Well good thing for Welkin that Maximillian can’t aim. This final battle would have ended in a messy manner if he could. The final battle just felt weak and a bit cheesy for me. Sure they show a few members of Squad 7 getting injured (one getting himself hurt) but none of them dies or suffers long term from it. Still will give the characters credit for enduring the battle and Alicia who had put up with quite a few difficult battles before the final one. Another thing bothering me was the whole power of love saving Welkin, Alicia, and the squad from Alicia blowing up. If they were going to have something cheesy save someone why couldn’t it have been Isara? I’ll say that part of my problem probably comes from liking Isara’s character and having her gone while the rest survive not sitting well with me.

Impressions:

The story itself for the anime is where my biggest issues come with. Are we supposed to believe that the ruler showing herself to be a member of the most discriminated group in the nation is going to be peacefully accepted? They aren’t going to mind that they have been lied to about her origins and their racism is going to simply vanish? Bit more believable would be if there was a sequel about a civil war that broke out over this issue. Plus wouldn’t be surprised if the Darcsen’s were upset as well. They’ve faced serious difficulties while the leader who was one of them was sitting at the top doign nothing. Sure in reality you can say she was restricted by officials that are now gone but will people peacefully accept that?

Really most of the final battle was just squad 7 trying to survive while Welkin and Alicia faced off against Maximillian who chose a great time for a duel. Too bad for Faldio though I’m sure many would say he had it coming after shooting Alicia. Though in the end his actions saved the whole country from annihilation. Unfortunately it seems if your not part of Squad 7 then you are screwed. Of course not like this is the only show that’s ever done this. Just that if they are going to kill someone to send the message “anyone can go” then make sure to follow up. Besides Isara didn’t die because war is dangerous, Isara died because Welkin was stupid to leave the driver of his tank with someone injured instead of one of the troops that could guard her.

The epilogue was pretty well done. I mean there was little speaking besides what Alicia and Welkin said to each other. You could see who was sticking with the military and who was returning to their lives. It was actually nice to see Susie back home in a dress. If only because she really wasn’t suited to be a soldier at all. Even though I disagreed with everyone getting off without a scratch give credit to the epilogue for showing their return to normalcy.

Final Words:

Valkyria Chronicles was an interesting journey. Having played the game I was curious to see just what was going to be done the same. Though not wanting to go into spoiler territory I’ll say they did decide to do things differently. The battles went about differently and some of the main characters were developed in a different way. Welkin especially was a lot more likable in the game. I’ll say if anyone is uncertain about the anime they should still give the game a shot since it was a good play.

I’ll say the show did a pretty good job of developing side characters. Members of Squad 1 got decent development as did quite a few people in Squad 7. Sure some of them fit into stereotypes but at least they felt like a squad. Naturally the most character development would go to the main characters like Welkin, Alicia, and Rosie.

I think the series spent too much time playing around with a possible love triangle with Faldio, Alicia, and Welkin. It was painfully clear very quickly who the main couple was going to be. It’s not like Alicia showed much if any romantic interest in Faldio. So it ended up being AliciaxWelkin while Faldio had a one-sided affection.

Overall it wasn’t a really bad series but won’t sit as one of my favourites either. I think it would have been better as just a war story without the Valkyria firepower being thrown in there. Once you got to the point where girls were firing blasts at armies it completely killed the idea of tactics. Also think it might have been better to go with a more extreme path. Either kill off a ton of characters or don’t really let anyone die. I don’t much like the idea of killing a ton of people not in Squad 7 and leaving that squad mostly fine.

I think this show could have been a lot better which is probably the biggest regret as it ends.

It’s been interesting to watch this series unfold especially after playing the game. Definitely a lot of differences along the way. But it was something to see Alicia awaking to her power and really giving the Empire a reason to be afraid. Of course no one could possibly have been surprised that this happened since they’ve shown her with her powers since the new OP was made. They must have thought no one hadn’t played the game or something.

I’m not surprised Faldio went to this point. His entire squad was annihilated before his eyes. Welkin losing Isara was rough on him, but Faldio lost so many more. He knew about Alicia and really this was the only way to save the country. If her powers wouldn’t awaken except when her life was in danger then there wasn’t much choice. Of course the ethics of shooting a comrade in the back is in question. Not to mention there was a chance Alicia could have died. You can imagine how angry Welkin will be when he finds out about this. Although really will he hold back using Alicia’s powers in the future? Though I suppose you can say it serves him right that Alicia chose Welkin. After shooting Alicia it’d be something if he still got the girl. Besides everyone could tell how this was going to turn out from the start so you can only feel so bad for Faldio.

It still amazes me the stupidity of the Gallian military leadership. They just planned on sending out the princess onto the battlefield and hope it worked out alright. It will be a miracle that the country doesn’t fall with those people in power. Despite the skill of the militia you wonder if they can balance out the foolishness of those above them.

Well I just knew this was coming. Of course because I played the game this was not something I was looking forward to. Some things have been changed, but sadly this was one event that stayed the same. I do understand this is a show about war and in war people die, but I can’t believe one of the characters I liked the most had to be the one to go.

Impressions:

My first reaction when seeing that jerk shoot was “why poor Isara!?” I mean Rosie was right there why not shoot her? How the heck does that girl avoid getting killed by 2 snipers in the same episode. This is probably due to me just not liking Rosie that much. The reason for her dying just felt wrong to me in the anime. She gets out of the tank why? They are fighting and he tells her to stay with Rosie? Wouldn’t a medic or just about anyone have been a better choice than your driver? Welkin should be shot for being such a stupid leader.

Anyways it just leaves me feeling like crap. A kind person who really only wanted to help those she cared about getting gunned down after the battle was over. What the hell was that guy doing? There was no way to win the fight, he should be pulling back not killing people who are inactive. The worst thing is that he is just some grunt and after leaving we’ll probably never see him again.

If it wasn’t for Isara the battle on Mulberry Beach would have been a slaughter. The bloody higher ups in the military are a bunch of idiots. They look down on the militia so much and the fact they are getting the job done must really bother them. Those smoke bombs really saved the day. Probably would have made General Damon grin if Squad 7 had been annihilated. I wonder if he’d rather lose the country than let the militia save it?

Anyways this is really just to say farewell to Isara. She gave so much for her friends and brother. Losing someone like her will break the hearts of the entire squad. How the heck do you move forward after losing someone that critical? They would have died on that beach if she hadn’t been around and now they must win without her? It’s just sad to see a bright star lost when the fighting should have been over.

I’ll say the anime doesn’t cover Isara’s death nearly as well as the game did. So if this death didn’t touch you that much at least give the game a try.

Well things are moving along nicely. Seems like they will be able to develop the main characters though I do wonder about the side characters. At any rate Kloden was handled well and allowed some interesting development to continue between Alicia and Faldio.

Impressions:

I think the battle itself was pretty well done. When you don’t have health points to deal with anymore have to avoid the main characters getting hit too often. Still they allowed Alicia to take some damage, but the girl really showed her guts in continuing to press the attack until Welkin stopped her. Wonder if Faldio’s speech was a bit too much since she really jumped into it. Pretty lucky that the snipers didn’t have great aim or this episode might have been more tragic.

It’s always something to see Welkin use his head to come up with these strategies. This time he used the animal trail to lauch a surprise attack. The winged pig Hans saved the day. Guess they are a real group now since they have a mascot and everything. But really it seems things are going better and these victories really do help solidify Welkin’s position with the squad. Winning that bet was huge since Rosie and Largo have such a strong presence. Really goes to show you how an intelligent commander can change everything. If Welkin didn’t come into this than the general of the regular army would have lost the war a long time ago.

The show is doing a good job slipping in the various weapons. The anti-tank lances got used this time along with granades, machine guns, and the regular rifles. There are plenty of interesting weapons and look forward to the show handling upgrades and tech changes that are bound to occur during a war.

Overall I’m liking how the story is developing along with the battles.

The battle for Vasel Town was well done and allowed us to see more of the characters involved in this series. It actually showed a degree of realism by having characters not get along at first. We got to see how the group was put together and were given an understanding as to the current situation in Gallia.

Impressions:

Squad 7 was formed and won it’s first engagement in this episode. Despite that it is clear that this group has a lot of problems to overcome before they can be united. A major problem is the racism toward Darcsens. It’s hard to fight if the people in a group don’t trust each other. Isara is going to have problems dealing with people who judge her based on her heritage. She is proud of who she is and won’t back down to people like Rosie. But even that stance won’t be respected and at some point they will have to deal with that racial hate within the squad.

At least Welkin got grudging respect from people within his squad thanks to the success of his strategy. I’m sure people like Largo and Rosie don’t completely trust him, but will be forced to follow his orders due to the bet they made. The guy has excellent intelligence and used his knowledge of nature to his advantage in the battle. There is a lot of pressure on him with the position he has been put in and who his father is. It’s not like he asked to be made squad leader, but now that he has the job he’ll do his best. If he managed anything in this battle it was proving to Alicia that he is capable. Probably not the kind of guy you’d expect as a great leader, but he manages to get the job done.

Alicia continues to make things entertaining with her reactions. She really was shocked when put in Welkin’s squad. Could understand her feelings in regards to taking orders from him. But I think she has learnt that he is capable even though he is a bit odd. He looked at events intelligently and came up with effective methods. Her reactions should continue being an entertaining part of the series. They may be at war, but there should be some laughs had along the way.

The battle itself was pretty good and quick. Since it was a sneak attack it makes sense that everything was resolved in a few moments. It was a tricky job heading under water and if it took longer they might have sunk down there. Squad 7 did a great job of making the enemy panic since they did not expect this kind of assault to happen. It manages to prove the ability of their commander and makes them stand out to the rest of the militia.

This was a good first battle for the group and they will need to stay sharp in order to survive what is ahead. I’m liking how they are handling the personalities of the characters and the battles. Should be a good series overall if they can keep this up.

Well the first episode did a good job in getting us set up for the war and introducing some characters. There are going to be quite a few when they involve the secondary characters. Visually I thought the episode looked quite nice. Even for those who didn’t play the game I think everything was introduced well so they have an idea what is going on. I liked the introduction of the Valkyria mythology and also showing why Darksens get negative reactions by people.

Impressions:

I may have said this for a few series, but this show does have a nice OP. The song is pretty peaceful early on and the intensity increases with the images. I liked giving a few moments to the major characters and a couple seconds for the numerous side characters. While most will pick up on it right away the OP does a nice job hinting at developments between Welkin and Alicia.

Alicia was slightly annoying in this episode to me. Is she really a person that is native to the town? I mean she doesn’t seem to be aware that the hero Gunther had a son named Welkin. Now that alone may not be that unusual if she arrived to live in the town while Welkin was away. Maybe she doesn’t believe he is really Welkin, but couldn’t she have asked for some proof of identity? You’d have to think Welkin has something. Of course part of it is his fault for not asking someone who actually knew him to vouch for him.

But it’s kind of hard to imagine that Alicia lived there for any time and didn’t know that Isara lived there and was a Darksen. Kind of useless to have as part of the town guard if she doesn’t know who she is supposed to be guarding. She spent most of the episode holding the son of a hero prisoner and threatening to shoot him and Isara. If they weren’t under attack she’d probably be arrested herself. Of course considering Susie is a member of the watch I think they will take anyone. While being scared is natural you’d think she would fit better with the evacuating civilians.

It is a difficult situation that the town is currently put under though. With the entire country being invaded by a powerful force minor towns will end up being sacrificed. I’m sure the army could get something out there, but they probably don’t think it’s worth it. It is too bad for Gallia that they have become a target. But regardless of their position the amount of ragnite they have has made them a target. I’m eager to see how the series shows the struggle of Gallia as one part of a very large conflict. Of course for the people in that country that small part of the war means everything.

Think they handled the characters pretty well overall. Welkin is a pretty odd guy, but he is reliable in a pinch. It’s kind of sad how long it took him to realize they suspected him of being a spy. At the same time he did manage to escape where he was being held and got to Isara. While he is a good person he isn’t so good as to sit by while his sister could be in trouble. Isara herself was well done and is similar to Welkin in some ways. She is a kind person, but she will take action if it is necessary. Whether it was being ready to knife an intruder or grabbing the gun to shoot an Imperial. When in a war you can’t afford to hesitate.

The series has gotten off to a nice start. The battle has begun and now they will be taking out the tank to strike back at the Imperials. If they can avoid Alicia pointing anymore guns at them they might just survive. Forgetting the joke, I am looking forward to the show more now.