Summary
This is a very slow burning politico-drama. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found the main character Jean was a welcome change, being a calm and collected head character, not a common personality for main characters in anime sometimes.
This does NOT contain spoilers (I have attempted to remove any major hints)
Characters
Jean’s calm and collected personality was a welcome change from the generic hot headed justice knight that is abundant in many shows, instead we had a character who just did his job, without the need for a moral crusade. The supporting cast of characters were fantastic, from Prince Schawn, Nino and the Chief Officers, whilst some character I felt lacked some depth, the more focused on characters were given pretty good treatment on screen and had some level of depth to their character, such as their motives, their reasons for being and acting. I found Nino was one of the more fleshed out secondary characters and he had some dedicated screen time showing his back story which was really interesting.
Animation
The animation was quite good, but there was a noticeable decline towards the end of the season, featuring more stills and often the animation and backgrounds lacking in a bit of detail.
Music/Soundtrack
Fit really well to the genre and mood of the series, the ED and OP were fantastic, especially loved the OP. The ED in the final episode was also rather nice. The music within the episodes themselves was quite well done too, it fit the mood of the scenes quite well and I didn’t feel that the music was ever really out of place.
Setting
The Dowa kingdom was quite a cool place to visit, from French styled 19th century districts, Midwestern style rural districts to the more modern and flashy Badon, it was interesting to look and see what each district offered and what it reflected. The structure of the world, with how ACCA, the Royal Family and the districts worked together was not expanded on too much, mostly enough to get an idea, but I’m sure if I went back I’d pick up a few more details. The worldbuilding could have been expanded, but it would require more episodes in order to achieve that, perhaps the manga might be a better place to look for that.
Final verdict.
8.75 / 10
Pro
- Interesting setting/premise
- Fantastic lead/main character(s)
- Top notch soundtrack
Cons
- Underwhelming ending (was still great though)
- Animation drop in later episodes (minor nit pick)
- Lacking depth in some characters
Watch this if you like:
- Slow burning dramas
- Non-violent shows (little to none)
- Conspiracy plots
- Suave main characters
Summary
This is a very slow burning politico-drama. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. I found the main character Jean was a welcome change, being a calm and collected head character, not a common personality for main characters in anime sometimes.
This does NOT contain spoilers (I have attempted to remove any major hints)
Characters
Jean’s calm and collected personality was a welcome change from the generic hot headed justice knight that is abundant in many shows, instead we had a character who just did his job, without the need for a moral crusade. The supporting cast of characters were fantastic, from Prince Schawn, Nino and the Chief Officers, whilst some character I felt lacked some depth, the more focused on characters were given pretty good treatment on screen and had some level of depth to their character, such as their motives, their reasons for being and acting. I found Nino was one of the more fleshed out secondary characters and he had some dedicated screen time showing his back story which was really interesting.
Animation
The animation was quite good, but there was a noticeable decline towards the end of the season, featuring more stills and often the animation and backgrounds lacking in a bit of detail.
Music/Soundtrack
Fit really well to the genre and mood of the series, the ED and OP were fantastic, especially loved the OP. The ED in the final episode was also rather nice. The music within the episodes themselves was quite well done too, it fit the mood of the scenes quite well and I didn’t feel that the music was ever really out of place.
Setting
The Dowa kingdom was quite a cool place to visit, from French styled 19th century districts, Midwestern style rural districts to the more modern and flashy Badon, it was interesting to look and see what each district offered and what it reflected. The structure of the world, with how ACCA, the Royal Family and the districts worked together was not expanded on too much, mostly enough to get an idea, but I’m sure if I went back I’d pick up a few more details. The worldbuilding could have been expanded, but it would require more episodes in order to achieve that, perhaps the manga might be a better place to look for that.
Final verdict.
8.75 / 10
Pro
- Interesting setting/premise
- Fantastic lead/main character(s)
- Top notch soundtrack
Cons
- Underwhelming ending (was still great though)
- Animation drop in later episodes (minor nit pick)
- Lacking depth in some characters
Watch this if you like:
- Slow burning dramas
- Non-violent shows (little to none)
- Conspiracy plots
- Suave main characters