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Warriors
by
Erin Hunter
I bought this series after reading the first book of Warriors: the new Prophecy and Firestar’s Quest. As this is a young adult series, I was expecting a light read, with characters I was only mildly interested in. Instead, what I found was a well thought out world of Clan-cats. There are a large number of Cats, and you’d think that after a while keeping all the characters strait would be difficult, particularly with the name changes each cat goes through. But each cat was different, not only in physical description but in personality as well.
This first series is about Firestar, who is known first as Rusty, a common house cat. One day Rusty decides to go off and explore the forest, only to be jumped by a wild cat (Graypaw). After this confrontation, Rusty is offered the opportunity to join ThunderClan, one of the four cat clans in the forest. Of course, Rusty decides to go with them; if he didn’t there wouldn’t be a story, after all. Upon joining the clan, Rusty is renamed Firepaw. He and his fellow apprentices train hard in the forest, but soon uncover a plot laid by Tigerclaw, one of the warriors in Thunderclan. Apparently, Tigerclaw is killing off other cats so he may become the next deputy, and then leader after Bluestar.
Firepaw is torn on what to do. He’s sure that Tigerclaw is going to kill one of his best friends, and makes the hard decision to lie to the clan and help Ravenpaw escape. Graypaw is sure that his two friends are overreacting, but goes along with it. During the course of the series, Firepaw thwarts Tigerclaw every step of the way with Graypaw’s help, forcing the clan to come to realizations about themselves, and their warrior code. The story continues on threw all 6 books, following Firepaw’s promotion into warrior-hood (Firepelt), deputy-ship, and eventual leadership (Firestar).
At first blush, you’d think that this would be the normal epic tale of good v.s. evil. Firepelt v.s. Tigerclaw, all the way through the series. In reality, it’s much more than that. Tigerclaw isn’t even all evil. He has his good points, many of which Firepelt admires. Then, you throw in clan dynamics within clans, and between clans, and you get a story that is very vibrant. Tigerclaw is by no means the only threat either. Most of the threats challenge all the cats, and focus on cooperation to solve them.
The stories deal also with accepting people who are different then you, not only in the cooperation between the clans, but in Firestar himself, who was originally a ‘kitty-pet’. Love and friendship also play an important part in the story, blending nicely with the flow of it.
The only real flaw in the series is Firestar is the Quintessential Good Guy. He’s always right, always knows just what to do. It gets old after a while. Even when he doubts himself, it always feels a bit flat. Like, he feels he should doubt himself, but doesn’t really.
All and all, I’d give this series an 8 out of 10. It was a fast read, but I really got into it. Also, I liked how the lines between right and wrong were not as black and white as they normally are in stories like this. I would have liked a bit more time to have been spent on some of the supplemental characters, or even on the enemies, but as a children’s series, it was very well done.
~Sprig
Official summary, courtesy of Anime News Network : “ Set in a fictitious land during a medieval-like era of magic and fantasy, Tears to Tiara unfolds with the Divine Empire’s rise to power as it conquers and rules lands far and wide. On the island of Erin, still ruled by the Ancient Kingdom, the Goidelic people are attempting to sacrifice priestess Riannon to revive protagonist and demon king Arawn to lead the resistance against the Empire. Although the ritual fails and Riannon survives, the seal imprisoning the demon king is broken and Arawn is resurrected. Armed with mysterious and devastating powers and a human’s demeanor, Arawn joins Riannon, her brother and battalion commander, Arthur, as well as their team of fighters comprising a swordsman, an archer and a quintet of magical pixies, in the epic struggle against the Divine Empire.”
First off, I like the opening song, and the closing song is catchy. The costumes remind be a bit of a cross between .hack and berserk. Actually, the opening song sequence has this one part with two guys are fighting an army, and one takes a bite out of an apple, tosses it to the other, keeps fighting, and then gets bit back for another bite. I like that. The episode, in the way of first episodes, is a cliffie. Ah, joy.
*SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1 TO FOLLOW!!!*
The show starts out with a bit of a history lesson, and how all the ages up till now have failed. It then it cuts to the opening song, which I've already estabished had some cool scenes. After the opening you meet a girl Riannon, praying at a window at night while holding an arrow head. She's praying that something she forsaw will not come to pass, but in case it does, she sent the villagers out. You then see her brother, Arthur, is out with the rest of the villages men hunting these massive wild boar. Unfortunatly, while the protection is away, bad guys come to play. A high priest and an army show up treatening massive violence unless they are given what they came for. Riannon comes out and tells them that s
he's the only one in the village right now, so threats are pointless. She's sent the men off hunting, and the women and children are picking mushrooms. The priest scoffs at the idea of picking mushrooms in the middle of the night, but then realizes that she must be the Oricle he's come to see.
Well, kidnap and kill is a better way to put it. He tells her that he's planning on resurecting the demon king Arawn to destroy the world, and the only thing he needs now is the blood of a daughter of the Elvin King. Riannon just happens to meet that requirement from somewhere in her ansestery. Being a smart girl, and knowing that these guys were coming for her, Riannon pulls out th
e arrowhead and holds it at her throat. She says that dieing now, insead of being a sacrifice that'll end the world, is acceptable to her. Just before she kills herself, however, one of the army-men shows up with two small children. Turns out the children were worried about Riannon, who not only is the village orical, but the chief's daughter. Of course, this gives the priest the ope
ning he needs. He tells Riannon to go ahead and kill herself to escape her fate. It's not going to help the kids. He'll just take his time killing them, since he really likes killing people. Riannon gets his to swear to his god that he will not hurt the children, ever, if she goes with him.
The priest forces her to give him her true name -the name that gives her power- and takes her from the village. Meanwhile, Arthur is getting the feeling that somethi
ng is very, very wrong, so he and the other men go racing back to the village. They find the place is a lot worse shape then they left it, and it's completely empty. Well, ecept for the two children who lead to Riannon getting grabbed. They quickly tell Arthur what happened, and he just as quickly whipps the men up, taking some with him and leaving the rest the guard the village. Turns out he's "first knight", and there is no way anyones kidnapping and killing his sister.
The priest in the meantime is busy teying to reserect the demon king, and he's basiclly repeating the same information you found out in the village. Riannon is standing next t
o him, obviously not all there, ready to be eaten by a big evil demon king. Arthor is fighting his way towards his sister, and of course slowly starts to lose the rest of the guys he came in with. Don't worry, they're fine, since the village apparently raises Uber-fighters that are more then a match for army soldgers, they've just split off to give him more time....or were trapped behind a rock wall when the demon king started to get up. While the demon king (and yes, I know he has a name, but at this point he looks like a freaky fire with a face, so I'm not using his name) is busy being told by the priest that he should do the priest a solid, because the guy let him out and all that, Arthur is almost thought the rest of the army. Just as the Priest is telling Mr. creapy demon to eat the girl, Arthur comes into the room. Naturally, it's
a huge room, and everything is going on at the far side, on to
p of a giant alter with lots and lots of stairs.
So, Arthur is running, trying to get to his sisiter, and if there was any doubt about that, he keeps shouting her name, and Arawn takes human form and starts to approach Rianno while the priest is just being creepy. Then we cut to the closing song. It was a nice song....
A shot from the opening, Arthur and Arawn fighting...remember, an apple a day keeps the army at bay.
The priest, and Riannon with a not-quite-solid Arawn. Tell me, why do I get the idea that even Arawn thinks the preist is nuts?
Arthur is trying to make it to his sister, the priest, and Arawn (now looking very corperal). Great Cardio workout.
*SPOILERS END!!!*
All and all, I really liked the first episode. Ok, The figting really makes the village men able to take on anything, but given the size of the boar they took down, I'll go with it. The episode felt really short to me, but I guess that is a sign that I enjoyed it. You were kind of dumped in the middle of things, but background was given, or at least partcial background. It wasn't done in a "but you already know that, don't you?" conversation between two charactors, but was actually done in a believeable - almost - mannor. That being the case, I'm going to give this series, based off the first episode, an 8/10. I'll look forward to seeing more.
Valkyria Chronicles is based off a game by the same name. I’ve personally never played the game, or even really heard of from my friends, but the cover art looks familiar. Guess I should upgrade to a PS3, huh? Anyway as I can’t provide an anime summery, here’s the game plot.
“When Imperial forces attack the small border town of Bruhl, Welkin Gunther, son of late General Belgen Gunther, is forced to fight for his life alongside Town Watch captain Alicia Melchiott. Along with Welkin's adopted sister Isara, the three escape to Gallia's capitol and subsequently join the country's militia forces. As members of the newly-formed Squad 7, they must work to repel the invading Imperial forces and discover the true purpose of the invasion itself.” ~Wikipedia
Not sure how closely the anime will follow the game.
I’ve got to be honest with you; I found this one really hard to get into. I did try. Welkin was funny, I liked him, but the episode left me dry. It may have to do with the way it just dumps you right into everything. Or it could be the art style. Don’t get me wrong, the lines were smooth, the colors and costumes were great. The shading bothered me, however. It was darker lined stripes in the shaded areas, and when a character moved, the lines didn’t. I think my real problem is the story seemed a bit….flimsy. Not the ‘whole, oh crap, war!’ bit, but the whole interaction between the characters. It just seemed very formulaic, and you could pick out the non-essential characters really easily.
*SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 1 TO FOLLOW!!!*
Episode one starts out with a little history lesson, basically, a story is told, with hieroglyphic -like symbols in the background. The show then cuts to the opening song. After the opening, which was descent, you see bunch of people leaving a village. The style of cloths, and some of the words, reminds me very strongly of an old-fashion German village. You meet Alicia, who happens to be part of a military Patrol. She seems to be a local of the village. After she talks with a woman and her son, another girl in the same uniform comes running up to her. This girl tells Alicia that they’ve spotted a spy down by the bridge, and she should get down there. Upon her arrival, you meet two boys who are also on the Patrol, and you get your fist glimpse at the supposed spy. I’m not sure where they get the spy idea from, the guy has a notebook, sure, but, 1) he’s facing the wrong direction, and 2) he’s looking into the water. I’ll cut them some slack, though, because they’re kids (15ish), even if they’ve been training since elementary school. After the patrol group, lead by Alicia, apprehends the “spy” the “spy” claims to be one Welkin Gunther. This pisses off Alicia, who starts yelling at him. He then realizes that they think he’s a spy, and let’s say he’s shocked. His reaction is quite comical, to say the least.
An alarm sounds, and Alicia runs off, leaving Welkin with the two boys, and telling them to catch up later. On their way, they run into someone who apparently knows Welkin, but he doesn’t explain to the kids. You then find that Alicia is in a meeting with the rest of the Patrol. They’re in a lot of trouble, the enemy is approaching, and support is not coming for at least 24 hours. They’re working on evacuating the town, but most seem sure that they will lose the village. When the two boys interrupt the meeting, Alicia tries to explain by it scolded by the leader. She takes Welkin to a barn and ties him up, saying she’ll deal with him later. While she’s tying him up Welkin asks if there is about to be fighting, and she accuses him of leading the enemy there. He tries to get her to let him go, but naturally she tells him no way.
Outside the building, Alicia explains the situation the town is in to the two boys. You get the idea that they’re very new to the patrol, and way too eager. The situation is apparently very bad indeed. Alicia returns to the meeting, leaving Welkin alone to escape. And escape he does, only to be spotted by Alicia after the meeting. She naturally gives chase, and threatens to shoot him, which of course she doesn’t. When they get into the woods, however, Welkin stops running and grabs Alicia before ducking behind the bushes. It seems that the Imperials are already upon them. Naturally, after some discussion, Alicia agrees to go with Welkin, who is apparently just trying to go see his sister. They both make too much noise, however, and some Imperial scouts find them and start shooting. Welkin runs like a girl, by the way.
When they make it into the manor house where his sister is waiting, Alicia, who had been starting to believe him, flips out again, because his sister is apparently from the same race as the imperials. Before anyone can explain anything, a missile hits the house, and Isara, Welkin’s sister, saves them all by picking up Alicia’s fallen gun and shooting a soldier outside the window. Isara then takes the others to where they can find more weapons. She’s explaining that they’re left over from the First War when Alicia suddenly seems to make up her mind and believe Welkin. The episode ends when Isara reveals a tank that she wants them to use.
Welkin and his two guards. Yes, he jumped into the air. Made me smile, he's such a weirdo.
Run away! Run away! Alicia's chasing you!
I love the different styles of cloths in this shot. Meet Isara!
*SPOILERS END!!!*
Again, I left out a fair bit of the episode, so even my spoilers shouldn’t ruin everything for you if you do read them. I may not be being very fair to the show, but I’m giving it a 2/10. I really don’t feel any need to watch another episode. Actually, the series reminded me a bit of Kiba, to be honest with you. The songs were ok, and the art style was nice (except the shading, I still don’t like it, yet I could sit through Mononoke.) I just could not get into this show. You might feel different, particularly if you’ve played the game. I’m sure if I had, I’d like it a bit better.
