Alderamin on the Sky

Episode 5

Normally I'd be groaning over the story being interrupted for a two-episode flashback arc, but I will make an exception this time. After all, I've literally been asking for this, and given how neat the relationship between Ikta and Yatori has been so far, some background on how they came together is well-warranted. In fact, given what happened at the end of episode 4, I don't think the timing could have been better.

The content before the flashback is also important. Yatori's statements confirm the lingering suspicion from episode 4 that the relationship between these two is fully reciprocal. Yatori may keep Ikta from stepping out of bounds on his behavior, but Ikta is also Yatori's safeguard against losing herself to her warrior's trance. Given what she can do, that alone is a pretty strong reason for her to want to hang around someone who has such a different attitude, but the first part of this flashback also establishes that they are friends above and beyond these needs.

While the second part (which will presumably be episode 6) looks like it will deal with the two in their mid-teen years, this part focuses on the time when they first met as kids. (Their ages aren't specified, but I would guess them to be around 10 years old.) It seems like Yatori was raised to be stern and militaristic from a young age, which kept her isolated from other children until she met Ikta, who was apparently always a fun-loving guy. Under those conditions, it's not hard to understand how Ikta might have made quite the impression. The episode skimps a bit on showing the two forging a friendship before dropping them into the crisis concerning the wolves and the cabin, but that crisis does cement their complementary relationship, as well as providing the first signs of Ikta's future brilliance.

Even though the episode focuses almost exclusively on Ikta and Yatori, it is also revealing in other regards. We actually get to meet the scientist that Chamille brought up in episode 2 as Ikta's mentor, and we get a sense for why he might have been so ill-regarded that he defected. His attempts to explain the workings of God via science definitely wouldn't go over well in a nation with firm religious alignments. In addition, Ikta's notions about wanting to talk to the enemy before “the bullets run out” and slightly more detail about what happened to Ikta's well-respected father lay out pretty clearly why he didn't want to be in the military. His comment at the end about how this is a failing country also raise questions about what's going to happen to him when push comes to shove, as his loyalties clearly aren't with the hierarchy of the Empire. My guess is that he only stuck around because Yatori wouldn't go, but we'll see about that next episode. Whatever the case, seeing such an anti-establishment figure with such a close relationship to the princess and being the country's most brilliant young tactical mind has some juicy possibilities.

Rating: B

Alderamin on the Sky is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.