I don't say Hortensia Saga's instruction is bad. In fact, it was surprisingly good to start. Marius is a runaway princess who, after an attack by an enemy kingdom, has moved away from the evils of what it would be to inherit her nation's throne. She meets Alfred moments after the massacre, the son of one of the warriors, who lost his father the same day. This premise is normal and even uncomfortable, especially when compared to isekais and other recent medieval fantasies. It is almost always a compilation of events that only exist to exist and occupy space in a pile of anime with each new anime season. However, the beginning Hortensia stood out for one factor, the initial development of the story. As much as it may seem, dealing with a revolution against the kingdom itself and exposing the ailments of the Church is something that many animes cannot do well. Most of these shows, present the religious figure as a more demonic than sacred obstacle, where the few differences between animes of this type are evident. Hortensia stood out for taking care to make an interesting and cool show to watch from the beginning.
"But ... Well, we're talking about Hortensia, an anime that, just by the cover, you can imagine that its continuity will ruin everything that was proposed, right?" ~ Yes, this time, this is correct.
The interest in anime is much more for the initial proposal, because the rest is totally poor. Anime like this is more common than it looks. "The 8th Son", "Im Standing on a Million Lives" and similar ones present nothing more than the beginning made especially to please the most silly viewers, who are content with an empty, poor and boring content (MY GOD , THIS IS VERY BORING). It's not like the anime doesn't try, after all, Marius has a drama that develops slowly, but you can understand the intentions of the show and what it may become in the future. However, the anime does not much explore the interactions of the characters with each other and focuses excessively on missions and events that are forgettable. Each next episode felt like I was rewinding the same video, the same text, the same problem ... the same lack of quality and exclusivity.
It is even easy to foresee a show like this, as well as a recipe for some food: take a fantasy world that has references to the European feudal period, add Templar knights and a troubled church. After that, put on a visually beautiful princess, a drama potentially dubious as to its quality. Mix everything and add creatures and mythological references (demons, dragons, legendary warriors, imposing names and magic) and there you go, here is another anime. Hortensia is literally that. The shows of the type practically only change the name of the title, the songs and the studio. The rest always have the same structure and it bothers anyone who wants to admire some novelty.
I am not going to fully criticize the show. As I said, the beginning saved much of what followed. Hortensia still maintained a basic quality. It was a better experience than many shows, of course. Lack of content and repetition are what hurt and heal a wound called a cliché. In fact, Hortensia was more than I expected. Since it is a very common anime, I do not imagine that it has great qualities, in fact, but what was shown managed to convey a little emotion. The apathy of these animes is quite frightening, so watching a show manage to stand out in the middle of so many series is very rewarding.
The production of the show is also not worthy of great merits, but I assume, it was competent. The studio knew how to use its investment in some things well and made an anime that, although simple and visually generic, remained constant. This turns out to be a positive point for the show. The opening and ending songs are also virtually good, I really enjoyed listening to them.
Finally, be careful to consume this type of show (or any other that has the same configuration), they are very doubtful and your final experience will depend exclusively on who sees the anime. Hortensia is weak, in fact. Is bad? Well, everything that was presented had a lack, it did not exhibit a quality even to be a game adaptation, as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, but you can feel some productivity coming from here. Was this a conscious guilty pleasure? Possibly yes (and this is better than the eternal disappointments of some popular shows, isn't it "Mushoku"?).
