January 17, 2015

Rokujouma no Shinryakusha -- the rewatch

I'm rewatching Rokujouma no Shinryakusha and it's not terrible. It's far from being the worst harem show out there.

I know that's damning with faint praise, but it's true. If I have any complaint it's that like so many shows based on light novels, it doesn't actually complete the story. Sometimes that's because they're trying to leave themselves open for sequels, and sometimes it's because the books don't finish the story either. I have no idea which is the case this time, but the biggest questions are about the character, who might be or at least possessed by one.

Since there have been 20 books so far in the series, either the author has resolved this or doesn't intend to ever do so.

My other main complaint is that I wish that Yurika wasn't a "butt monkey". The show is really cruel to her, and she doesn't deserve it. I never understood why she didn't just do some spectacular magic in front of all the others to prove to them that she's really a magical girl, and not a cosplayer.

That said, it's nice to watch the relationships between the characters develop, and watch the characters themselves develop. I call this a harem show because it's one guy and a swarm of attractive (albeit rather odd) girls, but in fact there isn't really a lot of romance going on.

I think episode 5 is my favorite in the series.

It's a major turning point in all the character relationships. And it's awesome watching Theia using her shoulder-mounted blasters to zorch a whole swarm of enemy ghosts.

UPDATE: Wikipedia says there are 16 light novels, but the web site for the series lists 20.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 12:08 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 I think "not terrible" is a solid statement on a series, that doesn't damn it either.  There are thousands of things that can go wrong with a series, so "not terrible" is a good foundation to start from.
As for Rokujouma, I heard things change up a lot from LN 6 on (i.e. the main plot gets going), but, like a lot of light novel adaptations, we've got no hint of that future change.

Posted by: sqa at January 17, 2015 12:57 AM (k2E7c)

2 The treatment of Yurika bothered me as well, especially since she might just be the most powerful of the group. I got to the point where I felt they were making a huge set up to turn the butt monkey into the savior of the bunch (she already did so in your example).

I felt that they were just doing a bad job of it.

Posted by: topmaker at January 18, 2015 11:49 AM (2yZsg)

3

I think Theia is the most powerful. It's stated in the first episode that her ship has the firepower to destroy the planet. (Ruth talks her out of doing so, after the "tulip" incident, on the basis that doing so violates a treaty and also would lead to Theia failing her test.)

Admittedly Theia's power may not be as versatile as Yurika's power.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at January 18, 2015 02:51 PM (+rSRq)

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