Chaos Dragon: Sekiryuu Seneki

okay, SO. Not the best anime's ive ever watched. We start out completely thrown into a battle, and the main dude "Ibuki" the one who is supposed to be crowned king after his family's death must kill the ones close to him to protect the rest. LOL WHAT?? that is a terrible pretense, what a life of sadness and loneliness. Next, we begin to meet all these new characters that are in search for the red dragon, who went "mad" and I dont even feel like it was that long of a time they were all together (perfect strangers at first) and yet they talk about all these "bonds" and stuff. LOL WHAT??? Ibuki, in the very beginning to save the ones he cared about had to kill Mashiro, who was apparently the closest person to him.. and then the next thign you know, these "new" Friends are suddenly also equivalent for sacrifice. LOL WHAT???? Literally, all i can say is LOL WHAT??? simply because I was lost, the story line had no structure, there were dragons, magic, seals, idk what else, ZOMBIES, WEIRD MONSTERS. yeah. idk. I just dont.

You know what... this series gets a pretty bad wrap for what I consider nonsense reasons. I am REALLY glad the trailer had a badass metal thing going on so I gave it a chance because it was actually pretty refreshing. Don't let the haters dissuade you, this is definitely worth a watch. Story: 8/10 The story is actually quite interesting. You have Ibuki who is given the power of the Red Dragon (to kill someone precious to him in order to kill someone else). You would think this would be fairly common in anime but this is the first and only time I've ever seen this concept explored. I know metaphorically it is explored through hard choices that get you to the same place but never has it literally been a life for a life. I think this is pretty cool. Also, the story may have a few issues (killing Red dragon gets completely sidetracked in the middle) but it all flows logically. The characters follow a logical path, the 3 sides are all represented clearly and their goals make sense and on top of that the story builds to a final battle and there is a concrete conclusion (if not a lil sappy and a bit open ended). I don't want to spoil it so I can't go into much more but trust me there are lots of twists and turns and the story develops well. Art: 8/10 It looks pretty good. Unique character models, the SG isn't done excessively and isn't too jarring and the art does a good job of setting the mood. Sound: 8/10 In episode 1 when the intro theme kicks in (during a badass scene near the end) I knew this anime was going to be awesome. The fighting sounds are fine, the music is solid and the voice acting is done well. Character: 6/10 This is the weakness of this show. There isn't enough character development (this is one where there is a lot of false character development in the form of tragedy instead of true evolution). Another thing that bugs me is that characters seem to gain powers over time in convenient ways (this is hardly something unique to this series). I will admit there are a lot of tropes going on with the characters but the angles they take are unique (a character that breaks anything he touches is pretty interesting) and most of the characters are done in such a way that you will like or hate them. Also. people will die and I appreciate that. Enjoyment: 7/10 I liked it. It felt a bit short (is that a good thing?) but before I knew it there were only a few episodes left. I liked the unique angles and the direction they took the show. The characters were appealing and it wasn't afraid to confront death (I mean hell the outro of the show basically had a "kill counter" that crossed out in red an of Ibuki's comrades that died with a special X for those dying that episode). Little things like that really enhanced the enjoyment. Overall: 7/10 It was good. I have no idea why people disliked it so much (and I'm not going to waste my time finding out). This one is good. You will like it if you don't think too deeply and just accept that it is fairly unique and tells a complete (if not a bit short) story. Enjoy!

Well, this is one of those anime that one begins to see so excited, it sounded great, but eventually ended up staying in something simple and repetitive. [b]Story (3)[/b]: The story in general is rare mix so much that in the end can make you lose track of everything, if there is one really.He started from a good base, but extended to secondary and alternative things that made no sense whatsoever. I do not think it has been a good story, the beginning was good, and the end as well, but the rest of the plot is boring. [b]Art (6)[/b]: The art takes an approved because it is good, it is also not the best I've seen in my life, but has a more than pleasant colors and some designs that I think is very good. Perhaps the mistake I see, is not taking advantage of this resource of everything to make a better anime Chaos Dragon. [b]Sound (7)[/b]: The soundtrack of the anime is the highlight from my point of view, has several issues that are very good and can get to thrill, I especially like the opening and ending themes and some others. I notice that in certain scenes have failed to settle the score correctly, because they did not fit with what was happening, or did not reach thrill. [b]Character (2)[/b]: This is one of the things that's bothered me about this picture is that, having characters who could work perfectly and give much to talk, they were simple flat characters, which do not show you anything beyond what is name. What I liked even less, is the attitude that leads the protagonist chapter by chapter, has made me nervous throughout the anime, and sometimes I gave up wanting to die, he could become a little obnoxious. [b]Enjoyment (1)[/b]: I can not say it's an anime you liked me, nor indeed has managed to entertain me during its chapters. The only more or less interested me were the first and last chapter, the rest were bland, boring and with a plot that revolved random nonsense, to the point of not even knowing what was happening. The only word to define my enjoyment encounter with this anime is: Boring. [b]Overall (4)[/b]: It was not a good anime for my taste, I wanted to give a chance to the end and good, if they take a second season I will give it another try just to see if they improve on something. I especially do not recommend for those spectacular and action-packed anime wait, because practically there is not.

Chaos Dragon, a.k.a ‘Red Dragon War’ was a project put together by all-star creators Gen Urobochi, Kinoku Nasu, Izuki Kougyoku, Ryogo Narita- the connections with Fate/Zero (Urobochi, Nasu) are so strong that even the first episode is called “Kill One to Save Many” (if you’ve seen F/Z you’ll get the reference) Also if you know each of their styles, you can recognize which characters in the show were designed by whom (and who wrote them); but I think Kougyoku probably designed the main characters as her style is beautiful and Ibuki, Eyhka (the Bounded One), are so incredibly cute it will make you want to watch the anime even if you don’t like the story. But unfortunately adorable character designs are contrasted against some of the dumbest, worst CGI dragons I have ever seen. I mean they are comically bad; and the plot of Chaos Dragon is decent but gets incredibly dark and violent really fast. It takes place “a thousand years” in the future, i.e. the year 3015- although by all accounts is the same medieval fantasy world you’ve seen in any other fantasy RPG, so not sure what the whole ‘year 3015’ thing was for. Maybe that was Urobochi’s idea… It takes place on an island called Nil Kamui (which sounds more like the name of the bastard child of an American and a Kyoto Princess) which has been caught in a war between two other countries who need to keep fighting to keep certain schemers happy (sounds like Lodoss War tbh) but a big tin can robot thing convinces a group of adventurers from the different factions to go on a quest to find and take down the Red Dragon which is somehow responsible for the war. I seem to recall there was a red and a black dragon in Lodoss War, too... The level of sadism was shocking- and the way characters interact with each other makes it really hard to tell friend from foe- like you think Lou is a villain right away but she is no threat at all (at least never tries to be) toward some of the main characters, but geezus she’s evil and violent AF. The weird mismatch between the cute and almost childlike characters and the violence is really jarring- one moment the shotas and lolis are fluttering eyelashes at each other, the next they’re STABBING PEOPLE THROUGH THE NECK. I went from going “awww” and the next spitting my coffee out! Some of the moments are unintentionally funny- like when the half-naked chick shoots the big robot guy through the (metal globe) of his head and he’s smoking- I couldn’t stop laughing. I didn’t try very hard to understand what was going on, but after a few episodes it got interesting enough that I kept watching the each next- and by the time I got to the 8th, ended up watching it through to the end all at once. It’s pretty obvious the talent behind this show, it looks nice and is decently written- but those awful cgi dragons are unforgivable. And people die in this anime. As with Fate/Zero, characters you like will be sent to the grave really fast and without warning; and characters you think should be spotted as obvious problems end up getting away with shit, while the MC is reluctant and indecisive most of the time. It’s both frustrating and interesting enough to keep you watching til the end, but isn't really strong storytelling. Being only 12 episodes (1 cour) it had a decent ending that wrapped things up in an interesting way while leaving enough loose threads that it would allow another season. But I doubt a second season will ever come out. I don’t know how much material is in the Light Novels, but the shows’ creators are busy enough with other projects and this was kind of a one-off, it isn’t popular enough to be made into any more anime. Which is fine- this is just a 12-episode story that is fine on its own and entertaining enough, but it won’t light your pants on fire. That was a joke…

I watched this show as the Character designs are right up my alley and the main character being a young boy also really stood out and seemed interesting. Despite that I wasn't really enjoying this show tho.. I think the story , while not super unique or surprising, isn't actually the problem. I'ts more the way it is presented.. Things get really confusing sometimes and some things seem to happen just super randomly without any explanation or obvious reason.. just a lot of weird coincidences happen and none of the characters questions it... and that feels off. I have to admit I watched this over a longer time because it was incredibly boring and hard to chew through.. so sometimes things happened that got mentioned a few episodes prior but they didn't really explain it again or make it obvious what happened.. so I was left with some questions marks from time to time. It wouldn't hurt to just mention it in one sentence again or portray it in a way that makes clear what's happening at the moment. The action scenes were pretty poorly made.. It just seemed to me like they didn't really know what they were doing there. I felt no impact or action and sometimes the music was quite unfitting as well (like the weird piano piece..). I would be able to kinda overlook this as the anime doesn't have THAT many fighting scenes anyway.. The bigger problem are the conversations. The most time in this anime take all the conversations between characters... which makes sense as it is kind of a political drama too. But the writing of these conversations is so bad. The characters just don't act convincing at all.. especially Ibuki.. everything that comes out of his mouth is bullshit. He's really useless and not saying anything meaningful or helpful throughout the whole series. Sometimes major plot points are being revealed in conversations but they just cut off the scene abruptly like suddenly all the characters just decided to stop talking and leave. This makes no sense.. For example when Ibukis friend (thought to be dead) shows up again and then later in a group conversation between almost all characters they reveal the secret that she's 'Returned one'. They just cut off the scene and nobody asks a single question.. Later in another scene it turns out they just let her walk out the room and yeah. Nothing comes off it. Conversations are so..meaningless... Nobody asks questions or questions motives. It just feels empty and fabricated. The characters themselves are really boring and empty as well because of this.. Their motivations are kind of flat most of the time too.. Lou's backstory and motivation was pretty disappointing tbh. And as I said.. Ibuki is just friggin useless. He either says nothing at all.. or just shit that gets misunderstood by other characters.. which seems almost like he does it on purpose ??? But that wouldn't make sense. Also the anime tries to kill off A LOT of characters in a dramatic way.. but really they mostly die because of really damn stupid reasons.. and since we don't really get attached to them in any way it doesn't feel as dramatic as it's made out to be. Honestly with some charactersI was even questioning how the frick they would be a 'friend' to Ibuki.. He barely interacts with anyone and isn't close to anyone.. that kind of destroys the whole concept of his curse. All in all this anime is just a mess tbh. It fails to succeed in any aspect ... not action, not story, not the characters. I wouldn't recommend it as I was bored to death watching it.

Story: I'm personally a fan of politically motivated plots. There wasn't a great deal of depth or interest for me in the overall story. There is very little information given about D'natia and Kouran besides vague descriptions like "they are a great nation" or in regards to the dragon magic, which seems equally vague as far as magic systems go (I do love the attire the D'natia soldiers wear though). The story is very average, but not particularly terrible, hence the score. Art: I don't have any gripe with the general animation or art style. It's nice enough. Not spectacular, not an eye sore. However, there is a special place in hell for whomever decided CGI dragons and elephants were a good idea. Sound: I love both the intro and outro music for this show and they were certainly part of the reason I stuck with it until the end. I actually discovered the show via its intro on YouTube, so naturally I've taken a liking too it. Music is a huge part of my own anime experience and for me, music alone can push an anime up a fair distance. Chaos Dragon succeeds in doing that. Character: The saving grace of the story, at least for me, is the concept of Ibuki. It may be my limited experience, but I've not come across a character centred around the concept of killing those close to them as "sacrifices" in exchange for an almost unbeatable power. There's also the fact that beyond this, Ibuki is basically useless in combat, meaning he is often faced with no choice but to use the power. I cared somewhat for Eiha and the D'natian guy (I remember his name, but can't spell it without looking). The Kouran woman was cool, but the rest were "meh". Most characters were somewhat difficult to become attached to because, well, they drop like flies. Enjoyment: Despite this being absolutely nothing special and having a lot of clear problems - I enjoyed this anime. I'd watch it again, if only as something that I didn't need to focus too heavily on to follow or understand, or as something that wasn't going to provoke too much emotion in me. Also, of course, for the music.

As a fantasy anime, Chaos Dragon is mediocre at best, and if you're watching it for the sake of watching a fantasy action show, you are wasting your time. MC is whiny, the world is confusing, and the CGI is laughable. If you're watching it because you have watched enough Urobuchi, Nasu, Narita, and Shoujo anime, then you're in for a treat. Chaos Dragon is what happens when you take four really strong writers in the Japanese Anime/Manga/LN industry and let them go complete ham on their favorite tropes. Kogyoku writes a shoujo protag that's endlessly bittersweet, demure, and loyal towards the MC to almost a fault. Narita does his typical schtick of a supernatural yet goofy character that's on-the-ball, skilled and kinda flashy, but there to have fun during downtime. Nasu has his Fate protagonist that's a hero of justice, even if a bit of an idealist and not very bright. Urobuchi writes a disturbed assassin that manipulates or murder-hobos their way through everyone and everything. If you read the other works by these people, you know which of their prior characters they're lovingly ripping off to create these new ones, so while their actions may be strange, uninspiring, or unimpressive in isolation, they're great fun in their author contexts. Basically, if you've been watching anime for a while and like this particular circle of writers, then by all means, go watch it. Otherwise, go watch some classics and come back later.