Anime Hajime Review: Rokka no Yuusha

***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Rokka no Yuusha. Reader discretion is advised.***

Series Synopsis

Centuries ago, the great Goddess pushed back the ferocious power of the Demon King. Though able to quell the monster’s wrath, it’s spirit remained. The Goddess knew her people would continue to be at risk. Thus, she passed down her power to future generations. Whenever this evil would try to rise again, six brave warriors would awaken to face it.

And such a need has come once more.

Adlet Mayer (voiced by Soma Saito) claims to be the strongest man in the world. That is why he is not surprised when he becomes one of the Goddess’ chosen six. He heads off on his journey to face the Demon King and unite with his fellow Braves.

At the designated meeting place, Adlet meets the others who will join him on his quest. There is the Saint of Blades, Princess Nashetania Piena (voiced by Yoko Hikasa). The Saint of Gunpowder, Fremy Speeddraw (voiced by Aoi Yuki). Nashetania’s devoted knight, Goldof Auora (voiced by Koki Uchiyama). The Saint of Swamps, Chamo Rosso (voiced by Ai Kakuma). The Saint of Mountains, Mora Chester (voiced by Rina Sato). And the assassin, Hans Humpty (voiced by Kenichi Suzumura). The group appears ready. But there is a problem.

The Goddess has only ever called upon six. Yet, seven have arrived. The Braves realize the discrepancy a moment too late and become trapped in a mysterious fog. They deduce that one of them is an imposter working for the Demon King. The only way they can hope to continue their missions is to kill the false Brave.

Adlet had unknowingly fallen into the imposter’s plan and is now the prime suspect. Things turn sour fast, forcing him to go into hiding. He must clear his name and find the true culprit.

Series Positives

Rokka no Yuusha was a surprise for all the right reasons. It’s not that I expected this series to be bad, but rather I didn’t expect this series to go in the direction it did. And where this went was great.

After four episodes of what was shaping up to be a decent action show, the true purpose came to light. Though presented with the look and feel of a fantasy-adventure, this was a tale of mystery. A fun one at that.

 

This made Rokka stand out. I’m confident everything would have been fine had this stuck with an action story. I say that because this angle wasn’t abandoned. There were a number of entertaining fights throughout this series. But would this have made this show as strong as it turned out to be? Perhaps. Except I will always pick something different, over something I’ve seen countless times.

 

Before moving on to the actual review, I need to touch on something. Critiquing mystery stories poses a challenge. I’m limited with how detailed I can be and remain spoiler free. This becomes even truer when said story is worth checking out. That’s what we’re dealing with here. Therefore, I apologize in advance for any ensuing vagueness.

With that out of the way, let’s get into what made Rokka no Yuusha so good.

The Characters

Right off the bat, not everyone got their fair share of screen time. There were a few characters, as in most, who ended up on the sidelines. Given the nature of this series, I was afraid that something like this might happen. Was this as bad as it could have been? Fortunately, no. There have been many other shows that have done worse with smaller groups.

But this is a topic we will touch more on later. Besides, this story with its twelve-episode runtime didn’t allow for everyone to get a full backstory. Rokka no Yuusha had to pick and choose who to develop alongside figuring out who the imposter was. While this wasn’t perfect, when this series got it right, it got it right.

And there were three characters in particular that Rokka no Yuusha nailed.

The first of this trio was Hans. He came out of nowhere. And if you haven’t noticed by now, pleasant surprises were a common reoccurring theme for this series. The moment I saw him, I pegged him to be one of those expendable characters.

When compared to the rest of this group Hans was unique.

Everyone else was, in their own way, a well-known fighter and warrior. Their names, actions, and prestige were common knowledge. Even Adlet had built quite the reputation for himself. A nefarious one, but still.

Hans, as an assassin, worked in the shadows. It would be an occupational hazard if he made too big of a fuss. Also, his sense of right and wrong had a defined monetary value. Hell, his very motivation for accepting the role of Brave was less than noble.

Plus, Hans seemed like the type of person who would be difficult to work with.

And it was Hans’ lackadaisical persona in combination with his true personality that made him a fantastic character. In a test of strength, he would have some difficulties. That notwithstanding, he was one of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous member of this team. His perceptiveness allowed him to notice what others would miss. He was difficult to fool and even more difficult to convince.

There were others Adlet wanted on his side for more personal reasons. Hans' trust, though, was something he needed in order to increase his chances of getting out alive.

Hans was our protagonist's biggest obstacle and most crucial ally at the same time.

The second character of note was the female lead. If you were to only watch the first four episodes of this show, you’d think I was referring to Nashetania. That would be an understandable assumption. But a wrong one nonetheless. This distinction goes to Fremy. And I’m not just saying that because she also happens to be my favorite of this bunch.

For the sake of ease, I’m going to refer to Fremy’s “character arc”. I hesitate to call it as such seeing how there is a lot more to her story. However, in the context of this series, her journey from start to finish was brilliant.

We have to dip our toes into spoiler territory for a moment. Fremy was the person known as the Brave Hunter. She was responsible for the murder of several potential Braves. While it would be better for me to keep quiet about this little detail, this was an early revelation. In addition, her being the Brave Hunter pales in importance when compared to why she was this person. As well as why she changed her goal to defeat the Demon King. 

As this story went forward and we learned more about Fremy, the easier it became to sympathize with her. Was there enough justification to excuse her coldness and past actions? Actually, yeah. If that doesn't become clear as this series progresses, one scene makes it crystal. There came a point that made it all too apparent how much pain and confusion was going on in her head.

On a related note. Fremy’s voice actress, Aoi Yuki, of Hidamari Sketch fame, gave an outstanding performance. Thanks to this show and others like Youjo Senki, my interest in any future projects she's a part of is now secured.

The final and most defined character was our lead, Adlet. He was the perfect anchor for this story. And if there is one thing you need to know about him, he was only an average man.

Everything Adlet did and could do was not beyond the realm of possibility. He didn’t have super strength. He couldn’t use magic. In terms of raw power, he was the weakest of this cast. It was rare when he would have the advantage in any encounter. Despite this, he could not only hold his own in a fight, he could win.

Due to his limitations, Adlet needed to think outside the box. Since he could almost never outlast an opponent, he had to outplay them. At his disposal was a full arsenal of gadgets and tricks. But while these were his trademarks, they weren’t his greatest weapon.

One way to ensure winning a fight is to prevent it from ever happening. Every scuffle Adlet was in was not his doing. With the exception of his introduction. That was him one hundred percent being a jackass. That aside, whenever he had the chance, Adlet would try to make an ally and not an enemy. And he did so in two ways. Either he went all in on a bluff. Or he laid everything bare and gave a genuine response.

As an example of the former, to convince Fremy to join the team, Adlet put himself downrange of her gun. Though he had secured Fremy’s ammo, and thus her way of fighting back, he did leave her with a single shot. If she wanted to continue her isolation, she would have had to nail Adlet in one go. With a mix of bravado and a few well-chosen words, Adlet won his gamble.

In this instance, like in every other in this series, Adlet wasn’t delusional. He knew full well that sooner or later the dice would not roll a winner. This meant he had to keep stacking the odds in his favor and sometimes that wasn’t always enough. He was aware that his risks were not foolproof.

What made Adlet a strong lead was his sincerity. His constant claim of being the strongest person in the world made him arrogant. There’s no way of saying the contrary to that. Except this was a special case where this was a positive quality. Adlet wasn’t simply saying words. To keep his swollen head, he had to do things to support it.

Since the stakes were so high, this group couldn't afford to second guess themselves. It didn’t help that there was a ton of solid evidence pointing to Adlet being the imposter. As a result, he couldn’t risk lying. Everything he said needed to be the truth. Adding any more doubt was a sure-fire death sentence. He couldn’t hold anything back or half-ass his words.

It was during these moments when you could see why he might actually be the world’s strongest.

The Story

Here’s a piece of advice. Don’t start watching a twelve-episode anime at nine-o-clock a night. And especially don’t do this when you need to get up in the morning. If you’re lucky, you can find a nice pause point. Unfortunately, sometimes that doesn’t happen. Sometimes a story will hook itself into you and won’t let go until it’s over.

Rokka no Yuusha did that to me.

As mentioned earlier, the real meat of this series came four episodes in. We didn’t get the fantasy epic this show was leading us to believe. Thus, one might assume the opening was nothing but a colossal waste of time. I can’t fault anyone for thinking that, except to me this was refreshing.

I’m not sure if I can express why I liked this so much. To make a guess, it had to do with the sudden genre turn. It made the mystery direr. Knowing there was an evil Demon King on the verge of resurrection added a whole other layer of pressure. It also explained why everyone was so high strung.

Under normal circumstances, no one would have been as trigger happy as they were. In any other situation, this group would make an effort to explore each possibility. They would be more willing to humor their doubt. Since they were on the clock, they didn’t have the luxury of a full investigation. This allowed our otherwise heroes to be temporary antagonists while still remaining likable.

You don’t want to see Adlet lose. You will find yourself rooting for him in every fight. Too bad he couldn’t use his full strength. He had to hold back so that he wouldn't hurt his comrades. With no one else having such a limitation, this added to this series’ intensity.

There were some pretty solid fights in Rokka. Had it gone through with it, this would have worked as an action show. Except it wasn’t the action that was this story’s most exciting aspect.

Going along with what made him a good lead, the lengths Adlet had to go to clear his name were impressive. As well as definite. He had several stand out moments. This made it so the intrigue didn’t come from figuring out who the imposter was. It came from Adlet trying to prove his innocence.

There were two outstanding scenes that were a perfect illustration of this. And although I would love to discuss them in detail, I can’t. That’s the vagueness I warned about kicking in. Trust me, they are there. I’m confident you will know what I’m referring to when you come across them.

This all resulted in a story that was impossible to put down. I may have stayed up much later than I had planned, but I don’t regret it.

One more thing. Rokka was a reminder why I am a marathon viewer. This show did that thing where the imposter’s identity was about to be revealed and then boom. Cut to the credits, see you next week.

Yeah, I’m not having any of that.

Series Negatives

I’m not sure where to start with this. I have a handful of issues concerning this series. Please keep in mind, none of what I’m about to say ruined the enjoyment of this story. Or at least, not to a severe degree.

Out of everything, there were three major points against Rokka. These ranged from minor to technical to overextension. But before getting into any of that, I need to be fair. I’ve complained about this before, so I can’t ignore it despite liking this show.

In general, this series was well animated. The environments help set the entire tone. The dark forest and fog created an unnatural, almost limbo-like atmosphere. This increased the sense of isolation. Our group was trapped.

 

In addition, the fights between the characters looked great. There was a nice use of color. Everyone’s motions were smooth and fluid. There was a decent amount of imagination and creativity to everything. Rokka was pleasant on the eyes.

So then, what am I getting at?

It was a shame whenever a big old lumbering CGI monster came strolling in. These beasts were way out of place. Like when you can tell an actor is working with a green screen, it just looks off. Except this was even more noticeable since it was two different animation styles. And they were not syncing up.

I’m not going to dwell on this for too long because this wasn’t the point of the series. While fighting giant beasts and creatures was a thing in this show, it was never that important. The wonky CG was only around when it needed to be. Granted, it could have used a much more thorough touch, but what’s done is done.

Though I can overlook the occasional bad effect, these other things are harder to ignore.

The Characters - Continued

With Adlet, Fremy, and Hans, Rokka delivered three fantastic characters. Each of whom brought with them their own special flare that made this series a ton of fun. And that’s not untrue with the rest of this cast. Except most everyone else didn’t get the time they otherwise deserved.

The characters who would have benefited from more development were Nashetania and Mora.

It was Nashetania who drew the shortest straw. She was pivotal in those first four episodes. When Fremy joined, this didn’t change that much. Then once the actual story started, Nashetania’s presence tanked. We got to know who she was in the beginning, yet this show never went much further beyond that.

Nashetania possessed a unique perspective that no one else had. Though skilled as a fighter, she was inexperienced in actual combat. There was a naivety to her that clashed with the more seasoned warriors. Much like Adlet, she was going against the group.

Had this story focused on Nashetania more, she could have been a possible contingency plan. This is something that could have gone on to help another problem I’m about to mention in a moment. 

Fortunately for Nashetania, she did have that introduction. Mora, on the other hand, didn’t get that. She was a character that should have been much more awesome then she ended up being. She was the most experienced. There was grace in her mannerisms that existed in no one else. She commanded a ton of respect.

Mora seemed to have the clearest grasp of what the Braves needed to do. The fate of the world rested on their shoulders. They were following in the footsteps of legendary heroes. Yet here they were stuck, unable to do their mission. This made her dangerous to Adlet because again, they didn't have time to deal with this. Mora was unmovable, and she had every reason to be.

With this going for her, why then was Mora not used that much? She should have been on the same level as Fremy, Hans, and Adlet. Instead, this story wasted her potential.

Of the remaining characters, Chamo was actually alright. She played her role. She was more of a wild card that could snap at any second. Because of this, she didn’t have to do much. Knowing she could erupt at the drop of a hat was plenty.

That about covers it with our team.

Oh, there was also Goldof, but search me for why he was even around. The poor guy was beyond forgettable.

The Mystery

Rokka’s story was gripping. The actual mystery of the story was full of holes. There was a reliance on withholding information and not misdirection.

There is no way you will be able to piece together the trick used to frame Adlet. The explanation of the trick was clever and did make sense. But there was no way to figure it out beforehand. There was a bunch of set up that the characters could discern. Except we weren’t privileged to that knowledge.

Magic and mysticism can work in a mystery. Yet they only work if their rules are well defined. If we don’t know what is possible in a reality, we have no chance at playing detective.

What’s one of the best things about any mystery story? I would argue it's figuring out what’s going on before the story reveals the answers. Even if we don’t manage to do that, the clues should still be there. That feeling of enlightenment when the dots start connecting is a mind rush. Seeing the details and signs that were right in front of you, but you missed, is what makes this genre so addicting. As well as difficult to pull off.

Never in this type of story should something come off as a convenience. You know what I’m talking about. There’s that super perfect piece of evidence that proves how everything happened. And you know full well that there is no possible reason why this one item should even exist. Making it that much more eyebrow-raising when our characters “came across it”.

This happened a few too many times in Rokka. Particularly during the ending.

Speaking of the ending, that was the third problem of this show.

The Last Fifteen Minutes

Rokka no Yuusha sequel baited. Hard. This series went beyond what was necessary.

Remember, the point of this story was figuring out who the imposter was. The Demon King remained out there in the end. That was more than enough to get me on board with any future continuation. Then if that continuation never comes, where this story finished was fine.

Then came the last fifteen minutes with one giant middle finger to that. This series needs a second installment. And it’s been two years since it came out. This show deserves one, but we will see, won’t we.

Did these final minutes of Rokka negate the rest of it? No, not even close. Yet this wasn’t the best way to cap off an otherwise good show.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed this series way more than I ever expected to. I thought I knew what I was getting into and instead, I got something much better.

The characters, while not them all, were solid. The action, when it happened, was exciting. The story was gripping and hard to put down. There were so many things this show got right. The things it didn’t were annoying, sure. The mystery could have been stronger, and everything went a bit too far at the end.

But please don’t let that stop you. If you’re looking for something a little different, by all means, this one’s for you. Rokka no Yuusha gets a huge recommendation.

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise Rokka no Yuusha? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.

And if you liked what you read, be sure to follow me on my social media sites so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this review across the internet to help add to the discussion.

I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next time.

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