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Hortensia Saga (TV).




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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2021 9:29 am Reply with quote


Hortensia Saga (TV)

Genres: action, adventure, fantasy

Plot Summary: The Kingdom of Hortensia is a world power thanks to its two main territories, Carmellia and Olivier, serving as its sword and shield. Until a revolt rumbles through Carmellia. The development threatens to upend Hortensia and the arrival of monsters only make it worse.
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camseyeview140



Joined: 26 Jan 2021
Posts: 241
PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 5:26 pm Reply with quote
Outside of the first episode airing on a really bad day, I just find this anime to be so boring and generic in terms of fantasy premises. I feel like I could simply get a better experience playing the recent Fire Emblem game and get a much better experience.
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bonbonsrus



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 1537
Location: Michigan, USA
PostPosted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 9:59 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, this one is a let down. Feels like it could have been done a lot better.
And thus far I haven't been able to watch ep 5 which is listed but not coming up on the app or website. Or at least wasn't a bit ago, I watched Given the movie since, I should check again. BTW, Given was great.

Edit: Hortensia ep 5 is finally able to be played for me, going to watch now.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15576
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 12:45 am Reply with quote
bonbonsrus wrote:
Or at least wasn't a bit ago, I watched Given the movie since, I should check again. BTW, Given was great.


At least after the toxic were noted and worked on by the appropriate character, not just taking the "pretty much consented" angle as is. The asking for consent helped.

As for this series as of episode 5 out. It is pretty generic. The hiding the princess character is a little odd in apparently did not notice after so long, but I want to support self identity all the same.

I am not even sure what to think of the blue flying cat guy. He is treated so much like an unremarkable unusual sight, and then in the last two episodes he has apparently needed to hide from some people. Also, apparently zombies are from another world? Just so nothing at all to feel conflicted about killing them.
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Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3670
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:00 am Reply with quote
Mascot thing had to hide because the people they were talking to would recognize the princess by it.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15576
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 2:13 am Reply with quote
I couldn't remember if the mascot knew she was a princess. I would have thought they would act differently.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15576
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:23 am Reply with quote
Episode 12 (finale)

Okay, I was going to say that the ending to was boringly generic, but then Alfred straight up died, and then he is not just because our heroine did a taboo of necromancy and he is totally not right. That is an interesting end, even if it is one of those not ends where you are meant to experience the source material for real ending or something.

The other big WTF of the episode was that the pope turned into a demon monster, but one that is visibly feminine with large boobs. I don't know what that means. But it is kind of relevant to the part of the show I thought was most interesting and not really explore as much as it could have been, which is some sort of gender themes. What was a spark of interesting was that it started out as a princess on the run pretending to be a man, there are probably better examples, but it is kind of like Sheik in The Legend of Zelda. The whole thing is rife for there to be something, where one of the only other female characters is a maid (servant). And then you have things like women being branded witches, up against the main villain of the church, with a man at the top.

I don't even remember what the deal with the female warrior character was, although she was apparently just as important in the final episode. This is probably something totally unnecessary, with me just making up what I think the story should have been or something, and not the kind they wanted to tell, but I could totally see how these pieces could have been put together in a sort of feminist lens.

Have it actually mean something that the princess was hiding as a man, that female warriors or fighters be treated as something not normal. The princess was kind of pushed to hide her identity by dressing as a man, and then she found that it opened the ability to fight, against Maurice's wishes. The maid was maybe frustrated by the limitation of what she could do to help people, but did the best she could in her station. The warrior woman (sorry, barely remember names) be treated as abnormal, that she got push back for being a woman fighter, but she showed them that she could do it. You would have things like women branded as witches, the fake princess, and so on. And in the end we would get some reveal like the pope was actually a woman, that she pretended to be a man to get around the limitations society put on her and get revenge for how she was treated. Which could be some statement about a system of traditionalism like the church is a problem in creating the same kind of evils it says it is against, through the pushing of its inequality and intolerance. Still keep in the things about messing with the natural order of life and things like monsters. I am not saying it would be anti men or something, just a bit more interesting.

But in general I don't think the show was that interesting, it mostly felt really generic, and not a lot that really jumped at me. My rating is So-so (5/10), I was actually wondering if I was going to rate it lower because of how generic it was, but the surprise ending decision did seem enough to think better, even if I still think it did not really grab my attention.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11600
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:48 am Reply with quote
Yeah, I don't think the Pope was a cross-dressing woman (though he did wear a dress all the time, as Popes do). But I have no idea why his demon form was a drag queen. Maybe the animators just wanted to draw some big ones, since the other female characters weren't spilling out of their clothes. I didn't even realize it was him and not just another summoned demon until the fight was nearly over.

And I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that ending. I think it's game-based, so I won't be doing that. If they pull another season, I don't think I'll be doing that either.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15576
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 2:48 am Reply with quote
Gina Szanboti wrote:
Yeah, I don't think the Pope was a cross-dressing woman (though he did wear a dress all the time, as Popes do).


I was not saying he was, just that the idea for him to be a feminine demon at the end seemed kind out of nowhere, I probably could write in some sort of narrative character beat to go with the main character having been a crossdressing woman.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24156
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 5:16 am Reply with quote
Oooo, our first disagreement, DP! I rated the show Decent. I was very much in So-so territory for most of its run but in the last few episodes, things picked up for me, story-wise. Yes, this is definitely not a title I could recommend to somebody enthusiastically, but it basically got the job done for me. I coulda done without that "moru" creature, though. The maid bugged me a bit, too. Not so much her character but her seiyuu's high pitched delivery.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15576
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 6:11 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Oooo, our first disagreement, DP!


I can mark off weird brain synchronisation.

I mean, a number of these similar fairly generic fantasy shows probably pulled me out more than this show did, the shows I would drop despite not being bad. I do think it picked up even after the princess was revealed for who she was, and saving her episode was pretty good too.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2655
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 8:43 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
The maid bugged me a bit, too. Not so much her character but her seiyuu's high pitched delivery.


Holy friggin' hell, YES. I turned the volume down every time she showed up. Evil or Very Mad

I just finished writing this series up, but I think it just didn't pace itself well. It started out almost leisurely and then just flew through those last three episodes. It was okay and I don't regret watching it, but I wouldn't call it good.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin



Joined: 20 Apr 2009
Posts: 3524
Location: Bellevue, WA
PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:03 am Reply with quote
Yes, the pacing became increasingly rushed as the series progressed. But this last episode it became a serious issue. They started skipping significant developments, like the parent/child battles. And, really, the overall conclusion left a bad taste in my mouth.

5/10, and I think that I'm being generous.
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