King's Raid: Ishi o Tsugumono-tachi

Title:King's Raid: Ishi o Tsugumono-tachi
KING’S RAID: Successors of the Will
キングスレイド
Overall:Unevaluated
Keywords: , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - OLM
ISHIKAWA Kaito
KAKUMA Ai
KAWANISHI Kengo
OZAWA Ari
R1 License - FUNimation
For the first time in a hundred years, Demons have been spotted in the King's Forest of the Kingdom of Orvelia. The sickly King authorizes a patrol of Knights to investigate. Kasel, an apprentice Knight who only wants to 'protect everyone', is left behind while three friends join the mission. It does not go well. Kasel and priestess Frey (who have known each other since their days at an orphanage) are chosen for a second mission to find out just what happened and retrieve a valuable item. Meanwhile, a plot is underway to overthrow the Orvelian government.

26 episodes
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Unevaluated Stretch [series:4201#628]
(Ten episodes watched):

I was pleasantly surprised by episode one of King's Raid, given that I had low expectations to begin with. As I watched episode one it soon became clear that a fairly sophisticated plot was coming together and some care was being taken to endow the main characters with personality. This despite the need to introduce us to a fair number of important people, including the King, his aide, several 'Dark Elves', and Lord Moriham, who is no doubt behind the plot to overthrow the King (he looks evil). Whereas many anime have muddled plots and it's hard to remember what's going on, here the story is easy to follow without being simplistic. What's important is pretty obvious and I sensed that no time was being wasted. The moment when Clause, Gran and Flegg tell Kasel that they're going on the search of the forest is the moment when we sense that they are dead meat. The fight in the woods was pretty exciting and realistic as anime go (but wouldn't it have made more sense to not reveal just what happens to Clause?). And the split screen ED sequence was sort of cool. So, contrary to what I had expected, this seems like a neatly written and intriguing story and I am eager for episode two.

In episode two the remainder of what will presumably be Kasel's adventuring party assembles and we learn a secret about him: he's famed King Kyle's rightful heir. I think I know how that is possible. In general episode two did not strike me as being as sharply focused as episode one had been, but I think I was not completely imagining things when this struck me as a fun show. Episode three involves more explaining of just what Kasel must do and the grievance between the Dark Elves and Orvelia. It seems that they were used as a scapegoats for something not totally awful that one of their number once did, so it's kind of hard to blame them for wanting revenge. I bet Kasel and them will wind up allies in the end, because that's the way things always go when two not totally evil factions are built up in an anime like this.

Kasel and his party set out to seek the aid of an Elf leader, and meet a guide, fearsome female Elf warrior Selene. She and the ominous dark forest they must pass through gave the story some variety and a modest spirit of adventure. I thought that 'Chibi', a young 'Treasant' (Ent?) was kind of silly and incongruous, but he/she/it didn't last long. The thing I initially liked about this show was that a clearly encapsulated plot seemed to have been presented to us, and it didn't seem to be wasting any time. But that's not the vibe I have been getting recently. Episode six largely took a break from the main plot and is largely comedy as the team needs to earn some money after carelessly wasting what they had. Episode seven was better as we get an idea of what the dark elves of Black Edge have been up to. They discover that not all Orvelians are prejudiced against them; again, I bet they'll wind up among the good guys at the end, because all the care that has been taken to show that some of their anger is justified wouldn't have been taken otherwise. Far too many anime (including, to a certain extent, King's Raid) have plots that are as simple as possible and thus are largely predictable.

Episode eight is basically another distraction from the main plot as Frey befriends a semi-traumatized child during a stop on the team's journey. I'm increasingly sensing a two-season show, because there isn't going to be time to wrap this all up in one. Maybe if the same concentration that I sensed in episode one had been maintained afterwards a complete story in 12 episodes could have been achieved, but it looks like that was not the intention. Likewise, episode nine is related to the tangent in episode eight, not the main plot. About the only sign in episode nine that the main plot will resume someday is when a man asks the team where they are headed. In episode ten one of the dark elves of Black Edge, Tamm, sort of makes himself a human girlfriend, Sheila, which conflicts things somewhat. This development was better than nothing, but didn't exactly seem deliciously intriguing. Do a dozen or so elves really believe they can overthrow a kingdom and take control of it themselves? It seems somewhat over-optimistic to me. When a new batch of Winter 2021 anime arrives in a few weeks, there will no doubt be a temptation to dispense with King's Raid, and I wonder if it will pass the test.

Last updated Tuesday, December 22 2020. Created Sunday, October 04 2020.

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