While the new fantasy action adventure anime The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained to Death by the Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible might start with an odd premise to most western viewers — the idea that someone is over the hill at 30 — it is still refreshing to see a fantasy anime featuring a somewhat older protagonist.
After all, half the series we get in the genre feature a protagonist who is still in high school — an age many anime fans can no longer completely relate to (myself included).
So, to see Rick Gladiatoi called an “ossan”, or middle-aged man, at the age of 30, might be a bit disappointing to anyone who isn’t still a child, but at least it’s preferable to a 12-year-old being the most overpowered hero that ever was.
Anyway, that comment being off my chest, here is The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained to Death by the Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible, Episode 1 recap, just in case you may want to check out the plot before committing to watching it. (Although you really should as, so far, the anime is hella fun).
The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained to Death by the Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible, Episode 1 recap
The first episode of the Yumeta Company-produced fantasy anime, titled “Starting 12 Years Late” opens with the body of a very muscular man being thrown through the air by an explosion.
We then hear the man exclaim he’s going to die as, far off on a hill, a group of shadowy figures is observing him.
Those figures, however, aren’t threatening as they begin to comment how much stronger the man has become, and that the E-class test shouldn’t be difficult for him because of it.
One comments, however, that he is more worried he may destroy the entire stadium as he is so strong now.
As we will learn later, these people are the legendary Orihalcon Fist, and they have spent the last two years putting the man — Rick Gladiatol (aka Ossan) — through a major adventurer training program.
Rick Gladiatol himself, however, admits he is still a long way from being as strong as they are. And then he passes out.
Registering for the E-Class test
After the anime’s opening theme song is played, the narrator begins talking about some older people refusing to give up on their dreams as the scene changes to the Adventurers Guild where Rick has just arrived to register for the E-Class test.
Alisa, the girl registering adventurers, is surprised to see Rick Gladiatol standing before her, and it is then we learn he used to work at the Guild but quit two years previous so that he could train to become a proper adventurer.
Rick agrees it was odd to become an adventurer at the age of 30, when it is usually teens who do that but, as he is telling her he has been training in the mountains for the last two years with some senior adventurers, they are interrupted by a drunk who hits on Alisa.
After watching his horrible behavior, Rick intervenes and, seemingly, calms the man down until he passes out from the drink.
It turns out, however, it wasn’t the drink but the hand Rick placed on the man’s back and shoulder has dug into the man’s steel armor and caused him to pass out.
After walking away with his registration for the E-Class test, Alisa and others at the guild desk realize Rick may just be stronger than he first appears. Especially as the drunk man is the renowned adventurer Domuld, the Fiendish Knight.
As Rick leaves the guild, he runs into a woman dressed as a maid.
She is Reanette Elfelt, one of the members of the Orihalcon Fist he has been training with, and she has arrived in town ahead of the others to see how he is performing so far.
Switching scenes to the weighing and measuring part of the E-Class test, we are soon watching the test participants step up one by one and test their magic ability by placing their hands on a crystal ball.
Other participants get reasonable scores but, when Rick tries, his magic ability poofs to a terrible F-minus grade causing the other adventurers to laugh.
Until, as he is walking away, the crystal ball shatters.
Rick is stronger than we all guessed
Next is the strength test, where each participant has to hit an enclosed a slime bag to test their strength. In a flashback, we learn Rick has been training against golden slimes for months, and they are as strong as a dragon’s teeth.
Each examinee steps up and gives it their best shot with one examinee — an 11-year-old boy — standing out, as he is a duke’s son and known for his magic skills.
But, as he gets ready to cast what looks like a massive fireball, by the time it hits the slime back, it’s tiny.
As the other examinees are commenting he is obviously a child prodigy, Rick is left wondering why the boy’s fireball was so small. Is he so smart he deliberately held back his true power?
Especially as, from his own memory of that particular magic being cast by Orihalcon Fist member Alicerette Draqul, her fireball was so huge it almost burned him alive.
Now it is Rick’s turn to hit the slime back, and it is then the examiner notices he is in his 30s. Due to that, he tells Rick he has practically no chance of experiencing any growth, and he probably should give up now.
Rick, however, has trained for so long, he is determined to give it his all.
So, he punches the slime bag, which immediately disintegrates into thousands of blobs of slime while part of it goes flying through the castle wall making an enormous hole.
The rest of the examinees are now covered in copious amounts of slime, as Rick wonders if the slime bag was defective.
The duke’s young son is also angry as he wanted to be the standout of the testing. Instead, his thunder has been stolen by Rick.
But then he snickers, reminding himself, defense magic is his strong point, and so that is when he can truly embarrass Rick and show how much stronger his own skills are.
Of course, that doesn’t turn out to be the case, as the scene moves to the defense part of the exam where Rick is having no problems stopping every single one of the examiner’s powerful attacks.
Due to this, the examiner informs him he will increase the level of his magic attacks, and Rick should increase the level of his defense magic.
Rick, however, confesses he can only use Level 1 of both attack and defense magics, but still believes he will be okay against the examiner’s attacks.
The examiner misunderstands, believing Rick is underestimating him, so fires off his most powerful attack yet — a Level 5 attack. But an attack Rick easily defends against.
Meanwhile, Knight First Class, Sylvester Ellsernia is outside the testing venue on horseback and notices the huge explosion caused by Rick’s defense, so he heads to the testing site to find out who caused it.
One of the officials tells him that Rick, an F-rank adventurer, has aced every test while destroying half the testing site.
The knight believes it’s a joke.
Fast forward to another examination room, and Rick is taking the written exam, as we hear Sylvester Ellsernia reading Rick’s exam application and learn he was a receptionist at the guild for 14 years prior to quitting and training to become an adventurer.
At the end of the exam, Rick is sitting outside with Reanette Elfelt telling her he thinks he got a perfect score on the written exam. After all, he is a former guild clerk.
He is still worried about the practical exams, though, but Reanette tells him he will be fine as he has improved so much during his 2-year training program with Orihalcon Fist.
It is then the duke’s young son — Freed Diarmuit — arrives on the scene and, boy, is he angry and crying.
After all, everyone forgot about him being a child prodigy during the testing when faced with Rick’s amazing power.
Due to this, he has called in the help of his older sister, Angelica a second-class Knight of the Realm, who challenges Rick to a duel by throwing her glove at him.
Rick mistakenly accepts the duel when he picks up the glove.
No worries, though, as, even though Angelica decides the loser of the duel will have to serve the other one as their slave for the rest of their life, she quickly surrenders as even her “flickering feet” high speed magic is slow compared to what Rick can do.
Especially as, after he aims a punch at her, he punches a massive hole in the amphitheater floor.
But, does Angelica agree to be Rick’s slave for the rest of her life? Of course, she doesn’t as she runs off crying instead.
The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Episode 1 ends as we see the other members of the Orihalcon Fist on their way into town to see how Rick’s exam has gone.
Thanks for reading our The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Episode 1 recap.
You can watch the episode via Crunchyroll, with Episode 2 arriving on July 8th.
