First Impressions / Series Introduction / Snapshots

OP Sequence

OP: 「UN-DELAYED」 by Hashimoto Miyuki

「桜の園」 (Sakura no En)
“Immature Knights”

This is Princess Lover! with an extra girl, a bland main character, and jousting. Fortunately the girls are still great.

Main Character is Boring, the Girls Are Not

It seems like I’m saying this on every other intro, but don’t watch this show for the protagonist. Dating sim protagonists aren’t known for being the most interesting of characters – audience surrogate (trope!) is pretty much the rule here – but this guy is especially bland. He showed about two emotions, his head is full of horses, and he said nothing more than the absolute minimum in every interaction. Normally this would hardly be worth mentioning, but this is from the same people who made the Princess Lover! VN – get ready people, I’m going to be comparing these shows all post – and Teppei is one of my favorite harem leads of all time. Interesting, cool, funny, expressive, a little perverted, talented but with reason…he was a top-tier protagonist, one of the best, while this Mizuno Takahiro (Yamashita Seiichirou) guy is a scrub. Enough about him, I’ve already written him off, moving on.

The girls, on the other hand, are a different matter entirely. So far all of them are relatively strong, driven characters who are either interesting or at least show the potential to be interesting. Leading the pack is Kisaki Mio (Shimizu Ai), Takahiro’s osananajimi and a part-time meido waitress. It helps if you think of her as a co-protagonist of this story (unless we jump off onto someone else’s route), because she has gotten far more character development than Takahiro so far. She is ditzy to a fault, but at least she’s driving the plot forward, and she even ended up in one of the stereotypical protagonist positions. (Also: hubba hubba.) By the way, she’s the Charlotte of this show, complete with her own rescue introduction, though it pales in comparison to the original. Next is Walroma’s Sylvia (maybe), student council president Celia Cumani Aintree (Mizusawa Kei), who is everybody’s onee-sama, and how! Next is Ryuuzouji Akane (Nabatame Hitomi), whose yuri onee-sama delusions aimed at Celia were funny, but I’m sorry, I don’t buy it. Nabatame Hitomi has a too much of a womanly voice, so I don’t buy it when she tries to go into otome-mode. Last of the main heroines to be introduced (with one more still on the way) is Noel Marres Ascot (Nakamura Eriko), but she got like twelve lines in, so not much to say there. On second thought a lot of the girls still need fleshing out, but I at least like what I’m seeing so far.

Joshi Jousting

I’m still not sure why they picked jousting. Sure it looks cool, but it strikes me as one of those sports that’s only interesting when you know the ins and outs, and I don’t know what makes a jouster successful other than holding onto the damn horse. It does give us the pleasant old world European vibe that worked so well in, you guessed it, Princess Lover!, but so far I have no feelings on whether it will do more than that. Jousting doesn’t excite me as of now, but maybe it will by the end of this show. Though considering how many long, thick phallic images were broken in this episode alone, I’m going to hedge my bets and say no. I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding! (Maybe.)

There is one thing I really appreciated though – because they established Takahiro as a former champion who now can’t compete because of an injury, there’s actually a good reason why all the girls are after him. They could have done that with any other sport, granted, but at least they put that much thought in.

Like Princess Lover!, But Different

Better or worse remains to be seen. I’ve heard good things about some of Walroma’s routes, but we don’t know which one we’ll be going down, and it might be one of the other ones. This is one I’ll probably stick with (time permitting) since I’m an old hand at dating sim adaptations and there’s at least potential here, but it’s not throwing out signs of being one of the best so far. If you watch a lot of dating sim adaptations this one will probably be okay, but if you’re only going to watch one this season then I’ll direct you over to Little Busters! ~Refrain~ and be done with it. Note: if you’re sticking with this and you haven’t seen Princess Lover!, do yourself a favor and watch that first. Hell, if you take your time then you may be able to return to this after we know whether it’s any good or not, letting you pass it off or dive straight in without a second thought!

Looking Ahead

Miss Comic Relief / Fanservice has challenged Mio to a duel, which ought to go badly for her. I don’t plan to continue blogging this show, but I’ll probably be watching it, so feel free to hit me up on twitter if you’d like to discuss the latest happenings. I just hope this horse stops stripping girls. That’s…weird, to say the least.

tl;dr: @StiltsOutLoud – Proud, strong, & beautiful girls, a bland & uninteresting MC, & jousting. Because reasons #walroma_a 01

Random thoughts:

  • It’s nice that they’re almost fully armored, though the skirts are still probably a bad idea. I’m not complaining though! I feel we could all do with more short skirts in our lives, unless you’re a lady and would have to wear them, in which case that sounds breezy. I’d totally go for jeans if I were you.
  • The horse somehow managed to make her boobs pop out. Fuck you logic, oppai!
  • I-I don’t think horses can move like that. I think a horse falling over like that is usually when they get shot and turned into glue.
  • It’s not usually two girls that trip and end up in a compromising position, though it should be.
  • Wait, how did she get her shoes on so quickly?
  • OP & ED spoil Mio’s upcoming important haircut (trope!). Though I guess the promo material did that too. Way to break it, producers! (Also, trope!)

I’ve made a change on my blog to focus more on storytelling and the fantasy novel I’m writing, so check it out at stiltsoutloud.com.

Full-length images: 11, 20, 28.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「MoonRise Romance」 by Asou Natsuko

Preview

Omake

78 Comments

  3. *sigh* and the curse of anime girls getting haircuts strikes again. Why do they do this when they already look so good? T_T

    tvtropes… *twitch* must… resist.. urge to click… *twitch* will waste… whole night. *twitch*

    Kuntzy
    Reply

      1. It’s the bane of my existence. I really don’t know how or why, but I once spent 6 bloody hours on that darn site. It’s pure evil.

        It’s just like going to youtube and looking for fail compilations. I just… can’t… STOP!

        Kuntzy
        Reply

      2. On hand, I love Hanekawa Tsubasa’s short hair from Bakemonogatari, but I miss Senjougahara’s long hair. Sometimes it’s a good thing, but other times you’re like, “Why!?”

        dytianquin
        Reply

  5. @Stilts: Main Character is Boring, the Girls Are Not

    After that statement I think it’s safe to say that as a writer, you have mastered the art of the understatement. To me, the MC makes Infinite Stratos’ Ichika seem like a fascinating individual with a rich, complex personality. As for the girls, saying Mio is ditzy to a fault is also an understatement IMO (though not to the same degree). Personally, I think that card is being overplayed as I find her ditzyness (sp?) to the point of being borderline annoying/ridiculous.

    I’ve watched Princess Lover (“OK/pretty good” IMO – it had its moments). Only one episode, but I have no problem at all with Princess Lover > Walkure Romanze. Like Princess Lover, Walkure’s girls are attractive and interesting to various degrees, but IMO it’s not a good sign when the horse gets more screen time than the girls do – unless you’re an equestrian fan I suppose. The male lead certainly can’t carry the show (at least from what we’ve seen so far) and I’m not in this for the horse which only leaves the girls.

    Falls under my “3 episode” rule so I’ll watch next week, but suffice it to say, I am singularly unimpressed at this point. Hopefully things will turn around for the better after a very (IMO) slow start.

    daikama
    Reply

    3. “To me, the MC makes Infinite Stratos’ Ichika seem like a fascinating individual with a rich, complex personality.”

      BTW, both Walkure Romanze and Infinite Stratos are animated by the same studio (8bit). So we have two dense male protagonists from 8bit this season.

      @Bear: The horse (Sakura) is female, since it’s referred to as a “she.”

      Incognito
      Reply

  6. Haha, and I almost forgot. I wonder if your recommendation of Princess Lover will accidentally make people see the 18R h-anime instead. Stilts be scarring the little children for life, lol.

    Kuntzy
    Reply

  8. I was looking forward to this show since I really liked the character designs and I have a thing for bishoujo in armor.

    My expectations were fairly low to begin with so I enjoyed the episode for what it was. I thought that the jousting scenes were pretty cool…along with the aforementioned bishoujos in armor =P .

    RifuloftheWest
    Reply

    1. I didn’t read anything about this show, and didn’t have any expectations going in. I can say that the MC is really boring, nothing stands out about him ==””

      On the other hand, the girls are everything but the MC. I mean, based on the OP and ED it wouldn’t be a surprise to assume the show is about Mio trying to joust and get his dream man.

      ctscloud
      Reply

      2. Good to know. The promo material would sometimes show four girls, sometimes five or six, so I just went based off of who was most widely reported as main characters. Looks like it will be correct, soon.

        Stilts
        Reply

    2. If you are looking information about the game, it says that in the original development is planned to have 5 heroines, but after they decided to change it to 4. Akane didn’t remove from the game, but if her route.

      Shadow74
      Reply

    3. Correct, Akane doesn’t have a route in the first game, it’s only Mai Waifu, I mean Celia, Mio, Noel and Risa. However, the second game (released this month) will have Akane, Bertilde and Ayako’s routes.
      Btw, if you like Akane you’ll like her older sister and mother, looks run in that family.

      celebrinen
      Reply

  11. The girls were cute, the guy was super meh, the show seems not so good. I’ll probably give up at some point soon.

    Why can’t we just get a good old fashioned high school comedy romance?

    Matt_D
    Reply

  13. I’ll put this one in the same boat as Yuusha ni Narenakatta Ore wa Shibushibu Shuushoku o Ketsui Shimashita(THAT NAME!) – not too good,not too bad,a mediocre show that can be relaxing & fun if you come at it with the appropriate expectations.

    MgMaster
    Reply

  16. The horse rape was, to me, the only entertaining thing in this episode– and even then, it got old fast =S

    Mio annoyed the hell out of me, and it’s not just because her hair is neon pink. Takahiro…it’s not even worth the effort listing my grievances. The girls are admittedly well designed (and hot damn pantsu!), but none of their personalities shown thus far intrigue me.

    I’ll give this one more episode since this premier pretty much just fleshed out one girl.

    Beedle
    Reply

  17. The anime is just beginning, the boy protagonist is a defeated and injured champion, and you compare it to him with the star of “Princess Lover”? Though I admit that it is logical, the characters created by the same writer or studio will always be compared, even if it is unfair.

    Teppei is a good character, so much that any attempt to imitate him ended in vain.

    The history of the character is interesting and original. I think Takahiro is a good character, but needs time to prove it. After all was created by the same people who created Teppei.

    That aside, I’m ready for whatever comes with this anime. I never see an anime expecting it to be excellent. I hope it is good that his story is fun, the characters are well developed, moderate fanscervice.

    I really love the anime related to the medieval theme. This anime caught my attention by joustings. I love horses and armor. I’m not too sure about the skirts, but I’m used to the eccentricities of the writers and designers. And the girls are great, already I want to know them better.

    The last thing I can say is that everyone has their tastes, and time will tell if this anime is something to remember, or only for fun this season.

    You do a great job aniki Stilts :D. It is a pity that this anime did not give you a good first impression, but I hope this still may be a successful adaptation.

    Shadow74
    Reply

    1. Danke! And I wouldn’t say it necessarily gave me a bad impression either, more of just “it is what it is”. Fine if you’re a fan of the genre, but probably won’t extend beyond that.

      Stilts
      Reply

  21. I’m ok with Takahiro being kinda dull right now. At least he seems like a composed harem lead and not afraid of boobs. Seems glaringly obvious Mio will win, but i’m hoping for a Celia victory

    Getchman
    Reply

  23. As far as I heard, Walkure is well known for… well, jousting, and pretty good romance. Not like “drama romance” that we see in shows like White Album, but romance such as good flag, flirting moments and heroine-hero chemistry along with decent character route. Well, there’s also 18+ material factor, but of course we won’t get any of that here 😀 (unless they give it the same treatment as princess lover)

    But if we’re looking at this season, White Album 2 and Refrain is astronomically higher rated than WR, so I won’t follow this series. Still, seeing girls in armor + horse still should be refreshing enough (despite of some ridiculous boob armor logic) for random watching later.

    zeroyuki92
    Reply

  24. One thing I can give the anime version of Walkure Romance credit for over Princess Lover! is that the character designs are pretty much the same as the sim whereas the anime version of Princess Lover! gave the girls a brighter, wider, and doey-eyed appearance as opposed to the more mature appearance they had in the VN version (which made it seem a little odd, but not enough to turn me away).

    Anyway, I freely admit that I planned to watch this solely for the girls from the start, lol. If the MC actually gets more personality and all, more power to him.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

  26. It’s here! Have been waiting for this! And Shimizu Ai(one of my favorite seiyuus of VN/EG) strikes again Xp

    On MC, it’s just the tip of the iceberg that had been shown. Either watch all the way or play the VN to know more.

    Omega
    Reply

  27. As a medieval/knight aficionado I was compelled to check this out, and the results are rather meh.

    Suspension of disbelief was especially difficult for me. While the lists and lance strikes were reasonably accurate, the stylized armor and lack of shields were a real minus. On a meta level I had a very hard time believing that jousting could be a popular sport, especially amongst school age women. Jousting is extremely bloody and dangerous (expected from a sport where the object is to hit the other guy in the head with a lance at full gallop), and favors heavy people with massive strength (i.e. full grown adults and not women). There’s a good reason why it faded away in medieval Europe, and is still dangerous today AFAIK. The most realistic part about the jousting was the MC being crippled from it.

    Not much else to say about the show that hasn’t been already said. The MC’s got all the personality of a stump, which is at least different from most harem leads. Can’t say much about the women either. It wasn’t clear to me whether they wanted the main as a squire, personal trainer, or some combination thereof, but it’s nice that there’s a realistic hook to get them interested in the lead.

    Hochmeister
    Reply

  28. I guess its too much to ask from Walkure Romanze to do an Amagami SS style of story telling?

    While I do dislike MCs that have personality that rivals a brick, I also dislike stupid heroines. Just from one episode alone, I already like the silver haired loli more than Mio. AND SHE DIDNT EVEN GET ANY LINES!

    PS: THAT HORSE!

    Ginobi47
    Reply

    1. This is probably a 1-cour adaptation (though that’s not confirmed yet), in which case it better not use the omnibus format or it’ll go full Photo Kano. If it’s 2-cour though, that’d be awesome.

      Stilts
      Reply

      2. It depends on how many girls they would choose to cover. Yosuga no Sora was also 1-cour, but thanks to only 4 girls which had more or less common stories, the show turned out fine.

        brajt
        Reply

  30. Well, i just saw the 1 Episode. Feel like Candy, but a Candy that you can not clean with a Toothbrush so easy, and continue to stick with the Teethe. Dunno. perhaps it is this Knight Set and Horse stuff.

    But, lets see. Lets see how the Story unfolds with Episode 2 and 3

    Germanguy
    Reply

    1. Btw, there are Amazing Skirts and there are cheap ones..

      The Cheap Ones, rip apart when a Horse pull on them. Cheap ones…

      The Amazing Skirts, even hold together if they have to carry the whole Body weight. And even are okay, after the Horse violation… Amazing Ones. Surly it was not Cheap

      Germanguy
      Reply

      1. Just a Notice. Try to ave an steady Drawing Style with the Horses. Sometime Sakura looked like a “Working Horse” then like more a “knight horse”. there are many types of Horses. You sure want the “Graze Mustang Knight” ones arent you? 🙂

        So, QC them too…

        Germanguy
        Reply

  31. I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to Takahiro because he’s somewhat trapped between his glorious past as a joust champion and the fact that he’s clearly afraid to return to the saddle. Once he put aside all doubts, he’ll be in Teppei terriroty, if the game is any indication.
    All in all, I hope this series has omnibus format, because I already hate that pink bubble brain. Not even Princess Lover’s Charlotte was as annoying as her! Celia is clearly the SUPERIOR choice up to now, but I still need to see how the other girls will fare and each girl should have her own route.

    SeedStriker
    Reply

  35. I just saw the 2nd Episode. Well, i think they are using to much the “sexual mislead” Jokes. It can be Fun, but you just run into danger to overdo it. When She hold the Lance, they play the Joke. When they where try to explain what happen, they play the Joke. They even played the soaking Wet See through wet Cloth Joke.

    Well, for what kind of Spectators is this Anime? I smell to much “Yuri” Undertone. Girls love is really thick here (Space out of some Girl, if she just hear the name)

    Remember, this is a Anime. Where you must entertain the Spectators. Because the Manga or the Game, customers have Paid for that. In Anime you must win them every Day to watch them and seduce them to watch the next Episode…

    Dont Try to overload to much “Pink” Stuff. Or you speculate on the “Female” Fans… it is called “otome” Fans?

    Germanguy
    Reply

    1. Okay, i done some research, and i found out, it really are an “otome” Game.

      Okay, perhaps you thinking your doing a “Bonus” for the game lovers. But do you want to reach more then that?

      Germanguy
      Reply

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