It’s fine. Literally everything about this series is just fine. In anime, this is considered an accomplishment.
The best thing about the plot of Htsugi no Chaika is that is doesn’t have any glaring problems with it. There’s nothing really that innovative or enthralling about it. It’s just a standard adventure anime that has enough spice to it to provide a decent viewing.
So, there’s this girl who is collecting the dismembered pieces of her father (gross) in order to give him a proper funeral. This all takes place after this giant magical war, that is not explained whatsoever, has resulted in this girl’s father being killed. By the way, her father was the king(?) of some territory and all of his body parts have a huge collection of “magic energy.” You could make a porno out of that.
The characters, like everything else in this title, are fine. What irked me most about the characters are the cliches that they are bound by. The main character’s sister is not really his sister. Ensue romantic intentions. The girl who is looking for the body parts can only speak a few words at a time, is small in stature, and has the innocence of a child. Ensue moe. And romantic intentions. The “dragoon” they encounter later on has a natural form similar to that of typical tsundere. Oh, and she acts like a tsundere. Ensue someone’s fetish and romantic intentions. And harem.
The main male character, however, doesn’t really fall into any typical main protagonist cliches, except his will to do good. But he directs this will to do good into the form of loyalty! To be fair, the main character, or Toru, stated early on that he wanted another war because he was bored and broke. Not exactly the purest of intentions. However, his loyalty is one to be admired, especially when he’s been offered better situations by clones of the girl collecting remains. I just pulled that up out of nowhere, wow.
The artwork, like everything else in this title, is fine. Actually, the action scenes are pretty okay. They kept your attention, at least. And they drag on, instead of having them finish within a minute of fighting. I recall looking at the character design for this show for the first time and being disgusted. I thought their heads were too big. Their cheeks too wide. They looked fat and skinny at the same time. Either this thought disappeared or I just got used to the designs, because I didn’t complain once after episode three. It was fine, if not a little above decent.
Gah! I’m actually looking forward to the second season. This is a pleasant surprise: a series to get into. Hopefully they don’t ruin it by showering unexplainable plot resolutions by the end of it. It was a decent showing, which is surprising, because from my first impressions of this show, I thought it was going to be garbage. Turns out, it was like a slice of hardy bread. It’s not the best thing in the world of cuisine, but it’ll do.
The Visualist's Veranda 