In a fantasy version of Europe, a war between enemy countries is brewing. One of these countries, Zhcted, has its seven regions ruled by War Maidens, known as Vanadis. Equipped with powerful dragon-carved weapons, Eleonora "Elen" Viltaria, one of the Vanadis, launches an invasion against their neighboring rival country of Brune. Eventually, Tigrevurmud "Tigre" Vorn, a young archer and an earl for Brune's region of Alsace, has his entire army decimated at Elen's hands. In a strange twist of events, Elen spares Tigre, and gives him the order, "Become mine!" What could be the meaning behind this new alliance?
Adapted from the light novel written by Tsukasa Kawaguchi, Madan no Ou to Vanadis is an epic adventure filled with complex war tactics and beautiful women. Trapped in a multinational conflict, Tigre and Elen are swept up in a war filled with dark secrets, conspiracies, and corruption.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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PyraXadon
War. It's a grueling way to help your country. The lives of several thousand men sacrificed to help benefit one country's benefits. You hear about all the sorts of things wars have, but have you really understood the inner workings and tactical strategies? Well, that's where Madan no Ou to Vandis comes in. Let's take aim! Story (6.00/10): The story of Vanadis follows from the perspective or Tigrevurund Vorn, or Tigre. On a battlefield one day, amidst the corpses of his fallen comrades, he takes aim at a woman riding on a horse, a war maiden, who has just demolishedhis whole army. After taking aim, he tries to shoot her down, only to become captive to Elenora, as she is called. Sending the two of them into a spiraling journey as tensions rise between their two countries.
The story basically sums up to following these two characters as they try and fight through a war, with each battle being a new battle and event in the ever going war, with each battle being a battle with usually a different opponent and progressing through their goals to fight and come victorious. The show gets props for deconstructing the idea of war by making every little event become crucial to the character's goals and ideals. There are however, some big flaws with this series, mostly with its execution and pacing.
The execution for the series wavers heavily, with some parts being rather well written, while other parts are written rather poorly. This problem is heavily shown in the transitions from one scene to another. Vanadis...has probably one of the worst scene transitions in anime period. The show constantly changes from scene to scene, and sometimes even changes the scene completely, leaving the audience dazed and confused as to what exactly is going on. In addition, the world of Vanadis is a very interesting place, talking about its lore and legends in some of its episodes such as the dragon gear and the goddesses in the realm. However, the show doesn't give you an opportunity to fully enjoy the show at all because they don't give enough explanation to the show's basic lore, which really takes away from an otherwise fantastic show.
In addition, the show's pacing is just awful. You don't get enough time to truly enjoy anything in the show, and you really don't have the chance to let the current scenario sink in. Mostly, the show just pokes in at a specific scene, than goes off to somewhere else without word or warning. The pacing really does take a lot of the show's credibility away because it rushes through its own story so much that you can't enjoy it very much (This really only applies beyond the first three episodes.)
Overall, Vanadis had a lot of potential. It showed us the prospects of war and the sheer amount of strategy and thinking that goes into it, but that's all it really does. You don't really get any semblance as to what the world of Vanadis, which really is a shame due to how well that could've worked conjunction into the story.
Overview:
+ Great story concept (the deconstruction of war that is)
- Untold world
- Awful pacing
- Very poor execution
Characters (6.00/10): In addition, the characters of Vanadis share a same downfall similar to the story.
First we have Tigrevurund Vorn, the main protagonist of this series, as well as an archer that would put Katniss Everdeen to shame. As the count of Alsace, the and of his birth, Tigre is caught by the war maiden Elen, and becomes her captive in her principality. From then on, Tigre asks his capturerer to help protect his homeland, and eventually gets the opportunity to do so. As the series goes on, you can see his development beyond his simple goal of protecting his homeland as he meets new characters that aid him along his journey. Beyond that, though, you really don't know very much about him. He has this weapon and lineage that you basically know nothing about, and only a small bit of his personality really comes out.
And then we have Elenora, the war maiden of the series. In Vanadis, we have individuals called war maidens, women who have been chosen by a dragon gear, a weapon with special abilities and power, all of which have control over their own principalities and people. Elen is an interesting character. A bit of a jokester, (and maybe a little bit perverted), Elen helps Tigre on his quest to help his people in exchange for power over his land. In the story, you get some details as to what kind of women she was before, and the connections she has between some characters, but you don't really get to learn about her very much. She's an interesting character that has no details put in, which really makes the show a bit disappointing.
As for supporting characters, we have constant characters that you see, such as Lim, Titta, Ludmila, and a few others, and then you have those characters that you don't really see at all, or get introduced at one point, before going away. The supporting cast, are basically a mystery since you don't actually get to see or know a lot of them since most of them REALLY only serve as plot devices in order to move the story along. This even includes the main villain of the story, Duke Thernardier, who supposedly is the one corrupting the country for his own purpose, but is a character you don't really see or know about since he shows his face only in the last two episodes, and even then, it's freaking disappointing. This also brings me to another point, which are the seven war maidens.
In the world of Vanadis, there are seven war maidens that exist in the lands, all of them holding a specific dragon gear. From the title art, and the opening, you'd expect to see them all at some point, right? Wrong. The series establishes that there are seven war maidens, but you really only get to know two out of seven of the war maidens. Most of them you don't even get to meet or know the names of, which just shows how much potential this show had, but failed to deliver.
Overview:
+ Interesting main cast
- Little to no detail for the characters you see or learn about
- Plot devices as the supporting cast
- War maidens not utilized though established
Art and Sound (7.11/10 and 8.88/10): The art for the series is what I regard as high quality. The artwork for the series is stunning and beautiful, accurately demonstrating a medieval war zone of sorts with its massive armor clad armies and detailed country banners held high. In addition, the character designs displayed are for the most part, very well done. The armors from the different bad guys, as well as the sword designs, and for the war maidens are very well done, with detail definitely not lacking from one scene to the other. However, the animation is, like everything else in this series, a double-edged sword.
In contrast to the stunning animation, there also exists the 3-D, which...ah...sucks. The series at times goes into a sort of planning board in order to accurately describe the thought processes of either side's strategists, using little dioramas of little figures to represent and describe what is going on. This is a plus for the series for those who don't fully understand what is going on and adds to the concept of war that this show excels at telling. However, the little figures used look very, very bad on account of the awful 3-D animation that constantly plagues this series, since they use the diorama constantly. Plus, they also make whole armies in 3-D sometimes, and it just does not look good.
And since this is an ecchi show, time to talk about the ecchi. To be honest, I was very surprised. The ecchi in this show is all but non-existent, mostly existing solely in the designs of its war maidens (since pretty much all of the war maidens have breasts that make you wonder how they can function in battle, and the only one with the normal-sized chest is considered flat. -.-) Apart from their questionable battlewear, there really isn't much ecchi in this show. Sure you have like three bath scenes in this show, and a couple accidental boob grabs, but that's basically it. Hell, you'd find more ecchi in a romantic comedy show that's not tagged ecchi that in this show.
As for sound, well, a little word. As long as there is at least one VERY memorable track in the soundtrack, the show gets decent high marks for the sound category. Vanadis succeeds this by giving us its opening. (Just listen to it.) The heroic and grand sound of Vanadis's opening literally gave me shivers when I first heard it, and has become one of my favorite tracks since. The loud fanfare, the triumphant tone of going to war and returning a hero; it fits the show so well that I could cry.
Apart from that, the rest of the show's soundtrack I would consider to be good, but not as memorable as the opening song. They all have a very similar flair of mixing medieval sounds and heroic voices, but nothing I could hear held a candle to the opening.
Overview:
+ Good normal animation
+ DAT OPENING
- Awful 3-D animation
- Rest of the soundtrack was meh
Personal Enjoyment (7.00/10): So, at the end of the day, what are my feelings about this show? I've stated before that this show is its own enemy, it's own double-edged sword. The show is interesting and grand, but doesn't really deliver with its execution. The characters are interesting, but there wasn't enough detail to them that really made them more real and three-dimensional. The art was good in one sense, and awful in another. And the music had a fantastic opening, and the rest of the tracks sorta lagged behind. I guess I could say that Vanadis was an interesting show for me to watch, in which I looked forward to every episode week after week.
DId I like this show?
Yes, absolutely. Regardless of its flaws, Vanadis enthralled me with its use of military tactics and really brought the idea of the battlefield in animated form. It succeeded very well in that regard and portrayed an entire war in the span of its runtime.
What didn't I like about this show?
The show had its fair share of problems in basically every category. As for personal dislikes, I felt as though many scenes shown in the show were handled so poorly that they shouldn't have even bothered to put it in. Some characters seemed virtually pointless, and the show attempted to make a character death seem more important than it actually was. I didn't really feel anything on account of the hoards of other characters that shared as much plot importance as the one that died, not to mention I honestly didn't really know his name cause he didn't really show up very often.
Would I recommend this show?
For strategists and fans of war and boobs, go ahead, go wild. The show does have its perks, with its stunning character designs and war strategies sprinkled in every single episode to make the core part of the show thriving and well. While it does this, it neglects its other parts such as building the world and its characters. So, if you don't mind somewhat one-dimensional characters or a world that you really won't get to know, then this will be a good watch for you.
Author's note: I still don't fully understand how Elen can function on the battlefield. Those things must weigh a ton.
Overall Score: 7.20/10
BanjoTheBear
(This has been adapted from my reddit thread) War, when diminished to its base components, is sadly tragic. It's hard to justify the killings of thousands of people for any kind of cause. But some are better than others: bringing about peace, saving a subjugated group, or protecting one's home. For as long as humans have lived, war has not only shaped the past, has not only persisted in the present, but will most likely never dwindle in the future. An almost inevitability, war brings out the best and the worst in people. For Madan no Ou to Vanadis, it certainly brings out the worst insomething.
STORY
Vanadis begins with the bowman Tigre meeting Elen, a War Maiden, on the battlefield. After being taken hostage, the two decide to help one another in protecting Tigre's hometown of Alsace.
At its core, the show is about war: the battles, the aftereffects, the planning, and the formations. And to this end, it fails miserably. A lot of this has to do with the world-building it attempts to employ. Country names, nearby towns, and faraway lands are talked about as if the audience is supposed to simply know that such areas exist. It disconnects the viewer from what is going on, because he or she just cannot follow who's from where, which side is fighting what, and why they're all fighting in the first place. Simultaneously, multiple sub-plots exist at any given moment, such as Elen's trek to visit Sasha or the King's madness. The aforementioned difficulty in understanding what is going on persists here as well. Since it wasn't explained properly before, it remains discombobulated after.
When it comes to the actual field skirmishes, the anime adopts a narration approach. Going into explanatory mode, the show does its best to clarify the formations of the warring sides and their plan of attack. The point here is to make it feel as if it's a war that the characters are participating in. Again, though, it falls flat: the majority of the action focuses not on the entire battle, but on the singular duels taking place. Elen fighting against a dragon or Tigre squaring off against the opposing general are fine as standalone fights. In context, though, it doesn't seem to fit since their part is just one small piece to the much bigger puzzle.
When the anime isn't having such a tough job conveying the severity of the wars going on, it steps back into its secondary role as a harem. Once again, though, the anime cannot deliver. A lot of the problems here stem from the show refusing to address or at least elaborate on the relationships that exist between Tigre and the rest of the girls. It's alluded to heavily for each of them, with constant teasing and wordplay, but it never comes off as if the characters are anything but friends to our main character. What's even more strange is the apparent lack of the harem. Particular characters are sometimes shown only once or twice, despite given relative importance. Worse still, there exists a person shown in the opening and closing sequences, but never appears over the course of the show. It's almost as if the anime forgot to include her during production.
Amid the directionless wars and harem antics, the show gives one final attempt to instill some form of reason. The idea that a just cause is a righteous one. Fighting for others and not yourself is noble and courageous, to say the least. And this isn't just seen with Tigre; many of his opponents question their beliefs, and many of the War Maidens aid him not for themselves, but because they simply wish to help. It's entirely poetic, though, since it's never challenged nor is it looked at realistically. It's accepted as fact that Tigre's mindset is "as straight as an arrow," and that nothing could be more worthy of praise. The show fails to explore any kind of ramifications attributed to such thinking, instead directing its resources to other venues.
ANIMATION
The art and animation fair no better for Vanadis.
The art style at first gives the feeling of taking place within an Elder Scrolls type fantasy world, with taverns, villages, and zero modern technology. However, this is quickly replaced by the reused open terrains with overcast clouds and tent encampments. Combined with the quite jarring CG horses and platoons, it's never pretty to see.
The character designs pick up some of the slack. While Tigre is rather boring with his outfit and hair, the same cannot be said for the War Maidens. While some have excessively large busts, they're all quite beautiful. Each of their designs is detailed, from their armor to their weapons. Even some of the men receive this treatment, appearing as menacing and barbaric. Everyone also has a slight sheen to their faces, with lighted eyes, making them feel a bit more alive.
The actual animation dips back down in quality, sadly. The choreography for the fights isn't difficult to follow so much as it is just non-existent. Arrows regularly fly from off-screen, swords are swung wildly, and the dragon abilities characters have are not impressive, no matter how much screaming is done. Being ecchi, the breasts are given special attention when the girls move, but that is usually the extent of character movements, both in and out of battle.
CHARACTERS
Harem or not, the characters of Vanadis are completely one-dimensional, signified by either a single trait or the size of their chests.
Tigrevurmud -- known as Tigre -- is a "prisoner" to Elen and the leader of their joint forces. Embodying the spirit of his people, his aim in war is to make sure that it never again reaches his home of Alsace. Kind to all who approach him, he is respected by his soldiers and loved by the women around him. Never emotional, underdeveloped, and overpowered from start to finish, he is as typical and generic as they come. His only purpose in the story is to be there for the harem to be created, and nothing more.
As Tigre's maid, Titta dotes on him 24/7. Quick to cry and unable to keep from shouting his name every other sentence, her presence serves literally nothing but Tigre. She seems to have some form of relevancy early on, spurring her master into action, but afterwards, the focus shifts from home to the wars abroad. Subsequently, Titta is lost in the process. While she is merely happy to be by Tigre's side, her place on the totem pole is low and forgotten, and no amount of niceties will change it.
As cold as the ice she wields, Mila is initially an antagonist towards the group. As the "tsundere" in the harem, she makes it difficult for anyone, not just Tigre, to get a good read on her. Short in stature and always direct, she lets her actions do the talking for her. Perhaps uncharacteristically, she has a love and sense of duty to her house, much like the man she falls for. A rival to Elen both in love and war, she constantly butts heads with her fellow War Maiden. Despite having her outer shell melted slightly by Tigre's convictions, she remains largely uninteresting the whole ride through.
The only other notable character is found in Elen. Ruler of Leitmeritz, she is confident both in her body and in battle. Playful with others yet quick to get jealous, she's rational and emotional at just the right moments. She believes the most in Tigre's cause, willing to trust both his bow and his words. Unfortunately, she is resigned to the same problem as the harem leader; never seeing any semblance of change, outlook, or personal insight, she becomes just another girl to ogle.
Outside of these four, the rest of the cast are entirely inconsequential to anything that goes on within the anime. And that doesn't say anything about their characterization. Sure, the War Maidens see their personalities mirrored in the weapons they wield (Elen is whimsical like the wind, Elizavetta is electric, etc.), but no one amounts to anything more or are barely touched upon. Like the wars they participate in, their lives and their characters are expendable.
SOUND
Arguably, the OP is the best part of the entire anime. It begins as a choir, followed by a calming vocalist supported by background singing. The halfway point introduces a really catchy, drum-and-vocal beat that is very easy to follow. The ending brings about an epic feeling that should have been present throughout the show, but is unexpectedly absent.
The ED is serene, with soft piano and slow vocal arrangement. It picks up in tempo and range the further the song goes, giving off a triumphant feeling that can accompany war, depending on the outcome.
The soundtrack contains nothing notable. With low drum pieces, eerie tones, and resounding trumpets, the tracks fit their respective scenes without providing anything of merit.
Voice acting sees average to below average work all around, with no notable performances to be had.
ENJOYMENT
The argument with this one is the fact that it not only is a harem but is also ecchi in nature. Ecchi, though, isn't even fair to the genre. Those moments are spaced too far apart and are nearly all unoriginal. Like everything else, it tries to make these events fun and sexy, but it can't seem to come off as anything but lame.
Its comedy is not funny, the drama is forced, and the character interactions are weak. It's a mixture of sludge that one has to wade through during the entire season, with the reward being a modicum of boobs and uneventful clashes.
Madan no Ou to Vanadis is a special show. Not because of the wars it contains, not because of its lackluster characters, and not even because of its failed fan-service. It's because it will forever sit at the bottom of the pile.
SUMMARY
Story: Terrible, abysmal world-building, failed harem, lost message
Animation: Bad, repetitive art, nice character designs, low actual animation
Characters: Terrible, everyone involved is inconsequential
Sound: Bad, good OP, okay ED, bad soundtrack, below average VA work
Enjoyment: Terrible, almost zero redeeming qualities
Final Score: 1/10
ReiRei19
I won't include a summary because it is already provided so I'll just dive into the other categories of which I graded this anime. Please note that I have NOT read the manga nor do I have any previous knowledge of this series. Thus my judgement is entirely unbiased. Let's get to it then! ^_^ ART: The art style of this anime is quite eye catching as the beautifully blended colours go well together. There was much detail where needed and it was softer where background was concerned. The portrayal of the army from a distant scenes gave a 3D effect, which workedwell once I got accustomed to it, considering the detail to them was well done. From the clear distinction of every character's face right down to the weapons used was well drawn. I have no complaints about art and animation.
SOUND:
While the opening goes well with the anime, I am not very fond of it. Call it a love hate relationship. It grew on me. The ending however, I loved! I felt like it captured the essence of the seriousness of the show. I don't have many complaints with the sound track because of how well each piece suited the situation and the timing which helped to build hype and I wondered what the outcomes would be. I will not find myself listening to the opening or ending for this anime, even though I am fond of the ending, simply because they are forgettable.
CHARACTERS:
Tigrevrumud Vorn---- our protagonist in the series is your typical anime hero. He's brave, honest and is all about the people. He is a feudal lord with a firm believe in protecting his homeland left to him by his deceased father. He is exceptionally talented with the bow and has even earned a name among higher ups in the community. Personality wise, he is very innocent and respectful. He is a clam yet tactful person who is not quick to wrath which plays to his advantage because of how well he used his resources during the war. This character is not perfect but he is not bad either. He takes risks when necessary and also knows when to walk away.
Eleonora Viltaria---- a powerful war maiden who has fallen for our protagonist.......I mean his skill with the bow (pfffft ¬_¬ ) after he attacks her in an open post battle field, is cunning and carefree yet when is totally serious when on the battle field. She takes Vorn in as a prisoner and the rest is history. When it comes to attack plans, she definitely knows best as you will see during the series. She is brimming with confidence and always has something witty to say.
I cannot name all the main characters as it has a pretty big cast for a 13 episode show but here are a few honorable mentions! Roland better known as Dark Hero of Brune, Marthus Rodante and Ludmila Lourie.
ENJOYMENT:
I was captivated from the very first episode. Everything flowed and there was no long wait for the plot to get going. The fight scenes were beautiful and the detail of the art work all around was just well done! This anime was mostly about the tactics of war and it was quite a watch.
OVERALL:
I recommend this anime to those who like historical war themes with quick moving plots and many strong characters. The are was captivating, the sound track suited it perfectly, I cannot grantee that you would like all the character but there are definitely some you can grow to like.
BlackPrism
Madan no Ou to Vanadis is a light novel adaptation set in a medieval fantasy world with magic, dragons and heroes. If that was the most generic story you've ever heard of, then that's probably 'cause the story IS pretty god damn generic. I watched this anime because I had a craving for medieval fantasy after seeing another, far better medieval(ish) fantasy story, Hitsugi no Chaika - ending in a rather rushed and disappointing way. I had hoped that another one like it would wash off the disappointment and it certainly worked! I'm not disappointed anymore, just plain pissed. Yay! Story (25%) - 3/10 Vanadis' story soundspretty impressive at first glance; a hero of the Brune Kingdom is captured by the Zhcted, Brune's rival, and forms a pact with a Zhcted war maiden to save his hometown from two powerful Brunish dukes plotting to overthrow the king. However, its execution falls completely flat on its face. The story is very linear, for the most part; hardly anything happens that isn't directly related to the protagonist and everything happens conveniently in concert with the main plot. There also isn't much world-building and it seems that the show is more comfortable telling us to go read a history book to find out how medieval times were like rather than bothering to explain how this world works. Another thing that annoyed me to no end was the fact that the heroes never seemed to have any problems in the battles they fought. In the third episode, the heroes face an army numerically superior, better armed and even had two dragons with them. And the heroes respond by using ass-pulls and inferior tactics. Yes, the tactics the heroes use are demonstrably worse than the ones their enemies used; it's like the show is proud of how over-powered they are! That's not to say their enemies were masters of warfare, but at least they used basic flanking and encirclement tactics while the heroes rushed head-on against them using cavalry, of all things. I don't know when medieval action anime will stop doing this but they need to stop thinking that good generals rushed head-on with their cavalry, those were usually used for flanking or to mow down enemies that were either routing or already fighting infantry. I may be bitching a lot about this, but only because these retarded tactics are present throughout the story. There are other incidences, like the protagonist scouting enemy territory by himself in episode 5, which no general in his right mind would ever do. The protagonist's army being able to set up traps and ambushes in episodes 8 and 10 despite the fact that they should know nothing about the terrain and an entire army routing in episode 8 just because their commander was killed (which SHOULDN'T happen to a greatly numerically superior army - the fight was 10 to 1 for crying out loud!).
Art (20%) - 3/10
The character designs are very iffy, all the characters look 10 years younger than they should be which makes it difficult to take them seriously. It's like a generic art style modified to produce lolis where there are none. The animation isn't that great either especially when it comes to the use of CG. I burst out laughing in some of the fight scenes when the background was full of CG enemy soldiers slashing at literally nothing! How clumsy were the animators when they made this?
Sound (20%) - 5/10
I actually liked the OP and ED songs - they certainly feel like they belong in this kind of show but they, along with the rest of the soundtrack, feel too extravagant and over-the-top sometimes. Not much subtlety or variation but enjoyable if you like corny D & D style tunes.
Characters (25%) - 3/10
Now we can add generic harem cast to the show's repertoire of generic elements. The characters are really uninteresting and bland, MC included. The fanservice and harem shenanigans don't exactly help either. The villains are quite one-dimensional and by the show's end, I still have no idea why they wanted the throne or why the war maidens were fighting or why were the war maidens acting like mercenaries when they were practically royalty? There is nothing remotely interesting about any of the characters, but this is a light novel adaptation, so...
Enjoyment (10%) - 6/10
Meh, it's an ok time sink, I suppose. Lots of pretty colors and brainless action and fanservice to keep you occupied. Don't expect much going into it and it won't offend you or anything.
ArchangelEST
Ahhh... what a waste. The show has a solid premise. A standard fantasy fare with a strong focus on powerful individuals and massive army warfare. But execution? Terrible. This anime feels like it omitted like 90% of its source material, because that's the only way it makes sense. Nothing is given enough time to develop on the screen. Characters are paper thin, lacking any real personality or motivations. Next to no backstory given on any of them. Each character is more meaningless than the other. The story seems to revolve around a young count being drawn into a civil war as well as fighting off foreign invaders lookingto take advantage, but we the viewers are given nothing to work with. No backstory, no explanations who all these different sides are and why they're fighting. Wars just happen, non-stop, no build-up, no planning, no warning, no nothing. It's war after war, battle after battle as if someone was playing Civilization on the smallest map size.
Characters are chilling one moment, and the next it's a full on fight between thousands of troops.
The world map barely gets any screen time to the point where you won't even know what country is being fought for and where the fights happen unless you pause and try to pay attention to the few seconds it occasionally flashes on the screen.
The warfare is extremely superficial as well. The show tries to put on big airs with higher quality CGI tactics and strategy screens, but it's all meaningless gibberish as none of the battle plans are actually explained properly, and battles that are described as taking days, are over in seconds of screen time. Wham bam, it's all over. Characters occasionally make a big deal about a battle being difficult and requiring crazy tactics to have a hope of victory, but they all play out the exact same way. They troops clash, they fight, then they randomly get reinforcements or one of the characters unleashes a new power and they save the day. It's nonsense.
This is an extremely frustrating anime to watch because the premise is solid, and it could have been a fun warfare focused fantasy show, but instead we get this watered down, rushed, content deprived slop that can't really please anyone.
There's even a harem of big breasted women all fawning over the protagonist, but even that isn't given any development time. It's literally just a bunch of boobs occasionally on the screen making doe eyes at the MC, and then it's back to a random fight scene with no real explanation.
This really doesn't even work as "fast food".
Avoid this anime unless you REALLY want to watch a completely mindless sequence of mediocre battle scenes and a few scantily clothed women doing some fancy magic moves.
musica123
As someone who has read the light novels (LN), all I have to say is....wow, and not in the good way. I've read the, and continue to follow, the light novel and was quite excited when I found out it was going to be animated. That excitement disappeared quite quickly after I was 3 episodes in. Aside from the first episode (which quite thoroughly covered the first chapter), everything is rushed. Obviously when you use up 10 volumes **edit: 5 vols** worth of material and jam it into 13 episodes its not going to look pretty (12 eps in reality cause ep 1 waschapter 1). The overall effect this has on the show is that it feels like your typical, unremarkable series with specks of harem thrown in. In all honesty, with 13 episodes, they should have slowed the pace down and just went up until after the "Roland" arc.
I wouldn't be stretching it if I said that non-LN readers wouldn't really understand what was going on. I wouldn't not recommend this series unless youre a fans who has read the LNs. Even then, i'd still say its worth a watch only if you really want to see "parts" of the series animated. Don't expect too much though, because I was clearly disappointed.
Dragnor123
The light novels are fantastic. The characters, plot, and story line were incredible. The only part that might of lacked a little would be where he temporarily lost his memories but besides that one part everything else was extremely well written and good. As for the anime, in my opinion the art, character design, and basically the entire animation was great but the one big problem I had with the anime was that it was too rushed. Currently there are ten light novels with Madan no Ou to Vanadis and they are by no means short on details or plot and the anime took uphalf the light novels, in other words a total of 5 into a measly 13 episodes. I'm not sure why the animation company who produced Madan no Ou to Vanadis did that but they should of just animated less of the story and plot in those 13 episodes or increased it to a half year broadcast and do around 25 episodes instead. But I guess they might of had money problems or something like that (unless they were just plain idiots but I hope not).
With all that said even though the rush is a problem with the anime everything else was very good. They didn't break off from the original story line like some companies do but followed it very well. The design and animation was also top notch.
I definitely recommend you to add it on your anime to watch list and read the light novels!
Rhysc24
This is a SPOILER FREE review! Well... I have personally enjoyed Madan no Ou to Vanadis from episode 1-13 which I was not really expecting at all and looking back at the overall score on MAL I must say that the anime is pretty UNDERRATED. The "Ecchi" and "Harem" tags of the anime is pretty misleading causing a lot of people to believe that the story is comedic and just like the same conventional one involving one male protagonist who does stupid stuffs that easily cause a lot of girls to go crazy about him and that there must be also a lot of nudity. Ibelieve that a lot of people have watched this series with high fan service expectations but ended up being disappointed thus giving the anime a very low score. So, if you plan to watch this anime with a "fan service" mindset then this show is definitely not for you.
Madan no Ou to Vanadis is certainly a harem anime but it barely focus on this particular element. It has a good plot which could have been even better if there were more material to make it beyond 13 episodes. The story occurs in some sort of medieval period which consist about several armies battling against each other for land and wealth. There are barely any comedy or awkward moments but it is more focused on strategies which are well explained that makes it easier to understand what's happening and what next and obviously action focused with some blood shot.
The story has a lot of strong characters which will surely give you a spoil of choice to chose only one as your favourite. (Mine however is Ludmila Lourie. Cute, beautiful and with a very strong character)
The animation is pretty amazing with great character designs and surrounding environments in high frame rates but I've seen better than that.
The music in the anime are not so medieval but they are REALLY AMAZING and do fit a lot of scenes that makes them really intense.
As said previously, I've really enjoyed this anime and I would really want it to have a second season. So, if you have the intention to watch this anime, I would refrain a lot of you not to judge it by the reviews rating this show with a low score. In fact, just don't read them and watch it and do your own conclusion.
Omnimaniac
This show is a result of the Japanese having sub-par knowledge about European history and culture. If you want to watch for the ecchi or battle harem type stuff then there are better shows to watch out there. Story: The story in itself is piss poor and makes zero sense logically. If you ignore every aspect of the story that doesn't make any sense at all then you can probably find some enjoyment in it. The gist of the story is a count that for some reason isn't acting like a count or have the skills required to be a count is taken prisoner and for someunexplainable reason is let live by his captors. After his county is attacked by a duke within his country for no good reason he sets out to defend his county by killing everyone that oppose him and allying with his captors.
There's also some war maidens that only exist of ecchi purposes.
Vorn says he cares about Alsace, but after the first battle he could either have let Eleonora annexed his territory or called out to the duke ruling over him. He instead join Thenardier and Ganelon in committing treasonous acts, but unlike the two dukes he seems to wonder why he's branded a traitor after allying with the people they just went to war with.
Combat/tactics:
A major part of this show is supposed to be the combat and the tactics in war. However every single strategy that is used could be bested by a 6 year old with relative ease. Against an archer like the main character a large part of the enemy armies decides against helmets and shields, you know the things that could help against arrows for some mysterious reason. There are people carrying around quails with arrows for Vorn in battle, but largely Vorn is useless in battle. The war maidens seem to be the only ones doing work in battles and an honorable mention to Lim as she's the only character that actually seems to command troops.
Have an overwhelming force facing a tiny army? Let's get a couple thousand people killed and subsequently retreat!
A count for some reason not capable of using a sword. Gains magically powerful bow, fuck that shit. Let's just use a normal one instead and do almost nothing.
The best example of showing how stupid the combat is in this series is by using Vorn vs Thenardier. Big man Thenardier knows he's up against some scrawny kid that doesn't wear any armor and only knows how to use a bow. Let's not wear a helmet! Let's not use a shield! Big man Thenardier could have just thrown a fucking javelin at Vorn and he'd be dead unless he used his haxx bow.
Characters:
The women are the classic battle harem/ecchi type in falling for the mc for no real reason other than *plot*.
Nobody gives a shit about the majority of the soldiers
The dukes are conveniently both scheming retards incapable of taking down a single count. If Thenardier had a functioning brain he'd just destroy Alsace when Vorn was jacking off doing some dumb shit for no reason and he'd be destroyed mentally, easy win. Ganelon just comes up with some stupid schemes and does nothing noteworthy.
Vorn is just a dumb and spoiled pos. If not for the war maidens carrying him he'd be dead during his first fight. Arguably less likeable than Kirito which is quite a feat, but at least Kirito had some value in his series, Vorn has none. He has zero redeeming characteristics.
xgunawan
First things first, I want to say that I have read the light novel before I watch this show. So, most things I will review is about the adaptation itself. Despite saying that, I still will try to review the show as an anime though I can’t promise it much. Madan no Ou to Vanadis is a show about a Vorn named Tigrevumurd of a small village name Alsace that is involved in a civil war as a major commander. He asked help from a Vanadis – A warmaiden whose power is said equal to a thousand soldiers – named Eleonora Viltaria from another country.Each of Vanadis wield a supernatural weapon, a Dragonic Tools which has their own specialty. This show follows Tigrevumurd or Tigre’s adventure as he defeat each of his enemies.
Madan no Ou doesn’t has a strong premise for me. A special boy who then involved in a fight and get help from a girl is not a rare premise in nowaday shows. But, what makes Madan no Ou special is how a war and political power plays in the story. You can’t just outplay the enemies in a war by just outnumbering them, history has proved it that tactic and strategy is a deciding factor. I love how the anime shows us the overview of the battle by using a chess-like piece that is put on a map. It is easy to understand the strategy from Tigre and the flow of the battle in a big view by looking at it.
Despite the creativity by using the a chess-like piece to explain the strategy, too bad the story pace is really fast. The battle tide which is quick to change make it worse to follow the story. In additions, the fast pace of the story make it hard to know how the dialog of the character can change the war itself. As I said before, Madan no Ou is special because how politic works there. It is hard to know the political power of each character because of the fast pace dialog and the cut on the material if it’s not bad enough.
I quite like the design of Tigre. Simple is best. On the other hand, Vanadis’ design is quite boring. Though it is good, it can not be said as a great design. The antagonists’ design, like Thenardier or the wizard is actually beyond my expectation, they’re great. The animation on battle is really good, it’s clear where they put all of their budget on. Too bad even with good animation, lazy drawings ruin it all. There are several scene where the characters proportional is not balanced and few drawing where the characters posture is weird, especially on battle scene.
Opening and ending song is really what you’ll expect on an action shows. Both of them are nice, really make the mood to watch and ending the show. Then, we have well-made BGMs which make a really great watching experience. And I have no complain how the voice of each character, the VAs really did a good job.
As I said before, the dialog of each character is too much compressed. As a consequence, I think we won’t know how the nature of each character really well. The interaction feels a little forced because of it. Fortunately, it’s just the nature of the side characters that didn’t come out well. The main characters’’ nature like Tigre, several Vanadis, and Thenardier can be understood to some extent. Interaction and reaction between main characters at least reasonable.
I enjoy this series as a whole. Though a fast pace story really ruins it, I love some other aspects such as how good the soundwork and great animation. I don’t think the anime make this series’ charms come out. Despite how I want you to read the light novel rather than watch it to know the charms of this series, I still recommend this anime to you who love action.
Thanks for reading my review.
ShibaTatsuya20
Nice fantasy-war themed anime. How a count brings stability to a war-torn empire where higher-ups plot devious schemes to attain power is the short summary of this anime. This anime has sort of Fate : Stay Night vibes but here the hero is pretty talented and intelligent. My main issue with the anime is that it's very short and seems rushed. Also, only two to three female heroines are highlighted where we've around 7-10 heroine cast probably due to compressing the anime to mere 13 episodes. And the show creators left out the background story of those powerful weapons and powers that we see in the anime too. Assuch, despite having potential, the anime is betrayed by its own producers who just wanted to mint money rather than portray the story true to its light novel source.😤
Coming to animation, it's so-so. Could've been done better as the anime was released in 2014.🥲
Still, I liked the story, and I hope all echhi-harem-battle anime lovers too will like it.
9/10 from me as I'm partial to the above genres.🙃
MagicSlurpees
I really liked the anime, the tl;dr of this is pretty much: Solid fantasy anime with good characters, good story, excellent music, good animation, and good adaptation quality. Special mentions to the protag as it's the main charm point to this series imo, being that he is an archer, and we don't see enough archer protags, especially as leaders. I did watch the anime before I read the novels, and this review is solely about the anime. It's a very solid medieval fantasy anime revolving mostly around a war campaign led by the main character. Since it's a midieval fantasy though, don't expect elves, dwarves, orcs,etc. though dragons do make appearances of course. Very little magic for the most part, some weapons are enchanted and have special abilities though.
The story is fairly interesting.
For one, the protag, Tigrevurmud, is an archer, which I find really awesome. MCs almost always use some other type of weapon, since other weapon types are generally more proficient at playing a main role, archers are usually a support role. Swords are the general hero type, fists can work too for alpha type guys usually, staves/magic for the strategist type, there are some others, but that's pretty much it. So seeing a bow is really cool for a MC to me. Especially since he's forced to act like a general... using a bow, which is very exceptional. Even though most leaders can use a bow, none to my knowledge use a bow exclusively in any story.
The war campaign story really works and keeps you very interested in how battles play out and where the strategy and the main players make a spot in it. We obviously know the main characters will win in the end because Narrative Causality/Plot Armor, but as usual it's the journey/how they win that matters as opposed to the end.
The pacing is really fast, but I was able to follow even on my first watch what was going on. In my opinion this is probably it's biggest flaw, that the story goes too quickly, it would have made a lot more sense to have the story span 2 cours, but I think the studio did well for what they were trying to accomplish.
Characters are pretty decent in general, I like many of the characters. The anime does strip a fair amount of the character development out of most characters, but protag and heroine still get their fair share. A large part of the story is the development of the protag. It's done alright, as we watch him go from a person who can barely lead 100 men, to someone who leads 20,000.
The other characters are not very fleshed out in the anime, but you can see their general personalities. Again, because of the story's pacing we don't get to see enough of all the characters to really understand many of them.
As for the the music, the freaking music, super fitting for the series and it is really good too, I'm going to have to get the OST if it's available because it's too good. It fits the medieval fantasy feel really well. Not much else I need to say.
I really enjoyed the OP (I listen to it on its own), the ED is meh though. Your mileage may vary.
Animation is alright, nothing spectacular though. Nothing to complain about, and the important scenes were well animated. The art in general is pretty good, especially when drawing the skirmishes between armies.
I personally really enjoyed the anime, enough to subsequently read the light novels and then watch the anime again. Again, the development and story of the protag, and the action of the campaign he leads, is what really makes me enjoy the series.
Overall 8/10, the setting and story are good, with the uniqueness of the archer general being a main sell point of the anime. Characters are okay, but the battles, and how the art and sound help accentuate these in the story, are what do the series good. I think anyone looking for a war-centric medieval story will enjoy this one.
I do want to mention the adaptation quality. I watched the series, read the LN up to where the anime ends, then rewatched it. The adaptation is pretty good, but condensing FIVE volumes into a 1 cour anime is kinda crazy, A LOT of scenes were left out, but nothing that was really mandatory so I think it's a really good adaptation considering what they were dealing with. The first five volumes cover the whole first arc, so it makes sense to condense it into one series.
Nearly all the scenes that were included are accurate, no gecko ending or anything. Things are wrapped up nicely, and if you want to see what other kind of adventures the protag leads, then you can read the LN, but it doesn't leave you off at a point where something big is about to happen, a la NGNL anime.
I think it would have been a better anime if it was 2 cours, as a few of the characters aren't as fleshed out as in the LN, Limlisha in particular. Regardless, I think it's a solid adaptation. Props to Satelight since the goal was clearly to advertise the main series of novels by doing the complete first arc, but either couldn't or didn't want to do a full two cours, perhaps due to budget concerns. I think they managed pretty well considering that.
hoeze
This anime is a special one. Not necessarily in the sense that it does anything in an original fashion but more so in the way it manages to fail being unoriginal. This is pretty impressive in its own right. Now before anything i would just like to say that this anime was most definitely what i would call axed. Now I'm not sure if there planning on having a second season but for now i see no such thing . Therefore for now you should know that a lot of things end up being forgotten and many plot lines just kinda not finishing, maybe leftfor a second season that may never come. Anyways if you're for some reason actually okay with this then lets get on with this extremely serious review to truly analyze this piece of work.
Story - (>- -)>/10
the story is you're run of the mill generic plot line of fantasy world #807. Basically we all know how this goes. in the beginning the main character the duke of some nothing town gets captured and taken prisoner prisoner by the main heroin. Then things happen and they team up for a reason that will be revealed in the worst plot twist that ever happening ever. Then as our understanding of everything slowly becomes less and less we are introduced to a million plot lines happen that never get wrapped up and by this point nobody cares. "Oh but wait, isn't this a harem who cares about story i want to watch my 30 yr old virgin fantasies unfold" well as a 30 yr old virgin in the making (soon i shall ascend to that title) i can tell you that somehow this anime fails in the concept of gathering multiple personality less woman in one place to dote on our main character for no reason. However this doting rarely ever happens and it doesn't even get past blushing. Hell it doesn't even live up to the term ecchi because we get about 2 naked scenes that leave me and my penis with nothing but confusion for we are conditioned to be prepared to be aroused by ecchi scenes yet clearly this is the concept of arousing that a 10 year old child came up with when his friends told him to search up yorick on google because showing naked woman standing around doing nothing is not arousing its actually quite tedious and boring. But then this is also an action anime so maybe that can hold this anime up ... HA
Art/ Animation - (>;_;)>/10
So this takes the Utawarerumono approach of having a strategic take on things. Something to notice quickly is that a lot of the things that happen in battles are done with narration... "Well hey at least the strategies are cool and unique" someone cried in the distance. They found him the next day eaten by dogs. Then we have the fight scenes. Some might call them this I would call them fight power point presentations. In a real life fight scene lazy directors usually show the windup and then the reaction leaving out the part where the attack actually hits the person. This doesn't even show the reaction a lot of the time... we are just left to assume for all we know the character could be slashing a rock, a tree, or maybe the animators themselves. Otherwise there is nothing remotely interesting about the fights and not a single one is worth watching and when you have fight scenes with no fighting your left with... fight nothings... XDXDXDXDXD im going to go kill myself
Sound - (opens window)/10
Characters - (prepares to jump)/10
Wait wait wait. I'm being to hard on myself. If I die my amazing speeling and grammer and informative anime reviewing abilities go with me. So let's see characters. They existed, i guess. Umm well let's see there was the main character a generally emotionless nothing whose only goal was to have a goal then there were the females. In most harem reviews I would say their only goal was to get in the main characters pants. However none of these characters actually had this goal, hence why this failed as a harem so really what were there goals. Well ummm... to get as many soldiers killed for as little reason as possible... I guess.
Enjoyment - /10
I'm tired. It's pretty late right now. I should probably go take a shower.
Overall - would strongly recommend/10
DScribe492
With every genre there is a piece that serves as the marker for rock bottom. If people could say that your piece is worse than that, then you are the new rock bottom. I say this because when it comes to the harem genre, this show is that marker. Which sucks too because there was a lot, and I mean a lot, of potential here. So let's rip this apart piece by piece. Story: 1 Yes, this is literally the worst part about it. A brief summary is that a count goes to war and is captured and now must ally with his capturers to save hishomeland. The only reason that she agrees is because she likes him. Yea, digging deep for motives there. The bigger picture of the whole war he starts to save his people is so that he can reveal the villian, which is a duke in the kingdom his homeland is also apart of, as the villian he is. OK, there is some merit to it, but everyone he talks to already knows this so...... Like I said, there was a lot of potential when it comes to the plot since it set up a nice background for a really good story and chose to not only be uninteresting but a rushed mess as well as a confused one as well. There is a third of the show that stops focusing on the main objective and turns its head to a side plot that goes NO WHERE.
This show does depict war and and medievil combat strategy but this is bare minimum stuff. They bring in dragons just to have them killed in the same episode they do battle. THEY MADE DRAGONS LOOK LIKE PUSSIES.
But the plot can be forgiven if the harem part is good, right? I mean the genre is beasically set up to mean that the plot is neglectable as long as the characters are plentiful and the ecchi is plentiful, right?......... Well they managed to fuck that up too. But i will get into that later. In summary THE PLOT REALLY SUCKS and it's a damn shame since it had promise.
Art and Sound: 6 and 5
The only positive is that the opening is fucking amazing. Will probably be the saving grace to get you through each episode. The ending isn't bad either but since i was trying to just finish the show as quick as possible, I opted to skip it and just move on. Everything else on the OST is pretty forgetable. Voice acting is a range from decent to painful. The main character, Tigre (Tee-gra), sounds fine for example but the narrator whose role is to explain battles or different happenings almost hurts to listen too. Which leads to how the art of it is. While the background locations are nice to look at, they serve as 90% of the setting by staging all the battle is nothing but plains. Then there is the 3D animation. Fucking fire the team who thought those looked good. Entire armies would be 3D rendered and then shown up close. Or when the shows tries to explain a battle or character's tactics and switch to a battle ground map, it uses 3D, chess piece-like models to move around. This also the point where the narrator gets to keep talking. But trust me when I say this is the peak of the positives for this show.
Characters: 3
Remind me why the harem genre exist again? Isn't it to have a large cast of women fauning over a single male lead? With each trying to get closer than the other girls? Yea? Well then somebody explain to me why the total cast of said girls totals to 2 and the second one doesn't do so till two thirds of the show? And it's not like these people are anything worth while. Take our main lead Tigre. He is a count of a rural province who is a man of the people as well as a sniper with a bow and arrow. We known that he had a father but apparently he didn't leave much of an impression since he only looks back on one statement that he made and it took another character to remind him about it. Or the first harem girl, Elen. She only likes him for his skill with a bow. Say so herself in the first episode. These people are one dimensional to the point of being laughable. The supporting cast don't favor any better as they are literally plot devices.
Oh so you will also notice something really weird too. So this story world consists of seven war maidens. They do explain that these are maidens who are chosen by dragon gear to wield said gear. Beyond this they don't explain any further. But you will notice that they show you who all seven are at one point but you never see the main character come in contact with one of them. They are said to be lost and not seen for a long while. Why introduce her then. Three of the other war maidens kind of just appear for an episode or two, two of which are for another side plot that has nothing to do with the main goal or story, the other is just there.
All in all, they fucked this up too.
Enjoyment: 3
This was a hard watch since my brain kept telling me that there no saving this show but I kept at it to at least make sure it was a full blown fuck up. Again it had promise and a lot of it, but this is unacceptable levels of bad. I laughed a few times but just because of things I shouldn't of found funny. This is literally the rock bottom marker for the harem genre. The harem that wasn't there and left you feeling like they were only capable of being friends anyways.
Overall: 3
Ferria
Before I start, I am reviewing this personally as the anime itself, with no comparison to it's former adaption whatsoever; Light Novel etc I actually had this on hold for a short moment before freeing up some time to watch it, not a fan of extreme fan service or ecchi in every episode, assuming it had a lot of unneeded content. The beginning started off simple with Vorn appearing immediately then seemingly looking like the typical useless Hero playing cool and trying to aim an arrow at a War Maiden, who obviously destroys the arrow. That's how they met, she wanted him as her "slave/prisoner". Skip the boringparts, I actually enjoyed each episode. If you're a fan of strategy and medieval wars mixed with a little (very little) bit of fantasy with dragons, you probably may like this as it's a short and simple series.
It wasn't filled with a load of boring talk but a lot of action, with some ice breakers. The battles were crystal but somehow cut short. A 14 year old boy who is a mastermind in war strategies with special hidden powers after inheriting and picking up his family bow, accompanied by a Wind War Maiden. Easy win.
Only thing I disliked about the series is that she barely explained the history of the War Maidens and paid NO attention to having them appear in several openings throughout all the 13 episodes.
Two maidens were given the spotlight, one episodes showed a weak and sickly maiden, three episodes showed a maiden used as a messenger, two episodes with barely 1 minute appearance of a maiden with a scythe and one episode with a bi-coloured eyed maiden fighting the wind maiden (Heroine)
... Needless to say, just watch it as it is.
I wonder if they will come up with a second season for this though very unlikely since the ending seemed like the Hero, Vorn would someday become King, and obviously would gain the favour of the people, his knights and the maidens.
Whatever happened to the Duke who left on a ship and was familiar with the maiden Valentina?
What about the Prime Minister who seemed uncomfortable with Vorn being given the title Knight of the Moonlight to which anyone given the title has the authority to become the next Ruler of the country.
It seemed like a fair enough closure, leaving viewers assuming that he will be the next King, maybe marrying the Princess with the War Maidens by his side.
AnimeEnjoyer420
Recommendation: Must watch for fans of trashy fantasy action harem shows. Others can probably take or leave it, but it's action packed and doesn't take itself too seriously, so it can be a fun time for anyone. This is a show that presents itself as garbage and delivers exactly that. Please understand that I don't mean that in a negative way at all. Not everything can be brilliant and deep and critically acclaimed. Sometimes you just want to watch waifus chop dragons in half with a big sword, you know? This is a show that's just fun to watch and isn'toverly serious.
The thing that makes this series unique compared to other harem action fantasy garbage is a tactical map of the battles that pops up to explain what's happening at important moments. It seems like a small addition, but it makes the battles so much more dynamic, and they feel more like real battles, with generals winning through tactical maneuvering more than the typical anime battles where the 2 leaders square off to determine the outcome and the other soldiers may as well not even exist. There is also a surprising amount of realism in the way it treats the political and economic aspect of the show's world, with asides about highways through the mountains and how they could transform the entire continent and that sort of thing. It's not exactly Game of Thrones, it can't be in 13 episodes, but it has far more depth than you would expect from a show like this.
The characters aren't particularly deep, they don't really have time to develop with so much of the runtime devoted to action scenes, but they're good and entertaining for what they are. It's got all your typical harem tropes, the devoted childhood friend, the tsundere, the meek and mild rescuee, and so on. The main girl, Elen, is the most interesting and unique of the group. The romance element is pretty downplayed overall, the girls occasionally display affection for Tigre openly but its not reciprocated. The girls are mostly there to either kick ass or be saved by Tigre, not to do romance scenes.
The two complaints I would have are that the CGI sometimes looks bad, and the series leans unnecessarily on lazy ecchi bits like the accidental titty grab for "humor". It would've been far better without that, or at least with something that was actually creative or funny or even mildly erotic compared to that same tired shit you see in every ecchi series.
There are of course more complaints you could make about this series than just that, but if you're judging it on its own terms, it's one of the better examples of this sort of show. It's fun and it delivers exactly the sort of entertainment you'd expect from the previews and synopsis.
Agent_Redacted
Despite it's mediocrity, Madan no Ou to Vanadis is unarguably one of the best Ecchi shows I have ever seen due to it not showing an excess of fanservice. Though the fanservices are obviously over the top as that's how it works. I felt as if this show didn't really want us to focus on the fanservices and more to its mediocre story. Hence making it quite interesting and unique as most of the Ecchi shows I've seen always overload me with fanservice and it makes me feel disgusted. There's only one way to improve this show - make season 2. The ending was unsatisfyingand was a cliffhanger. Honestly, 13 episodes ain't gonna cut it lads. I need more until you actually end it well.
Overall Madan no Ou to Vanadis was pretty cool. I actually had fun watching 90% of the show ( 10% is the last episode ) and I hope they will make a second season for this.
P.S. Incredible Opening. Never skipped it once. Also a bit disappointed that it's impossible for this show to be 10/10 as it took me weeks to complete. Also a bit more disappointed as my streak got broken. Well. Whatever.
Joby05
Summary: This is a fairly typical fantasy anime except that it adds in quite a bit of large scale war and political elements that IMO only detract and generally confuse. It has excellent art and solid sound and characters, but the story is a bit confusing and I found it fairly boring and long winded, even though it only had a single season. One thing I found weird is that it is classified as ecchi/harem but that is mostly not the case. There is very little nudity (if any full topless nudity) and though there is a bit of a love interest between the MCand a few of the war maidens, that isn't really the focus of the story. I guess in that regard it is good, it definitely lets it story shine through, the problem is again that said story is a bit convoluted and boring. Plus there were some elements introduced that weren't followed through on, though my bet was they were at least slightly hopeful for a second season. That said, the story wraps up fairly nicely (though there is definitely room for a sequel) so I feel far less burned than I do during most anime that are cancelled in the middle of the story. I recommend this if you like large scale battles and political strategy in your fantasy anime, but if you're looking for something brainless to sit back and enjoy this might not be your thing.
Story: 6/10
The story is solid, but it is just too confusing at times. There were too many places in the world and I didn't really follow the significance of each, so I felt like some of the overarching plots were going over my heart. The micro story isn't too tough, you have war maidens and the MC and they fight a battle to save MC's homeland, but the issue is they go so many places and fight lots of battles and I'm not sure who a lot of the people are and if they are newly introduced or if I should know who they are. It had an ending that, although it was definitely setup for a second season, did a good job of concluding the story.
Art: 9/10
This is pretty typical high quality art. Character designs were excellent, all of the girls had excellent "plot points" and everything was drawn well. The large scale battles used a bit of CG which was fairly seamless and done well. There was a good mix of light and dark and the vibrant mix of colors really made this anime pop.
Sound: 8/10
A strong soundtrack. The opening and ending these were both very good. The music didn't stand out but it did its job well. There were at least a few songs from the OST that I found enjoyable enough to get, which doesn't happen all that often. Also, the fight scene sounds were high quality.
Character: 7/10
The main characters were likable, if not a bit tropish. You had the tough girl (harem lead), the tough girls friend/rival who wants MC as well, MC's childhood friend (who happens to be a maid), MC has a heart of gold and just wants to do the right thing, MC has a childhood advisor who means a lot to him... there are a lot of the bases covered. That said, the characters were developed fairly well, if not a little bit shallow. I guess they were planning some interesting character development for the second season (which explains why some of the development was stunted a bit) but I guess we'll never know.
Enjoyment: 6/10
This is where the story lacked. I normally watch an anime every 3-4 days but this one took me nearly 2 weeks. I could only watch it 1/2 to 1 episode at a time because of the long and sometimes boring story. The politics and maps and confusing amount of side characters could be a bit frustrating. This reminds me of "Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu" except what it would have been like if it handled the politics and huge amount of characters in a not so good way.
Overall: 7/10
This anime had a lot to offer. Excellent character design and art, solid sound track and likable characters. If it had shied a bit away from the politics and maps of the land and stuck more to character development and story it might have been a bigger hit for me. That said, if politics and large scale battles are your thing, you might really like this. Plus, really this is just an advertisement for the LN which I've heard is pretty good, so I guess this has accomplished its goal.
SucsubaG
Man I feel like I'm the only one annoyed with how overpowered the main character and that princess are. I don't care how bad of a person Zion was, it sucks when they write characters that are op and never lose. It's to the point where I don't like the main characters. With what i have watched the best shows are where the main characters lose fights. They struggle with personal loss that ends up making the viewer wonder "How can they possible come back from this?" This show doesn't have that with what i have seen so far. True the main character is nowa slave but he is only one in title. He can still wander around free within the kingdom which is doesn't convey the feeling of loss as well as it should. Overall i think that the main characters and the "War Maidens" are to op which makes the shows story and character development suffer.
