The Brilliant Healer's New Life In The Shadows

is a Japanese light novel series written by Sakaku Hishikawa and illustrated by Daburyu. It originally began serialization online in November 2020 on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. It was later acquired by SB Creative, who began publishing it in print under their GA Novel imprint in October 2021, with eight volumes released as of March 2025. A manga adaptation illustrated by Ten Jūnoichi began serialization online on the Piccoma website and app in January 2022, with five volumes released by SB Creative under their GA Comic imprint as of June 2025. A webtoon adaptation illustrated by Minsam and RocketStaff Inc. began serialization on the same website and app in January 2025. An anime television series adaptation produced by Makaria airied from April to June 2025.

Plot

The Kingdom of Herzeth is dominated by the Healers, who use their power to enrich themselves rather than truly help those in need, and only those with official licenses can be recognized as Healers. However, Zenos, a powerful healer born in the slums, was never formally educated as a Healer and did not go through the official process (thereby not gaining a license) but instead learned his skills from a mysterious man. He eventually is asked to join an adventuring party, but is later brutally discarded when they fail to recognize his abilities and regard him as useless. Left without money and with few options, he finds a deserted building in the slum area and sets up an underground clinic with the help of Lily, a young elf-girl he rescued, and in time gains an incredible reputation as a healer, especially with the gangs that operate within the slums, as well as making friends with the female leaders of the gangs (as well as a female ghost that inhabits the upper floor of his building). However, as news quickly spreads about the exceptional healer performing remarkable magic and helping to maintain the peace in the city's hidden corners, the officials begin massing their forces to destroy his operation.

Characters

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:A healer with no license who learned his craft from a mysterious man, and recently kicked out of his adventurer group for being perceived as useless. Upon realizing he can use his craft to gain pay, he opens an 'underground clinic' in the slums inhabited by three rival demi-human gangs, vowing to never work for free again. Though polite, coolheaded, and intelligent, he is also notably naïve; his lack of formal training causes frequent confusion when others praise his magic as extraordinary or impossible, and he is oblivious to romantic feelings unless they're directly pointed out, and utterly skeptical when they are.
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:A young but levelheaded elf girl rescued by Zenos from slavery, who becomes his assistant. She frequently prepares tea for Zenos and his guests, and is a skilled chef as well. Lily often competes for Zenos’s attention against all the other girls in his life.
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:A wraith who inhabits the upper floor of the abandoned mansion Zenos and Lily take over, she died 300 years before the story begins. Initially hostile, she soon yielded the ground floor to them after seeing that her magic was no match for Zenos, and soon became a friendly acquaintance, albeit with frequent tsundere behavior.
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:Also called "Zophia the Tornado," she is one of the 'big three' leaders of the slums' demi-human gangs. Calm and confident, she is a lizardkin who runs the gang of lizardmen, known for robbing rich merchants and assisting the downtrodden. The first gang leader to meet Zenos, he earns her respect after easily amputating and replacing her poisoned arm.
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:Also called "Lynga the Tyrant," she is one of the 'big three' leaders of the slums' demi-human gangs. Ditzy and childish but a fierce warrior, she is a wolf beastkin who runs the gang of werewolves in charge of illegal gambling. The second gang leader to meet Zenos, she initially attacked him for aiding the lizardmen, but wholeheartedly surrendered due to a fear of Carmilla.
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:Also called "Loewe the Mighty," she is of the 'big three' leaders of the slums' demi-human gangs. Amicable, strong, and a big eater, she is an ogress who runs the gang of orcs dealing in the excavation of mana stones. The final gang leader to meet Zenos, she swore the orcs to him after he cut an explosive stone she'd ingested out of her belly, despite knowing that letting her die would yield him the orcs' entire fortune.
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:Also called the "Iron Rose", she is the Vice-Commander of the city's Royal Order of Knights. While a fierce warrior and gunslinger, among her self-professed bad habits are her short temper, a poor sense of direction, and jumping to conclusions. She became a Knight after her mother, who visited the slums to do charity, was supposedly killed while being robbed. Initially sent to the slums to identify and put an end to the mediator who brought peace between the three demi-human gangs, after Zenos and Zophia help her expose the aristocrat head of a child trafficking enterprise and rescue the children, she becomes Zenos's ally.
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:A lizardkin, Zophia's brother and right-hand man. He was the second person Zenos healed after leaving the Golden Phoenix, and his putting Zenos in contact with Zophia was the start of Zenos's climb in popularity.
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:The leader of Zenos' former party, the Golden Phoenix. A vain and arrogant man who lived his entire life coasting on others' abilities, he realized much too late that his party's success was due entirely to Zenos's silent support. Later on, he was turned into a golem by The Guide after unsuccessfully attempting to bring Zenos back into the party. After, he was defeated and saved by Zenos, he had a change of heart thanks to Zenos’s kindness.
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:An elite healer from the Royal Hospital who recruits Zenos to investigate Goldran, the vice director of the Royal Hospital. In truth, he wanted to learn the truth about an incident that took place thirteen years ago. He learned about how Goldran murdered several people including his fiancée to save a noble’s life to earn their favor and plotted his own revenge. He was thwarted by Zenos and willingly surrendered after realizing that his revenge wasn’t right.
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:A healer from the Royal Hospital and Becker's niece/assistant.
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:A healer from the Royal Hospital and Umin's classmate. Other than Umin, he is the first friend Zenos makes as they make their way towards Goldran's echelon. Initially, he looked down on Zenos, but came to respect him as he saw just how talented he was. As a result, Cress became Zenos’s self-proclaimed brother.
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:The vice-director of the Royal Hospital in the running for candidacy of the hospital's Director position. He is suspected to be involved with the disappearance of an important healer by Dr. Becker, who asks Zenos to investigate him. It is revealed later on, that Goldran murdered several people 13 years ago in order to save a noble and earn their favor. One of those people was Dr. Becker’s fiancée, after learning the truth he plotted his revenge. But was stopped by Zenos, Goldran was subsequently stripped of his wealth and imprisoned for his crimes.

Media

Light novel

Written by Sakaku Hishikawa, ''The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows'' began serialization on the user-generated novel publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō on November 30, 2020. It was later acquired by SB Creative who began publishing it with illustrations by Daburyu under their GA Novel imprint on October 14, 2021. Eight volumes have been released as of March 15, 2025. The light novels are licensed in English by J-Novel Club. In January 2025, J-Novel Club announced that a print version would begin publication in August 2025.

Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Ten Jūnoichi began serialization on the Piccoma website and app on January 22, 2022. SB Creative has collected the manga's chapters into five volumes under their GA Comic imprint as of June 2025. The manga adaptation is also licensed in English by J-Novel Club. In January 2025, J-Novel Club announced that a print version of the manga would begin publication in July 2025.

Webtoon

A webtoon adaptation illustrated by Minsam and RocketStaff Inc. was announced during the "GA Fes 2024" livestream event on March 9, 2024. It was originally set to begin serialization on the same website and app in Q3 2024, but was delayed for unknown reasons. It later began serialization on January 2, 2025. SB Creative has collected the webtoon's chapters into a two volumes as of May 2025.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was also announced during the "GA Fes 2024" livestream event on March 9, 2024. It is produced by Makaria and directed by Joe Yoshizaki, with scripts written by Taika Miyagi, characters designed by denpuougi and Yoshihiro Sawada, and music composed by Harumi Fuuki. The series aired from April 3 to June 19, 2025, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is , performed by bokula, while the ending theme song is , performed by sorato. Crunchyroll streams the series. Medialink licensed the series in South, Southeast Asia and Oceania (except Australia and New Zealand) for streaming on Ani-One Asia's YouTube channel.

Episodes

Reception

Sales

By March 2024, the series had 200,000 copies in circulation.

Critical response

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the first five volumes of the light novel an overall B+ grade, writing, "''The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows'' is, on the whole, a surprisingly good series. It doesn't break the mold, but it does stretch it in positive ways, and Zenos is easy to get behind as a protagonist. Add in a total lack of status screens and some interesting side characters and you have a series that feels better than it has any right to be."

Richard Eisenbeis of Anime News Network, in his review of the first two episodes of the anime adaptation, gave them an overall C+ grade. He wrote, "The interactions between Zenos and the demi-human girls are the focus of the show with action and intrigue being secondary. However, that said, there was a surprising amount of depth to both Zenos and the setting. This one most likely won't be topping any "best of the season" lists but if it carries on as is, it will be enjoyable to anyone who likes the non-revenge-focused "kicked out of the heroes' party" stories."

See also

* '' Now I'm a Demon Lord!'', another light novel series illustrated by Daburyu

Notes

References

External links

* at Shōsetsuka ni Narō
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows, The
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