Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle

Hitsugi no Chaika is a show of peculiar nature, one based on a fantasy premise but is able to explore in depth of its potentials. The sequel, Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle wastes no time as it returns with our trio of adventurers. For those who have seen the first season, then it should be known that Chaika, Toru, and Akari are still on their quest to find Emperor Gaz’s remains. But throughout that journey, conflicts arise and dangers lurk in the shadow for the group to deal with. From this sequel, we learn more about their world, characters, and secrets that may invoke more than just a SHOCKING TRUTH. As a sequel, it’s advised to watch the first season especially since this continuation doesn’t recap events. Nonetheless, new events happen which breaks down the barrier of normalcy. While the show still focuses on our main characters, it also doesn’t miss the opportunity to give other characters insight as well whether it’s Red Chaika’s group, the Gillet Corps, or even King Gaz himself. And like a race to win a game, Toru’s group faces competition in collecting the remains. This is where the fun pours in as we see how far they go to get the job done. One thing that the show has been good at doing is evoking entertainment through humor and gimmicks. Rather than just shock value or overly extended fan service, the show cracks jokes between characters at proper timings. This includes scenes relating to the characters or battles. Because let’s face it, without some comedy, the show would end up to become a chore and too straightforward to watch. However, Hitsugi no Chaika seizes every opportunity at the right time to inspire laughter in a good sense. The overlay of the story is irrefutably crafted by realizing the setting of its world. In this sequel, we learn more about some of the origins and secrets that unfold when our heroes journey to a mysterious place like never before. What’s more interesting about these secrets is that it also brings question to Chaika’s ultimate goal. While the info dump can be a lot to take in at once, it also makes the show more interesting as we see how the protagonists deal with their newfound knowledge. Of course, the show doesn’t stop to focus on backstories and deliver action-packed moments to keep up with the momentum. It unites themes and buildup to bring about a story unfolded with revelations while mixing in humor at once. Although it sounds hard to accomplish, I would say that the sequel definitely played its cards right. At its best, the story works like a charm as a gift for what fans expect to see. A decent balance of the pacing is also evident throughout the sequel. While the show has both heavy info dumping and action scenarios, it also makes time to characterize the cast. Although there’s not much change to their persona, it’s easy to see how they fit with the story with credibility. Not only that but new characters introduced also gets their own memorable spotlights. The problem that does occur on occasions is how some parts feel less inclined to fit in with the pacing. However, it’s also simple to see how far the show goes to create a feeling of connection between certain characters. Even enemies can become comrades when the situations calls for it and gives the audience a glimpse at the true nature of our characters. We also can’t forget about the humorous exchange between certain characters such as Toru and Akari. Chaika’s broken speech continues to be a device for amusement. In contrast, characters suffering from their own issues such as Vivi also creates tension and compelling emotions. The endgame here is that characters aren’t just there to fight like chess pieces but all fit together like a puzzle with impressive fashion. As the show is called Avenging Battles, the sequel doesn’t neglect action scenes. Whether it’s competitions, training sessions, or fighting for survival, the series pulls out the right combinations for what’s trying to accomplish. Every battle has a mix in of intensity, strategy, and humor. It’s important to mix in these together or otherwise, fighting can become quite stale when it’s all straightforward. It also gets violent too with the blood spilling, limps severed, and deaths that actually occur without teasing. Viewers who are familiar with the first season should already expect this with some of the abilities of our main characters. What never ceases to be noticeable still is Chaika’s Gundo Sniper Rifle. Even though the weapon is about half her size, she uses it with great skill complete with ridiculously long spell incantations. Be rest assured though as the action never dies down by its pacing and is crafted with unique attributes that stand out for itself. Despite the refreshing story, Hitsugi no Chaika isn’t without flaws. Namely the story, there’s pitfall of fast resolutions when it comes down to the way it concludes certain episodes. Rush would be one word to describe such resolutions. Not only that but the villains involved in them are stereotypical whom are saturated with clichés and generic motivations. Mad scientists, corrupt political figures, and experimental species aren’t new to the anime world. Neither too are mysterious girls with odd-looking eyes. The point is that some of these villains aren’t very compelling or interesting at all. To put it simply, they are just there to move the plot forward as devices with little focus on their characterization. Furthermore, the comedy can be a mixed bag for some people. It can feel repulsive at times with the same repetitive jokes between characters. Bones return as the animation studio to adapt this series and to say the least, they are impressive on the visuals frontier. Characters are crafted well with fantasy tropes such as the case of Francesca, demi-humans, and experimental beasts. Weaponry also offer a variety of factors with relevance. Like I mentioned before, the action scenes are coordinated with strong degrees of fluent movements. It’s rapid and takes away your breath when witnessing it with your own eyes. Furthermore, the fantasy lands of the sequel exploits new places that are memorable. Fan service remains minimal as the show concentrates more on plot rather than exposition of fulfillment. Soundtrack remains adequate although it doesn’t change much from the first season. We do get new OP and ED songs that retains a similar style compared to the first season. Nonetheless, the OST and character voice mannerisms stand out the most. Unfortunately, some of the new characters can be easily forgotten and only returning cast steals most of the show such as Red Chaika, Francesca, etc. To put it simply, the soundtrack is decent but nothing earth shattering with their voice mannerisms. Consider this series as a gift for the fans as the show adapts further into our heroes’ quest in an unknown world. What started out as a journey to collect pieces to a puzzle has become a complicated labyrinth of mysteries forged by origins of the characters. While the show doesn’t escape the usual generics with its stereotypical archetypes, it does compel to a more refreshing premise backed up with insightful characters. The intersecting arcs puts characters at angles where viewers can anticipate what will happen. And along with plot twists, there will be moments when you feel as though the show is hiding even more. While pulling off all the risks, this sequel is a must-see not just for fans of the first season but also anyone who is interested in a journey of enthralling fantasy.

Every once in a while you stumble upon gems amid a sea of plain, gray stones, and to me, Hitsugi no Chaika was one of them. While it was nowhere close to being a masterpiece, Chaika explores certain themes and original ideas that few anime are able to. This action-adventure flick can get a little boring sometimes, but certainly pays off towards the end. TL;DR Story: 7/10 Art: 8/10 Sound: 10/10 Character: 6/10 Enjoyment: 7/10 Overall: 7/10 (rounded down from 7.25) Good points: + Adorable main moe lead (Chaika) + Great action & fighting scenes with myriad of magical abilities + Huge set of varied and interesting supporting characters + Significant plot twists throughout development + Excellent OP and ED themes + Great animation + Good main antagonist (Gaz) + Good resolution Bad points: - Disappointing male and female leads (Toru and Akari) - Plot development is a bit slow and can be draggy at times - Some plot holes especially in S2 - Dialogue may seem too repetitive in nature Story: 7/10 Chaika is set in a world where technology and magic co-exist, or rather where magic is seen as technology and "progressive" in nature. Also, there exists beasts and hostile creatures called Fayla with magical powers that have been studied to research into magic. While the origins and source of said magic research is not shown, the plot does keep to these believable assumptions and does not deviate from the laws it itself creates. (+1 for believable assumptions) The story is split into 3 main arcs spanning across two seasons. The first, being the "remains gathering" arc, the second being the "Niva Lada arc", and the third and final one being the "Martial Arts Tournament arc". The story starts off with Toru rescuing Chaika from some hostile Fayla, and already you know you're watching an action flick. It doesn't take long for the audience to realize that Chaika is completely clueless, knowing nothing save for the fact that she wants to collect her father, Emperor Gaz's, remains. Toru and Akari are then hired by her and thus begins a long journey of collecting said remains throughout the first half of series (up to Avenging Battle). Apparently, we are told multiple times, as if the writers were afraid we'd forget, that Emperor Gaz's remains contain great magical power and we constantly get the feeling that Chaika should be looking more into her lost memories and that as they collect more and more remains, that they are making a mistake and are inadvertently going to bring disaster somehow. (+1 for interest) The story alludes to this by the introduction of Guy, a mysterious informant who does nothing but conveniently tell them where the remains are, yet answers none of their questions as to why Chaika is gathering remains. Chaika's reason was for "Father's funeral". Also, from the beginning we are introduced to the Gilette squad, whom we already get the feeling from their general aesthetic that they are protagonists alongside Chaika, despite them seemingly trying to stop White Chaika's group from gathering more remains, with the goal of "averting disaster" or the coming of another war. This same idea that the remains could start another war gets constantly repeated and perpetuated that it would come to no surprise that it would indeed start another war - the only question remaining is how it would do so. The Gilette squad though, while only being supporting cast, actually plays a huge role in this plot. They managed to uncover the secret of Gaz's empire from rumours heard by townspeople who saw large fortresses flying around many years ago. They were also instrumental in helping White Chaika and her gang multiple times along the way. When we hit halfway into the first season, we get introduced to Red Chaika, who's completely different from our White Chaika, but who's also after the emperor's remains, just for a different purpose - Revenge. And that's where things start to get interesting. The story thrusts us into a realm where many things could be possible, and succeeds in making the audience curious beyond measure, asking questions like "Why are there so many Chaikas collecting remains?" and "Who's orchestrating all this?" but it continues to keep us in constant suspense. Towards the end of the first season, there's also the introduction of another Blue Chaika, one who gave up completely on her mission of finding remains after finding out the truth that she was just a tool. She instead decides to help two fools in a quest to start a war by killing innocent girls for their memories as a form of magic fuel for flying fortress Soara. After the destruction of Soara, Vivi from the Gilette team turns into a Chaika herself, making the audience even more startled. Meanwhile, aside from the trio's adventures, there are also multiple scenes of The Alliance of Six Nations discussing whether or not they should take military action against a certain party, and this discussion kind of goes on and on throughout the anime, and even though no decision can ever be reached, most of the parties simply take independent action and launch their flying fortresses anyway - hence completely making every one of these scenes irrelevant, save for Konrad's updates to the Gilette Team. Most of the first arc felt rather slow and repetitive, it was all about infiltrating some location, housed by some hero who defeated Emperor Gaz 5 years ago, and this hero took one of his body parts as a reward. After getting the remains and the trio would, every single time, question themselves as to why they are getting remains in the first place - to which Toru will always answer "Let's just do it because we can." Things start to clear up when we hit the second season, in the second arc, when White Chaika gets word from Guy to get her "father's fortune" on a secret island off a coast. As revelation upon revelation about her own past occurs, first from the Kraken Fayla who told her about her use as merely a tool to collect the remains and unlock a "destiny", and second from Iszmash, the wizard who carried out Gaz's dying wishes in creating a super powerful Gundo (magic weapon) - called Niva Lada. (+1 for plot development) At this point of the story, it also begins to explore themes on whether Chaika was merely a "tool", akin to Niva Lada's role, in the story. Throughout the anime Chaika has been performing a role as a tool, and eventually, is revealed to simply be the "magic" that Gaz himself created to revive himself, but at the same time we can see that Chaika is more than that - despite being young and innocent, she has a personality, stubborn and all, and so does Niva Lada, and this autonomous nature of personality becomes a key driver of the plot, though it's a pity it only appears in the last episode. (+1 for depth) Already we start to see snippets of how the anime is going end, and in the final arc, the Chaikas begin to gather at the principality of Hartgen, where it seems to be all part of a Black Chaika's plan to get all the remains at one place. After some long action, fighting and random duels, the Black Chaika finally managed to blackmail / steal from all the other Chaikas to finally get a hold of all the remains. At first, we are inclined to think that Hartgen was the perpetrator, but the plot gives a twist again - that it was instead Gaz who had all along planned his reincarnation. (+1 for plot twist) Then again, this twist was very well substantiated because honestly there were clues littered throughout the entire anime, and for the simple fact that gathering a magician's body parts together in one place was obviously going to revive him. Anyway, Gaz reincarnates and is able to acquire this huge source of magic power, and with Niva Lada in his hands, looks basically unstoppable. Specifically, the reveal of his pre-made satellite technology used for gathering feelings of people for magic fuel, was very ingenious, original and breathtaking to watch. (+1 for originality) Toru goes on a…

Ha ha! man! this show got even more awesome! The animation along with the intense amount of action was almost flawless! Thrilling! exciting, I mean the overall quality increased, and you can tell that the animators had themselves a jolly good time working on season 2. There were so many things that I liked first one being that the main story is finally a clear as to who or what Chaika's are. Along with the main story that back-story that I've wanted has finally been explained too! because there were a few more questions I had as to why there were so many chaika's and honestly it started to ruin my experiences however after getting the explaining I'm okay with it. The story was so interesting to the point where I marathon-ed both seasons 1 and 2 via Crunchyroll and knocked both of my reviews out today! that's how great it was. The amount of action is the strong point of this series. There should be no disagreement with this. It's like everything comes down to this finally conclusion where both Chaika's and squad has to complete their goal or fulfill their purpose. Now, biggest problem I had with Season 2 was that there were way too many damn Chaika's. It really got annoying after some times. I mean I know it's part of the story and all but there is a limit to how many of the same characters I can take. After more than 3 were confirmed I was saying to myself "oh god dammit all." The ending was okay, I'm not going to spoil it but it is a bit of a cliffhanger... kind of. One thing I said in an earlier review that I thing I now regret is saying that Chaika's speech pattern is annoying. Once I got used to her, her speech became really cute! CHAIKA WANT, SEASON 3, NOW! I'd also like to take back the comment about her seiyuu too... my bad. Moving along from those comments, my comments etc. With this seasons, I liked seeing new characters, that weren't Chaika just thought I'd add that again. Because while most of them were not of significant importance to the story, they still provided enough entertainment for me to enjoy. Examples of course the tournament on episode 7 and onward to final boss. Moving on finally to the soundtrack it was pretty nice. I said and keep to my word that the music helps improve the dramatic battle sequences. The OP and ED songs were not that interesting to me. I didn't r Really care for the songs again this season. So I don't have too much to add on that setting. Enjoyment 10/10 I love watching shows that keep me entertained more than keep me waiting. Some shows that I like will let drama build and build then deliver its good. However Chaika it's almost nonstop in your face action.. Gosh the last sentences sound kind of lewd, don't they? Hmm anyway Overall I have to give Season 2 8/10 because it was phenomenal in many ways!

I waited till the whole anime was over. Warning! It may contain spoilers. I try not to. The anime is done now. I don't know about the manga. I was pleased by the first season and more excited by the second season. The story was good through the whole season except the last episode. It felt like easily done, we don't have the time to make it perfect. But still the rest of the anime make it all a good fit. I wished to see more of the battles for the remains of the emperor. The characters where nice. I wished to see a lot more Chaikas around the anime instead only the last episodes. The story contains only the white Chaika and sometimes the red Chaika. But through the story you hear that there is a lot of Chaikas. So why only those 2 mainly and the black one with her puppets in the end? A little dissepointed though. The other characters where avarange. The Gillette Sqaud was on 3 people a little in detailed. I am talking about Gillette ofcourse, Vivi and Stora. The others of the sqaud you know the names and that is basically it. Toru, Fredirika, Chaika and Akari was where the anime was over. You know them good at the end. You know what they were going to do. Like I said. I like the anime. That's why Enjoyment is a 9. Story is an 8. Character ( Toru, Fredirika, Chaika and Akari) also an 8. Art was very normal so but still okay same as sound both a 7. Overall it is still an 8. I would recommend this anime. If you love an adventure, some weird humor, a dragon and magic. And that you are okay with pieces of the human body.

(This has been adapted from my reddit thread) A famous piece of music contains the line, "War, what is it good for?" And the response is, "Absolutely nothing." War brings about destruction, famine, despair, and global bloodshed. While not technically nothing, it's definitely something that shouldn't be desired. Yet, for some people, war, or to a lesser degree, violence, is just in the nature of their hearts. Some describe war as an inevitability, while others still attempt to thwart such onslaughts. Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle is a mix of the two ideas, a mix that is a significant step down from the original season. STORY Avenging Battle continues where Hitsugi no Chaika left off. Toru, Akari, and (of course) Chaika are still looking for the remaining body pieces of Emperor Gaz, Chaika's father, in order to fulfill Chaika's wish of providing him a proper funeral. The first season did a lot of things right: an intriguing world, fun cast of characters, and a journey with a seemingly peaceful end-goal in mind. For all intents and purposes, the second season is no different. It's more of the same cast doing what they can to achieve Chaika's dream. However, whether it be the journey coming to an end or the rather strange plot points, it just doesn't feel quite the same. The narrative mostly jumps between differing locations in order to provide us with new information in order to make the story seem coherent. That is, instead of Toru and Akari investigating this world and getting to the bottom of the mystery, they are sort of forced to just "go with the flow." This "flow" is quite choppy. Many of the plot points that occur are either left unexplained or never seem to hold much substance: Gaz's fortune, Guy's omnipresence, Vivi's transformation, etc. Now, the argument here is that most of it can just be attributed to "magic," but that's a rather contrived excuse to avoid providing reason to many of the occurrences. Much of the fault lies with the abysmal ending. Where the majority of the show leaves things unexplained, the conclusion leaves many open-ended areas. This includes for many of the characters as well as the story as a whole. Perhaps the idea is to continue with an OVA or movie of some sort, but as it stands, this season is entirely incomplete. Trying to dig deeper, and linking back to my introduction, the show tries to look at the idea behind war and whether or not it can be prevented. To an extent, it does this moderately well. Overall, Chaika is a story about war. It's effect on society, the environment, and on the future of the people involved. The show's answer to stopping violence is with more violence, and while that may seem silly, it works. While people may want or wish for violence to just up and stop with peaceful protest all of the time, there are instances when resorting to such measures is unfortunately necessary. Avenging Battle provides such a setting to demonstrate this idea, and while the inconsistent story telling tends to get in the way, this idea is not lost in the process. ANIMATION Avenging Battle maintains the same art style that was employed by its first season. The character designs themselves are generally well thought out, with each of the Chaikas having a particular allure to them due to their hair and personal coloring. Toru, Akari, Frederica, and the rest of the cast are also unique enough to be distinguishable. Of note are the settings involved. Invisible, off-shore islands, a foreboding castle, and local towns provide great fantasy locations that lend to the overall atmosphere. Finally, the actual animation involved is usually above average. The fights are easy to follow during duels, there exist both large and small scale battles, long-range skirmishes, and air-raids. In other words, there is no shortage of opportunities for the anime to show off its animation skills. CHARACTERS This time around, Avenging Battle sadly foregoes character development in order to focus on the story, and since the story became a mess, the characters are incapable of picking up the slack. Perhaps it's best to start with Toru and Akari. At this point, we know who they are: Toru is level-headed and looking to perform his job to the best of his ability, while Akari is trying to find the inside of her brother's pants rather than trying to find the next Gaz piece. As they are, they're fun people. Akari is more or less relegated to the sidelines this time around, which I can forgive. However, Toru is placed in a strange spot. His wishy-washy feelings toward Chaika and his general lack of emotion are never given an opportunity to flourish. He is literally just there to be Chaika's guard rather than become someone interesting. One of the biggest disappointments comes from the final antagonist, who is not too terribly hard to guess. The build-up his immense, and the pay-off is extremely lackluster. Around for less than a single episode, his purpose is to present the message talked about earlier, that war is a cycle that will never truly end. The issue with him is that he is way too much of a final boss. Beyond over-powered, his capabilities as a person were beyond anything the show had to offer. And his quick defeat has zero impact because of his lack of presence. This is odd, considering his "presence" throughout both seasons. But this almost had to happen when considering his aforementioned powers; he is so strong that if not dealt with immediately there would literally be no more Chaika. Finally, and since her name has been mentioned enough already, Chaika at least tries to support the cast. Per usual, her broken speech pattern, bright whiteness, and gundo are back. One thing that is missing, however, is the cute Chaika of old. This is mainly due in part to the tonal shift of the show going from adventurous to arduous. The show becomes more serious, and with that, Chaika loses part of her charm. Part of her development for this final season was to have her come to the realization of who she actually is, since that was a rather important question and has been for a long time. Such questions are finally answered, and for a time it seems as if Chaika learns and grows from the revelation. However, the show doesn't really allude back to such facts, and when it does, it seems as if Chaika actually hasn't developed at all, maintaining the same reaction and shock from the first time. Even right up until the end, the idea of who she is as a person isn't looked at with enough light to warrant her a well thought-out character, which is a huge disappointment considering everything she's been through. SOUND The OP has the same feeling as its season one counterpart, with the vocals and hard guitar taking the lead. The song gets considerably better when it picks up at around the half-way point, and ends on both a literal and figurative high note. As with the OP, the ED pays homage to the first season. The soft singing and ambient instruments give an eerie tone that fits nicely with the atmosphere of what goes on within the anime. It is also quite catchy in certain sections. Both the OP and ED, however, are okay at best and are really not standalone pieces. Oddly, I find the soundtrack to be stronger than the OP and ED. Of special note is the fast-paced, stepping piece that usually plays during tense fight scenes. It makes the viewer feel that much more engaged with what is occurring on-screen. As for voice acting, Chika Anzai (yes, not "Chaika") performs nicely as Chaika once more, giving her the iconic voice and speech we all know about her today. ENJOYMENT The anime itself had to make a tough choice, and that was deciding to split up the content into two separate seasons. The way it all goes down, I believe that this was an incorrect decision. The ending is rather lame and what goes on in the middle is too grandiose or nonsensical to work. Only the beginning arc of the second season felt like it belonged. There we had nic…

Hello everyone! I was expecting much from this season of Chaika, after I finished watching the first season expecting much from the second and was great. The story of getting the remains of the parents has been fine integrante, namely because they had other Chaikas, the battles, music (the opening fabulous), well designed characters, I love Fredrica :3 ,and art make this anime in my opinion one the best of 2014. I would have given it a 10/10 but I feel that some things were in the air (must watch the anime and you will realize) and just 10 chapters seemed a final very forced. 9/10 Recommended 100% thank you for reading!!!

Anime...Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle....now finish, man I'm speaking like Yoda, here, anyways the season 2 is finally over and for that I'm gonna make my review. Story What we have is basically a continuation of the previous season where a Chaika finally accomplishes her mission....of course it was in a indirect situation where she has to fight to gain possession of Arthur Gaz's parts and like any quest it has to end. What I like about the story of this anime is how she keep her goal to bury his father's remains which of course it ended in a very good climax despite of the rush, and oh when she did say "bury".....well it doesn't always mean that has to be on the ground, it can sometime be by fire. Ok, so it was rushed, who cares? as long as we see Arthur Gaz's demise and to me, its an 8 for the story. Art Tbh, I just have nothing to say about the art of this anime, in fact I don't even care if the cast would wearing school uniforms. I'm just after the content. But I do have some issues with Chaika Trabant's eyelash where I find it to be too ugly. My verdict for the art, a 5. Sound I find Chaika Trabant's voice very cutsey and so as Toru's voice, but not with Akira's voice since it kinda project a more mature tone given that she is younger than Toru, it would have been much better if Saito Chiwa did Akira's voice rather than Hara Yuko, also I kinda like Albéric Gillette way of speaking since it establishes authority with honor, so its a 7 for this part. Character Hummmm, well let's see, I don't like the way as to how Chaika Trabant was portrayed as this character who speak like Yoda, where the sentence violates every grammatical rules, ok , so the way she speaks was a symptom of having to use her magical power, where every time she uses it she loses some of her memories, but does it have to affect her speech? Lousy, its not just Chaika Trabant, but also Chaika Bohdan, I can help but notice as to why it was only limited to the two, where there are other chaika's who seemingly speak normally. Also, I hate the fact that Chaika Trabant is the only one who has to hand carry her coffin, I mean, wtf was going on in mind of the original creator, Sakaki, Ichirou for having her do that in the manga, anime or LH? For all I know since he could have had the main character, Chaika Trabant have the ability to magically put her baggage in some kind of magical portal where she can pull it out when needed, also the two other character like Toru and Akira, whom Sakaki, Ichirou has them portrayed as "Saboteurs", now I don't know if he's trying to have some fun of his low vocabulary IQ or if he is just too chicken to use the term "assassin" for Toru and Akira since basically that what the two does. Now let's go to the two "Saboteurs, Akira and Toru, at first I'm annoyed that those two always get to have the upper hand over their opponents, however my mood for them has change when the two were finally got owned on the few remaining episodes which kinda provide me with such enjoyment, frankly I hate the fact that they are called "Saboteurs" where in fact the term "assassin" would have been a better fit for the two, since that what they really do. Now ever I've started watching the 1st season I've always like that those two "Saboteurs" would be owned by the Gillette Corps, but alas, it didn't happen and it would have to be Shin Acura who has to owned them, so for getting to owned Toru and Akira, I'm giving this part a 8, which btw the score is for Shin Acura. Enjoyment and Overall It was a good 10 episode, where it has some degree of development and the fact that the Chaika Trabant was able to do what she has to do, where it was too bad for Arthur Gaz who seemingly didn't saw that a Chaika's task can go both ways where he was revived and in the end met his demise in the hands of the same Chaika whom he deemed as a tool and that makes it enjoyable. Though, it is very good I still can't deny that the last episode was rushed, so overall it a 7 all the way. Review..finish..no more...to say.

The original "Hitsugi no Chaika"was a pleasant surprise for most people. It started out as your average fantasy- filled with magic, swords, and a quest. It was slowly, but nicely, paced; however, it left the viewer with a lot of questions. "Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle" set out to answer what was left in the air, and possibly conclude the series. The story in Chaika 2 started out very poor. It lost the intensity that the ending of Chaika 1 had, although many sequels do. The show leisurely found a footing and made its linear path to an almost disappointing ending. The ending wasn't what was very bad, but it was the time leading up to the final episodes that was poorly done (specifically the introduction of Gaz being in episode 9 or so). Some might call it an attempt at an intricate plot, but it became almost predictable. Predictable or expected really; there weren't any surprises that would catch you off guard. It didn't resolve its romantic subplots, but finished off some of the other ones (Nikolai/Gillette squad) decently. I'm not satisfied with this ending. From the the hype that Gaz was given, it seems too unlikely that'd he'd be beaten so easily. 4/10 for story. Animation was nice to look at, nothing much to talk about here. The fight scenes were ok, but it didn't have anything outstanding. 7/10 The opening for Chaika Dos was catchy, but not memorable enough. Same with the ending; it wasn't anything special. The OST blended fine with the art style to create it's fun but serious tone, and it was fine overall. 6/10 The characters weren't developed enough for my care. Shin was given very little screen time for his, somewhat, important role. Our MC's were developed enough in the first season, but didn't receive much this time around, which is fine. Hartgen and the other heroes didn't get much backstory, which was disappointing. As well as the new Chaika's that were introduced. I was hoping for more, and was left disappointed. 5/10 Didn't enjoy this that much compared to the other, better series' this fall. 4/10 Overall, 5/10 for feeling uninteresting at times, but still keeping its fun charm. No matter what I said, it's not bad, but a mediocre series overall. It is still worth the watch if you've seen the first season. I wouldn't put this high on your priority list, but it is a nice, fun series.

As I've stated before, the trend of split-cour TV series (a series that will air its first half, take a season off, and then air its second half) has become increasingly more popular in the anime industry. Not only does it give the writers more time to think of ideas for the second half, but it also allows them to budget the animation better. By this logic, the second half should be just as good, if not better, than the first half, but is this always the case? To be honest, this was one of my most anticipated series for the Fall season, and the unique flair of fantasy mixed with pseudo-gothic elements from the first half has carried over nicely into the second half. However, in terms of having a stable story, Avenging Battle leaves a lot to be desired, and the reason for that is actually a bit odd considering the circumstances. As I mentions earlier, turning something into a split-cour series is usually done to relieve both the pockets of the budgeting committee and the brains of the writers, so it was a bit strange to see that Avenging Battle only has 10 episodes, while the first half has 12. While the reason for this doesn't seem clear, the result is obvious: the story went from being moderately paced in the first half to speeding off a cliff towards a conclusion in the second. The last three or so episodes are especially guilty of this. There were many times throughout each episode where it felt like they were going through the Cliff Notes of what was actually supposed to happen in those scenes, resulting in rushed story lines, unexplained plot holes, and forgotten character development, ultimately leading to a final episode where a ton of events happened that didn't really seem to connect to each other. I have no doubts whatsoever that if this second cour had gotten 12 or 13 episodes, the pacing would have sat much better, but of course that isn't the case, so now we're left with plot threads dangling everywhere. Why did Vivi turn into a Chaika at the end of the first half? What exactly was the point of introducing the demi-humans if they're going to be forgotten completely after they left the island? What exactly happens when you make a contract with a dragoon? None of this is answered, and the series leaves us with a lot more questions that will never be satisfied. Character development takes a rather noticeable hit because of this pacing issue as well. To be honest, pretty much all of the character development that was going to happen in this series happened during the first half, and only the main Chaika sees any significant changes in Avenging Battle, which only happens in the final episodes, and even then it feels rushed and poorly explained. Even the new characters that get introduced barely get any noteworthy developments, even the ones that are pretty much crucial to the plot of the entire series. On a quick aside, without spoiling anything, there is a certain event that's been foreshadowed throughout the entire series and finally transpires in episode 9, and while this particular scene could have been written in any number of ways, the method they chose was, quite possibly, one of the worst possible ways they could have done it, creating a conglomerate of the weirdly gross and the unintentionally sexual. I bring this up because this a perfect example of what happens when you don't pace your writing properly. Really weird stuff starts happening, and unfortunately one of the images from that scene is now something I have permanently associated with this series. Like the first cour, the animation was done by Studio Bones, and not much seems to have changed in between these two halves. The pseudo-gothic style and surprisingly diverse environments work really well for this series, but the animation itself still suffers from a lack of clarify and refinement, just like the first half. There is currently no dub to speak of, though I would not be surprised if Seraphim Digital were to create one for this series. The soundtrack was composed by Seikou Nagaoka, and while it does fill in the silence rather well with its intense orchestral sounds, nothing really stood out as particularly impressive. The opening theme "Shikkoku wo Nuritsubuse" by Iori Nomizu gives us another hard rock punch to drive us in, though this time with a bit more of an uplift that in the first half, while the ending theme "Watashi wa Omae no Naka ni Iru" by coffin princess (VAs Chika Anzai, Saeko Zougou, and Iori Nomizu) gives us another quick-paced dance number. Overall, while I wouldn't say that this was a bad ending to the series, Avenging Battle certainly wasn't as good as the first half of Chaika, and it's rather disappointing to see the series not be allowed to flesh itself out more.

There seems to be a trend going on with anime these days. With any show with 13 episodes gets a sequel, there always seems to only be an allotted 10 episodes for the sequel. I dunno why. Anyway, real introduction time. Chaika, Chaika, Chaika. When a word is said over and over again, it is said that it will lose its meaning eventually as the same syllables are played over like a broken record. But what happens when you put a little something...more into a word's meaning, hmm? Story (7.43/10): The story of Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle stays relatively the same as its predecessor in terms of main story which is to gather the remains of the Emperor Gaz. Our protagonists Toru, Akari, and of course, the Coffin princess herself, Chaika, continue their task in finding the severed remains of the emperor that befell the Allied six nations to war. What I've always liked about the Chaika series is just how unique it is. The story of Chaika has always played out as a sort of fill in the blanks game where after every piece of the Emperor is obtained, more and more of the story is unfolded. The first season benefited highly from this storytelling perspective because it never revealed too much or too little with every bit of story it was giving. The second season does continue this format of giving the crucial backstory to our main characters while progressing the plot. What I also feel is beneficial about this sequel is also from a difference perspective. While the goals that the characters try to achieve with every arc are virtually the same, the settings and individual arc storylines are different enough in terms of setting from one arc to the other to give off a different feel as to what the characters have to do in order to accomplish their goals. Another point I have to make is magic. Magic is a very subjective term in anime because it has a wide variety of terms and spectrums that pertain to individual series. It can either be total wands and spells like Zero no Tsukaima, or it can be based on the complicated theorems and terms that can break our heads like Mahouka. Chaika achieves what I believe is a perfect balance of both complexity and "fuck it, it's magic" because it logically make sense in the world that they're in. Not to mention that it's centrally tied to the story which as an end result forces out more explanation and thus, and easier understanding. Plus, they use freaking sniper rifles to fire magic. That is awesome. However, no series is without its flaws. Let's start with a really obvious one, time crunch. Seeing as how this series only got a total of 10 episodes for its runtime, a few fears ran into my mind. 1. There would be a lot of uneven pacing, rushing through some parts of the story whilst leaving other maybe more important parts high and dry. 2. Story may be incomplete by the end of it. Luckily, the second point wasn't anything to worry about, but the first one is definitely an issue. Rush, rush, rush. Pacing. I stated in my previous Chaika review that the pacing can get a bit awkward at times. This sequel is no different. In fact, it's even more so of a problem than before. Because of the 10 episode time crunch, some parts of the series were what I would call half-baked. When you're doing anything with mystery, you need time to fully explain what exactly is going on because the audience anticipates an explanation to the mystery. Chaika does this a little bit by speeding through a couple of what I would call crucial explanations, sort of glossing them over as if it was nothing. In fact, THE most crucial explanation was given maybe like 4 total minutes of explanation and I feel sad because I personally was anticipating a good explanation as to WHO Chaika was. Plus, the final episode was horrendously rushed, making me feel like they could've made the finale just a bit more epic with more screentime because having that an epic finale, a finale that you anticipated for and thought would be awesome and epic, be boiled into one episode, kinda ruins the tension since you basically solve an ENTIRE PLOTLINE in 23 minutes. (Looking at you as well, DAL II) And finally, and this is the most crucial part, the story ends. A lot of anime adaptations I see don't really have a satisfactory ending, as they either try to end the story but end up failing miserably, or make it so open-ended that you have to either read the source material to know what is going to happen later, or do it just so they can laugh at their fanbase. While the end I felt was kinda...meh due to the fact that like I said, bad pacing issues (and pretty bad ones at that), it ended, the story is done and over, and that's the best thing I can ask for any anime. Overview: + Good storytelling + Good integration and explanation of magic + It Ends - Pacing can get bad at times - The final rush to the end Character (7.01/10): The characters in Hitsugi no Chaika are characters I've praised before due to their uniqueness as characters and their attitudes towards certain events and people around them. Up first is our main protagonist Toru, the sabetour (basically a mercenary) that is employed by Chaika to help gather her father's remains. As a sabetour, he thinks himself nothing more than a tool used to help his master achieve his/her goal thinking more as a strategist with a level head in order to achieve said goal. What I like about Toru's character is the growth. As time passes on, you can clearly see what his motives are and think more of himself and for himself as he becomes less and less of a tool. His personality doesn't really change that much, but his viewpoints in life certainly do. And then we have Akari who is...Akari; kinda hard to explain her. She is similar to her "brother" (since they're not blood related) in the sense that she takes the tasks she is given seriously and is also like a sabetour, treating herself like a tool for her master more than anything else. Honestly, she doesn't change much in the series and sort of fades away into the background as time goes on since she truly doesn't get any development to her character. And then we have Chaika. Chaika, Chaika, Chaika. Chaika as the sort of main female protagonist has always been a very interesting character what with her broken speech pattern, unknown past, and desire to give her father a funeral by burying the dead remains. Her character for the most part has been shaped in large due to the effect of the word "Chaika" in the six Allied nations as well as the little hints of backstory that we get concerning her character. But that's really where it ends. While Chaika herself does get a bit of development, she really doesn't change very much aside from having to think about who she is after finding out what exactly "Chaika" means. With the main cast, we have the supporting cast of characters of varying importance starting at the bottom with the Nation leaders who don't do anything beyond talk and discuss what is going on in terms of plot around a round table, the Gillette Squad that act as "protagonists" since the main characters of this series are technically doing something bad, the red Chaika and her small band of mercenaries, and Frederica, who once again GETS KILLED. (I mean seriously. You did this last season! You don't kill the same character AGAIN in the same point of the series!) The supporting cast does little more than to add obstacles or give more explanation to the world that is Hitsugi no Chaika. They each have their own personalities and motives, and some of them are even quite interesting but, in comparison to what kind of characters they were in the first season, they have little to no change. Overview: + Decent character growth +/- Unchanged supporting cast - Some MC's lacked any proper development Art and Sound (8.35/10 and 7.98/10): Hitsugi no Chaika was produced by Studio Bones. Yeah, no explanation required as to how good the animation. The entire series is done in a very c…

The continuation of Hitsugi No Chaika...continues Hitsugi no Chaika. It doesn't improve upon it, it isn't a lot worse than the original, it just...continues. Differences from the first season: The pacing of the story events is faster and the focus has partially shifted away from Tohru as the main character. Similarities: Half of the episodes leading in to the climax have no point. The plot and characters don't really develop at all. Well, a couple of the side characters developed a bit this season, just none of the main three. The anime makes up for all this by having an intriguing premise and interesting world building or in-world philosophy. Is the cause of all conflict that humans are intrinsically unsatisfied with peace? Can good intentions prevail over evil wisdom? You might find out if you skip to the end of the season. Also, they added ANOTHER loli. Because 4+ wasn't enough. I will give them this, though, the main villain who appears in the very last few episodes is genuinely creepy. Good job with a strong villain, guys.

i actually think the story of the sequel was splendidly done. The anime actually started half way where they ended the first season, to continue the story and have answered a lot of question that the first season has not given. if you've watched the first season and liked it, wanting the answers. you should watch this, i loved how they ended it. Overall: this is the sequel for the anime " Hitsugi no Chaika", i rated it 8/10 since it has given more than the first season. enjoy

Since this is the Second Season, most unanswered questions were answered here. Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle puts forth new questions in a deeper story about memories which define one's personality. Story: 9/10 The story that was started in the previous First Season ends here in the Second Season as we get to explore it in more depth. The conclusion was fitting, but felt a little bit rushed towards the end, especially the last episode. The pacing was fine throughout the other episodes otherwise. The story becomes more complex in this season as darker secrets appear to be uncovered. Sometimes sequels will completely ruin a show and sometimes they make it even better. This show did go deeper into the story and didn't stray away from it, so it wasn't worsened, but the quality of the story didn't improve either. The First Season already gave a good start to a good story and the Second Season finished it off with an appropriate conclusion. Art: 7/10 The art is good, thus 7/10, but the problem in the art isn't because the animation is cheap, but that the character designs were nothing too admirable. The animation is actually great especially for battle scenes. It's just I've seen many shows out there that have amazing character designs that captivate me completely, but this show at least has a distinctive feel to it and definitely was far from bad. (Chaika's eyebrows) The background art was important to this show as it the characters travel, with their environment constantly changing, and it wasn't handled badly in any way at all. Sound: 8/10 The opening and ending still stayed consistent with theme of the story and the background music doesn't ever get old or annoying. The voices were my favorite part. I felt that the voice actors all portrayed their character's personalities really well. There are some shows where the voice and the character seem out of sync and unnatural, but this show definitely has a well done connection between the characters and the voice actors. Akari's voice really went well with her comedic remarks, Fredica's voice actor really did a good job of portraying her voice in all different forms (Dominica, the dragoon, and Fredrica). The voices for the other characters were definitely well thought out and even the beserk and antagonistic characters didn't sound like monsters. What caught me the most was Chaika's voice because I'm a fan of cute characters, but it wasn't overly cute up to the point where that was her only trait, making her a strong but adorable and lovable female lead. Character: 9/10 Chaika wants to find out more about herself because she starts to feel uncertain about her existence. Tooru is against it, wanting to protect her from danger. Red Chaika starts becoming more active in stealing the remains getting one step ahead of the main cast. More Chaikas start appearing, one of them being the one the First Season ended off on: Vivi. The informant guy starts to have more of an active role than he did before. There's lots of character development and change everywhere, and each of the characters deal with the changing situation in their own way, since as noticed in the previous season, the personalities of the characters vary from one to another making it a diverse cast. Enjoyment: 9/10 I really enjoyed this series from the moment I picked it up and the moment I finished. Chaika was an innocent, cute, and overall likable main female lead that was consistent with her character even as she learned more of the truths in the world. She really wasn't as weak as she seemed. Most female leads when hit with a tragic truth go down in despair and need the protagonist to cheer them and motivate them back up again, but Chaika didn't need to. My enjoyment came mostly out of the characters: Chaika's strong will and Akari's well delivered comedic remarks. If the story is good, but the characters don't flow naturally with the story it makes it hard to watch. The characters really fit along with the setting and plot, making it original and an irreplaceable anime. Overall=9/10 Definitely a anime worth watching (Of course, starting with the First Season)

Hitsugi no Chaika - Avenging Battle - 7/10 Before we start, let me warn you, Hitsugi no Chaika was my first ever anime, so keep it in mind while reading this review. Short Review: Art is ok, budget is kinda low but at least it's watchable so, it lacks CGI or cinematic effects so, to be fair it's a 6/10 Sound is ok, voice actors really did push some unique voices and personalities, the episode BGM is bland, but the Opening and Ending makes up for it so 7/10 Characters don't really have any depth whatsoever, but they are likable, maybe not as likable as say Cowboy Bebop, but still close enough so a 6/10. Another thing is that Chaika is neither as moe or as adorable as she was in the first season, particularly because 10 episodes left barely any time for her development and dialogue. Enjoyment factor really stands out as all the action scenes have nice choreography and are all animated good, again, nothing too special but good is good, besides, the pacing in this show is fast and the plot unravels quickly so the overall dynamic is enjoyable, both here and in the first season in fact, straight 8/10 in that department. Story is good, the lore is big and clever, while it may not be deep or hard to comprehend like in some other adventure/journey style shows like Ergo Proxy as an example, it is still quite a big universe and the world of chaika is an interesting experience, along with numerous new, to the fantasy genre concepts such as getting magic from memories and without spoiling too much the creature designs are very interesting and how they interact in the world. The actual plot is quite simple at the start, mostly really just finishing what first season started while throwing in plot twists up untill the end where all mysteries are solved and the show rapidly concludes itself wrapping up the story and coming to a complete closure, so i think the story, albeit simple, is enjoyable and deserves a fair 7/10. Long Review (or rather an extension to the short one): First of all, the ART is good, nothing too awesome, but it's ok, it's slightly worse than Akame ga Kill, but there is nothing too wrong with it, there is no CGI aside from a few small scenes, there aren't really any lightning or other advanced FX and it's just plainly drawn with not much detail, but aside from that there aren't really any glitches or mistakes in the art department, and i guess i can't judge the animation quality since it's only out in shitty bitrate on HDTVrips and not actual BDRemux/BDrip releases yet so even 1080p still looks like shit. Ok, the soundtrack itself is good, OP&ED are awesome just like in the first season, although the actual episode BGM is quite bland, nothing interesting there. Now the enjoyement rate is really high and the action scenes are well drawn from what i could tell and are fast-paced which makes it all dynamic and intense which is something i haven't seen in anime for a while. Now the story and the lore, especially the lore i think was the focus of the show, and i can't particularly state it succeded. What i really liked about Chaika was that world-building, where it was a simple shounen anime technically, but it still had some unique aspects such as the creatures themselves and what they do, the history of their world, the mystery of emperor Gaz and what and why the Chaikas are in this world. I like how now in the second season the show then switches to de-building that world by questioning chaika's past and everything else, introducing one silly and expectable plot twist after another while simply working on what was already there in the first season. However, then in episode 9 there is a massive twist and all the mysteries are solved and all the pieces of puzzle are pulled together, the lore is now pretty much complete and we get a full picture and answers to why and how. Then in episode 10 there's a little bit that seems simillar to how in Fullmetal Alchemist the main villian tried to use souls to power the superhumans, only that here it's smarter and the main villian uses emotions and starvation for war, ironically the main protag and every good guy in this show fights and has emotions and memories, which power the magic in this show, so it becomes an interesting dillema, but the show ends before any of that is given any focus. Overall, i liked the plot, the universe and will definitely miss this show and it's characters which may not have that much depth, but they sure are likable. The ending is very straightforward, and i'm not so sure really whether i like it, on one hand it's definitely good it didn't end in a mindfuck or some open-ended shit like Ergo Proxy because as much as those endings have the artistic value, they always leave a bad taste in my mouth, so maybe because of the good ending i liked the show, felt it had a closure.

So, this will be a long one, the long story short, it really sucks. It loses all the initial charm in season 1 and it results in all characaters being horrible, I don't feel strongly for a single character and there are more plot holes than the holes in swiss cheese. It's a waste of time, utterly. Season two further went down a bad path and the flaws became all the more apparent for various reasons, be it the rushed pace, the more "serious" mood, the horrible settings and decisions or the characters themselves. Thus the score had to be lowered greatly, actually I should’ve probably lowered it more than I did, because it’s probably not worth this much seeing how many giant flaws are present, I even started feeling like it was too much of a chore to watch and just wanted to drop it because it sucked too much, but I stuck with it because I had already watched most of it. Thanks to how it was executed, I started feeling even less attachment to characters I didn’t really care much for in the first place(such as the mc team). The only character I actually truly like is fredrika, the dragoon, she had some nice zest, not that it was used properly. The characters overall feel as if they lack things, there isn’t enough spirit and they feel pretty damn artificial. Their motivations are extremely flawed and illogical, absolutely not something you’d connect to people like them. It just feels empty, which in turn reduces my enjoyment greatly as I don’t really care much about anyone, be it from the mc team or villain teams. The story also just keeps on getting worse, what wasn’t good to begin with starts becoming even more horrible. The chaika issue where there’s a lot of her and whatever is just overdone. The plot going on behind the scenes is silly and stupid(the very reason for the chaikas existing and as to why gaz did all of this is so damn ridiculous and half-arsed that I can’t even bother to care anymore, instead just marking this entire thing as a huge failure not worthy of anyones time), it’s also extremely simple to the point where I guessed correctly what was happening and what the plot would be from the first few minutes of episode 1 in season 1. The only thing I couldn’t guess back then was the chaika issue, but as soon as we became aware of there being multiple versions of her, it became extremely clear what her purpose was and why there’s many of her around. I also absolutely hate how the mc team doesn't even have a proper purpose, they’re just moving forward because they have nothing better to do. Chaika(the mc team one) just wants to keep on collecting parts even after becoming aware of the truth that she’s just a tool and not even a true daughter of gaz(although reluctant to accept it, she denies it until the end and although the mc knows better, he doesn't give a f*ck), for the moronic reason that “she doesn’t know what else to do and is kinda curious” or something. The mc and his sister tags along because they also have nothing better to do than collect body parts while knowing they’re being used and it will bring nothing but demerits such as fatal danger and being used. They just don’t seem to care about anything and their motivations are just… unbelievably foolish. I also hate how their personalities doesn’t fit their character settings, neither does their powers seem reasonable considering how they’re supposed to be stronger than this, being trained from youth and having superhuman abilities, that's the ONLY good trait of this mc, yet it's removed all the time. Only the strongest of people should be able to put up a fight, but turns out they’re actually not that big of a deal most of the time unless the situation calls for it, because he keeps on getting bested by people that can’t possible have similar training or skill to him so that the plot can advance as the author wants it to. Oh, and if the people have similar training to him, he gets owned extremely fast without a chance to fight back even if it’s a 2v1 with his sister helping out, utterly pathetic, I can’t get to like a mc like this, not when he needs to form a special contract with a dragoon to fight people he should be able to fight even before. Not that I didn’t like that he formed a contract, I really liked the dragoon in question after all, too bad that he just can’t get around to doing it before it’s pretty much too late already like the moron he is, waiting until the final boss battle in the last episode when he literally has no other choice, because it’s suuuuuch a big decision and change, now he has new, shiny armour and skills/abilities after all, so he can’t possibly keep on doing what he did before but while using the new powers! Naaaah. Well, it’s not like he got much stronger, he just became less skilled and more of a brute who charges head on as he can heal everything, talk about throwing pearls to pigs who can't utilize them. Heh, but something happened, perhaps the only hilarious thing in this season, the mc didn’t even get to do anything after “building up the courage” to form a contract with fredrika. Nah, he just got beat up like a sandbag several times or something and had nothing at all to do with the conclusion, maybe he might've helped with some motivation at best. Pathetic to the very end, what was the point of him anyway? We're supposed to like chaika, right? She's kinda like the mc after all, at least she's the main focus here, sadly it's impossible to do so. Chaika keeps on making foolish decisions due to her “innocence” despite being told off again and again, it truly pisses me off more and more every time she does it, I just want to facepalm as I cringe hard while witnessing it(since season 2 is more serious and worthless, it's way more obvious and irritating than in season 1). She seems to have zero ability to learn or grasp her situation nor judge people, it’s not at the level of mere stupidity or foolishness after a while and it becomes clear that she’s just, excuse my choice of words, damn retarded, to the point where she might as well die and be replaced with another chaika, the red one seems more interesting for example(well, she also became irritating in season 2, seemingly having similar levels of IQ to the mc team chaika). She doesn’t truly develop throughout the entire series, the biggest development would be at the very end, but who cares when the story is already over? It was also a forced development, not that she actually matured or anything, she just was kinda reset(I'll leave it at that to avoid spoiling what truly happened), we don't even get to see more than a few seconds of it, truly displeasing. She's an extremely crappy character that only weighs people down with her immaturity and personality, especially when things got more serious. Even her way of talking gets more and more annoying and one starts getting the desire to punch her until she speaks like a human instead of speaking in broken japanese(well, it’s not that her pronunciation is weird, it’s that she can't speak properly, like not using suffixes, not using particles and using words that you wouldn’t use normally). I guess you see how this got worse and worse now. I’m giving this a 4/10 for pity since it had good promise, interesting initial settings and the first season was a fair bit better. It got to the point where I just started rolling my eyes at every serious point, feeling that they should just stop the fake crap already and stop being so damn retarded. I have to say it was kinda amusing that they, in the end, won only because some “love and friendship” bullsh*t where a supposedly emotionless tool/half-machine somehow took their previous friendship too seriously after shallow and short interaction with chaika and took some words to heart and thus goes back to chaika. The battle was actually won thanks to chaika being a moron who treats everyone and everything with such “kindness” without thinking. Holy sh*t, it’s rare for me to cringe so hard that I …

The hardest part of being a critic of anything is deciding whether to give in to your snobbish, critical side or to allow yourself to actually enjoy the things you watch. It’s a problem a lot of hardcore critics have to deal with and something that doesn’t translate well in the written word. I have written many reviews stating that an anime has problems but I heavily enjoyed it, something that seems contradictory to many, especially when the score reflects a better product than what is actually seen. Thus, Chaika: The Coffin Princess, an anime I had such a hard time reviewing because I loved it oh so much despite all the issues it had. It was so average in nearly every regard that giving it a 6 seemed perfectly fine. But my critical persona dissipated after watching part of the second season and I realized I don’t think Chaika deserves a 6 because it’s more than a good average. It’s freaking good. And that’s why I raised the score on the review, that’s why I had to re-edit it, and that’s also why I created the new Otaku Seal of Approval category, a category dedicated to anime I particularly enjoyed and think you’ll find fun as well. The second season of Chaika: The Coffin Princess is just as good as the first and finishes up the story of Chaika and her pals gathering the pieces of her father’s body. While it opens following the same formula as the previous season it moves into a grand finale with a final confrontation against the old emperor himself as well as a whole lot of revelations about what the Chaika’s are and their purpose. Let’s get into the averages. Average story. Average world-building. Average writing. Average characters with average development. Average music. But the action is fantastic. The characters are cute and despite their averageness I still think Chaika is lovable and adorable, Toru badass, and Vivi is just so freaking wonderful. The story isn’t anything new or smart but it provides for an entertaining ride that is formulaic but has pretty good twists toward the end and keeps you invested in the character’s. The world itself is weakly developed but the magic system is unique and interesting. Using bullets containing magic powders and then being able to shoot the weapon and produce all kinds of different effects based on the incantation they use is a really smart and interesting system. It makes more sense than a fantasy series containing guns with regular bullets being used alongside lances and swords. Some new problems of the second season include the introduction of a female character who was artificially created to be a weapon. Her purple twin-tails combined with her purpose reminds me all too much of Sophie from Tales of Graces F. The mentor of Toru and his sister winds up working for the bad guys by complete coincidence. Oh, and so does a supposedly dead character.That’s poor writing. But the biggest problem I have with this anime is that it moves too fast to the conclusion. Not only do I want more but I feel like, had the series been extended to twice as long, it would have built up the characters and escalated the tension of the final scenes. The ending is emotional and pretty good, but it feels like the buildup wasn’t enough. There are eleven books in the light novel series and I can’t help but feel they compressed the books too much. Perhaps I should wait for the release of the first light novel in English this summer as it may develop these characters I already love and make me love them even more. The ending comes way too abruptly and we don’t get to see the characters after the final battle more than thirty seconds. This small glimpse is not enough to satisfy me. I want closure, I want to see that Chaika and Toru are together or Chaika is happy in her new life. I want to see why Red Chaika is busting down doors and living with Toru, his sister, and Chaika. The most important thing an anime can do at the finale is leave us feeling satisfied that our heroes are doing well because when they’re happy, we’re happy. There is an upcoming OVA I hope gives us a better glimpse at the aftermath of the series, but lord only knows what they’ll do with it. Chaika: The Coffin Princess is not a smart, thought-provoking, or pretty anime. It’s a really fun show, despite all the flaws, that I feel you’d be remiss to pass up. Definitely one of the better anime I’ve seen from last year and one of my favorite anime I’ve reviewed in the past couple of years.

Having enjoyed alot the first season, I was expecting the second one to be at least good. Not diving much further into. It meet my expectations, and while it had slower, more boring episodes, the story was still interesting, the music was great to be point I never skipped the OPs, the characters, again if you enjoyed the first season, you know what to expect, Frederica is charming like always, the main cast trio is likeable, the supporting characters do they job, sure the anime has some flaws, some pacings issues, and japanese nonsense, but you see the anime till the end, and those cease to be that noticiable. By what I found, the LN ended already, and these 2 seasons are supposed to have covered the whole 11 volumes. So this is really the end of the series. And that is where I most enjoyed the series itself, despite the flaws, and of course there is always room to improvement... the conclusion is satisfying! It brings closure! Some stories, you were attached to those so much but by the end, they leave a biter taste in your memory with the conclusion, and while Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle had its cliches and predictable troupes plot, you invested your time watching the anime, you will be rewarded. Sure I was left wanting to see a bit more, non less it is easy to watch, and concluded in a pleasant way, not the most unforgetable anime, by far. But it does the job, and doesnt disappoint, and like I mentioned, if you enjoyed the first season, I cant see you hating this one. Give the first a try, and if you liked it, you have here more 10 episodes to entertain you.

Hitsugi no Chaika as a quite phenomenal series with the main character, Chaika, back with a second season. Still using the same theme in the first season, we were taken to see Chaika collect the pieces of her father's corpse despite the doubts and the mystery behind the Chaika herself. Accompanied by Tooru Acura and Akari Acura, also loli dragon Frederica, this second season solves up various mysteries that were encountered during the first season. With the use of the same themes in the first season until the third episode, we were taken to Chaika adventure in finding the heroes who have the pieces of her father's body. The story began to focus on the mystery during the first season on mid-fourth episode. Still the same as the first season, the series is still using a fast tempo story. Luckily we can still enjoy the story though there are details that are missing, the same as the first season that lost the important details of the story. I think because of the fast tempo, the end of the story feels end quite suddenly. A king is said to be the greatest wizard and has been in power for five centuries was defeated by his own goods in about 1 hour time story. I feel it can not be matched by the development of the strength of the main character. In addition, there is a "betrayal" by a character with unreasonable reasons. There is no scene that implies that the reason given is a reasonable. Despite the weaknesses that exist in the story, the character traits of the characters in this series is quite satisfactory. Additional character in the second season brings a new atmosphere in the story. In addition, the mystery of the few characters solved properly with reaction of those characters when they knew the truth. In the final battle, it can be felt the flashbacks that were given very illustrate what has been passed by Tooru for this two season. In addition to the characters, the animation is displayed quite nicely. It’s quite obvious that there are additional budget in the battle animation. However, it is not matched by the quality of the art even after how they did the first season. Depictions of "derp face" that exist in the first season are still widely seen in the second season. In addition, there is a mistake in the second episode when Chaika fall with her Gundo. All of a sudden, the Gundo disappeared from her grasp and the next scene is shown that Akari bring the Gundo to Chaika. Also, the coloring of the character in this series does not really represent the darkness of the story. It is quite unfortunate because the designs of new characters there are very brilliant in describing the atmosphere of the story. There is nothing special about the music in this series. The opening song sung by Iori Nomizu still have the atmosphere similar to the opening song on the first season. Similarly, the closing song too. Background song also did not have anything special. Quite good for the action series like this, but can’t make me amazed. Although with the reproachs that I gave, I quite liked this series. The absence of important details on the story and how the picture did not deter me to watch this series. I have always been loyal to watch this series every week to look forward to a variety of characters and also with the mystery solving. I am not so disappointed with the end of story, although I am a bit curious about the fate of Chaika memory. Hopefully this is discussed in the OVA. I can say that this series is quite interesting to watch. The mysteries are quite interesting although not all the mysteries solved in this series. Also, the character are very entertaining and made me look forward to this series. I would recommend this series to you who like action series with spices of mystery and stories. Thanks for reading my review!

Hey folks, this will be a review for Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle. Oh man what a huge let down. The first season was pretty great, and I expected similar treatment given to the second season. Unfortunately its a huge let down. The story picks up shortly after the first season. We find our party going to a heroes home where we learn a bit more about magic and the life of soldiers and heroes after the war. This is a crucial first couple episodes as its basically a giant information dump. The hero the party has to deal with is really fair and basically gives away the remains and a list of where the rest of the heroes are. We also get Guy to touch base and urge the party towards two goals, one being a remains and the other being this mysterious fortune left by Gaz. This is where we have to start dealing yet again with Chaika questioning her own identity, as if she didn't have enough evidence from battles with multiple other Chaika's and the information given by the one at the end. I cant go into much more detail without spoilers. However I do want to mention how insanely crap the ending for this story was. My mouth was open the entire time and I could only think, "That isn't how this is going to end is it". The art is the same as the first season, same with music and voice acting. The characters also took a dramatic hit in quality. Chaika of course having problems with self identity, which just feels like crappy anime drama. Tooru has a bit of childish shonen out bursts. He also refuses to become a Dragoon, which seems to be practically invincible. Gillette has a rather forgettable re introduction. Its actually hard to see the point of having him as a character this season. That could aslo be said about the whole Gillette squad. Red Chaika also comes in to settle her score with White Chaika. This however lasts a total of 1 minute and really felt like another wasted character. Most of the other characters dont really matter, as it was a full 8 episodes of personal crisis with hints of polishing up side stories without actually doing anything. I am so disappointed in this second season. It took all of what made the first series great and demolished it. The story actually is interesting and I didn't see the twist coming, at least not as clearly as I usually can. However they just poop on it. Its like they looked at how much longer they had and said, "fuck it, make this happen because of this one really small detail that doesn't matter then just end it". I actually cant remember the last time a story has made me literally angry at how idiotic it was. The characters were back to poorly written "life is good, I'm an angry hero"-esque status. There was so much side story and character development just written off in like five minutes time that its almost comical. I have so much more to talk about, however I don't want to add spoilers. I just cant express how disappointed I feel, and how insanely poorly they handled a decent starting anime. TLDR: Insanely crap. Can't remember being angrier with a sequel to something I enjoyed. Characters are crap, story ends in a instant of pure "wut", side stories concluded in about 5 minutes. Seriously bad, wish I hadn't watched it.

I've seen a lot of anime and this for me is average. It’s a mix of action, adventure, comedy and romance. This anime is highly recommended for ages 15 and below because the story is light and can easily be understand. I don’t find the fighting scenes violent for there are hardly any blood to be seen. The romance is not the highlight. There are no any sexual scenes. The overall plot is just average because again it is light. It focuses more on the action and adventure side. The ending has a lot of loose ends. It is one of those that will give you the “that’s it” reaction after you have seen the last episode. Seriously, it left me hanging out there. The ending is the most crucial because it will justify the time and effort one has given to watch the whole anime. No matter how great the story, if the ending sucks, it turns everything into trash. The phasing of the story is slow but almost all of the episodes have fighting scenes. it took some time before the problem of the story unfolds. Characters All the characters personality is just the same throughout the series. There was no build-up or even development of new personality whit in the characters except maybe for Chaika when she knew the truth of her existence. Even the skills of the characters didn’t develop until the last episode. I felt that they haven’t reached their full potential because it seems that all the battles they have faced was not a challenge to them. Toru may have evolved in the last episode but he was not given a real fight in that state. Even Fredrica, her full strength wasn’t showcase. It was not even clear whose side she is because her lending of help was always conditional and she was always the assist type. Drawing The drawing was just average as well. The only thing I found amusing was the flying fortress. There were no swords of weapons that I found exceptional and unique except for Niva. If you are looking for an anime that is not complex but has a lot of fighting scenes, then this anime will do just fine. It also contains some funny scenes that successfully made me laugh.