Rejected by the Hero’s Party Is a Practical Manga Spin-off

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside ended up being pretty popular! There was a light novel, manga, and anime adaptation. It also resulted in a Princess Rizlet “Rit” Loggervia spin-off manga called Rejected by the Hero’s Party, a Princess Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, which Yen Press picked up. What’s really great about this manga is how it offers fantastic insight into a major character from the main series, while also showing the practical reasoning behind her choices, rejection, and exile.

Editor’s Note: There will be no Banished from the Hero’s Party or Rejected by the Hero’s Party spin-off manga spoilers below.

Since this is a story focused entirely on the former princess Rit, don’t expect any talk about Red here. We do see Zoltan, which she heads to on a whim following her exile, but this is truly an origin spin-off manga focused entirely on what led to her eventually being involved in Banished from the Hero’s Party. Frankly, I feel it makes it all more compelling.

Things begin with Rit at home in Loggervia. However, she isn’t really acting in what you’d expect would be a royal capacity. Instead, she’s engaged in rebuilding efforts and clean-up following the Demon Lord Taraxon’s defeat. She’s dealing with remnants of the army, facing miscreants who are taking advantage of the lingering chaos, and helping rebuild by assisting in towns and aiding orphanages. However, this is making her exceedingly popular, and her father the king already decided her brother Prince Ian will succeed him as the next ruler. Because of that popularity, she’s exiled so people won’t try to overthrow Ian or rebel against her father to put her on the throne.

It really makes a lot of sense, while also making Rejected by the Hero’s Party work as a standalone piece as well as a Banished from the Hero’s Party spin-off. Right away, Zappon provided a lot of character background and development for Rit, establishes her as someone we want to support and root for, and makes her stand out as the protagonist. To be honest, I like the story and introduction for this tale better than the original series’. She comes across as such a strong, capable, and caring person, and the way she handles her exile and embraces the opportunity to live freely makes it even more compelling.

From there, we get to see Rit start to establish herself in Zoltan, and it works even better as a character piece. Her initial meeting with Edith, a C-rank adventurer, that leads to her joining the Adventurer’s Guild in the town helps highlight what an impressive figure she is. After all, she’s able to pick out and assess which of the posted requests on the board is most suspicious, dangerous, and in need of addressing. When she heads out on that mission, she makes these wise decisions when dealing with the individuals and situations. As she solves it, we also see her take into account other factors to ensure it is properly handled. Zappon is constantly giving us tangible examples and showing us why Rit is such a capable adventurer and good person, which helps the Rejected by the Hero’s Party manga stand strong on its own and feel like more than just a Banished from the Hero’s Party spin-off.

Rit really feels like such a compelling character in Rejected by the Hero’s Party, a Princess Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside. So much so that I came away from the Banished from the Hero’s Party spin-off liking her more than I did in the original tale and feeling like this story is an even stronger one. She’s very well realized, and it’s a fun read even if you aren’t familiar with the source material.

Volume 1 of Rejected by the Hero’s Party, a Princess Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside will be available on August 20, 2024, and Yen Press didn’t announce when volume 2 of the manga will appear.