ANN’s coverage of Anime NYC 2023 is sponsored by Yen Press and Ize Press!
© タカヒロ・竹村洋平/集英社・魔防隊広報部
After a quick introduction to the show from the host, the panel immediately began with the launch of the first two episodes. Chained Soldier takes place in a world where humanity is threatened by another dimension called Mato and monsters called Shuuki live there. The only force capable of fighting against them is the Demon Defense Force, comprised entirely of women, all wielding supernatural powers known as Peaches. One day, a young man named Yuuki Wakura accidentally wandered into Mato. When he realized he was being attacked, he was saved by one of the Demon Force Commanders, Kyouka Uzen. To save them both from Shuuki, Kyouka uses her power to transform Yuuki into a monster and makes him her slave on the condition that he will be rewarded for his efforts. Now, he is tasked with taking care of the members of the Demon Defense Force and hopes that one day he will be able to fight alongside them to avenge his sister, whom Shuuki presumably killed. kill.
Amidst the general plot description, I just brought up the fact that this is by the same author as Akame ga KILL! breathtakingly edgy!, you’d be forgiven for assuming that this would aim for a similar level of constant darkness and high-octane violence, but you’d be wrong. No, in practical terms, this is just Love Hina with some shounen fighting splashes painted on top. Yuuki’s new job taking care of the members of the Demon Defense Force is just him acting as their dormitory manager and the DDF members have most of the standard harem anime archetypes of you with several powers combined. You have a blue-haired tsundere named Himari who can transform her arms into various weapons, a playful blonde named Shushu who can change size and transform herself into a giantess. giant, and a younger pink-haired girl named Mei, who considers herself Yuuki’s Senior. Even “being a slave” to Yuuki is just a means of serving the fans since his “rewards” from Kyouka include things like her kissing or embracing him, all those things. which she is physically forced to do due to the fact that it is the only convenient drawback to her powers.
Even though it may sound like I’m complaining about this, it’s hard to get angry over something as shameless as this. Unfortunately, the entire second episode is just an excuse for Shushu to walk around like a giant as she spends most of her time blackmailing Yuuki into becoming her toy, and there’s even a point where Yuuki licks Kyouka’s boots literally trigger his transformation. This show knows what it is if nothing else, and while it’s not exactly my particular brand these days, I can at least say I found it a lot more enjoyable than I otherwise would. looking forward to when I join and think it will be even more interesting. Standard bloody action show. On that note, it’s probably worth mentioning that while the program looks quite useful, some of the 3DCG can get tricky in places, especially when it comes to monsters that look quite clumsy when transformed dynamic. However, if that doesn’t seem to bother you too much then it looks like it would be a pretty decent action variation of the Love Hina formula and if that sounds like something you’d like then here’s the deal. Maybe you’ll be okay.
Chained Soldier will be released in January 2024. HIDIVE will stream the film in North America.