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Straight-up moe trumps gap moe this round…
There was interesting news this week that Hitsugi no Chaika was “renewed” for a second season this fall. When an announcement takes place a month into a season, of course, what this really means is that the series was always intended to be a split-cour. Chaika is a pretty good show and I’m happy to see it get another cour, but it does raise an interesting question – comparing it with, say Noragami, why would BONES commit pre-emptively to two cours from this series and not that one? Noragami is certainly the better show, and based on Stalker estimates Chaika will certainly sell fewer discs. That’s not a knock on Chaika – it’s certainly a cut about most anime that get second seasons. It’s just something to muse on.
In any event, Hitsugi no Chaika continues to operate about on the same level it has been for me – pretty solid, dignified and restrained for the most part, but not fully compelling. Knowing we’re getting 24-25 episodes allows the luxury of looking at the story from the long perspective, and I think the series fares better for that – it’s doing a nice job of laying out its story with relative patience, and this seems to be a fairly intricate and well-constructed module premise.
One of the things that makes this setup interesting for me is the sheer number of forces at odds with each other, and the fact that the series is actually willing to let the audience be in the dark and forced to try and figure it out. This is pretty rare in anime these days, and especially in LNs – there just isn’t much trust in audiences to be patient in this way, so the more common approach (see Bullet, Black) is to dump a bunch of clumsy exposition on us immediately. This week we meet the council of geezers – including one who sleeps through the meetings and seems to be in-charge – who appear to be running things after the death of Gaz (Gazzers?) among whom is Steinmetz, the one in charge of Gillette’s razor-sharp group. He seems to be the requisite whipping boy on the council, who treat his warnings about Gaz’ daughters running around collecting body parts as superstitious nonsense. In fact, they cut him off at the knees – ordering him to redeploy his troops into quelling farm disputes.
There’s lots of interesting stuff to chew on here, but my suspicion (nothing more at this point) is that we could find out that the Gaz story is not so black-and-white as we were told, and he might not have been such a bad guy. These developments also support the notion that Gillette and his team may end up working with Tooru and his, though for now they’re still trying to capture the Chaikas, led by the catboy Leo and Mattheus (Morishima Shuuta). Matteheus seems to have the ability to control the mythical beasts (all of whom are straight out of the Monsters Manual) like the Cockatrices he uses to disrupt the Chaika exchange, though each Chaika cooperating with her “captors” foils his plan, as both escape.
The other interesting thing going on here is the vibe between Chaika Red and Tooru. Red falls for Tooru professionally at the very least, and makes him an offer – dump that other princess and work for me, and I’ll give you all the action you can handle. And Tooru is tempted – this Chaika has a more concrete plan and seemingly more resolve. Ultimately though he decides to stick it out with Chaika White, and I like the grounds he uses to justify this decision – she needs him more. About the saboteur character class there’s still much we don’t know, but it does seem that loyalty is something they consider to be relevant (or at least this one does).
David, one of the pair holding Chaika White, seems like a decent enough fellow – but it’s worth noting that to the last, he was planning a double-cross for the hostage exchange. It’s at Red’s insistence that he finally makes an offer for Tooru’s group to join with his – but Red’s condition is that she’s the only Chaika in town, which makes it a non-starter for Tooru. It’ll be very interesting to see how that plays out. And whether it’s relevant or not, I can confirm that Red is definitely taller than White – though they could still be clones, simply of different ages.
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Roger
May 15, 2014 at 12:22 pmi am certainly relieved that they announced a second season for this one. Now i don''t have to worry that they will end it in a rushed manner (cough *Noragami* cough. You already know how i felt about the ending of that show).
Now for this episode. I am quite amused that Fredrica isn't the moeblob i expected her to be. She is more like a psychotic man-child. And there is really something particularly intriguing with the way she mentally teases Toru with regards to his relationship with the two Chaikas. it seems that she is holding more than she is letting the others know about.
Alister Hagen
May 15, 2014 at 12:26 pmAnother solid episode of Chaika. I liked that Fredrika feels pretty alien even in human form and isn't crushing on Toru. Once again I enjoyed the fight choreography, the fights just feel so grounded and easy to follow while still being fun to watch. I also liked how Toru handed the offer from Red Chaika. He was tempted which is realistic for his character but he chose loyalty to his principles in the end. What I liked the most about the way his deliberation was depicted is that Toru doesn't agonize over the decision, he thinks about it seriously and quickly comes to a decision, that feels very fitting for his character as a soldier.
Scruffy
May 15, 2014 at 12:30 pmI think the multiple Chaikas is very interesting. I wonder if each has different personalities. A possibility is that the old King made a plan that various versions of Chaika would be released and it would be a survival of the fittest to see which one was the winner and could claim back the empire.
Gary Cochran
May 15, 2014 at 12:57 pmIts nice to see decenty male leads making a comeback. All too many series the past few years we see bumbling male leads that are indecisive and have no backbone or honor. Or they talk about honor and not surrendering and yet get their asses kicked and its the females that save them.
sonicsenryaku
May 16, 2014 at 1:57 amThe fact that Hitsuga no chaika is getting the split cour treatment is a good sign in my eyes; it kinda hints that the story may be bigger than we think it is and that could mean some interesting developments that will raise the quality of this series even higher. On a side note, it's funny Enzo that you thought about Noragami when the annoucement for chaika's second season was made cuz i thought the same thing. You should read the manga man; it's good…like real good. You'd be surprised how subtle and deep the character moments are as well as the story progression. If you dont mind knowing what's going to happen if a second season does get greenlit and you have time in your very busy schedule you should definitely give it a read. The bishamon arc and especially the arc after, I repeat,especially the arc after :D) make Noragami a great story.
GlassShadow
May 16, 2014 at 2:30 amAgreed….Noragami is a pretty exceptional story, and mind you, the arc after the Bishamon arc only leads to something deeper and bigger. Hell…things are only getting started at this point. I desperately wish BONES would announce a second season…especially seeing how they deliberately left the first season open-ended, but honestly, another cour is not even going to be enough to get to the truly good stuff.
sonicsenryaku
May 16, 2014 at 2:40 amYes, Noragami is just getting started. It's crazy how each arc has been getting better and better and if that's the trend that continues we are in for some great stuff. As i mentioned before, the noragami arcs build on each other so the easiest solution for the second season to take (in terms of storytelling anyway) is to go the two-cour route, that's more than enough to tell those two arcs coherently.
Roger
May 16, 2014 at 2:43 amThat was one of my biggest disappointments about the anime adaptation of Noragami. BONES just left it hanging…. there. You just don't see the sights of a second cour out in the horizon and have no choice but to read the manga (which i will be doing anyway).
At least with chiaka, they did confirm that it is going to have a second run, which means the story won't be left somewhere uninteresting.
Zeta Zero
May 18, 2014 at 3:34 amBONES do have an odd selection/approval process.
Cloah
May 16, 2014 at 2:03 amI see what you did there with the crossed out module! 😀
Actually I am glad to see it get another season. Only hope they are able to stay consistent….
unequivocalhorizon
May 18, 2014 at 3:56 amGiven the comparisons to Scrapped Princess (where most of the pursuers of the Casulls eventually DO side with them), I fully expect Gillette and his company to side with Toru, even in an indirect manner.