You're listening to the After Hours Arc, your
new anime podcast. My name is Anti, and I'll
be your host. Join me as I review, recap, and
relive anime, one arc at a time. And as always,
these are all from a manga -free point of view.
Tonight, we are talking about an anime that really
flips the script. Because in Jack of all trades,
party of none, being good at everything might
actually be your weakness. Off the rip, this
one surprised me a little. Like I had expectations,
but it didn't quite play out how I thought it
would. And I'm not going to lie, this one did
get me excited. I know I brought it up in the
pilot episode, but I am biased. I am a nerd and
grew up playing this text -based MMORPG. And
my main character was an enchanter. Just like
the main character of this anime. This is literally
my lane. So I knew I was going to be biased going
into it. Like I really wanted this to be good.
I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. I'm
thinking, all right, this is going to turn into
another overpowered main character situation,
which that is sort of true. And I really enjoy
those usually, but that's not really what this
is. As much as it looks like that at first, once
it settles, it is doing something a little bit
different. On the surface, it is set up like
your typical fantasy trope. Party dynamics, skill
systems, all of it. This show isn't about becoming
the strongest. It is about what happens when
you don't fit in the system to begin with. And
the way that the show handles the main character.
is a lot more interesting than I expected it
to be. So tonight, I'm going to go through all
the things that worked for me, what didn't, where
I was surprised, and where I was a little lost.
Because at its core, this is a story about how
being good enough at everything is overlooked
in a world that is obsessed with extremes. And
honestly, that idea is what really carries this
entire show. Before we get into the story, let's
set the scene. Jack of All Trades takes place
in a fantasy world setting. We have guilds, adventurers,
dungeons, all the usual shit. But the important
part is how everything is structured. revolves
around roles tanks frontliners we have mages
support characters like healers and enchanters
everybody has their own lane and the better you
are in that lane the more valuable you are which
i love how they set up the dynamics of the party
from my gaming experience it was really nice
To see a party have to use strategy and have
everybody in their respected roles. Because if
you have played anything like this, you know
how important roles are. The only issue I really
had was they ended up making the enchanters basically
the party leaders. You know, they're calling
out commands and all that. That was not my experience
as a support character. So it did kind of lose
me a little bit there. Everything else was perfect
though. Having to time your buffs using magic
to protect yourself. My enchanter was an absolute
beast. I killed way more players on that support
character than with my highest DPS. Getting back
to the show though, that brings us to Oran, who
does not fit in just one class or role. And the
system kind of fails him, because players like
that are extremely useful, but people don't recognize
the value in that. See, Oran is not bad at anything.
He is actually pretty solid across the board,
but he is also not the best at anything either.
Even though that should look broken on paper,
the other people around him do not see it that
way. This is the main reason that he'll end up
getting the boot from the hero's party. In a
system like this, that makes you easily overlooked.
This is where the story really separates itself.
Because instead of immediately proving everybody
wrong, The show leans into this idea that being
well -rounded doesn't give you more value or
any real value. The system doesn't really know
what to do with him. From there, it becomes less
about survival and more about finding the place
you really belong. So we started with Auron already
in the hero's party, which I actually loved that.
Because we're not watching him grind from nothing.
He is already in the position. This matters because
he is not trying to break in. He has history.
Him and Oliver, who is the, like, hero. They
grew up together and formed this party together.
So there is supposed to be trust. But the more
you watch, something just feels off. Everyone
is clearly defined. You know what they do. You
know why they matter. Auron, he is just filling
the gaps. He is supporting, adjusting constantly.
And because of that, nothing he really did stood
out. And that became the problem. Because the
party doesn't necessarily hate him. They just
do not value him. which is basically way worse
eventually that turns into you're holding us
back you gotta go and with oliver and him growing
up together i had such a hard time with him being
able to just say goodbye to his friend but that
really solidified the whole idea of these class
systems and how important it is And the moment
was very calm because it wasn't as emotional
as you would think. It was very logical. But
once he's out, that is where things actually
start to change. And this is where I felt the
show actually got better. Like this is where
it started clicking for me. The first thing is
how he operates just on his own. Instead of staying
locked into a support role, he starts combining
what he already had. which was swordsmanship.
And that's important because originally he only
chose to be an enchanter to fill the gap in their
party. It wasn't because that was all he could
do, which is so impressive because, and I said
this in the pilot, but if you've played games
and you're playing as a class, usually you have
to delete to change your class. You can't just
switch it up. So this to me was really amazing
to kind of look at. Once he's alone though, you
start seeing both sides of the skill set. It
just gives him this typical overpowered, aura
farming, main character energy, which I love
so much. It does not get old for me. I'm not
gonna lie, that is one of my biggest weaknesses.
He gets involved with the Night Sky Silver Rabbits.
Which is this high level adventuring clan. And
the first key character we get is Selma. She
is known as one of the strongest enchanters.
Basically the top tier version of Auron. Or at
least the role he used to play. And instead of
judging him off of reputation. She is surprised
that he was even kicked out in the first place.
This tells you something really important. That
people who actually understand that role, they
do not see him as weak. We also get Sophia, who
is Selma's younger sister and a rookie adventurer.
Her introduction is important because Auron literally
saves her after her party abandons her. That
moment is what connects them. It's not combat
ability, per se. And it's not reputation. From
there, she just trusts him immediately. Then
there's Logan, who, he's another rookie in Sophia's
little party. He starts off looking down on Oran
because he got kicked out of the hero's party.
But once this boy sees him fight and handle real
situations, his tune completely changes. Oh my
god. He idolized Auron so intensely moving forward.
It was so funny. And we also get a defender in
their little group. And her name is Caroline.
This is where Auron actually steps up as a teacher.
Because early on, one of the biggest problems
their cute little party shows comes because of
her. She is supposed to be holding the front
line. But she's attacking with daggers and she
is taking too much direct damage. She is not
trying to avoid hits or reposition herself. And
that puts the entire team under pressure. Logan
has to react instead of lead. Sophia can't fully
focus on her offensive spells. And the fights
start to fall apart pretty quickly. This is where
Auron becoming their instructor. actually changes
things. Because he doesn't just jump in and fix
the fight. He points out what is going wrong.
He starts teaching them how to move properly,
how to control spacing, and how each role is
supposed to support each other. And once that
starts to click, her role becomes so much more
stable. She has it very dark. past that they
only lightly touched on. And it was towards the
end of the season and it took me by surprise.
I did not expect it to get so dark. But she's
not just standing there taking hits. She is actually
functioning as part of the system. And I think
that that is an important detail because it shows
that the problem wasn't just an individual skill.
It was how the team was operating. And once that
gets corrected, everything else starts to improve
with it. And the show backs all of this up with
what's happening on both sides. Because while
Auron is adapting and proving himself, the hero
party is actually starting to struggle without
him. A lot of the characters of that party were
relying so heavily on his buffs. And they had
no idea the whole time. So once he's gone, their
performance drops. That is the key contrast that
this show is building. In one group, his value
is hidden because it wasn't obvious. In the other,
his value shows up immediately because they're
actually paying attention to what he is doing.
That is really where the shift happens. It is
not because Oron changed, but because the people
around him did. I loved it. This already tells
you something. People who understand that role
do not see him as weak. It's not about Oron getting
stronger. It is about how the system defines
value. Be the best at one thing, and that is
all that matters. And anything outside of that
gets overlooked. But then you get moments where
things fall apart. Like that dragon fight. This
is the same black dragon that the heroes party
couldn't deal with. Even after getting a high
ranked enchanter to replace Auron. Yet Auron
ends up handling it all by himself. And it's
not even just that he wins. It is how he did
it. He uses the spell Magical Convergence, which
I'm pretty sure is just tied to high level fighters.
I don't actually know what it is. And he's applying
it in his own way. He is stacking buffs on himself
way past what a normal enchanter should be able
to handle. And you can tell it's not something
he can just keep doing. It is putting a real
strain on him. So once he commits to that, he
is committed. to end the fight that is what makes
this moment hit because this isn't some random
power up out of nowhere this is everything he
was already capable of just turned all the way
up and after that everything changes that's when
he gets labeled the dragon slayer and this is
where people actually start taking him seriously
and for the other characters especially sophia
Caroline and Logan, that moment becomes something
they look at. Like that is the level that they're
trying to reach. And that's the whole point.
In a perfect system, he looks average. Yet in
a real situation, he is everything you need.
This is probably the moment where I was like,
this works. This fight right here, this is what
I was waiting to see. Because it's not that his
power system comes free. You can feel that there
is a cost behind it. He's not just an overpowered
character. Now this is where the show loses me
a little bit. Because there was a white haired
girl at the end of the season. She shows up so
late. And the show expected me to care immediately.
There's history there. But the anime doesn't
build it. Like, Oran doesn't even know who she
is. I have no idea what's going on. The whole
conflict felt really random. And the final fight
just didn't really do it for me. Maybe if when
they introduced her like they did, they did that
at the end, that would have been more of a cliffhanger
and I would have actually been interested to
find out more about her. But they added her just
way too late in the season. Being in the dark,
I have no real opinion on her. The story didn't
really give me anything. Other than she's apparently
a beast with magic. She is much stronger than
Auron apparently. Which I didn't even think was
going to be possible. She is just full of mystery.
So I gotta be honest, that part didn't really
do it for me. Maybe in the next season, if we
get renewed for one, she'll be important and
I'll care about her. But as of right now, I could
care less. Overall, this is a show where the
idea is stronger than the execution. But the
idea is strong enough to carry it, I think. It's
doing something a little different, and for me,
that really matters. Versatility isn't weakness.
It is just harder to recognize. For me, I would
give this first season probably a 6, 6 .5. If
I were to give it an actual 1 to 10 rating. It's
not bad, but it just wasn't fully there for me.
If you made it this far, I appreciate you. Seriously.
Let me know what you thought about this one,
because I feel like this show divided a lot of
people. But this is my take on the first season
we got of Jack of All Trades, Party of None.
I am working on a few more reviews, a winter
2026 roundup that I plan to go over the shows
I watched during this winter season. And Friday
will be the last episode recapping this season
of Jujutsu Kaisen. I have loved this season so
much so far. I am bummed we are already coming
to the break. But again, I'll be switching gears
to a new anime that I'll be recapping and uploading
the same day. Winter has been so good to me,
even though I'm about to lose four shows that
I've been really enjoying. I appreciated it so
much. So tune into my winter roundup episode.
I'll bring up the spring titles I am looking
forward to. And until next time, I'll see you
then.