Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Valkyria Chronicles

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.

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