▶ Video focoso (fiery, passionate)

Those who might be familiar with the studio behind Healer Girl, 3Hz, or the director, Yasuhiro Irie, might be keen in the precedent that Healer Girl presents. This precedent is another original show but, a show that has probably never been seen before. A musical.

And I mean “musical” and not “music show” quite literally. As in, the key emotional moments and pivotal character growth happens through song and dance. As in, expect the show to have characters sing during dialogue. Shows like Revue Starlight would be far closer to Healer Girl than idol shows, since Healer Girl is not an idol show. But, the director went on to say he didn’t want an idol show or even a show like Starlight where battle and music was combined. To the utmost ability of his team, he wanted Healer Girl to be one of a kind.

The result is an incredibly unique show oozing passion.

This passion permeates prominently in every episode through the expressive characters, the careful selection of music, and the vibrancy of the writing.

▶ Videoscherzando (playfully)

Healer Girl’s narrative can be sectioned into two components: the world (setting), and the characters. The “plot” isn’t necessarily a big part of Healer Girl, and instead it focuses on developing a trio of apprentice healers through slices of their lives. The world of Healer Girl isn’t too far off from reality, with the only exception being the ability for certain people, “healers” able to physically affect others through their voice. This blends perfectly well with the main trio, Kana, Hibiki, and Reimi, who are apprentice healers.

These three serve as the core of the storytelling that Healer Girl employs, which, forgoing a larger overarching arc, is about their development and progression as they become better healers and people.

This can be in the form of literally just training and studying technical terms and practicing harmonics for their healer exams, going out to the country to learn about each other and their goals, and aiding in surgery.
But no matter what situation they find themselves in, the characters are at the core.

Kana is an air-headed leader with splashes of genius honed through her hard work. Though, at the end of the day she’s extremely energetic, and provides an atmosphere of lightness and gentleness whenever she’s on screen.

While Kana might be the leader, it wouldn’t be far off to see that Reimi, who comes from a music family and is very skilled, might be seen as such. Her aura of pride is aggressive, and it shows whenever she’s on screen, even when she isn’t being prideful and just being frenetic. Reimi, just by being herself always seems to take the screen by storm with her presence.

To balance her energy is Hibiki. She’s the reliable mediator, but also has her own subtle brand of brilliance, being quite humble at the things she’s good at. That often creates for humorous situations as we gradually learn about Hibiki’s varied interests and ability to just pick up on things. While being on the more energetic and light-hearted side like Kana, she doesn’t encroach to feel too similar to her at all.

All three of the main cast is so colorful in who they are and it’s shown thoroughly. The team’s care in carefully crafting characters made watching and getting into the world of Healer Girl so gentle and welcoming, but also instill a level of energy that made it fun and engaging.

▶ Video

da capo (from the beginning)

The watch time for Healer Girl for me is quite unique. For each episode of Healer Girl, my average watch time has undoubtedly reached beyond the 24-minute mark. Was I re-watching and analyzing all of the intricate directing, details and dynamic scenes? Well yeah there is a lot of that, especially in the ornate imagery that the show can provide, especially when they sing, as songs often create explosive imagery and metaphor in the show. But I was also rewinding just so I could listen and watch as the songs unfurl.

The musical selection of Healer Girl ranges from slow, beautiful arrangements that touch upon a layer of sentimentality within the characters, orchestral epics that entice with bewilderment and splendor, and more carefree and silly arrangements akin to taking a vibrant stroll on a sunny Sunday morning.

The range of emotions and the variance of each song make their inclusion always a pleasure. Even when certain songs are reused in terms of melody, the new arrangements are often different enough that it doesn’t feel unsatisfying. And even more so, when a song is reused, it’s often done with enough purpose that bolsters the narrative and of course the audience’s own excitement of hearing it again. This excitement was a huge part in how much fun I had. After all, each episode gave us a different song, and it was always a treat listening to either something new or seeing a spin on something we’ve already heard.

This is not even mentioning that these songs often blend into the episodes naturally. The main cast are healers, whose main job it is to sing. This lets the show wave away some of the more silly musical segments that might appear. After all, in a world that doesn’t treat such moments as silly, then why should we.

If the characters want to sing and give us a musical number while they do something as simple as studying for an exam, hey that makes sense. If the characters want to sing to make each other feel better and to better express their feelings to another, that makes sense. If the characters want to sing to literally heal and mend physical ailment, well, that’s the point of the show.

Everything, from the characters, to the music, feels so purposeful to what the team envisioned.

▶ Video allegrezza (cheerfulness) I’ve mentioned this before, but the main draw of Healer Girl isn’t exactly in the immediate “plot.” While many exciting events do happen, and there is a good deal of drama for the characters to overcome, the show is also hesitant to dive too deeply into darkness. The emotions are definitely there, and the characters do go through struggle, but it’s not plated in an oppressive way, nor do they dwell too long on certain moments.

Healer Girl, by every chord of its being, is a positive show. It’s extremely uplifting in how they resolve conflict. For some that might make the episodes feel a little lacking, and it may make the show feel, well, akin to a slice of life. Events may not seem to string together in a larger way. They might meander and literally just spend some episodes messing around and building their friendship more than anything. And yet, at the same time, the show also has a good handful of episodes that really dive deep into the characters, focused on their unique troubles and again, resolving them in a very “Healer Girl” way, with absolute positivity.

Admittedly, if the show wanted to dial back and really let some of their more poignant moments last, it would have made certain moments stand out even more. But to what they did show, and to the way the show was so stalwart in what it wanted to show, I can’t help but respect the decisions it had.

It wasn’t that I came back to Healer Girl each week because of its outwardly fascinating narrative or “plot,” but that I was having so much fun following the exploits of the main cast, and seeing how they grow with each other in such a gentle and healing way.

▶ Video al fine (to the end) Healer Girl is a hard show to recommend, only if you don’t like music shows or musicals. But if you have even the slightest inclination for a music show, then I can’t help but wholeheartedly recommend giving Healer Girl a shot. It may not have the high stakes drama, or engrossing writing as other shows within the genre can have, but Healer Girl doesn’t have to be that. It never threw its gauntlets into that ring at all. Instead, it’s uniquely its own show, with an undeniably passionate team shown through the characters, the music, and the story’s penchant for optimism.