Valkyria Chronicles

[Kraco]

What we saw until now was her basic personality. Military training somewhat changes people, especially leadership training. I very much doubt she had had any sort of training back in her home town. So, her behavior was a combination of some very dubious elements, like the surge of power of having a gun in your hands plus having been placed into a position of responsibility. Add to that the intense patriotism, and you get a ruffian. However, now that she's in proper military environment, she should get all her delusions hammered out of her.

In the end being a sergeant is harder than being a grunt, so let's hope this series manages to maintain (or create) some sensibility in the future eps.

[KrayZ33]

this show is pretty weak, I expected a lot more... the action is weak in my opinion, basically they just stand in front of each other and shoot with something which looks like a stapler. When I first read about this I was looking for something which you could call a "WW2"-like anime.

the characters are not so good either and I can't get into it at all because there is so much senseless and irrelevant talk.

and the art is getting on my nerves too, this kind of shading is just horrible.

[Ryllharu]

and the art is getting on my nerves too, this kind of shading is just horrible.

You might want to avoid Gankutsuou (The Count of Monte Cristo). If the shading in this show gets on your nerves, Gankutsuou will make you vomit. Valkyria has lines, Gankutsuou has patterns.

The exposition in this episode did bother me a bit. I was tempted to skim through it and find something more important to watch, but it's still only the second episode, so I have to give it a chance. Most of it seemed so pointless. It did not serve to develop Welkin or Alicia's characters in even the slightest non-trivial manner.

[animus]

In VC's Defense the source material was good but it didn't have the best form of development. This in due to the fact the way the game is structured. Story plays out in a type of book, with chapters. Each chapter contains a major battle, and little skits of briefing and maybe a bit of development.

The way it is, could lead to a lack of plot, so they have to fill in their own junk in the anime I believe.

[Buffalobiian]

In VC's Defense the source material was good but it didn't have the best form of development. This in due to the fact the way the game is structured. Story plays out in a type of book, with chapters. Each chapter contains a major battle, and little skits of briefing and maybe a bit of development.

The way it is, could lead to a lack of plot, so they have to fill in their own junk in the anime I believe.

Well none of that actually happened. They could still do it, and I can imagine that it'd turn out alright, even good. But...it didn't happen.

Fandom alone though will take to episode 6 at least.

[Stitch]

The game is $30 at GameStop right now. Get it if you haven't yet. Game is good, especially for that price.

[narutosharingan]

Again an OK episode, though in my opinion better than the first. No guarantee for me to continue much further, however, as there are too many good shows that the mediocre ones may have to drop. I don't mind the animation style now that I've gotten used to it, but the dialogue is dull and the action isn't exciting.

[NeoBear]

The game is $30 at GameStop right now. Get it if you haven't yet. Game is good, especially for that price.

...there is another thread for this game stuff, don't post this kind of thing here or the rep whores will descend upon you like a plague of locust!

its sad god forbid you should talk about a game that has a anime tie in but if you go to the game thread can you even talk about the anime ?

and yeah i work at a GS and we sold out of that pretty quick. back to lurking =O

[Nadouku]

Valkyria Chronicles - Episode 3: Download

[Ryllharu]

Alicia's questionable worth still aside (she hasn't done anything of value but be annoying), but this episode was enough of an improvement for me to watch the next episode. Though mostly for that evil chick from the OP that it looks like we see next episode.

I don't like Welkin's horrible lack of discipline to his own squad, though I appreciate that he holds their lives above all else, that will engender trust over time. I also can no longer deny his tactical ability. He still should have controlled Rosie and the Gorilla-man better during their first formal meeting, perhaps simply with, "You can disrespect me if I don't prove my ability," which he accomplished with the bet. He still should have done that earlier.

The only question remaining is how many episodes until the cliche scene where Isara saves Rosie and she respects Isara from there on out.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm not sure about trying to establish discipline that early. The two were acting stubborn, and as anyone knows, going against that with force is going to make it worse. The bet might never have happened if Welkin tried to push authority when they clearly have no respect for him, or worse, they might even shoot him and/or his sister in the back when a conflict arises just to get rid of them.

I personally think his air of humility (as opposed to acting authoritative despite having little experience) in their first meeting is what gave him a chance to earn their respect.

I agree with you about Alicia though. What the hell did she do this episode? Is she the main character in the game? It sure didn't seem like it this episode.

[Nadouku]

Well, as I said before, if Welkin shined this episode, then he'll be more likable in my book. I was right; he managed to surprise attack the enemies, kept his promise, and gained the respect of the two stubborn soldiers. His way of thinking seemed to have slightly change, but his optimistic attitude is still in tact, which proves to be more beneficial in this case than before.

[Yukimura]

While I wrote off the exchange between the grumpy soldiers and Welkin as a cliché for the sake of a cliché I couldn't shake off the revulsion I felt from the 'realism' viewpoint. Those two were downright insubordinate towards a superior officer in a time of war. I know they are militia and not regular military but still, that's a pretty serious offense in my book. Welkin doesn't owe them a thing and to have them threaten not to fight for him should have been grounds for sending them to the brig or the stockade or whatever the army calls jail. If they feel so strongly about picking who they are willing to serve under or second guessing the decisions of the higher ups they should try to get out of the organized milita and form a band of guerrillas or something. Soldiers who can't or won't follow orders may be effective in small scale operations but they are rather useless in large scale strategies. If a soldier can't be relied upon to trust in their commanders or at least faithfully execute the orders of their commanders they have no place on a national level battle field.

But these things happen in fake war so whatever. As it's already been said Alicia didn't do much of anything this ep but I'm not that surprised about that. I do find it rather odd that she is filling the role of XO of the unit while there are clearly more experianced and capable non-comms in the squad. But these things happen in fake war.. The battle was spiffy enough though the Imperial soldiers on the other side of the river seemed especially unprepared for a possible attack across the river...But these things happen in fake war.

It seems the attempts at 'realism' exhibited by this show have had the side-effect of screwing up my suspension of disbelief and sending my expectations for realism way out of control.

[Buffalobiian]

These Imperials need to put up more of a fight. Their overall incompetence and not-so-tense music kind of makes these battles look like a the optimistic Welkin. They're still good to watch, but I'm mainly watching it for the characters now that these battles have been rather underwhelming.

Hopefully the new bad guys coming next will change this.

[Kraco]

If a soldier can't be relied upon to trust in their commanders or at least faithfully execute the orders of their commanders they have no place on a national level battle field.

There wasn't actually an instance in this episode when they didn't follow his orders. All they did was basically complaining and questioning his orders, and he didn't even demand they stop to doubt his skills or authority. Welkin chose that kind of an approach, and it encourages such behavior in older militia subordinates. They have no military training, so it's not like they would have been taught to shut up about their opinions like proper army grunts.

I do find it rather odd that she is filling the role of XO of the unit while there are clearly more experianced and capable non-comms in the squad. But these things happen in fake war..

I think we all would be rather surprised by the ways you got higher places in militaries and militias of the past... It could be different these days, but in the past it was as much about your connections and social standing as about your real skills.

The battle was spiffy enough though the Imperial soldiers on the other side of the river seemed especially unprepared for a possible attack across the river...But these things happen in fake war.

It wasn't a really big force by any reckoning, though. Just a few tanks and a limited group of men, based on this episode. It was a decent surprise attack and a good strategy of confusing the enemy to create chaos.

The most stupid thing in this episode was Welkin's sister's uniform. Or lack of, rather. Why does she wear some traditional Empire garb instead of the Gallian uniform like everybody else in the squad?

[Ryllharu]

I think we all would be rather surprised by the ways you got higher places in militaries and militias of the past... It could be different these days, but in the past it was as much about your connections and social standing as about your real skills.
...
The most stupid thing in this episode was Welkin's sister's uniform. Or lack of, rather. Why does she wear some traditional Empire garb instead of the Gallian uniform like everybody else in the squad?

Connections and social status make sense for Welkin, but not for Alicia. He's the son of a famous general, and he went to the University. Alicia said it herself (expanded in detail in the notes at the end of Ayako's eps 3), she's just a girl who works in the bakery of a little hamlet mill town.

Isara was wearing the militia uniform, stupidly enough. It is underneath her cloak if you look closely. Her shirt is different and her skirt is pleated, but the rest of the uniform is the same as the other girls in the squad. There's some variation in the uniforms, Rosie doesn't seem to be wearing a shirt at all, just that choker.

[shinta|hikari]

I agree with most of Kraco's points, but I do have to disagree with how Alicia got her position, like Ryl. The best reason I can think of is that she was assigned as XO in light of her previous experience with Welkin. The commander (or whatever she was) did assign Isara to Welkin. She might have added Alicia as a bonus, or thought that is what Welkin wanted.

[animus]

They are Militia after all which basically means they're full of volunteers from villages.

[Kraco]

Indeed. And Alicia was already seen as a hero from one succesful battle against the Empire. I was speaking in general terms before, not specifically about Alicia, while it's still true they knew she had a connection to Welkin. If we assume the others in this militia had even less experience, that made her automatically a veteren already (quite sad but true).

Besides, let's not forget she wasn't given her own squad. Maybe they thought serving under Welkin might turn her into a more respectable soldier. Furthermore, we have no reason to think she can't take care of little everyday details, leaving real planning and decisions to Welkin.

[Buffalobiian]

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