Chained Soldier was one of the best series I've seen in awhile. It doesn't do anything better than any other series in particular, however the combination of elements really come together for an enthralling watch. First and foremost, this is an ecchi show and it doesn't pretend to be anything but that. With that said, it has a surprising amount of depth to it, whether it be in terms of relationship building, story progression, character development, or world building. I was honestly surprised how well the events of the story were conveyed.
For a brief synopsis, our main character is Yuuki Wakura, a listless man ... searching for an occupation. The world he lives is not too dissimilar to our own, except females have obtained magical abilities. The abilities are a side effect of an existing alternate dimension, the Mato dimension, from which monsters will periodically cross over to attack the human realm or bring humans back into. Since women are the only ones able to wield magic, the defense of the human dimension falls on them, making the Anti-Demon Corps.
In the first episode, we're shown that Yuuki's sister Aoba has disappeared prior to the events of the series, but we don’t know what happened exactly. This prompts Yuuki to want to become hero, so others don't suffer his sister's fate. This is somewhat of a weak motivation for his proclaimed desire to become a hero in my opinion, but it's not so incredibly far fetched either. Regardless it’s this reasoning he chooses to become a "slave" to the commander Kyouka of the Anti-Demon Corps, when he’s unexpectedly transported through a gate to the Mato dimension. It's his agreeance to becoming Kyouka's slave that he is able to acquire power from her ability of the same name and escape the ambush of monsters he was transported into. I don’t want to go into a full synopsis, but characters, setting, and story all crank into high gear for the rest of the series.
To start, Yuuki is just great. He's not so much of a bada$$ that it feels unrealistic or unachievable, but also not so much of a wimp you lose all respect (looking at you Takemichi - Tokyo Revengers). He has a story I can generally vibe with and had no problems following him for the story. I also appreciate his actions and motivations, and seeing how he grows throughout the series. His character is just done incredibly well in my opinion. They fleshed it out to a significant degree from the start, but also left room for him to grow.
This leads me to the women of division 6 and 7. The show definitely provides an impression that men are not taken too seriously because of their lack of powers. This is conveyed incredibly well though, because of the obvious lunacy of this worlds setting. The girls all respond to Yuuki’s presence in a variety of ways, whether it be through indifference, concern, friendship, teasing, or attempted bonding. Each interaction had its own unique feel to it as well. Kyouka clearly does not warm up to Yuuki immediately, but slowly starts to depend on him as the show progresses and even starts to get jealous at points. I loved seeing her subtle vulnerabilities being shown sporadically throughout the series, especially given her tough facade. Similar to Kyouka, Himari is cold to Yuuki from the get go…I’m not sure her reasoning aside from maybe seeing him as a distraction from her goal to become stronger. Regardless, when she is given the opportunity to duel her sister, she is somewhat forced to interact/train with him. These episodes with Himari are perfection imo. Not only are we treated to both lewd and hilarious occurrences, but we see growth from an initially unlikeable character and a bond between these two that I considered incredibly heartwarming. Shushu’s character was surprisingly quaint as well, which becomes a theme. She starts off quirky, aloof, and somewhat perplexing, but as she gets to understand Yuuki she realizes the importance of love and just men in general. She’s no longer careless and misdirected by the end of the series. To me, Shushu showed the largest amount of growth of all the characters. Each interaction Yuuki has with his fellow female “military” members is so quaint and bring an unexpectedly welcome amount of both comedy and ecchi.
Speaking of comedy and ecchi, I loved how they were incorporated into the series. To me, as an ecchi fan, I was happy to see the amount of degeneracy shown, and it’s done in an interesting way with levity. It also enables a lot of the comedy to occur, which was effective here. The fact it was fully uncensored gives it major bonus points as well. As degenerate as it was though, it still left room for a great story and set of characters. To be honest, I wouldn't consider myself one to like the idea of becoming subservient to anyone, however, Chained Soldier really makes it seem more appealing XD. It's not one sided either, everything seems to have a fair trade off. For example, Yuuki receives rewards for being a 'slave" to Kyouka, in which she has no control over his subconscious desires (but agrees to for the overwhelming power he provides).
The abilities shown are all unique and intriguing. I consistently looked forward to seeing the next revealed abilities of any new character. The cg animation definitely left a lot to be desired but were done well for the most part, it's not particularly jarring. What really resonated with me was the relationships built. The dynamic of characters toward the end of the series was really great to watch and I personally couldn't wait for more.
In reference to Yuuki’s sister Aoba, it’s, in my opinion, here where the story gains depth. Up to her introduction at the start, this series is just a well directed ecchi in a complicated setting. The revelation about her disappearance adds a complex dilemma I personally would’ve had trouble resolving. Seeing Yuuki and her life together before her disappearance was great and made the situation Yuuki is in, in episode 1, bittersweet.
To end, when you watch Chained Soldier, you know what you're getting into within a few minutes. In my opinion, this is not a series looking for deep introspection or philosophical discussions. Its only intent is to entertain (whether it be via comedy, ecchi, romance, or action). I've read through several reviews for Chained Soldier. Some of the negative ones have comments saying this series has things like slavery, sexism, attempted grape, SA, physical abuse, blackmail…and more buzz words to try and indicate how vile this series is. Over sensitive individuals like this are why we can't have nice things in the west, and why I rely on Japan so heavily now. Most of the events in the series are literally there for ecchi and/or comedic purposes. I’ll admit,this is definitely not a show for everyone. There is wonky cg animation at times, characters could stand to have more individuality, there could be a stronger plot, more drama/depth, and a variety of other small gripes. If you start watching it while comprehending the intent, however, it’s a very enjoyable experience for its short 12 episodes…so much so that I binged it in one evening. Chained Soldier is obviously no icon of modern anime, but it does its job better than most others in the same genre. I highly recommend Chained Soldier and hope to see more series like this in the future, along with a season 2.
Alternative Titles Synonyms: Slave of the Magic Capital's Elite Troops, Mabotai Japanese: 魔都精兵のスレイブ Information Type: TV Episodes: 12 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Jan 4, 2024 to Mar 21, 2024 Premiered: Winter 2024 Broadcast: Thursdays at 23:00 (JST) Licensors: Sentai Filmworks Studios: Seven Arcs Source: Manga Theme: Harem Demographic: Shounen Duration: 23 min. per ep. Rating: R+ - Mild Nudity Statistics Score: 6.841 (scored by 58,780 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #53542 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1373 Members: 171,934 Favorites: 1,356 Available AtResources |
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