It is a common piece of writing advice that you should make sure you are telling the most interesting part of the main character’s life in your story. That adventure they are on is the peak, and anything before or after simply isn’t as interesting. That said, sometimes telling the “what comes after” story is innovative and can be just as compelling if done right.
What do adventurers do after the Demon Lord is dead? What happens after they have their big adventure? Sometimes it is refreshing to find out, and sometimes that post-adventure adventure was the real story people wanted to hear all along.
If you are looking for anime that explores what heroes do after their adventure is over, then give these post-adventure anime recommendations a try.
Post-Adventure Anime
Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero
Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero plays with the post-adventure concept in the most likable of ways – by making the hero turn into a bum after his adventure.
This comical series follows a hero who, after defeating the Demon King, is embroiled in a series of scandals and lives like a bum in a terrible apartment. The Demon King, who gained admiration for the hero after his defeat, eagerly wakes up and goes to his rival’s side, even though he only has a fraction of his power.
Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero is very much a comedy, but does actually develop a serious plot involving the political intrigues surrounding his other party companions. It is actually a great series for the exploration of post-adventure heroes even if it is frequently silly.
I’m Quitting Heroing
What do you do after defeating the Demon Lord? Go join them and rebuild their army.
In I’m Quitting Heroing, it follows the recent world-saving hero being forced out of human society because he is simply too powerful. Outcasted by the people he saved, he decides to go rebuild the demon army that he just finished wrecking.
Of course, this is one of those series where the Demon Queen actually had not-evil motives for waging her war and the demons are presented as better people than humans. However, this otherwise pretty light series really nails that home with some pretty dark back stories.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
Usually post-adventure anime focuses on the immediate period after an adventure to capture that listlessness and exciting reinvigoration through the discovery of a new purpose. Frieren, however, goes a different route by covering the grief of watching your adventuring companions die of old age and reconcile it with the regrets of not cherishing your time with them more.
Frieren follows the titular elf mage who, after her adventuring party defeated the Demon Lord, continued traveling to collect magic spells. Eventually, she realizes fifty years have passed and now has to deal with the complicated feelings of seeing her human and dwarven companions die of old age.
Frieren is an emotional fantasy adventure whose slow travels are stressing the message of cherishing the moments you have with people, because they are fleeting.
Banished From The Hero’s Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life In The Countryside
As is becoming frustratingly common, the plot of this anime is summed up in its very long title. The adventurer didn’t really choose to end his grand adventure, but was pushed out by peer pressure and decided to go follow his own dream of opening a little apothecary in the country.
While that is a set up for a nice fantasy slice of life series, Banished from The Hero’s Party also develops into a nice romance when an old adventurer from his past hears about his retirement and moves in with him.
The Faraway Paladin
The Faraway Paladin is both an isekai and a post-hero victory story, but also neither of which is the focus, which allows this series to become its own less-trope-bound fantasy adventure.
The Faraway Paladin follows three undead who find a baby randomly in their long-dead city. They raise the young human and teach him sword skills, magic, and knowledge from the world they knew before being trapped in the dead city.
While the main character eventually leaves his three parents to become a wandering hero, you discover that the three undead were trapped there after sacrificing themselves to defeat an evil mage.
While not having as much of a focus on the post-adventure aspect as some other series on this list, making the series start by having the iskeai’d main character raised by people in seclusion was certainly an innovative start to what is a nicely lore-dense series.
The Legendary Hero is Dead
The adventure is over. Guess I’ll just die!
But not really.
The legendary hero is indeed dead in The Legendary Hero is Dead, but his death was an accident and thanks to a nearby necromancer, his accidental killer is now inhabiting the hero’s rotting corpse. Worse yet, it seems the hero didn’t actually save the world and was on his way to try and fix it. Now, some nobody with terrible battle aptitude has to pretend to be the hero and get the job done.
While The Legendary Hero is Dead is very much a comedy that likes the frequent ecchi joke, to its credit, it did establish a plot that it light-heartedly follows.
I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Got a Job
In truth, I Couldn’t Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Got a Job isn’t a post-adventure anime because the main character never even got the chance to try. They defeated the big evil while he was still in training, and with no more need for adventurers, he had to go get a retail job.
That is the series in a nutshell. Watch this guy with failed aspirations work a retail job with the daughter of the demon lord as a comically inept co-worker.
Not everyone gets to be a big damn hero, after all.
Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero
Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero is one of the rare isekai anime about what a kid does when he returns from his isekai adventures. The answer is apparently he abuses his OP power for lewdness.
Yes, the Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero has a flimsy plot about returned isekai heroes being penned up in a school to protect the world from their still intact fantasy abilities. The main character is the cocky and confident sort who knows he is overpowered, and uses his abilities as he pleases. As this is an ecchi harem anime, I think you can guess what pleases him.
My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer
What does an adventurer do after their adventure? Retire, obviously.
In truth, the retirement in this series comes after a middling adventurer lost his leg. With a fair bit of PTSD as well, he retired to his hometown where he eventually came to raise a baby he found in the woods. Unlike him, she grew up to be a S-ranked adventurer, but a daughter will always think the world of her beloved father.
While this is a rather light-hearted fantasy comedy about a girl who is too attached to her father, you can stop worrying – it doesn’t turn into a romance.
The Devil is a Part-Timer
It is a fall from grace tale as a old as time – from all-powerful Demon King to minimum wage grinder at a McJob.
The Devil is a Part-Timer follows the Demon King on the verge of victory against the hero accidentally transported to our magic-less modern day. Not having unlimited power and needing to make rent, he gets a job at legally-not-McDonald’s.
While at its best when it is a comedy anime, The Devil is a Part-Timer does develop a more serious plot as it goes on, but never forgets its silly minimum wage roots.
Helck
Like several others heroes, Helck starts with the titular hero making his way to the Demon Kingdom after the defeat of the Demon King in order to compete in a contest that will pick the new Demon King.
Helck is wildly overpowered and he wins over most of the demons except one of the skeptical Demon Generals.
Helck starts off as very much a comedy. The titular Helck is good-natured, overpowered, and silly. This makes him frustrating to the demon tsundere that thinks he has other, more sinister motives. However, Helck surprising grows from just a fantasy comedy anime into a pretty interesting and increasingly dark plot about humanity planning a genocide of demonkind and Helck trying to stop it.
You come for the comedy, but you stay because it provides rare plot innovation to standard fantasy anime.
Maoyu – Archenemy and Hero
As Maoyu starts with the hero meeting the Demon Queen then agreeing to date her as they ally to stop the never-ending war between the demon and human kingdoms, you would think it would be a romance anime. However, Maoyu surprises you by being less about romance and more about agricultural and economic innovation.
In truth, Maoyu is actually more about kingdom management than romantic feelings. You see the Demon Queen using the hero’s might to make real progress towards peace by reinvigorating economies proped up by war.
Do you have more anime recommendations that show what heroes do after their big adventure? Let fans know in the comments section below.
