On a rainy day, ordinary teen Ken Usato ends up chatting with the president and vice president of the student council: the school idol (and practically perfect) Suzune Inukami and friendly Kazuki Ryusen. As the three walk home, Usato and his new friends suddenly find themselves in another world. Suzune and Kazuki are this otherworld kingdom’s legendary heroes, but Usato was brought along by accident! No worries though; he has gained magical powers, too. But when it’s discovered he’s proficient in healing magic, Usato finds himself under the tutelage of the scariest person in the kingdom!
The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic joins the ever-growing list of isekai titles, but it does set itself apart early. Unlike a lot of rival stories, the king is truly sympathetic toward the three teens, Usato particularly since he was just caught up in the summoning spell. He isn’t discarded as worthless or somehow iced out by the real heroes, so there’s no air of revenge or resentment here. That’s a refreshing change from so many isekai protagonists (whether true hero or unfortunate victim) being treated like dirt.
Despite Usato being friendly with Kazuki and Suzune, it’s sometimes easy to forget they literally just formally met a few minutes before they were transported. Usato and Kazuki were classmates but had never talked previously, and Usato sounds like one of Suzune’s many admirers in the school. Kazuki immediately bonds with Usato (and even he is a bit weirded out at times at how quickly that happened), but Usato’s idolish image of Suzune shatters when he discovers she’s been wishing even harder than Usato to be another world’s savior. She’s very gung-ho about all the isekai/RPG tropes she finds herself in, and her overenthusiastic self is a stark contrast to her days as student council president. Combined with her coquettish nature that appears, she can be a bit much at times.
But while Suzune’s excitement plays a significant role in the novel, it’s Usato’s magic teacher who is somehow even more thrilled. Rose is basically a cross between Izumi from Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto‘s Tsunade, but this strong healer has an even stricter training regimen. Rose’s drills are so tough even most knights can’t complete it. Rose leads the rescue team, and while others assist with either pulling soldiers off the battlefield or curing them, only Usato is capable of both like Rose. But to get to that point, Rose keeps pushing Usato beyond his limits…and if he complains, well, that means even more training!
It was only after finishing the novel that I learned this started off on Shousetsuka ni Narou, but that does explain why the writing was a bit jarring. Usato narrates the bulk of the story, but the perspective shifts to many other people’s throughout, including characters from the enemy demon forces. It often takes a bit to figure out who is narrating, and I couldn’t help but wish the novel had just stuck to third-person point-of-view throughout to make these setting changes less abrupt. Usato’s characterization also seemed inconsistent. For instance, he kind of resented Kazuki’s popularity back on Earth, but a short conversation changed his opinion dramatically. He also had a bit of the typical “eighth-grade syndrome” and seems rather easygoing once he’s teleported to this new land, but then when he’s with Rose, he’s stubbornly training and calling her a hag and such as to not give up.
Rose’s training though is basically extreme physical exercises so that Usato uses his magic to heal himself, but I wish the manga had better explained how their magic works. People can die in this world, but yet Rose also tells Usato to revive those who have died. What are the limitations? And for as much time Usato spends on healing and enhancing himself, he doesn’t heal others very much. It seems odd to not see him train to close up cuts or discover how many people he can heal before he can’t enhance his physical abilities.
Also, an aside: the English translation here uses honorifics, which may be jarring for some readers, but this does mean the text better matches the manga adaptation, unlike other publishers’ releases.
Anyway, Usato does want to help Kazuki and Suzune, and then eventually Rose and others in this new world. Based upon the opening hook illustration and events toward the very end of volume 1, saving the kingdom is not going to be a simple task even with the power of the heroes and the healers. But it’s been a while since I’ve read an isekai novel where I truly am rooting for the heroes to win and see a kingdom caring about those they summoned, and that alone makes me want to continue the story.