Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「Brave Blade!」 by 桜川めぐ (Sakuragawa Megu)
Watch the OP!: Streaming ▼
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「王様のいる風景」 (Osama no iru Fuke)
“A Day in the Life of a Lord”
This is actually getting pretty fun to follow. That is, if I tune my nitpicking mind out. I honestly expected better from the man who gave us the screenplays of Stein;Gate and Level E, because the pacing and writing of Campione! is quite simply a mess. Need an example? Let’s start with the opening of the show, right after that standard oh-so-mysterious dream sequence.
“It’s been a week.”
“I defeated Verethragna, and became the god-slayer, the Campione.”
“For no apparent reason, I became the center of attention, was forced to test my abilities against another Campione, and finally returned to Japan.”
……wait what. Yes, you read that right. To use Godou’s words, for no apparent reason, what seems to be a major plot point got shafted into a 5 seconds long monologue. The aftermath of him killing a god and becoming the center of attention, that’s gotta be pretty damn important, right? At least more so than 5 seconds? And I’m not even going to go into how the heck Godou came to get a hold of Verethragna’s 10 avatars by killing him, or the so-called conditions of his power that doesn’t seem to stop him from zipping around and destroying historical sites like a…well…god, or what exactly being a campione entails and why mage associations are seeking him, or even why Erica suddenly fell in love with him. Wait, in fact, let’s just scrape that last question. It’s an unquestionable rule that haremettes love the MC for reasons unknown. Campione!’s story, when held up to the light, just seems to fall completely apart. You can still feel the places where the invisible threads are suppose to tie these arbitrary details consistently together, but the threads are just not there for me to make sense of it all.
What irks me more so than this is that precious airtime is given to shown extremely unnecessary scenes. Try counting the number of times you’ve seen the “transfer student and class misunderstanding followed by a dash out of the room for some explanation” scene before. How is something like that a priority over some much needed exposition on the actual plot? Certainly, I do not expect an anime to explain everything to me, especially if it of little relevance to the story. You won’t find me harping endlessly on the irrelevant bits like how the heck they managed to get to Italy in a single night, because it’s not the main point of the story. The fact is that Campione! seems to be skirting around the bits that seem especially essential to its plot, rushing through a suite of developments that makes the whole episode feel like it was hastily patched together, and I can’t quite puzzle out what exactly the show wants to tell me as it throws out arbitrary terms like Authorities and Divine Instruments while expecting me to have some kind of understanding.
The thing is, if I can tune out all these plot holes and gaps in exposition, I can still make sense of the plot well enough to suffice. I get that killing gods somehow gives the victor their powers, I get that it’s due to this that Godou has become a central figure in the gods & magic world, and I get that Erica suddenly fell in love with him, even if there is a lack of proper explanations of all of these developments. Campione!’s story isn’t a hard one to follow or figure out, and if I can tune out all these inconsistencies and the erratic pacing, (which isn’t particularly hard) I can focus on the parts that Campione! does seem to get right.
Because for all the flaws I’ve mentioned, Campione! is still bizarrely entertaining to watch.
For one thing, it’s always hilariously fun when a girl is being so completely open with her unyielding love in a generic harem setup. Erica takes that up a notch and makes for a really entertaining heroine to watch, with a compelling number of facets to her character, going from manipulative to understanding, a temptress to knightly, as well as everything in between. With such a passive protagonist in Godou, Erica becomes the indisputable star of the show, and as they say, it’s the haremettes that make or break a harem show. With such an entertaining character to kick this harem off, I’m wondering this can be built upon with the other haremettes who seem equally open with their attraction, including Mariya Yuri (Hanazawa Kana) and Kraňčar Liliana (Kitamura Eri) who appeared this episode. And for all I complained about the uninspired plot and art, Studio Diomedea continues to deliver on the fights with the show, mixing up some brilliant choreography than conveys Godou’s amateurish experience surprisingly well, as he grasps with his newfound godly power.
Yes, I myself am torn on the show, because for all its inexcusable flaws and clichés, I find myself strangely entertained just by watching the silly harem antics and fights. I’ve likened it to Infinite Stratos before, and I do believe the comparison is apt, both being series I should be by all account hating, but end up looking upon them as guilty pleasures. Maybe I’m simple like that. Or maybe it’s because of summer. But even if I’m being entertained, I’m still hoping that the plot will formalize itself into something consistently sensible as we go forward with a story that seems to be dealing with another well-known mythological figure, Athena (Ogura Yui) from the Greek pantheon.
Full-length images: 03, 05, 09, 16, 34.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「Raise」 by 小倉唯 (Ogura Yui)
Watch the ED!: Streaming ▼
Preview
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That’s the first time I’ve seen an MC grabbing the wrong girl
But there is no wrong girl! 😀
Haremettes is going to be my new word. I can’t deal with Erica’s dere-dere self anymore… It just ruins it for me! Dx I think I am going to continue blogging and watching this for the same reason as you… its a guilty pleasure x_x
I watched both episodes two days ago. The pacing is rushed because anime can’t world-build and it also seems that we are getting only half of the dialogue. I’ll read the novels along the episodes to make up for this, as the focus of the show will evidently be on the action.
I like how the romance is set up with the lingering doubts about the deredere heroine’s true intention. Honest feelings or calculated manipulation?. This is just like Accel World but for a seinen audience.
The productions values are really high, particularly the polished animation. I re-watched the (hand-draw) car scene in EP1 several times and there isn’t a single QUALITY frame. The orchestral music is really good to the ear and fits like a glove with what’s happening on the screen too.
It’s strengths are solid and should be enjoyed for what it offers and not for what it lacks. Greek mythology, Italia-neesan (I’m Argentinian), 7 Campiones, magic organizations, and the harem… there’s a lot of potential here. I had no expectations and now this is one of the shows I’ll look forward the most this summer.
The thing is that it’s perhaps lacking far too much. I’m with you on that the premise does have a lot of potential, and as my friend tells me, the novel really goes into the details of the myths and this ties into the developments of the story. I’ve never read the novels before and have no intention to, but right now from an anime-only perspective, I’m not seeing this supposed potential being fulfilled at all thanks to the poor writing and pacing.
And yes! I totally agree that the production values are surprising great. The fight scene with Godou dodging attacks had some brilliantly smooth choreography to it. It’s a shame that the poor art mar what Studio Diomedea has achieved.
In the regard of Erica, novel 3 the Tale of the begining explains that she fell in love with Godou after seing his determination against an imposible fight with a god that has invictus since the begining of time. Why campiones get the Devine Authority of the defeated, well, not even mages truly know the exact reason but they tehorize it´s a way the universe rewards the person who succeded in atask the whole of mankind´s military power wil certainly fail, the miracle of slaying a god.
Godou is the lucky version of Touma (Index).
Soooo Japan center of the world again? Not Italia anymore?
And here I thought that this wouldn’t be an other generic anime…
It’s always the same thing… (well at least the MC doesn’t look totally useless)
Well, they did return to Italy for half the episode there, so I’m still somewhat hopeful.
Maybe a LN reader could enlighten us on whether or not the setting will see more diversity than just another Japanese high school.
Well, it seems the studio needs to fit the series on 12 eps so they skipped some monelogue.
Btw Iheard the volume one of the Light novel serie is the third in chronological orde and that vol.3 and vol.11 comes first which is why Erica and Godou and Erica have a strong relationship.that can only be implied from vol.1 which is the current story in the anime.
I dropped this anime after watching only half of this episode. The writers managed to pull off all of the cliches of the harem genre within a single episode, starting with the buxom naked girl being all over our protagonist. Sigh.
I thought this show had some potential in the first episode but it went back to the standard harem fare that we have seen countless times. Next!
I wonder what the son of Goku will critically destroy next.
They skipped novel 11 The Second Tale, so belive me the Coliseum is the second histrical site that now it´s just “history”.
my sentiments exactly. it could be that i’ve grown out of the perv phase and don’t find these ero-action themes interesting.
It feels like this season their rushing the pacing of light novel adaptations. For example second ep of both SAO and Campione. Its kinda up setting, seeing so of the small yet important parts being skipped over.
The thing is, this is basically what happens in the beginning of the LN. There’s references to things like fighting another Campione and other adventures, and how he defeated Verethragna is not shown until the third volume. There’s a time skip between the first episode and the second, and things happened during this time.
If anyone’s curious, they changed a lot from the LN. Put in a spoiler in case anyone wants to read the LN but if you’re only watching the anime, no need to fear since they won’t be using these anymore.
Show Spoiler ▼
TL;DR – They removed the reason why Erica is acting so dere towards Godou by erasing the events that warranted it but retained her dere attitude.
Fights go by so fast! The Athena battle better get more explanations like why Erica kissed Godou in the first episode (even though it doesn’t make sense since he was not a Campione yet).
This show got potential as long the studio don’t change the order of events (like what happened on this episode). Not to mention they changed the six months time-skip to one week.
I hope they can keep the productions value in the future arcs, and i’d really love to hear more of katou tatsuya music coz I love his works.
In terms of god power-taking, episode one did mention that the tablet Godou was taking to Lucrezia had the power to steal the divinity of other gods (how he got the gold sword in the first place). So perhaps his defeat of him did a similar thing.
Still, unless future episodes prove me wrong in some way, if there’s not SO much of a plot to pay attention to, then that’s what the girls are for, lol.
Yeah, If you kill a god then you’ll become a god-slayer and get all of his/her Authorities.
The thing that just got me weird is a boar, why boar there are other cooler animals but for real a boar? it just a boar seem so hmmmm whats the word does nothing but charge.
Why a boar? The mindset of the people back in the time when Verethragna (Persian god) was conceived of is different than what we have now. My guess is, for someone living where boars are common, they’re more real and terrifying than say a charging elephant. Their ideal of destructive power would be the boar since it is more real to them, not the elephant. And so when conceiving of a powerful, victorious fighting god, they would use the boar to symbolize destructive power.
Another example would be the bull as the ideal of strength. I’m pretty sure an elephant is stronger but it’s just so much more common to see bulls pulling carts and showcasing their strength.
Must be tsundere. If this is not the female main character, now it’s male main character.
I hope Godou in the third series turns on the brain.
Again, the main character will be avoid a pretty girl who loves him, and run to any other.
The creators of the anime harem change the “harem pattern”.
Look to DxD.
You will earn on sales. I guarantee it.
A week? Are you kidding me? Seriously? In the LN about 3 months passed between when Godou became a campione and when he begins his 5 second monologue… And thanks for making Erika out to be a seductress in the anime when in the LN it’s a completely different story…
Still a nice watch even though they’ve butchered a lot of stuff from the LN at least
The last scene in the episode was really touching, when she asure him her love was real. it doesn´t completely compensate for the butchered materil but at least it´s something. By the way, do you know if the adpatation is going to be 13 episodes or 24? because they really raicing the events quiet a bit for my taste.
with the amount of material they’re trying to pack into each episode it’ll most likely be 13 episodes which is the main reason that the material is getting scewered like it is right now…
yeah the last scene was nice but imo it still leaves me with a feeling that she’s faking it which isn’t sitting right with me =.=
Well, if this covers all the way to nvel 5 the writters have tons of opotunities to make Erica shine for her true values.
I will watch this now because I saw some boobs and naked woman
Okay, I wasn’t really jealous of Godou after the 1st episode when he slays a God and makes out with a babe, but now this episode tipped me past that point, lol.
I kind of have the exact same feeling you have about this show, Asobi. I mean, I could rant for some time about how this show is a total cliché storm (I so called them ditching Italy and going back to a generic Japanese high school with her as a transfer student), its pacing is horrible, the romance seems kinda shallow (as in most harems) and it all stay pretty predictable throughout. This is a dumb, dumb show.
But why do I love it so much?! I can’t help but admit it keeps my eyes glued to the screen because it’s, well, fun. It has entertaining characters, the battles look kinda awesome, I like the powers and mythology as well (as poorly explained as they are) and the music is pretty good. Perfect popcorn entertainment, is what it is, and I look forward to next week’s episode. Guilty pleasure indeed.
I have to admit, Erica is one of the main reasons I’m continue to watch it…
I’m sorry to say I’m dropping this after this episode. I admit, I probably would have dropped Infinite Stratos after episode 2 as well, if I had been watching it week-to-week rather than marathoning it all after the whole series was out (and if I didn’t know that the more interesting girls joined later). But this is still airing, so I can’t marathon it yet, and the cliches that this threw at me were just SO… bleh… that I just can’t stand them. I was able to predict almost everything that happened in this episode, it felt so generic. And the new transfer student scene…! That’s so overdone that I couldn’t even laugh at it ironically.
Ugh. I’m sorry. You guys who are enjoying it, please go right ahead and keep doing so. I don’t want to ruin anyone else’s enjoyment. But I personally just can’t tolerate any more of this series right now.
It was only for this episode. Just try the next episodes it gets better. People thought DxD was another generic harem but got better later.
@Asobi: I can’t play the OP here.
While the show is cliched as hell, it has some redeeming qualities as it puts some unusual twists like hero grabbing heroine to run out of the class – only to find he grabbed a wrong girl – and then to discover she is no ordinary student either…
There is no shortage of animes that we DONT know everything about the world fom the start and only learn piece by piece, and often were left with even more questions at the end (Sora no Woto anyone?) – and this makes the shows often more interesting. If anything, this show makes me feeling more like MC, stuggling to get into the new order of the things around him.
I like how to solve a problem or to just to go out for a day, you have to go back to the country of origin, imagine the girl is a Eskimo, welcome to Antarctica!!!
Erica kissing Godou twice in the ED, that got my approval. 🙂
Smells like Infinite Stratos alright.
I get the story. I get why they changed some. But that OP’s rhythm: I don’t get it…
Without Erica, this show is a total destruction.
The remaining 3 girls for his harem looks boring.
https://randomc.net/image/Campione/Campione%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
Their true colors can be seen in the OP.
I wanted to see the god fight and i get only a memory? hmm… Seems like something is missing. Oh and i am sure som1 made this joke but Gilgamesh want his swords back 😀
The patriotic of the author lead every duel happen in Europe but not in the japan,isn’t it
-_-
The pitfall of this show was episode 1. If they started from episode 1 like they did in the novel and actually build the world of Campione, I don’t think anyone would have a problem.
The reason everyone enjoys it, is because it has quite a lot of potential. Which is sad that episode 1 transition into episode 2 just kinda flat lines that potential, yet you can see its still there.
Here’s hoping that it get better, cause I like the novels.
The sister remind me of Nemu from Da Capo
the little sister is so awesome haha
Lol love the MC! Look at the end of the OP song, he just blatantly displays his harem! Bastard! Still I live his attitude and his fighting skills. This series and Hagure Yuusha is my favorite this season. I love Erica’s attitude though, because I prefer her dere-dere side voiced by such a sexy voice VA than her usual tsundere side (Houki in IS)
By the way, from the spoilers that the anime skipped a lot of novel material, is it because this anime is getting one cour? Damn i always hated that! Why are the good series with good source (novels/light novels) that have enough material to warrant more than 20+ episodes only get 1 cour, when other series that doesnt really deserve that much episodes (like Hyouka) have? I just dont understand!
@Asobi: Are you gonna do the episode 03
Wow what a tonal shift…I liked the first episode and suddenly it turned to every stereotype you can think off, totally droppng this.
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