Wellber no Monogatari: Sisters of Wellber

Title: Wellber no Monogatari: Sisters of Wellber Manga Spinoff, Anime: Wellber no Monogatari has a manga spinoff known as Muzzle Loader ~Wellber Stories~ done by Naruse Takami that began running in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Blade on February 28th, 2007, and is ongoing, and has yet to be licensed Stateside. Wellber no Monogatari is a thriteen episode series with animation produced by Trans Art Co. (famous for their work on The Prince of Tennis, and the Pokemon 2000 movie), produced overall by Production IG (famous for their work on Ghost in the Shell and xxxHOLIC) and avex entertainment (famous for producing the Law of Ueki and SchoolDays), and directed by Takayuki Hamana (famous for directing The Prince of Tennis). It aired on Japanese TV from April 3rd, 2007 to June 26th, 2007. It has yet to be licensed Stateside. Story: Wellber no Monogatari kicks off with Princess Rita of Wellber stabbing Prince Gernia of Sangratas, her intended. This lovely scene is witnessed by Tina, a female thief, who Rita flees with. An order is put out by Sangratas for Rita's public execution, and if they do not comply in two weeks, they will declare war on Wellber. But the King gives Rita a petition that she must take to the neighboring kingdom of Greedom in order to prevent the possible war, and Tina decides to accompany her, for reasons of her own. Here's the thing about Wellber no Monogatari. This had the potential to be really, really good. The premise sounds fairly awesome, no? And the first episode seemed to confirm that this would be a really good show. And the Final Fantasy-esque setting seemed really promising. But as the show went on, the show seemed to devolve into stereotypical adventure/fantasy plot and filler and characters that were fairly generic, irritating, or overblown with a few hints of the brilliantness that it had originally seemed to have popping through here and there. And another problem was that one of the central parts of the premise ends up being thrown out in the last few episodes for an entirely new premise, and another is completely unadressed, a la Rozen Maiden. Admittedly, there is a second season that finished up recently. However, it took subbers until just last month to finally sub the entire first season, and they haven't even gotten started on the second season. And I honestly don't know if I really want to see the second season, because I'm not sure if I'm interested, or if they'll even deliver. WARNING: There is some blood and boobies and nudity. Art: The animation is done pretty well, as is the CG. It's nothing that I'd rant and rave about, but it's still pretty good. Music: Honestly, I didn't even really notice the background music. There were strings and techno, but it didn't stand out at all. The OP is an instrumental numberand the ED is a female techno upbeat JPop number. Both are fairly catchy, but nothing all that special. Seiyuu: No one that I recognize is in this show, but they still did a pretty good job. Length: I understand the need for a second season, as not everything was answered/explained, but I think if they had planned it right and taken out some of the fillers, this could have easily been avoided and a better show could've been done. Overall: A show that started out with a lot of potential but lost it somewhere along the way with only hints of the brilliance it originally promised. With unanswered plot threads that could've been answered with better planning, characters that are either generic, overblown, and irritating, and fairly standard music and art and seiyuu, it isn't something I'd really recommend, but it's worth checking out. Story: 6/10 Art: 8/10 Music: 8/10 Seiyuu: 8/10 Length: 6/10 Overall: 36/50; 72% (C)

While I enjoyed watching “Sisters Of Wellber” I can not label it as good since it has some flaws that can come over as quite disappointing to the viewer. “Sisters Of Wellber” starts off with an epic instrumental opening track that gives the impression of a adventure game's opening melody where you expect an epic tale of grand proportions in a medieval fantasy setting with suspense, action and drama will unfold before you. The basic plot of “Sisters Of Wellber” is standard fare but has proved its worth in different incarnations in many series and movies before. Rita Sior, the princess of the kingdom of Wellber,is forcefully betrothed to Gernia, the prince of Sangatras in a marital alliance designed to prevent war between both countries. Tina, a female burglar that broke into the royal palace that same day blunders into Rita's bedroom only to discover that princess Rita has stabbed prince Gernia. As the guards of both parties arrive on scene, Rita is forced to flee with Tina. The kingdom of Sangatras declares that if princess Rita is not captured and executed within two weeks, they will declare war and invade Wellber. Not willing to sacrifice his daughter, the king of Wellber sends Rita a message to travel to Greedom, where she can seek an alliance to stop the war between Wellber and Sangatras. As Tina's motive for robbery was gathering funds to travel to Greedom, where she intends to find a man with a wasp tattoo she claims to be responsible for murdering her family, she willingly accepts an offer to escort Rita. So far so good, a plot that could lead to an excellent tale and with potential good character bond between Rita, the inexperienced but idealistic princess, and Tina, the savvy but less moral cat burglar. It is in fact Rita and Tina's character interaction and development that makes watching the series enjoyable, surely their chemistry is not of stellar proportions but it works well. “Sisters Of Wellber” does go out of its way to emphasize the dramatic and grand implications of its story, by constantly reminding the viewer that if Rita and Tina's mission fails, many lives will be lost in the ensuing war. To add suspense and a feeling of urgency to their quest, every episode closes off with a counter of how many days are left for the girls to stop the outbreak of the war. But this attempt fails as it stands opposite to the episodic adventures the girls encounter and how they are often sidetracked from their main journey. Also, at first the audience is told that Rita and Tina must travel by land circumventing the quick sea route to Greedom, as it is Sangatras that controls the seas. However, at the end they do take a ship to Greedom and it even lays anchor in Sangatras. Surely many anime series encounter poorly constructed plots with unbelievable evolutions, but on such a short episode run, this really sticks out as a sore eye. Another related problem is quite appalling chronological integrity. On two occasions Tina is injured, once in the arm and once in the leg, both wounds are shown as severe but the next episode they seem to be miraculously healed. While for the arm wound she does receive treatment, her leg wound which is a deep gash above the knee making her limp, is completely gone the next episode which chronologically takes place but a few hours later. The same is true for events surrounding Galahad and Jamille. One moment Galahad is seen pursuing Rita and Tina, and by the next episode he' sin an entirely different country and setting. Worse, in that same episode Jamille is shown in Sangatras, and but a few scenes later on the very same day she appears in another rcountry, having even crossed the sea. This first season alas only wraps up one of the plots and Tina's search for the man with the wasp tattoo has not been elaborated on in any way, for that one has to watch the second season. The series was animated by Trans Arts and produced by Production IG, perhaps due to production IG's involvement, animation quality is quite good. Especially character art is outstanding, background paintings and scenery are very atmospheric and succeed in pulling you in medieval fantasy environment. There are a few 3D animations mixed in between the regular 2D animation and while they are recognizable as 3D insertions, they are nonetheless blended in sufficiently well to not stand out too much. The soundtrack is good, it fits a fantasy adventure series perfectly, and the opening theme certainly creates that very atmosphere. The lesser elements I mentioned above did leave a me a bit disappointed, luckily I still was able to enjoy the series as a whole. So if you are able to look past or forgive those inconsistencies, then you too might enjoy “Sisters Of Wellber”.

This anime was enjoying to watch, rather then exciting. The Story was a bit low-leveled, but that doesn't make much of a difference when you are watching it. The Art was great, in short: nothing to complain about. "Easy to watch" as I say. The Sound had a 'feeling to it', (Hmm, how to explain) I mean it had no bad side, but it wasn't over expectation. The Characters were so...mewhat typical, they were acting mature (no childish actions) Tina is a(n easy to get drunk) thief and Rita is a well thought princess, nothing more to say. My Enjoyment As i said before (well, i meant to say it),if you expect much of this anime, don't watch it. It is an anime purely for watching, nothing to get excited about, nevertheless a great show!! Overall Score I based the score a bit on my Enjoyement, it is a great show if you have spare time, nothing bad about it, it has a little of everything (comedy, action, drama, romance { well, almost romance at the end ;) } ) A good show for everyone! (Don't hold me to it)

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