I'm in love with the idea of this show, but much like Vanadis, it focuses too little on the interesting aspects as governing and feudal disputes.
The fact that he has a vassal now is pretty cool, however it was too easy and too quick.
That Lord looked like he had much more pride in him.
It's such an insult to his men who died on the battlefield. I hate it that japanese anime don't care about such things. No one would go to war for a dude like that. Morale would be low, soldiers would flee in an instant because it's clearly not worth dying for someone as unrealible as him.
Last edited by KrayZ33; Sat, 01-13-2018 at 12:53 PM.
He didn't sacrifice his mage. He seems easy going or uncaring but isn't. Kuudere.
Becoming a vassal is quite common after defeat in noble warfare. Either that or being ransomed back. I like how practical he was about it.
Peace.
This show is like...incredibly generic, but I gotta admit that I'm enjoying it.
I don't mind that they're skipping over the political posturing bullshit and just getting down to fighting. That's the crap that bogged down Vanadis. There are shows that do that sort of thing well, and shows like this where if they pretended to do it, it would just be poorly done and ruin the pacing. Leave that to Maoyuu Maou Yuusha and Spice and Wolf and the space operas.
Ruthless Administrator-Mage Siluca is covering all that stuff in the background. We don't need to see her get into the details when we get a few examples of the results of her actions. It's more than enough.
Loved the poleaxe woman relentlessly pursuing the cautious footman who was vexing her.
I'm also down with the weird classes they have. Mage, crest-bearers, "artists" and spies.
It's just that the fighting is relative borish.I don't mind that they're skipping over the political posturing bullshit and just getting down to fighting. That's the crap that bogged down Vanadis. There are shows that do that sort of thing well, and shows like this where if they pretended to do it, it would just be poorly done and ruin the pacing. Leave that to Maoyuu Maou Yuusha and Spice and Wolf and the space operas.
The mage vs mage fight was basically non-existent, a random lowlevel lord with nearly no skills whatsoever (MC) came rushing in and finished the job. The mage was exhausted, but there was absolutely nothing that classified him as a mage during most of the fight. Why didn't he use his invisibility more often or zap at least once or twice.
The enemy lord went on to charge a castle with 50 men but no real means to take the walls. Woot?
MC faced the enemy in front of the wall instead behind. Woot?
There was no way the polearm woman couldn't basically kill everyone, whether they "fall back" or not. She leaps hundreds of meters with a single jump and can change directions mid-air. There is no escaping that.
And I have to admit, she hyped me up real good when she starting swinging that weapon of hers.
I don't know, the fighting is horrible, which is why I want to see political warfare and intrigue... or at least clever tactics, he is behind enemy lines after all.
I'm thinking the opposite, the fighting is taking the story down the drain, because it's super generic and makes very, very little sense.
Last edited by KrayZ33; Sat, 01-13-2018 at 05:32 PM.
Don't forget that Siluca is supposed to be special for mastering 6 of the 7 colors of magic or whatever it was. Other mage has managed to master illusion and air or whatever, while Siluca can cast pretty much whatever she wants. He ambushed her, and has better combat skills compare to her purely magic skills, so he was able to stalemate her.
I viewed poleaxe woman the same as Karura from Utawarerumono. She's a beast. Her main goal was clearing her area so she could back up Siluca, though Theo ultimately fulfilled that goal. The caution and respect her opponents showed her resulted in her respecting them in turn.
The fort didn't have soldiers or archers to attack from behind the wall. They basically had the 3 elite fighters and the general (and a bunch of fodder who let the MC go alone for some reason). If they let the enemy come close to the wall, the enemy can just burn it down.
Peace.
Small town nobles don't have armies. They have bullies.
Peace.
A mage could deal with a tiny castle. So, that would have been a mage vs mage anyway. The castle would have potentially got ruined if they didn't take it elsewhere. I reckon the likes of Theo already could jump high enough to clear a wall like that. At least I assume the crest does give him some powers. The poleaxe woman could jump much, much higher (and not die when falling down). So, castles aren't as handy in that universe as in ours.
Then there is no reason to have them though - which would raise the question why lords feel it necessary to build them... considering that probably every other lord.. or every lord has a mage.
It's not that everything has to be realistic, but things should at least make sense.
In The Witcher, mages are powerful too, but castles are still important and work the way they are supposed to.
They keep peasants, bandits, and weak monsters away. Defense against other, properly prepared nobles might be compromised, but otherwise the nobles still need a place where to live, where to have their family and court, some of the troops, and their wealth.
Episode 3
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Siluca is no doubt talented, but I feel like the geezer was correct: she's overreaching. She acts like she could actually fool her father and that lady Marrine. Both of those ought to be far more crafty and experienced than Siluca.
Not a bad episode, though the pace seems quite hurried and a lot happens behind the scenes and is only mentioned afterwards. I think I can't really read Theo or perhaps I'm reading too much into it when there's in fact nothing to read. Who knows.
This series reminds me more and more of stuff like Scrapped Princess and Chaika. There's an established world that the audience is at least aware of enough to get by, but the characters within it know more than the audience.
And that's not a bad thing. It lets them skip a lot of direct exposition or require a dumbass character, while slowly revealing the setting bit by bit. It's certainly a more classic approach to fantasy anime.
Still in love with several ideas in this show... like how the mage with her conductor's baton rips apart the aether while spellcasting... or leaks some kind of colour/paint as if in water, resulting in a screen where colours and scenery seem to blur in a gooey blue/dark mess and all that stuff.
Pretty cool way to animate spells... much better than the "rune and magic circles" we see normaly.
Not really amazed by the battles between the human factions so far, it's very chaotic and stuff appears whenever it wants to even though it was never there at the beginning of a battle.
Last edited by KrayZ33; Sat, 01-20-2018 at 03:42 PM.
Episode 4
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It's quite resfreshing how a highly self-confident and in many senses capable MC like Siluca keeps making such mistakes. Not just any stupid mistakes a typical hot-headed shounen protagonist might do, but rather these sort of overreaching political or tactical misjudgements that are clearly caused by her inexperience. I can't really say the mistakes their enemies have made would be as stylish, but I guess there must be a weak point somewhere. Not that they would be insufferable. This time it was just a gamble, trusting the Earl wouldn't come, but even when he did, it's not like Kreische would have suffered more than a humiliating defeat. She was able to escape and her forces weren't completely annihilated, I reckon.
It's interesting Theo doesn't show much attachment to his lands and possessions, apart from not letting go of the cute mage. That, of course, is a most excellent decision. All in all I still can't really judge his character, but I suppose easy come, easy go does play a role. It hasn't been so long since he was made a ruler of that place, so he hasn't invested much in it.
Siluca made him grow so much in so little time when she isn't even experienced that he knows she's way more important than what he acquired so fast.
Getting new lands and allies will be quick if needed again.
And remember his goal is to have enough power to protect his backwaters island. He doesn't need some faraway lands.
All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening. And then: Golf.
I liked the little detail where Siluca (and most of her female classmates) view the Earl as a philanderer, when he's actually deliberately releasing his mages so they can start families of their own or find a new lord/lady once they're 25.
It seemed like a minor throwaway detail, but it actually had some solid world building baked into it. Contracted mages really are at the total behest of their lords, with no allowance for a personal life.
It's as if I'm watching this in 2x speed sometimes. Which is okay.... I guess, but it's when characters start to die and you don't really see any consequence whatsoever, it's hard to follow.