HITSUGI NO CHAIKA

DESCRIPTION

CAST

NOVEL ActionHitsugi no Chaika
ANIME ActionHitsugi no Chaika: AVENGING BATTLE
OVA ActionHitsugi no Chaika: Nerawareta Hitsugi/Yomigaeru Iseki
MANGA ActionHitsugi no Chaika

REVIEWS

• 

  Revvie

  80/100
  One of the better anime of Spring 2014. Generic premise, good excecution.

  While the premise of a group of people adventuring in a medieval-esque world is admittedly a tad too common in TV media, the same can’t be said for anime. While some animes do have this as their base premise, they usually deviate from it well into their mid-point. Very few animes follow this premise as closely as Hitsugi no Chaika does, and that’s what makes it one of the better animes of last season.

  Story: 16/20 and Characters: 14/20

  The story follows Toru Acura, a saboteur – basically a hired gun - who’s out of jobs due to the war being over. While scavenging for food in the forest, he meets Chaika Trabant, a peculiar girl who carries with her everywhere a coffin (hence the title, “Chaika the coffin princess”). It turns out that Chaika is the daughter of the late Emperor Gaz, the person who plunged the world into war years prior. Things happened, and eventually they, along with Toru’s sister, decided to embark on an adventure to collect the late emperor’s remains in order for Chaika to give him a proper funeral.

  The premise itself is already quite interesting. It grants infinite possibilities in where they would go next and what obstacles await them in their next destinantion. Usually this comes in the form of a former hero who is over-protective of the remains, but the show throws you a curveball every now and then. It keeps you hooked and wondering what happens next. Chaika is certainly one of the few animes this season that kept me counting the hours to the next episode.

  That said, Chaika isn’t without its shortcomings. The pacing can sometimes feel rushed – this is mostly evident in season one’s ending – an additional episode would’ve done much better for the series. It also contains many harem-like elements, and I heard many people despise that. But the biggest shortcoming is surprisingly the titular heroine – Chaika herself. It’s not that she’s unlikable or anything, you’ll likely find yourself attached to her once you’re at the anime’s midpoint. The problem is that she has a very peculiar way of speaking. If you don’t have the patience, you’ll likely drop this anime just because you couldn’t stand her speech.

  Other than that, the other characters are quite likable. While many of them can be shallow at times, and there’s little to no character development, you’ll likely find them hard to hate.

  Animation: 10/20

  The animation of Chaika is very bones. It has thick outlines, it’s mostly hand-drawn, and anything that moves looks different to anything that doesn’t move. That said, the animation isn’t bad per se, it’s just quite average. You won’t find any eye-popping or ridiculously beautiful scenes that are better described as works of art, and neither will you find scenes which are dissapointing. Still, if you’re a fan of bones’ animation style, you may find the animation in Chaika to be very good.

  Sound and Music: 15/20

  First of all, the OP and ED were pretty catchy. It doesn’t particularly stand out, and most of you will probably find it average, but I found that it is quite suiting to the show’s tone. The background music, on the other hand, were pretty neat. They really fit with the show’s medieval-esque backdrop, and they often add emotional impact to the scenes in which they were played.

  In the voice acting department, I don’t have anything to complain about. You may find Chaika’s (the character) voice acting to be very annoying at first, as I said above, but trust me, you’ll get used to it. The voice acting doesn’t particularly stand out like say, Ping Pong The Animation, but it does the job.

  Enjoyment: 20/20

  Most of Chaika’s pieces may be the very definition of average, but as they say, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The beauty of Chaika shows when it all comes together. No episode felt unnecessary, and you wouldn’t even notice bones slipped an anime original episode somewhere in there.

  Unlike many animes of Spring 2014, Chaika is very consistent, and you’ll never felt you’ve wasted a week waiting in anticipation for a new episode. There’s always a new development around the corner. I’ll give the anime an additional 5 points for this.

  Conclusion: Not particularly a stand out, but this is something I’d definitely recommend, given the proper context.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  LKellow

  85/100
  A very good show with a interesting story and some nice revelations that will keep you watching until the very end.

  Every now and then I sit at my desk and breathe a long sigh and face-plant my head on the keyboard solely of out of boredom. Why? I'm simply stuck without a series to keep me entertained until another episode of this season's fantastic lineup becomes available. During this tortuous time I resort to scanning lists in search of anything that can keep me occupied, and this time I found myself drawn to Hitsugime no Chaika (Chaika: The Coffin Princess).

  I wasn't quite sure what to expect in all honesty, checking both MAL and general comments on the show resulted in mixed impressions with most edging on the positive side. At this point I was wasting away to a pile of bones and due to no stimulation of the brain I felt myself reverting to an intelligence level of a child self, which was probably just enough to ensure I breathed. I decided I'd give the show a chance and what do you know, it was actually pretty damn good! I'll explain why.

  There is nothing too complicated about this one. You have a young girl named Chaika, who carries a coffin on her back (which makes her without question cuter) in search of remains of her father and happens to bump into a seemingly bored and frustrated Tooru picking mushrooms and forest goop after no longer being in high demand as a saboteur after the war had ended at Emperor Gaz's defeat. After a pretty humorous introduction, with Chaika fumbling through the tall grass in an attempt to outsmart and evade Tooru she comes to admit that she's not actually been mimicking a wild Pokemon, but is in fact lost and requires a way to enter the city without notice, her reason for traveling in the forest.

  Tooru, at this point offers his services, and a way of reaching the city unnoticed in return for a paid breakfast, certainly a lot tastier than whatever can be created with some grass and a few wild mushrooms. The journey however is not all smooth sailing, and soon we see both in the midst of battle against a unicorn of all beasts, and one that has magical abilities. But fear not! For within the cute coffin we find a Gundo (a magical sniper rifle) capable of defeating the beast, but it will require Chaika time before she is able to perform an incantation to blow the unicorn into a thousand pieces. And fear not again! Tooru, being the man itching for action (and a closet loli lover) offers to kept it distracted whilst she prepares. After a rather well animated battle, and the revealing of the Iron-Blood Transformation, an ability of Tooru's that grants him improved combat ability, the two are sitting is a cosy restaurant stuffing down heaps of food.

  It is then at this point we meet Tooru's sibling, the calm and seemingly emotionless Akari who only reacts to her brother flirting with other females due to her never ending fantasies of tying him to a bed post and spanking his smooth bottom with a warhammer and some kunai. I mean she just gets angry and tries to kill him. A destroyed restaurant later and a large bill for Chaika to foot and we have the coffin princess offering to hire the pair to steal the a located remain of Emperor Gaz from a former hero who resides in the city. And there you have it, our lovely trio on the search for remains. That would get boring though, and there are revelations and twists throughout the journey which keep you very much interested, but I won't spoil here, I'll just say it'll keep you progressing quickly to the next episode if you're like me and wish to know straight away.

  The art with this show is actually of surprisingly high quality. There are a few scenes, mostly those distant shots where our heroes stand and have lost all their facial features for some reason. Probably quite difficult to draw, or just budget saving but it's not a big deal. The animation is fluid and crisp and the colour pallet is varied, bright and backgrounds detailed and compliment everything else nicely. I have no complains at all really, it's a standard style but it works and due to the quality it's pleasing to the eye, especially the fight scenes, I can tell a lot of work had been put into them and it shows. The transformations and the effects of the Gundo (could be CG, I couldn't tell) merged effortlessly with everything else. I simply stand and clap, standing because I need a little stretch after watching 12 episodes without a break, but maybe that's because the show is actually that good.

  I'll end with a definite recommendation to watch this series and its sequel if you have the time. If you're interested in an adventure story with likable characters, some mystery and a couple twists here and there, you can do wrong by watching Hitsugime no Chaika. It's a good filler, if you're like me and your waiting for the next episode of Monster Musume to grace your scene because we all know that half monster girls is a dream shared by every man on the planet and don't know deny it! Damn you darling, I want my own sadistic half spider beauty to tie me up in her spun web and treat me cruelly in the most erotic way possible.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  Iverna

  80/100
  A light novel adaptation that only ever feels like one, but enjoyable nonetheless.

  Chaika is a light novel. That is a statement of fact; I intend it neither positively nor negatively. There are a lot of light novel tropes, and it just feels like one throughout. If one were to be asked, without knowing, what the source was, it would probably be pretty easy to discern. But there are, like all things, good ones and bad ones, and I think Chaika sits comfortably in a state of mediocrity where it can't be declared one or the other.

  Despite that, though, the series itself is just fun. It was enjoyable to watch, it didn't feel like a drag. While it isn't a series that necessarily leaves the viewer craving for more, it's certainly one that gives the viewer a feeling of joy and satisfaction when moving on to the next episode. The characters, their banter, the action sequences, every little thing has at least some degree of charm to it that lends to Chaika's attractiveness as an anime.

  One of the highlights of the series for me is likely one of the most divisive: the way the titular Chaika speaks. Personally, Chaika's manner of speech is adorable and it gives the character something unique to set her apart, on top of her already fairly unique appearance. For some, though, I could see this being grating or irritating. Chaika talks in such a way that "I'll shoot the enemy" would likely be said as something like "Chaika. Enemy. Shoot." It's cute and endearing.

  The plot of the series is nothing groundbreaking. However, it is to its benefit that it plays it rather simply and doesn't try to introduce anything too convoluted or complicated in attempt to force depth into it. A young girl, Chaika, is the daughter of a deceased emperor. The people who killed the emperor basically dissected him and use his limbs as fuel for magic. She wants to gather up all the pieces of her dad and give him a proper funeral. Boom, that's it. There are elements introduced later on to give it a more cohesive plot with potential for moving forward. At its base, though, the plot is easy to follow along with and allows for a very casual, relaxing watch.

  Chaika is a pretty good time overall; its one of those series that I can't see myself really pushing anyone to watch, but, at the same time, it's not forgettable or boring. It's one of those series that just is. There's no overthinking it, there's joy when you see screenshots or memes and passive acknowledgement otherwise. It's along the lines of encouraging someone who would want to watch it, but not really trying to push it onto other people either.

  I feel like I might be getting a bit redundant, and I really should have wrote this after I finished it when my thoughts were more put together, but hey, at least this season of anime is pretty good.

  For those that like simplistic fantasy worlds, with cool magic used in conjunction with guns, give it a shot. Especially if you're in the mood for something more fun and casual than deep and thought provoking.

  Continue on AniList

SIMILAR ANIMES YOU MAY LIKE

• ANIME

  AdventureScrapped Princess
• ANIME

  ActionZero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho
• ANIME

  ActionKatanagatari
• ANIME

  AdventureKamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi
• ANIME

  ActionAkatsuki no Yona
• ANIME

  ActionBlade & Soul
• ANIME

  ActionMagatsu Wahrheit: ZUERST
• ANIME

  ActionShingeki no Bahamut: GENESIS
• ANIME

  ActionMahoutsukai Reimeiki
• ANIME

  FantasyArs no Kyojuu
• OVA

  ActionStrait Jacket
• ANIME

  ActionMajo to Yajuu