Note: This review only contemplates the first season of Hitsugi no Chaika, a second review covers Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle.
Review
There is a special kind of charm to medieval fantasy, a charm people from the west grew up with. It was born in Tolkien books, shown in
Dungeons & Dragons, taken across games such as
Baldur's Gate,
Neverwinter Nights and
Dragon Age, and evolved in the big screen with the epic movies such as 300 and
Lord of the Rings. What the hell does it have to do with Hitsugi no Chaika (Chaika)? You may ask.
Well, Chaika is yet another japanese attempt at medieval fantasy. It is a tale about a mysterious princess in search for the remains of her father, the emperor of the greatest nation in recent memory and believed to remain alive for hundreds of years through epic magic. Chaika's quest to bury her deceased father, slain by a group of heroes who brought a new age to the land, puts her in the path of Toru and Akari, two mercenaries siblings who have lost their utility since the wars have stopped after the fall of the emperor. She asks them for aid in her quest, and from there her mysterious past and the tale behind the emperor's fall start to get clearer.
You get a similarity with
Scrapped Princess? Yup, this is made by basically the same people of the 2003's great medieval fantasy show and has much of the progression, style, atmosphere, and setting of it, although slightly overwhelmed by the "modern" character design.
Overall it is a decent idea for a medieval fantasy show. You have a clear objective, you have a land with a dramatic change from war to peace, the mystery behind how such powerful emperor was defeated by these eight heroes, and Chaika's past itself. It is not the most innovative thing ever, but can serve as a starting point for any kind of RPG adventure if you ask me. So, where lies the problems?
- The atmosphere
Japanese works have always failed to capture the charm of medieval fantasy I mentioned at the start. Very few were the shows that brought us something clear and inspiring. They typically lose this aura when the lame humor kicks in or when the character design is basic or exagerated for its tale from the start. Rune Soldier Louie is dumb, Slayers is more of a comedy than anything else, Orphen is just average, Loddoss War nearly gets there but is kinda boring, etc.
Chaika is yet another of those. It fails to build the atmosphere of its medieval setting when Chaika herself is a loli dressed with a gothic lolita cosplay, when 90% of the female cast are just silly young girls blushing and thinking of love, when the villains become just comical stupid figures, and when the setting itself behaves more as modern Japan than medieval europe (this is no asian feudal stuff).
The plot thickens at least
Despite not creating a decent atmosphere, Chaika's plot is quite engaging and the pace is surprisingly good. You are quickly thrown to believe something is amiss when it comes to how the eight heroes rose to power and that Chaika is more than "just" a princess. Pursuers, political interests, and new characters pop from time to time to keep things fresh. Their design and behaviors are just as dumb as you would expect by looking at Chaika, but their purposes and stories prove out to be worth of a watch.
Adventure!
Chaika's adventure is a fun one. She meets the two mercenaries, find mysterious look-a-likes, gather the aid of a overpowerful dragon, and so on. There are many events that, although not exactly original or breathtaking, contribute a bit to turn the experience into something fun, be it for the fights, the comical parts, or just the moesque fanservice. As typical of current shows, however, this is just a part of the big tale, a first season for more yet to come.
The "Charming" Style
Animation studio Bones once again does a great job. The character design does not help, surely, and you can't expect much from a show where half the clothing of the girls looks like some sort of decorated swimsuit. The cuteness of the art, the sharpness of it, the bright colors, and the decent and fluid animation, however, turns Chaika into a gratifying visual experience.
The sound direction does an average work, calling for some of those weird j-pop that somehow got related to gothic stuff (Rozen Maiden, for example), and giving us a decent voice-over. Chaika herself, even with all the cutie-cutie art and voice, manages to be fun at times with her weird form of speech.
Comments
I think Berserk was the only medieval fantasy show to ever get the feeling I had when playing
Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. A serious setting, magical stuff, demons, hungry mages, gods, awe, and everything else rarely gets to shine when japanese authors throws in lolis, comical relief every second, fanservice, and modern references or behaviors that has nothing to do with the setting. These issues, however, are not exactly bad points, it just serves to show that authors in the east still tumble on their own legs when they try to conceive a western-based setting, something that doesn't happen when they create some fascinating medieval Japan/China worlds.
Anyway, Chaika yet proves to be as fun as some of the decent medieval fantasy shows out there. This happens because it manages to keep a steady pace, it offers fun events at many turns and it embraces a light approach on its serious premise that helps in the long run. It works better for moe fans or people who are up to things like
Sword Art Online mixed with
Toradora, but can also please everyone else who is looking for a good adventure.
