Overview:
Right, I’m just giving you the Crunchyroll synopsis because there were a lot of terms and ideas thrown around in this first episode.
Atlatan, a land ruled by chaos. Fearing disaster brought about by chaos, the people lived protected by “Lords;” those with the power of “Crests,” used to suppress the chaos. However, the Lords decided to abandon the concept of protecting the people and turn against each other, stealing each other’s Crests to gain dominion over one another. Among these people are Siluca, a lone mage who despises the Lords, and Theo, a vagrant knight training to someday liberate his homeland. Enticed by Theo’s ideals, Siluca’s coercive tactics have the two forming a contract and together, reform a war-torn land.
– From Crunchyroll
Review:
Basically if you read that synopsis you have watched the first episode except for the whole part where they start with a wedding that is supposed to be uniting the land and then it all goes horribly wrong.
But the terminology is just thrown at the audience thick and fast. We’ve got knights and lords and mages (and several other titles that got tossed in for good measure), we’ve got the crests that apparently have differing levels based on how much chaos they’ve absorbed, and we’ve got the contracts being formed between knights/lords and mages. While all of it makes sense in context while watching, none of it has been given a decent explanation and this is kind of going to make or break this show for me. If there is a solid logic behind all of this then this could actually be quite good. If it is a ‘write a fantasy by drawing terms out of a hat’ then it will probably end up a mess.
Still, I am a sucker for a good fantasy, or even a bad one, and Theo and Siluca have so far been interesting enough characters and I kind of like the relationship being formed here. Again, this could fall flat in a couple of episodes time if it gets over-ridden with cliché and standard drama but it could also be quite fun if the characters are actually developed beyond one sentence motivations.
I might regret saying this in a few weeks but right now I am cautiously optimistic about this show for the season.
Thanks for reading.
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Thanks,
Karandi James.
Are you going to review Citrus?
The first episode (review should be up on Thursday). I’ve kind of dropped it after watching that.
Hey, I’ve nominated you for the Mystery Blogger award!
https://someguysblogcom.wordpress.com/2018/01/08/the-mystery-blogger-award-woah/
The premise is interesting with the political scuffle between Lords and I think I might check it out to see the relationship between the story’s two protagonists.
There’s some definite potential here. I’m hoping it does something with it.
I already feel so behind. I haven’t even adjusted my que yet for the winter anime. I will add this one to the list and it does look promising.
I’ve got 6 shows still to catch up on first episodes of and I doubt I will get to them today. It is amazing that once they start coming out they just all come out.
Of the new shows I’ve tried, this is probably the first episode I liked the most. Though, I will admit it being a straight fantasy certainly helped my enjoyment along as the story is kind of messy and there’s a lot of explanation needed after this first episode.
I also feel like it things don’t really get explained, it can just end up feeling like a hot mess. But, like you, I love fantasy. I’m going to stay optimistic about this one too! 🙂
Let’s go with optimism at least for another week and see if it manages to do something.
Okay: you were right, this does sound pretty interesting, despite the few flaws you mention. But…guess what: it isn’t available for me 😢 Figures right?
Figures. . Well, it will probably become a mess anyway. I’m mostly hopeful about this one because I’d really like a fantasy to follow this season (outside of Magus Bride).
Well, for you I really hope it is still going to be a good show. Looking forward to the posts you will be writing for the series 😀