Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul
Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul
神撃のバハムート VIRGIN SOUL
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A decade ago, humans, gods, and demons joined forces to stand against the threat of the colossal dragon, Bahamut. Now, in the present, humans living in the capital city of Anatae have been enjoying lavish and prosperous lives. Their progress is largely due to the administration of the newly appointed king, Charioce XVII, who has stolen a power from the gods and allowed for the abuse and slavery of the demon race in the capital. As humans continue to immorally exploit demons, a sense of hostility against humans begins to build up within demon communities, threatening a revolt. Meanwhile, an atmosphere of uneasiness is spreading among the gods, as they scramble to regain their lost power. Amidst it all, Nina Drango, a cheerful young bounty hunter, has arrived at the Royal Capital with hopes of settling down and earning a living. However, her peaceful life in the capital is quickly thrown into chaos when she crosses paths with the ominous Rag Demon who is determined to seek revenge against humans, and Kaisar Lidfard, a noble knight battling an internal moral conflict. Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul continues the tale of the social and moral conflict between humans, gods, and demons, and their struggle for survival and dominance. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Raggadish
September 30, 2017
My pulse is still a bit high after this experience that was “Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul”. When I heard that a 24-episode sequel to “Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis” was to be released, I was both part overly excited and part anxious. I loved the prequel, it instantly became one of my all-time favourites. So, naturally I was very nervous when I was watching the first episode of “Virgin Soul”, would it be as good as Genesis? I would have been satisfied with just half as good, but was rewarded with, that yes, it was indeed as good as Genesis. Or maybe even little betterbecause it had the double amount of episodes, which they used with exactly right sorts of material. You know, right amount of background stories, that fill up the gaps from the past 10 years since the prequel, and on world building. The extra time also gives the opportunity to knot every main and side character together in a story-wise appealing way, which neither forces their interaction or totally neglect it. Well balanced, is the short term I seek to give a fast summarize of “Virgin Soul”. Just as it´s prequel, “Virgin Soul” mixes fantasy, adventure, action, drama, comedy, magic and romance in such a fluent and balanced manor. And leaves me now with mixed feelings. I´m equally satisfied and sad that the adventure is over. The story, the characters, the action and the fights, the friendships and the romance, the epic adventures, and not to speak of the awesome animation and choreography, makes “Virgin Soul” shine like a star. Especially compared to many other shows this past two seasons, it is in its own league. I´m going to be honest, I´m absolutely biased. Not only cover “Virgin Soul” my favourite mix of genres, its execution, in my eyes, it’s done in an absolute perfect manor, and certainly worth the title masterpiece. Now, when I got that of my chest, let´s talk about “Virgin Soul” in a little more practical way. The story takes place 10 years after the end of the prequel. I highly recommend you to watch the prequel first, it makes the sequel 10 x more enjoyable. A lot have changed since that last destructive battle with Bahamut. Humans have with their new king Charioce XVII in the lead, turned their backs to the Gods and are ransacking their holy temples for power. The humans have used that power to attack the Demons Capital, and forced even the strongest demons into hiding. The ones not so lucky to escape, was turned into slaves to rebuild the Human Capital, Anatea. Demons are also forced to fight as gladiators, used for experiments, and to work as prostitutes. The gods have so far stand hand fallen at the march of the humans, and desperately seeks the one child that can turn the war to their favour. Only one Demon and his mysterious companion, seem to fight for the imprisoned demons, the Rag Demon. Disguised, he attacks and kills slave traders, soldiers, and noblemen that do horrific things to demons. Kaisar, now Captain of the Orleans Knights, are pressed by king Charioce, to obtain the Rag Demon at all costs. Rita now works as a doctor, and do everything in her usual calm, cool zombie manor. And perfectly oblivious to all of it, Nina Dragno, a teenage girl from the far East who has come to the city for work, lands in the middle of everything. As the story progresses, the fates of those who was around last time, and new faces, are drawn together, and starts to spiral towards the inevitable ending. This is the start ground of one hell of an adventure-fantasy-romance story. As in the prequel, they manage to weave this story web as neatly as ever. It´s coherent, balanced, and even paced. They manage to link the story to the prequel, so the characters actions get more weight behind them without feeling forced. Not many unnecessary, words or conversations. Their exchanges bear all meaning and clues to the plot, and how different characters are connected. They do a great job with keeping us in what’s happening and why, by cut in previous scenes that gives the information you need, and knit the story together. “Virgin Soul” has little slower pace than “Genesis”, but it has twice it´s time and the little shift of pace only left room for more exploring of the characters and the world setting. Like, why is he or she in that particular situation, with this or that character, or in that mind set. *A tip while watching, many of the episodes have extra material relevant to the plot after the ED-song. So, if you not want to miss anything, check the remaining minutes of the episode when the ED starts. It´s a good chance that there is more material. The concept of actions having consequences, are highly applied in the “Shingeki no Bahamut”-series. You can feel the brutality of deaths, the emotional scars they leave, and what those scars can lead to. That, is no small task to manage to display on screen. To provoke and establish those type of emotions, make me feel for the characters, their cause, and why they are fighting. That is what makes the fight scenes and action so good. I could feel the underlaying conviction, rage, determination, vengeance, love, or the regrets that drives the character. “Virgin Soul” have them all. It for sure has it´s lights part as well, which creates a very harmonic contrast. A warm delicious meal, with companions in a fairy tale cosy setting, or an everyday errand that ends up in an unlikely encounter, or the shopping for some goodies in a small shop, or a dance at a festival, are all details of light and easy happiness. The mood of “Virgin Soul” skews towards more darker tones the later half of the show, which makes the warm and happy parts clench your heart an extra bit more. The characters are as well fleshed out as they can be. Their background stories, developments, relationships, and personalities are all satisfyingly explored and coherent. And here have “Virgin Soul” managed to do what so many before them have failed with, all the main and side characters feel equally important and interesting. In many shows, you get the feeling that many of the side characters are just there to make the protagonists look good or better than they are. That´s not the case for the characters in “Virgin Soul”, each of them are equally exciting to watch, and they all feels important to the plot. Some minor details, can at first seem very cliché, but are turned and used in a very heart-warming way, at least I could see the beauty of it. Of course, the personalities are exaggerated, this is anime after all. But, for me, it only highlights what´s “Virgin Soul” is all about. It´s about epic battles, people, and monsters. It´s about adventure, love, and hardships. It´s about family, bravery, vengeance, betrayal, and choices. About people brought together to write history. I´ve read some complaints about Nina´s character, but I have only positive things to say about her. Nina was a fresh breath of air as a fantasy-heroine to me. She isn´t overly pretty, or overly smart, and for sure not a damsel in distress. She is however, independent, wild, caring, strong, fast, carefree, brave, and positive. Her character felt multi-layered, believable, and relatable to me. This is an overall theme for the characters in the series, they have their personal traits, but are for sure not static. The things they go through, how they handle it, and how they grow from it as individuals, is just as different as it would be for you and me. Their reactions to certain events, felt in harmony with their character, but in the same time left them space to grow and change in a believable way. The soundtrack is outstanding, to put it short. Dramatical orchestral music, during those intense battle scenes, beautiful and peace giving tones for the light and happy moments, and heart-clenching pieces for the emotional scenes. They even have some nice opera pieces. Can just say “Aaaawe”, and thank you for their good work. The sound effects are always spot on, and matches the great visuals perfectly. I could feel the impact of someone thrown into a stone wall, the power of an energy blast land, the rubble raining down across the city, or the chilling sound of a sword leaving its sheath. The voice actors (Japanese) are outdoing themselves, each character is well matched with it´s voice actor. The cold and powerful voice Charioce, the honourable and passionate voice of Kaisar, the positive and carefree voice of Nina, the calm and un-faced voice of Rita, the desperate and rage filled voice of Azazel, and the fierce and strong voice of Jeanne D´Arc - they are all spot on. They made me cry and laugh many times during my watch. The art, animation, direction, and choreography is in its own league. Top notch, it doesn´t get much better than this. Half the budget most`ve been spent on the characters eyes and faces, for not to speak of the backgrounds. The facial expression is so clear and intense, brought forth by those masterly done eyes. You can see the slightest shift in an emotion, how much they communicate with them. Bright colours and light are used to lift a burning determination, surprise, or warmth. The scenery is always gorgeous; no matter if it´s a bird´s view of the Capital with its stone and wooden houses and enormous lake, or the shiny lands of the gods, or a local festival with its tents, foods, dances and fireworks. It all looks positively stunning. The choreography is bloody perfect, the movements of the characters or objects, the angles they are followed in, are just so darn awesome. Just watch and see for yourself. So, did I enjoy “Virgin Soul”? I think it is pretty clear that I enjoyed it a hell of a lot. Each episode felt like a well-rounded satisfying piece in the adventure that was “Virgin Soul” to me. Best damned thing I watched since its prequel earlier this year. And I´m quite thrilled that the show leaves it open for a continuation. The characters were as awesome as ever, the story as interesting as ever, the battles as badass as ever, the romance one of the best I seen in a long while, the art and animation reached new heights, and the music was mind-baffling. “Virgin Soul” just landed on my all-time favourite list, no questions asked. Hands down, this was bloody awesome. Thanks again, studio MAPPA, who once again shows that they are a studio to be reckon with. “Where does the wind blow? It blows towards tomorrow.”
