(12 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Remember how Records of Lodoss War got its start as transcripts of RPG sessions ? Well, similar deal here, but with some rather prestigious players : Kinoko “Fate” Nasu, Gen “Madoka/Psycho-Pass” Urobochi, and Ryohgo “Baccano/Durarara” Narita, among others.
Too bad none of their characters make more than cameos in this episode.
Characters
This introductory episode is all about Ibuki, last Prince of Nil Kamui. (Played IRL by some doujinshi artist/light novel author I’ve never heard of.) His country has the unenviable position of being stuck between the evil demon kingdom of Kouran and the standoffish “good guys” of Donatia, so basically it’s a battlefield for the other two to duke it out. He’s the last survivor of the royal family, and has been laying low helping out in orphanage.
So of course the evil soldiers of Kouran show up one day and start conquering the place and killing at random. It’s time for Ibuki to step up and inherit his legacy ! With his legendary family sword getting empowered by the blood of one of his orphan friends that just sacrificed herself in front of him, of course.
We get short glimpses of the other main party members, including most prominently a bouncy catgirl. We don’t get much of an impression out of them, though.
Production Values
Hey, studio Silver Link are playing around with colour again ! And it does end up looking quite good.
Overall Impression
Wow, this is incredibly cliché-ridden and unengaging. The melodrama is rote and unimpactful, nobody has any depth, and the plot is generic as all heck. Even its prettiness can’t save it.
The only reason I’m giving it a second episode is that I’m curious what the other characters are like, given the pedigrees of their creators. But there’s only so long my patience will last.
