Rokka – Braves of the Six Flowers Episode #01 Anime Review

The Mayan end-of-the-world was averted once, and it shall be again if Adlet has his way.

What They Say:
Episode #1: “The Strongest Man in the World”
Legend says, when the Evil God awakens from the deepest of darkness, the god of fate will summon Six Braves and grant them with the power to save the world. Adlet, who claims to be the strongest on the face of this earth, is chosen as one of the “Brave Six Flowers,” and sets out on a battle to prevent the resurrection of the Evil God. However, it turns out that there are Seven Braves who gathered at the promised land…
The Seven Braves notice there must be one enemy among themselves, and feelings of suspicion toward each other spreads throughout the group, with Adlet being the one who gets suspected first and foremost.
Thus begins an overwhelming fantasy adventure that brings upon mystery after mystery!

The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers started off life, as many anime in modern times do, as a light novel series. Created by Ishio Yamagata (Book of Bantorra), and published by Shueisha, it’s been a story off my radar for the lack of internet chatter. Light novels are still a barrier which has kept the general English speaking audience in the dark about the majority of stories breaking out in Japan.  The novel is up to five volumes so far. Rokka’s being brought to the screen by director Takeo Takahashi, who is probably best known for adapting Spice and Wolf and Maoyu.

The story starts out simply in this first episode. A young man named Adlet Mayer arrives in the city of Piena to take the warrior challenge to be chosen as one of the six Braves of legend. A great demon arises on a cyclical schedule and must be resealed by the six Braves chosen by the Goddess of Fate. Adlet decides to forgo decorum and crashes the ceremonial tournament, taking out both of the semi-finalists with his own combat skills while declaring himself the strongest man in the world.

Right away the show is a visual treat. The setting borrows heavily from Aztec and Mayan influence, in architecture, clothing, and even the llamas carrying supplies in the city. That’s one setting you don’t see often in anime. Layered on top of that is a suitably epic sounding soundtrack and some very well thought out sound direction. Then when the battle starts we get to see some extremely solid animation which keeps up for the length of the episode. If the show can maintain these production values throughout that alone could make it a standout of the season.

Adlet is at first glance a typical shonen style hero, bold and brash and certainly not humble. His fighting technique relies heavily on tricks and traps, making use of a well places smoke bomb or poison dart while he grapples and throws his opponents into submission. We see later that his abilities are well within a normal human’s grasp yet others possess powers beyond the physical. Adlet’s cockiness gets him beaten and tossed into a jail cell.

We learn, via a young woman who sneaks into the prison to converse with Adlet, that the young man has reason to believe his boasts. He had been trained from a young age for the very purpose of taking out the demon god. However the young woman is instantly interesting and her identity obvious, maybe even to Adlet as well, as that of the Princess of Piena, Nashetania. She takes an immediate liking to Adlet and furnishes him with a knife and an apple and tells him to bide his time and heal, as the battle for the world will soon be at hand.

I love a good montage and Adlet’s time in an open cell is amazingly well shown. He scratches hash marks in the wall and heals, gradually training back up his strength as day and night pass above the cell grate. It would have been easy to stick a ‘three months later’ or whatever on the screen and skip all of that but instead we’re shown, not told.

When that times comes and the skies turn red Adlet does indeed awaken as a Brave, the symbol appearing on the back of his hand. Nashetania springs him from his cell with her magical blades, and the two depart with haste. Nashetania in her rabbit like attire and Adlet dressed more simply head for the meeting place of legend at the edge of the land where evil is bound. The mystery promised in the show description has yet to materialize. Almost instantly I suspect Nashetania of being more than a legendary warrior herself but I can only hope the story would not be that obvious.

In Summary:
Rokka introduces us to our first two Braves, the confident Adlet Mayer and the clever Princess Nashetania. While the plot is simple it’s the telling that is memorable. Expertly paced this first episode lays out the basics while remembering never to stay static. The music welcomes us to a world with a distinctly classical central american look and feel. The descending evil feels ominous, the battles lively, and the characters distinctly unique even if I’m not enamored with the costumes of some of the cast. Overall this is a strong first episode and I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of the Braves, and discovering why there’s an extra among their numbers.

Episode Grade:  A –

Streamed by: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:  27” iMac running OS 10.10.3, via Safari 8.0.6, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection.  Your milage may vary.

Kate O'Neil

http://www.fandompost.com/author/sonicbug/

Kate has a long history of leaving pieces of herself all over the internet, alighting upon fandom after fandom to briefly taste of its nectar before flitting away. She has accrued a collection of manga so large she believes her home may now have structural integrity issues. She also watches anime, plays video games, and occasionally writes and draws. You can also listen to her on the Fandom Post Radio podcast, available wherever fine podcasts are streamed.

See author's posts