Chained Soldier Episode 11 aired on Thursday giving fans a flurry of action and fan service. What else is new? But while I could argue the fights were rather average in more ways than one, the cliffhanger of the episode is what left me more excited than anything else. (Spoilers ahead)
Shikoku and Jouryuu showing up at the end wasn’t necessarily a surprise since they’ve been teased a handful of times at this point, especially in last week’s episode as well. So I’d say the shock value of them entering the fight at the end comes from the two solely flexing how much stronger they are than anyone else there.
Not much is known about the two other than what they’ve said at this point and in this episode we learned they’re basically gods (because those are always fun to fight). I wouldn’t say I’m all impressed with either of their characters, but then again, I was the same way with Aoba and her crew as well, and still am. At least with Shikoku and Jouryuu, we can obviously see how physically imposing they are which provides a nice obstacle for everyone in the series.
I’d say, overall, the cliffhanger was exciting due to the fact we finally have someone who is an established threat to both sides of the fight in this episode—a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” sort of scenario. Shikoku and Jouryuu aren’t just an exciting threat for their abilities but it gives the series a desperately needed villain I can finally take seriously.
The majority of this episode was dominated by below-average dialogue and underwhelming conclusions to everyone’s fights, especially Kyouka and Tenka vs Aoba. When you tease a big fight between who are basically the two head honchos from each side of the fight and don’t even have them duke it out at any point, it leaves viewers with a disappointing feeling.
During the episode, Tenka gets lit up (pun intended) by Aoba and while she’s on the floor bleeding out, Kyouka just runs over to her and Aoba and has no sense of urgency. Even worse, it was almost as if Kyouka didn’t want to fight Aoba in the first place. It was just this extremely awkward weird scene where it almost felt like a match among siblings that got out of hand rather than this big, climax fight of the season.
Tenka is lying there, on the brink of death, while Kyouka proposes to Aoba that she should surrender rather than actually fight her. It really felt like there was no urgency and some of the dialogue was corny. Aoba went from “I’m going to kill all of you” to “I can’t wait for Tenka and Yuuki to be married and have a kid!” is beyond the weirdness Aoba has already displayed at this point. Kyouka had the most opportune moment to end Aoba along with my misery from watching it (but I understand the reasoning as to why she didn’t).
I’d say what’s even more disappointing was Kyouka’s fight with the Unihorn. At least with Tenka and Aoba, we saw a lot of their action with some solid dialogue. But Kyouka’s fight that was built up since the first time she encountered the Unihorn earlier in the season was extremely felt. All we got was Kyouka saying how calm she was while the episode gave us a full-frontal shot of her in a wet towel. Again…what?
I don’t mind fan service in the series. After all, it’s a cornerstone of the story in the first place and Chained Soldier usually does a good job at reserving it for the calmer, humorous moments, not during a serious situation…until episode 11. This fight held a lot more meaning to Kyouka yet it left me feeling like I really wasn’t shown anything in the first place.
That’s easy—Yachiho and Himari versus Naon. It involved intricate writing and timing, and we got to see another piece of character development with Himari who basically goes full-blooded American for a few seconds. While a lot of the camera angles in the fight remain constant it was still a nice bonding moment between the sisters that proved how far Himari has come as a fighter and Yachiho as an older sister.
Naon was always a lazy fighter, matching her personality perfectly. She’s almost the opposite of Sahara in a way but, unlike Sahara, she actually stays away from combat as much as possible. It’s not necessarily bad writing, every character needs to be different in their own ways, of course. However, with the gunslinger girls facing off against her, it felt more like it was the sisters against Shuuki rather than Naon herself more than anything.
The production for the episode was hit-and-miss for me. Some moments with Kyouka looked rough but others with Aoba and the Azuma sisters looked solid. Luckily, the soundtrack was great as always that made the battles a lot more hype than they would’ve been without it. But for what is supposed to be the showdown of the season it felt just slightly flat in some places.
Episode 11 rating: 7/10
If you loved Chained Soldier Episode 11 then be sure to vote for it in our weekly poll! The season finale (Episode 12) of Chained Soldier will be released on Thursday, March 21. HIDIVE is streaming the uncensored version of the anime.
Images via HIDIVE
© Takahiro / Yohei Takemura / Shueisha / Magic Defense Corps Public Relations Department