Based on the MAL average scores I was hoping for a more. I like fantasy-action-ecchi-harems as much as anyone else, so I see anything above a 6 and I'll give it a shot. However, I also like my shows with some humor.
ANIMATION + ART:
The art itself is standard fare for the genre. Nice scenes and backgrounds, standard hotties, etc. The character designs are good, but not the best in the genre. I particularly like the building and city designs.
The overall animation is 'meh' though, with some of the battles entirely replaced with little chess sets showing the strategies. This wouldn't be a bad thing on its own, but the fact that the actual battles are shown mostly using this method makes them underwhelming. Other battle scenes are replaced with 3D CGI – I wouldn’t want to animate hundreds of horses either, but with some better scene placement it wouldn’t be necessary. It's clear that resources were cut here.
Some notable person v. person battle scenes stand out from the rest of the show, but in the big picture they are only average for this genre. Together with the character designs, it gives off a bit of a Fire Emblem vibe.
There are many other shows out there with more mouth-flapping scenes, but something of this genre deserves more attention in that regard. There is not quite enough time spent on the individual battles in this show, so I’m lead to believe that the studio was trying to cover far too much material in a short 11- to 13- episode season. Comments on the series seem to back this up, claiming that the anime skipped out on a lot from the manga/light novel.
Sound effects are decent, though I'm not really a fan of either intro or outro - that's just my taste. Half of the in-show music feels off-theme but matches the moment-to-moment mood.
STORY:
I like anime that is able to answer all or most of my "why"- and "how"-questions as I follow along, and this one just doesn't do it. There is so little justification for anything that is going on. And when it does come, it’s just too late.
Dropped into the story knowing very little and in the important early-episodes period I really don't sense any motivations from anyone except for the generic "I want to save my homeland" lead, the "I love you because you are sooo skilled and you killed my soldiers, but who cares!" hotties, and the "I'm evil so I want to take over the world" 1-D bad guys. The characters bring in slightly more depth later on, but in such a short series it comes too late.
Many transitions are thoughtless and weak. Whenever a new plot element comes into play, it is just dropped right in with very little information presented beforehand. Even if some of the circumstances had been subtly mentioned in the background it would have made a huge difference. It feels as though the author did not have any plan whatsoever when beginning the story – though more likely it’s the fault of the screenplay director here.
Despite the microscale interaction and macroscale battle tactics, there is very little mention of the politics of the numerous name-dropped nations, cities and locations. I had to go on to the fandom wiki in order to put meaning behind any of the various dropped-names.
The material is condensed in such a way that there is little build-up for twists or climaxes, leaving the story dull and tedious. The animation is lacking in little detail scenes that so much other anime has and gives the impression that no thought was put into controlling the tension.
Even with the occasional ten seconds of mourning, there is a lot of needless death that is just completely glossed over. The mood is far too desensitized to seem authentic in a history-strategy sense. Here the lack of higher justification makes the characters unrealistic.
I'm no tactician, so I can't say much about that, but they seemed somewhat passable. If you like tactics and can deal without a harem, I enjoyed "Nejimaki Seirei Senki: Tenkyou no Alderamin" much more than this.
With the setup of the final arc and the number of unused characters, the show demands a second season. In that case, the fact that all of the material was condensed in such a way leads me to believe that the anime adaptation was meant as a desperate money-grab. It’s sad really. If the beginning had been better justified, it would have been a much better series. After taking a break before watching the last three episodes, the show was much more enjoyable with the end of the season feeling much better written and more purposeful.
Oh, and the final showdown is pitiful. Oh, so is the rush ending.
The plot itself is not awful but the handling and pacing really mess things up.
CHARACTERS:
Standard forgettable hotties and standard OP lead. Some good screencap material but not as much as you would think. Most characters are super flat and predictable. Voice acting is nothing special. Character depth appears to increase somewhat towards the final arcs, but nothing is different with the characters in the end.
The harem itself is weak too. Nothing makes it stand out from notable others.
A great show doesn’t need to spend too much time directly giving you information to build that characters but instead is constantly subtly conveying to you the information necessary to make your own judgement. This show just has the characters saying generic statements that clearly reveal their archetypes.
ENJOYMENT:
The tactics are somewhat interesting, but as I said before, there are more interesting tactical displays elsewhere. I like the Fire Emblem-like feel of some parts.
The harem interaction only occasionally plays out but it is too strongly forced and unjustified for to be enjoyable.
This show's next strongest demerit is its lack of humor. I honestly think that low budget productions shouldn't bother to take on stories that try to take themselves so seriously. Ecchi-harems do much better with even basic humor to the point that otherwise weak stories can be enjoyable for me (Trinity Seven), but this one just doesn't do it.
The last arc or two were the only ones I found enjoyable – decently so, well… at least until the insulting final showdown. It’s too bad the earlier arcs were as weak as they were.
OVERALL:
The lack of humor was the final straw. A darker direction with much more thought put into it could have been a good alternative. I would be much more invested in the characters if they would open up in at least some kind of way beyond the easy preset pathways.
In absence of other merits, the story just isn’t strong or well-thought out enough to be fully interesting. If it wasn’t for my completionist nature, I would have dropped after the third or fourth episode - hence the need for a stronger introduction phase.
In a short season, it is not a good idea to cram lots of intended material into one space if the characters are to have any depth at all. More time should be spent developing the reasons behind individual characters’ justifications. The details count.
Fear not! There are better options out there!
TL;DR:
Too much material, too little time, no tension, semi-lazy animation, shallow characters, and weak harem, but decent tactical display and art. If you’re in it for the hotties, then go for it. If you are impatient, just watch the last arc or two.
