Following Fujima Takuya for Nanoha Vivid Season 2 but I got this...Well, it was worth it.

Hi people! It has been a while since I feel like writing a lot of blog posts (well, yes, I did write a blog post about Love Live Nijigasaki). I wanna use this opportunity to write as much as I can before things adjust back to normal (hopefully). Anyway, time for my little backstory with the anime that I'm talking about this time, which is Senyoku no Sigrdrifa.

It's that picture!!!

I followed Fujima Takuya, the author of Nanoha Vivid, hoping to get news on Nanoha's new project (and hoping that it's Nanoha Vivid season 2). Well, before this anime was airing, he did talk about it (of course, he only talks about it when there's an official announcement). I decided to watch it because I don't think it will be bad since it's his work although it's not really the news that I wanted to hear. Well, it didn't disappoint me. Anyway, time to go! Let's go!!! 



WARNING:-

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't watched it and plan to watch it without anyone being the spoiler, please DON'T CONTINUE READING!!!



P.S. If you want to be spoiled, well, go ahead and read it. You HAD been warned. Don't blame me for being spoiled if you INSIST on continuing to read this post.

Introduction

---

The anime visual

Senyoku no Sigdrifa (aka in English, Warlords of Sigrdrifa) is an anime television series produced by Aniplex and A-1 Pictures, which was aired from October to December 2020. I know this anime through Fujima Takuya...as I had mentioned but I didn't know there are two light novel series, titled Warlords of Sigrdrifa Rusalka and Senyoku no Sigrdrifa Sakura, published by Kadokawa Shoten. And heck, it even has two manga series, titled Senyoku no Sigrdrifa Non-Scramble and Senyoku no Sigrdrifa Kurū no Eiyū by Kadokawa Shoten too. Anyway, there is nothing that I could say more about in this section. Let's move on.

The light novel...

The manga cover...

Plot

---

The monster...

The Pillar...

Odin incoming!

The story starts with a setting where humanity is threatened by mysterious Pillars. Just when humans are struggling to come out with a solution, the Norse god Odin offers humanity a way to fight back: young female pilots called "Valkyries", each piloting a special, magically-enhanced plane capable of fighting this mysterious new foe. Did you notice the planes that Valkyries use looks like the ones from World War 2...? AHHHH!!!! Aren't the planes they use actually are the planes from World War 2?!

Claudia...

AHEM! Back to the topic. One of our main characters, Claudia Bruford uses the Gloster Gladiator to...AHHHHHH!!!! THAT IS IT!!! I checked and found out that it is a WARPLANE FROM WORLD WAR TWO!!!!!!! AHEM! Back to the story. She is transferred to Japan after a successful but costly attack on a Pillar in Europe where he survives battles that kill all of her teammates. Wow....so why? Well, she thinks that it's because of her reputation as the "Grim Reaper" as you can see that she is the sole survivor of the operation in Europe. We have no real answers to that at any point in the story (well, unless it exist and I didn't catch it).

Help incoming!

Showing Claudia around...

On the way to Japan, she was ambushed but is assisted by a local, inexperienced Valkyrie squadron. To be honest, I think that this is probably her first time where nobody is dead in an operation against the Pillar. After successfully landing on Tateyama Air Base, she met with the captain in charge and had Miyako give her a tour around the base as the whole airbase is in an alert state. As Miyako gets her to know the airbase and meet the rest of the squad, which is the local, inexperienced Valkyrie squadron that she met earlier. It is named the 909th Valkyrie Wing and consists of Muguruma Miyako (currently, escorting her), Komagome Azuzu, and Watarai Sonoka.

That monster...

The monster defeated

As they get to know each other and the airbase, suddenly there's an attack from a Pillar. There is an issue for the team to defeat it...well, it's because it's underwater. Ah, I forgot. This is not Azur Lane or Kantai Collection. Jokes aside. Later, Azuzu comes up with a plan to force it to the surface with explosives, like fish blasting. Wait a minute...Azuzu, are you the reincarnation of Klee? Anyway, with that idea, they were able to execute it and defeat the Pillar. With that, the 909 Squad and Tateyama Base staff can officially welcome Claudia and had the welcome party held.

Team assemble!!!

Oh, you wanna know what the rest rides? Miyako rides the Nakajima Ki-44, Azuzu rides the Heinkel He 100 and Sonoka rides the Macchi M.C.72. That's it. I would rather hold back. If not, I would go too far off-topic. Maybe next time. Back to topic. As Claudia works and hangs out together with the girls, she slowly but surely changed. Of course, the rest of the girls also changes and grows together with her. The interesting thing is that Odin personally watches over Claudia for some reason and personally dislikes Azuzu.

Amatsuka Yayoi is incoming!

Later, not too long after they have defeated a few Pillars, there's another Valkyrie incoming (of course, with other people) to execute the final assault on the "big boss", the Fuji Primary Pillar. Oh man, it was not pretty because that Valkyrie is Amatsuka Yayoi. It is suspected that she sabotaged Sonaka's plane to prevent her to join the operation that killed most of her former teammates with Yayoi barely escaping death. Wow...it wasn't pretty. What's worst is that Sonoka found out about it this time around, causing Yayoi to stop on her tracks.

What the...? I thought that person is dead?

The attack on the Pillar was going smoothly until...the dead partners of Sonoka and Yayoi appears as their enemies and the appearance of a huge figure with a hammer (Thor) appears and fight against them. The battle ended in a failure, with many injured and some death, including the head commander of the operation. The failure force Sonoka out from the battlefield for a while and had Yayoi out on a mission to save other comrades, which ended in...her death and left Sonoka who had just reconciled with Yayoi broken-hearted.

Ouch...that moment...Sonoka crying...sniff...

Onto Valhalla!

Ah...man, Sonoka's tears...oh, why you have to do this, director? Anyway, back to the story. With the failure of the operation, they had to find ways to take back the base from the Pillar and find the real answer as to why the Pillars appears and how to deal with it. The conversation between Azuzu and Claudia somehow opened the door to Valhalla. They then go to Valhalla together with the military escorts, with the rest of the team staying to defend from the Pillar's attack.

Sonoka is back!

As Azuzu and Claudia visit Valhalla to get their answers, Sonoka finally comes to her senses and brace herself for a fight after reading the notes from the late Yayoi. She decided to help Miyako to defeat the invading Pillar. After all that endeavour, a meeting was held to finalise the plan to win the fight. Azuzu reveals that she and Claudia got from Valhalla. They came to the conclusion that Odin has lied to them and Ragnarok has already occurred. Well, that means...Odin is actually the real enemy?! O.O...

Miyako and Azuzu moment...

The girls in kimono!

Miyako and the rest organised a festival before the fight to prepare their hearts to face the final and hardest battle so far. There are a few things that happened including Azuzu being upset that there's even a festival being held. I'm not gonna further illustrate them. Back to the story.

Odin in battle...

Thor hammer is incoming!

After the festival, they fought Odin, Thor and his minions and the Pillar. The fight was intense, so very intense. I really dun have words to say. With Azuzu struggling against Odin and the others fighting the rest of the opponent, Miyako successful destroyed the Pillar's core and possibly ended Odin's plan to restart the ages of the Norse Gods. Oh, you ask me whether is Odin dead? That's an open-end question.

Slash!!! The end of Odin's plan...

Odin's end?

With the defeat of Odin and the destruction of the Pillar, Japan finally come back be at peace. Well, the girls did enjoy their victory but there are still Pillars around. It's probably just the start of the retaliation of human beings against the Pillars. With that, the story ends. Let's move on.

The ones who sacrificed...

Anime Rating

---

Story (Rating: 9/10)

The story is quite an interesting one, mixing a bit of Norse myth, cute girls and plane battle. Great stuff. The flow and pacing are really well-done although I did catch myself surprised there as I once thought that the climax came quicker than I thought. Well, the actual, real climax came in later but at that point, I'm no longer surprised. The story is pretty simple even though there is the whole "Odin is hiding something from us" plot thing.

That moment...intense...

Art and Animation (Rating: 8/10)

The character looks...they are cute but there are some parts of the animation where the drawing of the face could use some improvement. The animation is mostly consistent. The CGI or 3D animation fits in the anime pretty well since not every animation studio can grasp the essence of integration of 2D and 3D animation right. The fight is pretty well-animated too. That's all I can say.

Planes incoming!!!

Sound and Music (Rating: 7/10)

The opening and ending theme songs are pretty good but sadly, they are not really my cup of tea. Good background music throughout the anime. There's nothing much I could say about them.

From the opening sequence...

Characters (Rating: 10/10)

Character development is central to the story. The change in Claudia as she gets to know the rest of the squad, change in Sonoka as she goes through hardships, Azuzu pouring her heart out and overcoming herself with the help of Claudia in Valhalla (which is in Asgard)...all of them are precious and amazing. The likeability of the characters? It depends on you but I do like Miyako the most. She's cute and energetic. The relatability of the characters to the audience? Hmmm...it's war and death and friendship. I believe that people will find something that they can learn.

The girls are chilling...

Enjoyment (Rating: 9/10)

I do enjoy it quite a lot. The cute girls, the funny scenes, the fight, the plot...all of them is why I like and enjoy this anime. That's all I could say.

The firecracker...

Overall Rating: 8.6 (8.5)/10

Screenshots

---

Muguruma Miyako!

Watarai Sonoka!

Komagome Azuzu!

Slash!!!

Loli Cute Claudia!!!!!!!

Ah...the tear-jerking moment...

Huh? Odin...are you actually up to something?

Claudia facing Odin...

F...to those who died in the battle...

PV/Trailer

---

Conclusion

---

Oh, already reached the end? Actually, I planned to publish a blog post about a song but I changed my mind, instead, I made this post. I managed to get this blog post done before the end of this month (October 2021), which is what I want. I got caught onto too many things and also, having a lack of motivation to watch anime recently. Maybe I will try to catch up with blogging about the anime that I've watched before. By the way, I had a song that I'm hooked to recently. Probably won't talk about it on this blog as it's not related to anime in any way. Anyway, I'm still waiting for the announcement of the details of that new Nanoha project. Hopefully, it's Nanoha Vivid season 2. Still no news tho. Also, I really hope that you had enjoyed reading and browsing here. Goodbye, and God bless you!

Girls in swimsuits!!! For you. xD