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Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Alderamin on the Sky
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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I like Ikta so far but will be curious to see more about his past especially after the latest episode spoiler[about his mother.] Meanwhile, I got some mixed feelings about the character designs although it's not bad either.
Show has potential imo especially with the world setting and military themes. I'm curious to see how much they will adapt from the LN though. |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5503 Location: Iscandar |
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I am attracted to action/adventure shows with maniac and badass main protagonists. The fast and somewhat confusing pace in these first two episodes worries me a bit, but I think I should be fine with Alderamin as long as it keeps me entertained.
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RaylenCypher
 Posts: 138 |
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I like what's been shown so far, especially the dynamic between Ikta and Yatori. Of course, it's refreshing to have a lead male character that breaks the mold, but it's even better when the female lead also breaks it, too. There definitely is a strong platonic relationship there with a backstory waiting to be revealed.
The downside of that same platonic relationship is just that. There doesn't seem to be a strong romantic tension between the two, just two longtime friends who trust each other. Romance is the automatic hook for me when it comes to watching, but since that's not heavily present here (no romance genre tag either), the fantasy adventure and politics is what's carrying my interest mainly. |
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msvitch
Posts: 68 |
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this show is already on my top 3 of summer season
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HaruhiToy
 Posts: 4118 |
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I'm glad that Theron is reviewing this.
And not only that they were being decent about it. They made the mistake of being sympathetic to what they thought were asylum seekers and then got slaughtered for it. And the kid soldier got ruthlessly taken advantage of by Ikta pretending he was going to get aid. This is clearly not going to be a morally unambiguous story. Also interesting are those bound spirits. The are sort of reminiscent of Philip Pullman's dæmons, but seems like they have a way of being resurrected when their person is killed. From what we have seen so far this looks like one of the most serious anime stories of the season. |
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CaRoss
 Posts: 457 |
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I'm so glad that this one is being reviewed. It was one of the series that I was a little leery about, knowing nothing about the source material going in (something that helped me when it came to Re:Zero, and a few other adaptations that have aired in the past), but was definitely interested after the first episode.
The first episode was an interesting introduction to the series; providing an episode that did just as well as Madhouse's efforts on The Irregular at Magic High School for introducing the setting. It managed to set up some of the world, as well as the characters, without relying too heavily on pure info dumping. It wasn't a perfect episode, but it did a lot more right than wrong and set up a likable cast for the story. However, it was the second episode that really set this one apart for me. Unlike most light novel adaptations, this one seems to be adapting a light novel that is less "teen power fantasy" and more of a pure fantasy series, the likes of which I read a lot of from western authors. I'm definitely super excited to see where this will go and how the story will be handled overall. Some discussions with people who are more knowledgeable about the source material have implied that the series goes in a far different direction than one would assume, so I'm eager to see what that turns out to be. |
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MiloTheFirst
Posts: 429 |
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I am really liking this one.
correction, not almost, I did feel very bad for them. one thing would be killing them while they were just doing their job, another entirely is killing them after being shown such level of sympathy and compassion. I just can't help feeling they could have taken care of them (killing them or not) without recurring to betraying their good will. I am not criticizing the writing mind you, just expressing how bitter the scene was for me, if that was their intention then they succeeded. I personally couldn't understand why, on episode one, the scene where MC flirted with the medic girl (I will need sometime to get these names to stick, my apologies) sat so bad with the other preview-guide-reviewers, to me it felt as if the scene implied MC was doing it to extract information out of her, as he immediately demonstrated by talking about her when the green haired dude introduced himself, in short, it was intended to display how cunning MC was. that might just be my opinion though. I can see how the sort of plain character design can put some people off, but as theron said I prefer something simple but consistently well produced than something ambitious overextending its capacity |
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MiloTheFirst
Posts: 429 |
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I know, right. personally I am predicting MC and Yatori eventually staging a Coup d'etat, I mean it has been stated enough that he HATES the empire's governmental structure, and her fully intending to remain a noble for that country. so it seems like an interesting course of action |
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One-Eye
 Posts: 2267 |
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Ikta was kinda annoying to me in the first episode. I don't mind the main lead being a womanizer if that was the intention, but I found him to be less than charming. However, the second episode was better and I fully agree with Theron's review. The scene with the three soldiers was good, the scene with the general came out clumsy and the scene in the cart when the Princess got carried away with her mouth was strong. I like the main cast character designs, not sure about about the brown uniforms though. So far its strengths are outweighing its weaknesses enough to make me continue watching.
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zrnzle500
 Posts: 3768 |
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I liked the first episode well enough but the second was definitely an improvement. The fight scene with the Kioka soldiers was well done, especially Yatori's part. Certainly didn't hold back on the blood. I do sympathize with the soldiers though, and it seems Ikta and Camille did too. They don't take taking the lives of even enemy soldiers lightly which is nice. I think their side might actually be the bad guys. The Kioka soldiers' reaction to their calling themselves asylum seekers suggested that the number of asylum seekers is sufficiently large that asylum seekers aren't unusual to the point of suspiciousness. Maybe there are just as many going the other way, but if not it may suggest that the country is doing stuff to warrant wanting to seek asylum. Not once do we hear about asylum seekers from Kioka. Even Ikta's mentor left the Empire for Kioka. It was a bit much that his mentor literally invented science but whatever. Kinda wanted him to say "It's this new thing called science" unironically. And once again Ikta gets rough with the princess, though she had just essentially called his mother a whore so that's even more understandable than his previous outburst towards her.
So Theron's standard for density is Raildex's Kamijou, eh? That's some weak tea. Personally I have always held Orimura Ichika from IS as the standard, one I have yet to be convinced to abandon, though there have been serious contenders brought to my attention. For instance, in one of the OVAs spoiler[he effectively enters the sexual fantasies of some of the haremettes have of him and afterwards still doesn't get that they have feelings for him. And not from a lack of understanding of the concepts of sex or romance, as he becomes jealous of the version of him in the fantasy and protective of the girls.] One of the girls could mount him and he still wouldn't understand that she was attracted to him. That's the level of density we're talking about. |
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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As someone who liked Senjō no Valkyria -- at least until the last third, where it started to stumble -- I found the first episode to hit the right notes. And those little spirits are cute, nice, and add an interesting flavour to the settings. The character interaction seemed natural and plausible, given their situation.
The second episode further solidified those thoughts, and while it the plot progressed quite a bit, it didn't feel rushed, which I guess is one of the biggest complements an adaptive work can get. I additionally Ikta's "chat" with general Hakim to be appropriate, for a character-setting standpoint, as Ikta as been strongly characterized as anti-establishment -- even if in opinion only -- and is against the royalty and those to mindlessly revere it. Also, while it did attempted to take an High Officer exam, is was hinted, IIRC, that it was more of keeping a promise to Yatori rather than something he pursued for himself. All in all, this show is all pluses for me, thus far.
Yes, thank you. Kamijō Tōma, while can be seen as dense, mostly had light interactions with Potential Love Interest on the romantic aspect (disclaimer: I've only seen the anime adaptations, so I have no idea how it is handled later on in the source material). No "we need to kiss," or "looking longingly into each other's eyes." Some of the LN protagonists I've seen are so dense that it surprising they managed to actually learn anything. |
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Cam0
 Posts: 4926 |
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Eh, I didn't find it ruthless. He just simply asked and the dude answered without hesitation. I honestly thought the dude might have lied because he made no attempts to deny or resist. I mean I get that guy was just some guy with probably very little combat experience, but the way Ikta made him spill the beans without any effort really was a bit unconvincing in my opinion. Ruthless would've been Ikta sticking his hand into the wound to torture him. Yeah he offered to treat his wounds but come on who trusts the people who just stabbed you. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11588 |
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As I understood it, he was taking the exam as a ringer for her, which made me wonder how that was supposed to work. He was not planning on joining the military at all. I felt really bad for the soldiers too, even the ones who only got fooled. I too am thinking the Empire aren't the good guys here. Even the Princess thinks the Empire is rotten, but once home she comfortably slipped right back into her role. I hope Ikta still has the soul stones, because that's a scene I really want to see, and I don't want that to have already been taken care of off stage. The little sprite kings are my favorite part so far. So Alderamin is this world's deity? That right there interests me as to why it's the title character. 
A young dying kid looking for mercy? At least two of those soldiers didn't look older than 15, and they were the kind of people who'd lend aid to refugees on their word alone. People without ulterior motives tend to be less quick to see ulterior motives in others. And nothing he was asked was really classified information. |
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Hameyadea
Posts: 3679 |
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I don't know about the entirety of the Kioka army, but at the very least that unit seemed coolheaded and rational, and not a zealot "lets kill all the enemees! (sic) I will die for the Cause! Arggh!" Also, as you wrote, the soldier was dying, and he knew it, so self-preservation -- coupled with the non-zealot behaviour -- created what I saw as a natural and believable situation.
Instead of viewing it as a binary "black & white" situation, I see it as "a lot of gray shades." With shows like Joker Game and Active Raid, where the political play is murky across the spectrum, and it's more about characters choosing their preferred tone. Ikta said that the Empire was trying to cut its eastern territories loose, due to it being under-developed and burdening, but I also expect that Kioka will have some similar concepts revealed about them that will make them look "less clean." As for the princess, going back to the political aspect, the best way to bring a change is from the inside, but she is currently powerless (and she isn't the first princess, if memory serves, so she has some additional family members to bypass and outgrow). |
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Cam0
Posts: 4926 |
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I get that. I simply thought that the lack of any hesitation from him was what made it all a bit unconvincing for me. Simple line like "How can I trust you'll keep your word?" would have been enough for me. The way it went was: - "Tell me where your base is and we'll treat your wounds." - "Ok." |
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