Rein was a Beast Tamer and a member of the Hero’s party, until they kicked him out for not doing any damage in battles and only carrying out assorted errands for the team. He decides to start his new life by becoming an adventurer, and sets out to complete his new adventurer trial. After easily taking out some goblins, he hears a cry for help and finds a girl being attacked by a Killer Tiger. Despite the monster being well above his capabilities, he attacks the beast in order to distract it and give the girl a chance to escape. However, rather than running away, the girl gathers up her strength… and defeats the Killer Tiger with a single kick! Turns out the girl, Kanade, is a Cat Spirit, one of the world’s Ultimate Species. Her kind possesses incredible physical strength but is also facing extinction, and Kanade was in danger because she had not eaten in days. Naturally, Rein shares some of his rations with her, and the two quickly bond as he shares his story with her. Kanade, however, sees incredible potential in Rein, and tells him that he may well be capable of forming a Tamer contract with her…

Getting kicked out of the hero’s party is a very popular trope for non-isekai fantasy stories, with the common thread often being that the exile is actually very capable in their own right but the party doesn’t see that because they care only about damage-per-second values. In this case, Rein is no ordinary Beast Tamer on account of being able to tame an Ultimate Species, as well as being able to contract with multiple beasts at one time. This show seems to be a pretty simple fantasy adventure as Rein makes use of his Tamer abilities, while Kanade does superpowered-catgirl things, with the opening and ending hinting at more beastgirls joining the fray. A lot of this opening episode is carried by Kanade, who is just straight-up adorable with her expressions and mannerisms. There are a few other points of interest, such as how the hero’s party looks down on commoners and how, in contrast to that party’s betrayal, Rein feels comforted by Kanade’s willingness to be contracted to him. Overall, this show isn’t a must-watch by any means, but could be a nice anime for beastgirl fans or those looking for a lighter show to fill out their watchlist.

(Side note: the Japanese title of this series is Yuusha Party o Tsuihou Sareta Beast Tamer, Saikyoushu no Nekomimi Shoujo to Deau, translating roughly to The Beast Tamer Who Was Exiled from the Hero’s Party Meets a Cat Girl from the Strongest Race. Yeah, they really shortened that for the official title.)

Beast Tamer is streaming on Crunchyroll.

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stardf29

Frank is known as "stardf29" on various parts of the Internet; it stands for "Star Defender 29", which is something he came up with during his chuunibyou years. Now, when he's not doing things for the Navy or indefinitely delaying his writing projects, he likes engaging in anime, especially of the slice-of-life sort.

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