Hello everyone and welcome The Anime Pulse: First Reaction. Today we are going to sample an anime that has a fantasy setting mixed with a shounen battle-style. This is Rokka no Yuusha aka Braves of the Six Flowers.
General Overview
Adlet, a boy who proclaims himself to be the strongest on Earth, is selected to become one of the Braves of the Six Flowers in order to protect the world from the Majin: demonic forces being controlled by a demon lord that sleeps and awakens once every 300 years. There are typically six heroes, but when seven are chosen, many speculate one of them may be the enemy and all fingers are pointed at Adlet.
First Episode Impressions
Right off the bat, we are introduced to Adlet when he crashes a holy tournament in order to determine who would be worthy of being chosen to be a Brave of the Six Flowers. Adlet is kind of cocky and arrogant and proclaims to be the strongest fighter in the world. He challenges the two combatants and everything seems to go well, until after his victory when he is surrounded by knights and is arrested.
While he is thrown into a concrete hole in the ground covered by a grate for an indefinite amount of time, a red hue bathes the land and the demonic forces awaken once again. It is at this point where he is bestowed an emblem on the back of his hand. This emblem is proof that he is chosen as one of the six legendary heroes.
Another person who has been chosen, Nashetania, finds Adlet in his prison and helps him escape. The two of them ride off on horses to the meeting place and this is where the first episode ends.
They did a pretty good job setting up the story, but I was a little disappointed with the fact that they didn’t actually get to the meeting place. When you read the synopsis for the show, you would have thought that pointing the finger at Adlet for being the seventh would have been the logical “to be continued” point for the first episode, but apparently it wasn’t.
I also find it rather odd that Nashetania found Adlet almost immediately. They didn’t really explain whether or not the chosen warriors could sense each other or not, but it seems she knew about Adlet being chosen before he was actually chosen, hence why she visited him in the holding cell before he was tossed into the concrete pit, claiming to be a fan of his. Either that or she’s just some whack job working off a hunch.. or worse.. she’s a plot device. Time will tell I suppose.
The first episode was enjoyable. I like Adlet as a main character as he is rather caustic in his attitude and is a nice breath of fresh air from the typical “morally correct” and “timidly shy” main heroes we’ve had shoved down our throats as of late. The anime world needs more MCs like Adlet!
OP & ED Impressions
Opening
“Cry for the Trust” by Mich
Upbeat tempo… pianos… electric guitars.. and violins/string instruments. Yep.. sounds like a new age JRPG song to me. Oh and let’s not forget the forgettable and rather mundane female vocals. This opening is so trope worthy and average it doesn’t hold my attention all too well. I listened to it a few times for the purposes of review and I will not listen to it again. This is a very skippable opening song.
Ending
“Secret Sky” by Mich
Hmm… the same artist for the opening AND ending? That’s kind of rare. Mich switches gears here from a new age JRPG song to something one would hear in an Irish village, which gives off the vibe of a fantasy atmosphere pretty well. The only problem with the song was when Mich opened her mouth and words came out. Something about her voice just doesn’t resonate well with the song and some of the notes seem out of her vocal range. I’m sure Mich is a lovely person, but I just can’t get behind these two songs.
Worth Watching?
YES – The action is pretty good, the story is interesting and Adlet is a hero that is worth getting behind as he offers a few dynamics to the show.
