Kodansha

The Warrior Princess and the Barbaric King Initial Series Review

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Crunchyroll , , , , , , , ,

Hello, everyone! RJ Writing Ink here with another first impression for a new anime I’m considering watching. So, have you ever heard how Spike Spiegel once said “I love a woman who can kick my ass?” He’s not wrong; a lot of people like strong women who can stand up for themselves. Well, what if there were an entire culture of warriors whose romantic preference was strong women? Now put that into a medieval fantasy setting, have the female protagonist be a badass knight, and the male be an uber-powerful barbarian warrior in love with her. Then you would have this new anime I just found, The Barbarian’s Bride. The first episode is out, but this one clip of it on Crunchyroll’s YouTube channel was enough to get me interested.

A Lady Knight Meet Cute

Meet Seraphina de Lavillant, a 26-year-old knight from the Illdoren Kingdom and leader of the Eastern Expeditionary Force. For centuries, her kingdom has waged war against the “barbarians” of the east for all the usual reasons people fight: land, resources, and seeing the easterners as savages. But then the day comes when Sera finds herself in combat against one of the enemy’s leaders, Veor. And despite managing to hold her own against him for a time, eventually her sword breaks during their clash, spelling her ultimate defeat. And while she bought enough time for most of her forces to get away, Sera is taken captive by the Easterners.

The premiere episode opens up right in the middle of Sera’s plight as she finds herself in a cell in the Easterners territory. And she fully expects that they will torture her, sacrifice her, violate her, or some horrible combination of all three. But she decides that she will remain defiant to the end and not give them the satisfaction of begging for mercy. What she wasn’t prepared for was learning the reason why she was brought back. It wasn’t to kill her or violate her dignity like she thought; it was because Veor wanted to…marry her!

As I bluntly commented in the above video, Veor’s entire culture basically simps for badass warrior maidens. They like strong women who can hold their own in a fight, and this makes sense, when you think about it. The land they call home is full of all sorts of dangers, so they need to be strong in order to survive. That holds true in real life, as well. When you live in a tough environment, you have to be either tough or smart in order to survive, and you see those qualities in a partner as a positive trait. So, for centuries, the men of Veor’s people have married the strongest women they can find; it just so happens that they tend to be the ones who were trying to kill them at first. And when Veor clashed with Sera, he basically fell for her then and there. So he followed the traditions of his people.

They’ve at least got good taste. And, judging by the thousands of likes my comment got, plenty of people are thinking the same thing. Like Spike Spiegel once said, men like a woman who can kick their asses.

Read the Manga. It’s Actually Nicer than you Think!

Now, as a modern audience, there are undoubtedly people who look at this series and have some serious ethical concerns with it. Taking someone captive to marry them is frowned upon by a lot of people. Not to mention the idea that said captives potentially falling in love with them could be seen as Stockholm Syndrome. They’re not wrong; it does raise some eyebrows. I would like to point out three things, though. Firstly, Veor’s culture is wholly different from ours, and it’s technically unfair of us to judge it by our own morals and ethics. Secondly, despite looking like a brute, Veor manages to subvert the stereotypical barbarian warrior. Despite it being well within his power to take her by force, Veor is nothing but a gentleman toward Seraphina. He treats her with the respect he would give a fellow warrior and equal and refuses to do anything without her consent. Which segues into my third and final point: Seraphina is treated better by Veor than she ever was by her own people.

As this first episode reveals to us through flashbacks, Seraphina’s home of Illdoren is a pretty awful place. Most of the common folk suffer from poverty and famine. We even see a poor man starving on the streets. Meanwhile, the upper crust is living in mansions and gorging themselves on the best food, overly fancy outfits, and caring more about gossip than helping those they’re supposed to look after. Not to mention how their entire society is incredibly sexist. Female knights are not uncommon, but Sera was still made fun of for something that her people largely see as a man’s role. For instance, there was the time when she became the First Knight and leader of the Eastern Expeditionary Force. She went back to her brother filled with pride at what she’d done. Instead, he chose to berate her for turning down multiple marriage proposals to keep playing knight, and that she should quit now that she’s at the top. Completely ignoring her accomplishments!

I understand that there’s the idea of being loyal to your country even when it’s not loyal to you. However, at some point, you have to question whether or not said country even deserves your loyalty. Now compare that to Veor’s people, who will not look down on her for being a woman and recognize her badassery for what it is: something to respect. I don’t know about you, but if I had to make a choice between a home that doesn’t respect and appreciate me for who I am and a place that does, I’d choose the place that does.

I know that Barbarian’s Bride is not going to be for everyone, and that’s understandable. Not everyone is going to be into these kinds of stories. But I’m the kind of person who likes people from different cultures getting along. You’d be surprised at how much more in common we all have with each other. So I wound up reading the manga, and found that it doesn’t take long for Seraphina to grow accustomed to this new land. She’s happier here than she ever was back home, and the more she gets to know Veor, the more she realizes that the stories she was told about his people were inaccurate. That, and when he ditches the beard, Veor is very much her type, to her initial dismay. For bonus points, Veor is only 18.

That’s right, Veor is only 18, can grow an impressive beard, and is making an older woman fall for him. Impressive game!

I Like Fairy Tail. Change My Mind!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fairy Tail: Hundred Year Quest Initial Series Review

When it comes to Shonen series, depending on who you’re asking, Fairy Tail is either pretty famous…or pretty infamous. People have criticized Hiro Mashima’s best-known work for many things over the years. Things like having too much fanservice in it and not enough character depth. How it uses the power of friendship to let its characters bs it’s way through situations they shouldn’t survive. And, my personal favorite, how it’s One Piece if Oda didn’t care.

Having read Fairy Tail for years, and spent as much time reviewing Mashima’s next series, Edens Zero, I can honestly say the criticisms are valid. That said, that doesn’t stop me from loving the series like a guilty pleasure. And when I found out that the sequel manga, Hundred-Year Quest, was getting an anime this summer, I knew I had to watch it. I’m glad I did, because the series is as fun as ever.

Fairy Tail’s Greatest Adventure Yet

It’s been one year since the wizarding guild Fairy Tail and their allies defeated Zeref and Acnologia, and resident Fire Dragon Slayer is going on his greatest adventure to date. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Happy and Carla travel to the continent of Guiltina to take on the Hundred-Year Quest, a quest so dangerous that none have completed it since wizarding guilds began. It soon becomes apparent why. The quest involves finding the Five Dragon Gods, defeat them, and seal away their powers. And each of them has strength on par with Aconologia. Needless to say, Team Natsu has its work cut out for it.

Meanwhile, back at Fairy Tail, a new member named Touka joins the guild, and she’s crazy for Natsu. But there’s something off about her…

I Like Fairy Tail and you Can’t Change My Mind!

I want to reiterate this: I’m well aware of the criticisms surrounding Fairy Tail. And I will not deny them. I’ve spent years reading the work of Hiro Mashima, and as good as he can be, he’s no Oda, Araki, Kishimoto, or Toriyama. Granted, Kishimoto has had his own problems writing female protagonists, but that’s besides the point. But even with all these faults, I still love Fairy Tail, and here’s why.

Firstly, I love the series sense of humor. It could do a little bit better when it comes to how deep it makes some of its characters, but when it comes to being funny, Mashima knows what he’s doing. The titular guild is a haven for rowdy, chaotic, but good-natured people who love life, adventure, and testing each other. In fact, whenever I’m feeling depressed about life, one of my first instincts is to look up a video of Fairy Tail and watch them do the funniest stuff. Say what you want, but they always bring a smile to my face.

The second reason I like Fairy Tail is simpler: the dub is good. When Funimation first started dubbing the series fifteen years ago, they spared no expense when it came to talent. If you look at the cast list for the english dub, you’ll see that it has a lot of voice actor’s that were either already successful or have become successful in the time since then. And they do a good job at playing their roles. The way they deliver some of their lines is enough to get a laugh out of me.

Lastly, the show’s got some great music. Full stop.

So, yeah, I like Fairy Tail despite its faults, and I’ve been eagerly watching the dub for Hundred-Year Quest. And on the subject of whether it’s good or not, this is all I have to say: it feels like the series never left us, and I’m sure plenty of fans feel the same way.

I don’t know how long the new series will run for, but frankly, I don’t care. I’m just glad that Fairy Tail has come back to us after almost five years of waiting. It was worth the wait, and it steps back into the world of the series so seamlessly, you’d barely recognize that it had left.

Verdict: I’m Watching it, and So Can You!