Rokka no Yuusha 07-12 [END]
Chamot is so excited she can’t even contain herself!
The craziest thing about Rokka has to be that even though so much has happened, in-show time less than 24 hours have past. But that is more than enough time to get sealed in a barrier, get framed as the traitor to your friends, do some bonding, do some fleeing for your life, turn into a wannabe Sherlock Holmes, and even a chance to fall in love. Gotta hand it to Adelt, even when he is on the run he doesn’t let life pass him by.
Mysteries of the Semi-Obvious Unknown
Strongest in the World. Debatable. Fabulous? No Doubt
Mechanics first then actually analyzing all this. So Nachetanya was the traitor, working for her evil overlord Hugh Hefner the Kyoma. The first incredibly obvious clue was how she told Adelt “Go to the temple alone!” and the second barely hidden clue was her freaking out on the alter. It seemed suspicious at the time, but none of the Brave’s are good at psychoanalyzing apparently. The other big factor in solving the mystery was the Saint of the Sun. She was mentioned in passing a couple times in the first few episodes, but she was never on screen nor did the story go out of its way to say “This character is important!” At first everyone assumed Flamie killed her, but since Flamie denied ever killing her it became clear that the Saint of the Sun wasn’t just a throwaway existence. The last major mystery factor was the hidden instruction manual tablet that explained exactly what the Seventh had done.
I as a reviewer like to take a different approach for all the shows I write about. I gawk at Grisaia, complain about Triage, or I’ll geek out over Kekkai Sensen. Rokka is a bit more complicated in how I have to approach it. In part because I went into this show knowing everything, but also because of just how Rokka works as a show. While there is no doubt that Rokka is an epic fantasy, the writer of the series knows that fact and uses it to completely hoodwink you if you don’t read the promotional materials. In a certain sense it wouldn’t even matter how well the mystery was constructed, the fact that Rokka turned a story of a party of heroes on a JRPG style quest to save the world into a locked room style murder mystery is the most important part of this story. If I had to say what are the two most important themes of Rokka, its Mistrust and Friendship. Both of these things are inseparable, and are both used to great effect in Rokka. Just look at Flamie and Adelt. We the audience want to see them trust one another, because we believe their motivations, believe they are on the same side, and see a fair amount of chemistry between these characters. Adelt didn’t fall in love with Flamie for no reason (a weak reason; debatable, but not the point). He desperately wants to trust Flamie and have her return his trust. But Adelt also wants to trust in Nachetanya. He journeyed with her, fought together with her, and he believed to have bonded with her.
And this is almost what happens in return. When you look at the plot holes in Rokka, if Adelt had doubted Nachetanya early on, this show would have been a very different beast. Characters like Hans who tests Adelt, and makes a judgement about who to trust are seen as powerful and wise because they are willing to trust, but also more than willing to doubt. Someone like Chamot who isn’t really much of a thinker, or Maura who just blindly picks one path and sticks to it, are characters that are not only overcome, the story goes out of its way to paint these people as liabilities. Goldof and his blind loyalty, Adelt and his too trusting nature, its no wonder Nachetanya had such an easy time getting everything to move according to her plans. But you can also have to much doubt. Flamie is alone and bitter after everything she knew and loved about the Kyoma was destroyed before her. She is now just a bundle of hate willing to kill anything that might be a threat to her.
One thing that I absolutely have to praise Rokka for is that its a show without waste. What I mean by that is that when I look at everything that has happened over the course of this show’s run, everything that the show put on screen either had a purpose or was working to something that happens later in the series. You can take my word on this or go read ahead and find out for yourself. When I think about all the scenes as they relate to what Rokka was working for, there is nothing that could have been or should have been cut to make the story flow better.
Who needs a magic sword? Trick shot!
Coming from the all knowing position of source material knowledge, I couldn’t watch Rokka as a mystery show. Just like how I will never revisit Detective Conan, once the mystery is solved in Rokka a good deal of its appeal should have vanished. I say should, because for me I had a great time with this adaptation based on both the artistic merits and its good character writing. The Mezzo-American style incorporated into everything, the wonderful fight choreography (though we all can agree that Passione is no powerhouse in the animation department), and of course the great way Rokka plays with the tropes of these kinds of stories. At the end of this shows run, the question of how can we save the world is less important than who do you trust. That is why the existence of Rolonia is so important. You don’t want this show to end with “and then the gang went off and saved the world.” Why? Because while I am sure you could make an interesting story out of these characters going on a standard quest to save the world, the fact that the tension of the traitor isn’t going away is the series strongest point. The way future events pan out would simply not work if all the Braves trusted each other. It would be like if you had to worry about whether or not Terra from FFVI was actually a mole working for Kefka the whole time. Just because you are in a fantasy party with a common goal doesn’t mean you can actually trust your teammates. At the end of the day, disregarding whether or not the mystery of Rokka was compelling or not, what truly matters is that I TRUST this series to continue to both leave me guessing and to continue to understand the inherent flaws in your standard “party of misfits saves the day.”
So was anyone shocked? Did you see this coming a mile away? The classic trick of making the hero befriend someone only to then destroy that relationship is a powerful one. Definitely the production did everything possible to make some characters as sketchy as possible (looking at your Maura). But now the Braves have moved on, and they even recruited a new healer to their party! I can’t see this going poorly at all!
About Samsura
As someone of questionable tastes and even more questionable ethics; if we laugh at the same things you are one of two things: A person of discerning taste or a weirdo. Guess where I fall.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
This was definitely one of my favorite anime from the summer season. Even if everyone thinks Adlet is the weakest of the Braves, you have to admit that for be stuck “locked room” with 6 extremely powerful people that want to kill him he did an amazing job of surviving, finding a bro and lover, as well as everything else listed above. I went from thinking he was screwed to saved and back again several times in those last couple episodes as he was being driven further into a corner. Also, seeing Flamie’s expressions after she choose to believe in Adlet I thought were cute and her little jealous scenes at the end fun to watch.
I’m sure a lot of people figured out who the traitor was, at least from the comments on every anime website I watch is any indication. For me Nachetanya was my prime suspect, but it is true that Maura acted so sketchy that she was very close on her heels.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
This series…wow it was a train wreck from hell! It had a promising start with the interesting world building and characters, but when they got stuck at the temple and played clue for 6+ episodes I really started to hate everything about Rokka! It was like the story completely stopped.
Did I see the whole Nashetania being revealed as a evil character? Yeah I guessed it was her because everyone else was waaaay to obvious since they acted screwy like Hans and Chamo especially, but in the end they were fishing for a season two and they will probably get one.
The dumbest part has to be the reveal of the blood chick at the end and wtf is with her design? LOL worst character design ever.
2/10 Id rather watch SAO s3.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
It definately had to be the Steph. After how she was completely broken by certain peoples.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
You can read Vol 2 and beyond here. Translation on Vol 4 is still ongoing.
https://rokkathetranslation.wordpress.com
More conspiracies, revelations and hurt await our heroes…Щ(･｀ω´･Щ)
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Bluray covers for Vols 1 and 2.
http://rokka-anime.jp/products/blu-raydvd/
It also comes with several hi-quality illustrations.(Scroll down to sample images!)
http://rokka-anime.jp/product/BD02
http://rokka-anime.jp/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/45a0ee570d7af57e2b9b0f3a222eac22.jpg
http://rokka-anime.jp/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/8d7179bb5cb77a88d74c0ac3311b7a6d.jpg
http://rokka-anime.jp/admin/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/cb249619fad93e48df301d523cfd811f.jpg
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
That’s the problem. They didn’t do this.
In short I thought the mystery over-stayed it’s welcome. It would be one thing if the show had more compelling characters, it didn’t. Or a more compelling location, it wasn’t. If the stakes were something that we could feel a real gamble on, they weren’t.
We got two dimensional characters, with forced motivations, in a claustrophobic situation, in a world that was barely half fleshed out. There was little to care about by the mechanical reveal at the end.
If they would have gone out, saved a bunch of people, had gotten themselves in a ton of trouble and out again and invested in this world for one cour worth of show, and then dropped the containment and mystery on us as a cliffhanger, then things might have been different. But they stuffed to much up front and asked us to give benefit of the doubt. Nope.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
I loved this series and looked forward to each new episode.
I went in knowing nothing about it, and loved how it threw convention to the wind and yanked me around and left me with cliffhangers each episode. It was easily my favorite show of the season. I loved the action, the character design, the interaction.
When Adelt actually confessed his love, I think my jaw hit the floor. I was not expecting a Japanese MC to have that kind of a spine.
My ONLY gripe about the show was the new character they introduced in the last episode.
A cow outfit? Really?
Absolutely nothing about that character appealed to me in the slightest. Compared to the other memorable and fun character designs, nothing about her is even the slightest bit cool. And her personality is utterly disposable. It left a sour taste in my mouth to what would otherwise have been a good season.
I’ll also admit I was kind of hoping for a “there is no traitor after all” ending.
They find out the fates just messed up somehow and actually did call seven heroes and none of them are in cahoots with the fiends… yet.
I would have found that a bit more interesting honestly.
POWUH: and Athenaeum Châtelaine with 2212 comments
Oh this series…how I love thee!*_*
Rokka no Yuusha is without a doubt, my favorite anime of the season. It didn’t start off that way, at first I thought, like everyone else that it was going to be your average adventure. But in the end, it was one of the best whodunit mysteries I’ve seen in a long time. The characters were great, the suspense was real as they made you suspect all of 6 of your main characters, and question things you already thought settled.
Ah…the mystery, I can finally talk about this now.
I loved this mystery. This was a series that didn’t promote itself as a mystery and ended up being the best mystery series of the season, and this is compared to those series that DID promote themselves as mystery shows (Ranpo Kitan). I had a fun time looking for clues, discussing with everyone on boards, listening to every character’s conversations and paying attention to details.
I figured out it was Nachetanya by episode 9. It was only when I was sure that I actually started reading the novels. I wanted to read the novels before the series showed the ending since reading the book is different than watching it and I didn’t think that reading it was be as fun if I had already seen the ending.
Anyway, the secret to this series is that they make you doubt yourself. Nache looked suspicious in the beginning, but they continued to make you rethink yourself. Even though I was sure it was her by episode 8, when I read the last chapter, even I began to waver whether the author was going to be stupid and make it the obvious red herring, Maura.
Most of my experience with mysteries come from older Christie-type novels and crime noir. And the most important thing there is attention to detail and knowing when a character makes a slip. You just need one slip and then you’ve got ’em.
Going through all the clues it was apparent that it couldn’t be Hans, Chamot, or Maura. I trusted that they would show the actual activation of the barrier on screen, which means that the person who activated it would have had to have activated before the start of episode 5. And in all of episode 4, only three people had access to the dais. While Maura, Chamot, and Hans did arrive, none of them approached the dais until after the barrier had be proven to be activated. Flamie, while arriving earlier, never touched the thing. So, the ONLY three people that it could have been was Adlet, Goldov, or Nachetanya.
I had thought about it being Adlet and that he was not aware of it, but it never really clicked. If he was the culprit, there would be some times where he would blackout and not recall what happened. This never happened and was never mentioned by Adlet. Also, I did end up have an outside spoiler from RC that stated that the 7th was indeed aware of what he/she was doing and did indeed intend to kill the other Braves. (This was of course from the 7th inner monologues that are in the novel but not the anime) And so, I completely crossed out Adlet as a suspect, which only left Goldov and Nachetanya.
Goldov, I did suspect heavily in the beginning, but as his character got less and less time and the looks he continued to give Nachetanya looked more and more genuinely hurt, perplexed or surprised, I just didn’t feel it was him. However, I wasn’t sure that he was innocent until Nachetanya committed that “one slip” I was looking for. She point blank lied about Hans, and it was done in such a subtle way that unless someone was suspicious, it would have seemed like truth. Also, it was shown in a way, that also seemed to make it important. Once she did that, along with all the other clues that I had already figured out. And the fact that she was the one who told Adlet to go to the temple in the first place, secured my belief that I had gotten my man (or woman in this case).
I enjoyed this so much and I really do hope this has a season two, but then again, they would actually have to animate the ENTIRE story, or else no one would even feel satisfied. Each novel has it’s own mystery but each adventure runs right into the next, so unless the whole story gets done it will just be continuous plot twists and cliffhangers.
I’ve finished the first 3 volumes and I’m waiting until the 4th is fully translated, and if anyone thought the first volume’s mystery was twisted, then they haven’t seen anything yet.
Believe me, Adlet Mayer is without a doubt the strongest man in the world. His strength is not in physical power but his indomitable spirit, his strength of character, and his superior mental skills. And he has the best girl in the world in Flamie. Those two are my fave OTP of the season, even more so than Arslan and Etoile. I hope we get to see their relationship progress as it does in the other novels! 😀
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Whoa!! Such a huge wall of text containing facts and theories!! Slow down, girl. Take a breather! You’ll burn yourself out. Now I know how you get when something catches your eye. 😛
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
So now there’s another Seventh Brave who’s a traitor in their midst? Oh, come on! Actually, I think a traitor in their midst as they try to battle the Demon Lord will work better than one in a locked room mystery. But having two of them is just too much. And when the second one is exposed are we going to get a third one? Chamot, just kill everyone else so we don’t have to worry about that.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
We need an OVA of Chamot just gobbling people up left, right, and center…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Leaving everything to that psychopath would be too easy.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Whoa, some really mixed reviews here! I get it though. I was watching it with my boyfriend and he had to tap out about halfway because he couldn’t take all the talking. Meanwhile, I was completely entranced.
Ah, so you already knew how the mystery went? I’m surprised that didn’t take more fun out of it for you. For me, I guessed it was Nachetanya but simply because “haha, it’d be funny if it was her along right?!?!”. So no, I didn’t pick up on any of the clues at all. So man, it was a wild ride. I didn’t expect it to go the mystery route at all but I’m glad it did.
My one complaint is adding the cow girl at the end. Now, I agree that the whole appeal of the show is the tension of having a saboteur amongst them, but as a last episode throw-in it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. It’s very unsatisfying to have that mystery (or most mysteries in general!) left unsolved so, uh, if you know the answer you should definitely tell me ;D
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
The reviews mask the actual state of things… Sales numbers are in 3 digits *only*.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
What OC says is exactly my problem with the show as a mystery. Unless you knew what was going to happen, all of the ‘clues’ are completely innocuous things, and mixed in with many other innocuous things. And one cannot overestimate how much knowing the ending will focus your attention on ‘clues’. So a ‘well-constructed’ mystery to someone who knows the answer is an amorphous mess with no signaling to those who don’t know the answer.
To me, it felt like Nachetania was the ‘bad guy’ just due to elimination of everyone else. There was no motivation given, the ‘clues’ throughout were far too easily mistaken for other things (like her freakout on the dais as crappy out-of-character stereotyping).
I’ll grant that my perception can be a difference between someone who likes ‘mysteries’, and someone who doesn’t really care about them (me). Mysteries as a genre are usually just something like crossword puzzles: being able to figure them out is more due to just being tuned into the particular clues of the type.
The main problem with Rokka was that outside of the ‘mystery’ aspect, it was just not that good. To me, this indicates that the show’s particulars, and especially the characters, were crafted to serve the mystery, much like Charlotte’s characters were crafted to serve the plot points. As such, it felt thin and ‘written’ and ultimately unsatisfying as general entertainment.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 105 comments
You know, I never realized this show was so polarizing.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
Me neither. I liked it and thought a it might not be to few’s tastes, but since the comments section in the anime website I watch were having fun theorizing meant that those who did not like it went ahead and dropped it early.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Well, I can thoroughly say I enjoyed Rokka no Yuusha for I saw it become. Was expecting a standard team up and defeat the bad guy show but got something a little more interesting. I’m into conspiracy settings so this had my full attention with the twists surrounding the Seventh Brave with everyone struggling to prove their innocence. I mostly went with Adlet’s theories until they got shot full of holes, leaving me to wait and see progress with my own eyes.
Honestly, I didn’t think the Seventh would be Nachetanya. Most of the time, she was being too cheerful, naïve and somewhat airheaded for me to consider her a mastermind for an elaborate scheme. So I easily wrote her off. Seems, like everyone else, I made an error in judgment. When people say “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, they meant it. She’s truly insane, though. Half a million deaths as a means to bring peace between humans and fiends. No one in their right mind could ignore that.
There would’ve been frustration after seeing how the entire show went with no progress on the Demon God but that dissipated from revisiting the details of the synopsis and learning the whole 12 episodes was an adaptation of the source material’s entire first volume. So things are still just getting started. All good for now and hopefully a follow up comes along.
My gripe, like the others, was replaying the Seventh Brave scenario right after doing away with it right before. Also, the new member… Couldn’t they have picked someone less… um… grotesque?
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
“You know, I never realized this show was so polarizing.”
I know right?
Honestly, I rank Adlet’s confession as one of the best anime confessions out there. I did not see that one coming.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
See, to me the whole ‘didn’t see it coming’ was the big problem with it. I can’t blame Flamie for not believing it, because it was so out of the blue that it was easily perceived as just trying to get her to not kill him. I think there should have been a little more groundwork laid for that.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
Well, maybe it’s possible that I’m so jaded with the inability of just about every other shounen MC to just grow some balls and spit it out, that when Adlet got through it without any hesitation, I was literally shocked.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
Yeah I was the same way, but I have to say they make a cute couple.
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
Apparently Adlet’s confession ties in to a later plotline involving who the real 7th traitor is.
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POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
OUCH. Volume 3 sold only… 409 BD copies.