. This is where 00:11:17.159 --> 00:11:21.039 Auron becoming their instructor. actually changes 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:24.580 things. Because he doesn't just jump in and fix 00:11:24.580 --> 00:11:27.960 the fight. He points out what is going wrong. 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:31.519 He starts teaching them how to move properly, 00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:37.460 how to control spacing, and how each role is 00:11:37.460 --> 00:11:41.279 supposed to support each other. And once that 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:44.480 starts to click, her role becomes so much more 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:48.740 stable. She has it very dark. past that they 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:52.100 only lightly touched on. And it was towards the 00:11:52.100 --> 00:11:55.580 end of the season and it took me by surprise. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:59.539 I did not expect it to get so dark. But she's 00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:03.080 not just standing there taking hits. She is actually 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:07.019 functioning as part of the system. And I think 00:12:07.019 --> 00:12:10.039 that that is an important detail because it shows 00:12:10.039 --> 00:12:13.799 that the problem wasn't just an individual skill. 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:18.820 It was how the team was operating. And once that 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:22.240 gets corrected, everything else starts to improve 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:26.179 with it. And the show backs all of this up with 00:12:26.179 --> 00:12:29.639 what's happening on both sides. Because while 00:12:29.639 --> 00:12:34.259 Auron is adapting and proving himself, the hero 00:12:34.259 --> 00:12:37.440 party is actually starting to struggle without 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:40.720 him. A lot of the characters of that party were 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:44.269 relying so heavily on his buffs. And they had 00:12:44.269 --> 00:12:48.830 no idea the whole time. So once he's gone, their 00:12:48.830 --> 00:12:54.370 performance drops. That is the key contrast that 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:58.110 this show is building. In one group, his value 00:12:58.110 --> 00:13:01.830 is hidden because it wasn't obvious. In the other, 00:13:02.049 --> 00:13:05.909 his value shows up immediately because they're 00:13:05.909 --> 00:13:08.669 actually paying attention to what he is doing. 00:13:08.870 --> 00:13:13.190 That is really where the shift happens. It is 00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:16.350 not because Oron changed, but because the people 00:13:16.350 --> 00:13:21.269 around him did. I loved it. This already tells 00:13:21.269 --> 00:13:24.549 you something. People who understand that role 00:13:24.549 --> 00:13:30.389 do not see him as weak. It's not about Oron getting 00:13:30.389 --> 00:13:35.269 stronger. It is about how the system defines 00:13:35.269 --> 00:13:39.009 value. Be the best at one thing, and that is 00:13:39.009 --> 00:13:41.940 all that matters. And anything outside of that 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:45.259 gets overlooked. But then you get moments where 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:48.940 things fall apart. Like that dragon fight. This 00:13:48.940 --> 00:13:52.259 is the same black dragon that the heroes party 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:55.940 couldn't deal with. Even after getting a high 00:13:55.940 --> 00:13:59.960 ranked enchanter to replace Auron. Yet Auron 00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:03.360 ends up handling it all by himself. And it's 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.500 not even just that he wins. It is how he did 00:14:06.500 --> 00:14:11.039 it. He uses the spell Magical Convergence, which 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:13.779 I'm pretty sure is just tied to high level fighters. 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:18.240 I don't actually know what it is. And he's applying 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:22.200 it in his own way. He is stacking buffs on himself 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:26.000 way past what a normal enchanter should be able 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.440 to handle. And you can tell it's not something 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.519 he can just keep doing. It is putting a real 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:35.620 strain on him. So once he commits to that, he 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:39.129 is committed. to end the fight that is what makes 00:14:39.129 --> 00:14:42.090 this moment hit because this isn't some random 00:14:42.090 --> 00:14:45.850 power up out of nowhere this is everything he 00:14:45.850 --> 00:14:48.750 was already capable of just turned all the way 00:14:48.750 --> 00:14:53.870 up and after that everything changes that's when 00:14:53.870 --> 00:14:57.610 he gets labeled the dragon slayer and this is 00:14:57.610 --> 00:15:00.610 where people actually start taking him seriously 00:15:00.610 --> 00:15:05.450 and for the other characters especially sophia 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:10.159 Caroline and Logan, that moment becomes something 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:13.480 they look at. Like that is the level that they're 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.299 trying to reach. And that's the whole point. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:21.460 In a perfect system, he looks average. Yet in 00:15:21.460 --> 00:15:25.259 a real situation, he is everything you need. 00:15:25.860 --> 00:15:29.299 This is probably the moment where I was like, 00:15:29.460 --> 00:15:33.899 this works. This fight right here, this is what 00:15:33.899 --> 00:15:38.000 I was waiting to see. Because it's not that his 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:42.779 power system comes free. You can feel that there 00:15:42.779 --> 00:15:45.759 is a cost behind it. He's not just an overpowered 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:50.220 character. Now this is where the show loses me 00:15:50.220 --> 00:15:52.899 a little bit. Because there was a white haired 00:15:52.899 --> 00:15:55.659 girl at the end of the season. She shows up so 00:15:55.659 --> 00:15:59.659 late. And the show expected me to care immediately. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:03.840 There's history there. But the anime doesn't 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:07.480 build it. Like, Oran doesn't even know who she 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:12.120 is. I have no idea what's going on. The whole 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:17.259 conflict felt really random. And the final fight 00:16:17.259 --> 00:16:21.799 just didn't really do it for me. Maybe if when 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:24.460 they introduced her like they did, they did that 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:27.779 at the end, that would have been more of a cliffhanger 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:30.259 and I would have actually been interested to 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:33.019 find out more about her. But they added her just 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:37.539 way too late in the season. Being in the dark, 00:16:37.659 --> 00:16:41.779 I have no real opinion on her. The story didn't 00:16:41.779 --> 00:16:46.360 really give me anything. Other than she's apparently 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:50.139 a beast with magic. She is much stronger than 00:16:50.139 --> 00:16:53.399 Auron apparently. Which I didn't even think was 00:16:53.399 --> 00:16:56.220 going to be possible. She is just full of mystery. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.559 So I gotta be honest, that part didn't really 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:04.019 do it for me. Maybe in the next season, if we 00:17:04.019 --> 00:17:07.519 get renewed for one, she'll be important and 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:11.599 I'll care about her. But as of right now, I could 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:17.259 care less. Overall, this is a show where the 00:17:17.259 --> 00:17:22.500 idea is stronger than the execution. But the 00:17:22.500 --> 00:17:27.029 idea is strong enough to carry it, I think. It's 00:17:27.029 --> 00:17:29.730 doing something a little different, and for me, 00:17:29.730 --> 00:17:33.849 that really matters. Versatility isn't weakness. 00:17:34.069 --> 00:17:38.950 It is just harder to recognize. For me, I would 00:17:38.950 --> 00:17:45.690 give this first season probably a 6, 6 .5. If 00:17:45.690 --> 00:17:50.210 I were to give it an actual 1 to 10 rating. It's 00:17:50.210 --> 00:17:54.630 not bad, but it just wasn't fully there for me. 00:17:55.470 --> 00:17:58.829 If you made it this far, I appreciate you. Seriously. 00:17:59.650 --> 00:18:01.630 Let me know what you thought about this one, 00:18:01.809 --> 00:18:06.750 because I feel like this show divided a lot of 00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:10.990 people. But this is my take on the first season 00:18:10.990 --> 00:18:14.009 we got of Jack of All Trades, Party of None. 00:18:14.730 --> 00:18:18.789 I am working on a few more reviews, a winter 00:18:18.789 --> 00:18:22.490 2026 roundup that I plan to go over the shows 00:18:22.490 --> 00:18:26.250 I watched during this winter season. And Friday 00:18:26.250 --> 00:18:29.549 will be the last episode recapping this season 00:18:29.549 --> 00:18:33.789 of Jujutsu Kaisen. I have loved this season so 00:18:33.789 --> 00:18:37.630 much so far. I am bummed we are already coming 00:18:37.630 --> 00:18:40.769 to the break. But again, I'll be switching gears 00:18:40.769 --> 00:18:44.089 to a new anime that I'll be recapping and uploading 00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:48.490 the same day. Winter has been so good to me, 00:18:48.609 --> 00:18:51.769 even though I'm about to lose four shows that 00:18:51.769 --> 00:18:55.940 I've been really enjoying. I appreciated it so 00:18:55.940 --> 00:18:59.880 much. So tune into my winter roundup episode. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:02.579 I'll bring up the spring titles I am looking 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:06.019 forward to. And until next time, I'll see you 00:19:06.019 --> 00:19:06.180 then.