The hot new fad these days is to grab yourself a pale, little girl and go one some grand quest to collect her father’s remains. Anyway, I’m too lazy to do an episode summary, so I’ll just jump right into my notes for the episode.
Notes:
• Of course, it goes without saying that I like Fredrica better when she was pretending to be Dominica. As Dominica, she seemed like this warrior who thirsted for battle in a post-war landscape. These days, Fredrica is just your average anime loli…
By the way, Chaika nearly gets herself kidnapped because she’s too trusting. If all the other Chaikas are this stupid, I’m not surprised there have been so many Chaikas in the past.
• I like how the anime glosses over the fact that this guy just got flattened to a pancake:
Did he deserve to die? Maybe. Should the tone of the scene have been so slapstick? I dunno, man…
• Chaika apparently feels bad because she’s of no help to the rest of the group. This is why she had gone to look for information down some shady alleyway. Guy supposedly hasn’t shown up in quite some time. But anyways, she has a bunch of money. From where? I don’t know, but money is always useful.
• You can almost predict when Akari will show up. Did Toru just say something heartfelt to Chaika? Then right on cue, Akari will crash the party. She’ll also do something to show how eccentric and oddball she is. Finally, she’ll cap off her entrance by alluding to the forbidden love between her and her brother. This week, she dangles a gecko between Toru and Chaika. See? Such a wacky girl.
• I do like the “Wanted” ad for our trio, though:
Normally, if people are after you, you’d change your outfit and disguise yourself, right? You’d think this logic would definitely apply to our heroes since Chaika’s appearance is a bit of an anomaly. No one comes close to looking like her in this universe. Well, no one but other Chaikas, but clones don’t count! On the other hand, this is an anime, and as we all know, anime characters are only allowed to carry a single set of clothing on them. In the end, anime cliches typically win out over common sense.
• Elsewhere, we see Alberic working on his swordsmanship. He seems very stiff and upright, though. This noble does not appear to be much of a fighter, but I’m sure he’ll turn out to be a great warrior somehow anyway.
• Alberic says, “I just can’t believe that Chaika and those saboteurs are villains who will plunge the world into war again.” That seems like a fair assessment. I wouldn’t think those kids are evildoers either. Alberic continues, “In fact, it appears they are constantly moving forward, following only their own convictions.” Um, I’m not sure what that has anything to do with the content of their moral character.
• Seeing as how I don’t know much about either Alberic or Vivi, it doesn’t really matter to me if the two of them get together or not.
• As predicted, the gang has opted not to disguise themselves. They also get ambushed by a cloaked assailant with a pretty neat-looking weapon:
The physics of it sounds complicated, but hey, this is a universe with magic, so what can I say. I just hope this assailant isn’t yet another hot girl (well, of course it’ll be a hot girl) to join Toru’s mini-harem. She kinda has the same peculiar style of speech as Chaika though…
• Oh my, it’s another Chaika!
No wonder she talks in staccato sentences. This one seems capable though. Can we just trade our defunct model in?
• Why aren’t our siblings using their Iron-Blood transformation powers though? And where’s Fredrica in the middle of all of this? Unfortunately, the encounter is cut short with Gillette and company rolling up to the scene.
• Chaika #2 claims that her name is Chaika Bohdan. And yes, she has the same scar on her neck as our Chaika Trabant. Still, I didn’t think calling her “Sticky” over and over would actually get the girl to spill her beans.
• Speaking of Chaika Trabant, she has been stripped down to her undergarments too. It seems that there are multiple groups of Chaika and co. going around looking for the late emperor’s remains. Huh… They all lug around a coffin, they all have an odd manner of speech, and they all have at least two retainers with them. What’s different? Well, the different last names is an obvious one. Plus, our Chaika’s a wizard while the other one appears to be a fighter. I don’t know what difference this really makes though. Last but not least, Chaika Trabant is a little more modestly dressed.
• Still wondering where Fredrica has suddenly disappeared off to…
• The siblings torture Chaika Bohdan by eating delicious food in front of the girl. I thought all they had were nasty stuff like geckos and shit. Anyway, it’s clear that neither side are evil. Nevertheless, only our heroes will get to collect the remains. If they don’t succeed or come close to it, why are we bothering to follow their story, y’know? Having said that, what will become of Chaika Bohdan and her companions? Or the other Chaikas running aorund? Do they just give up? Will they put their lives on the line for those remains?
• You have to wonder if these Chaikas are even real persons or are they just some sort of homunculi that the late emperor had created as a backup plan should he ever be assassinated. This would explain why they have no memories of the war. You can’t remember a life that you have never lived. Maybe Gaz did have a daughter, and that daughter served as a template for these Chaikas. As such, they at least know that Gaz is their father, but nothing more. What’s the point of all of this? Who knows? We don’t really know what would happen if the remains are brought together anyway. Maybe Gaz will come back to life. Having said that, I hear the novels are up to nine whole volumes, so I can’t imagine that this adaptation will get anywhere close to the big answer unless, of course, Bones opts for an anime original ending. This tends to irrationally piss people off though.
• The other pairing tells us that they know of at least three Chaikas. A whole army of annoying girls, oh boy!
• Whoa, this Chaika wants revenge once she collects all of the late emperor’s remains. White Chaika seems like the nicer Chaika… hm, but then again, White Chaika is much more annoying. I don’t know what to say, it’s a toss up!
• Anyway, the two sides agree to an exchange of Chaikas, but the episode ends here, which is too bad. I’m actually sort of intrigued by the story for once. But seriously, I can’t stop thinking about the mysterious absence of Fredrica. I know she had hopped away when Toru asked her about the other heroes, but I didn’t think this scene implied she would leave for good. I don’t even like her character, but her sudden disappearance after all the hullabaloo of her joining in the first place just really bothers me.
Moe Sucks 
It depends.
If you are ambushed, surprise attacked, fighter Chaika is certainly more useful. She can jump in right away, and fight back to back with you, while the other one needs to take stuffs out of her coffin and assemble them.
I you have to plan and prepare, wizard Chaika is certainly better. She can easily slice an unicorn as if it’s a butter. An opponent that makes Tooru giving up on his life, originally. She can also paralyze a damn big dragon. I wouldn’t be surprised if she can pulverize a whole mansion too.
I’m not really serious about either of the Chaikas being more useful than the other. I’m just taking the piss out of her character because I think she’s annoying either wya.
the reason I think all of the heroes are surprised to see chaika is because the original one probably died or something(with the king) while all these eyebrow loli clones are running around looking for body parts for some reason..
I think the red chaika is better than the white one too but maybe it’s just because I also don’t find the main protagonist all that likable either.
yeah, and for a show with only 12 eps it’s most likely gonna be some kinda axed anime original because I seriously dont see this thing getting another season by popular demand…
Ok can we put a ban on 9 volume novels getting animes because usually the story intrigues me but leaves me with zero ways of obtaining the end to the stories questions once they are presented.Only anime original ending I liked to a novel turned anime was Guin Saga. Then again japan this crap is probably great advertisement lucky bastards.
Now this is just a theory, but… what if the different Chaikas are actually the divided aspects of the emperor’s daughter, split apart into a number of different bodies?
White Chaika is compassion, Red is the anger over the murder of her father, and so on. Each is seeking their father’s remains – but for different reasons – and filling in the missing parts of their humanity through their life experiences from that point onwards. They’re not broken beings incapable of the emotions the others have, but simply developing them anew; fragments growing into individual wholes, subtly different from the original person they started out as.
Thoughts?
I dunno, it’s possible. Anything’s still up in the air at this point. What do you propose will be the solution though? Will any of the Chaikas ever merge at some point? And certainly, some of Chaikas have been lost over time. Are those aspects of her personalities gone for good then?
If my guess is right, they won’t merge. While they were originally aspects of one person, their various journeys basically filled in their humanity and turned the singular aspects into more well-rounded people – Red Chaika learns some compassion, White some shrewdness and pragmatism, etc. The parts are really no worse off for being parts.
You could write a story where they combine at the end (Fractale! Ugh…), but that’s really not so different from death. All the things they gained are lost, and all for nothing. It would be like two children merging together to recreate their dead father. Certainly not a positive thing.
That said, do I think the series will tempt or threaten a recombining of the Chaikas? Absolutely. It’s the perfect way to make Chaika stand in defense of her life experiences throughout the series and their worth.
Second theory: Chaika is actually the emperor’s persona split into pieces. They gather all his bits in one place, providing the means for restoring his body and his mind. Chaika is a horcrux!
Your ideas make sense on paper, but we’ll see if White Chaika actually gains any notion of pragmatism.
Doesn’t explain the scar around the neck, with the different bodies, so someone is gong around lopping heads off girls and planting Chaika’s cloned head on their stumps.
That just gives terrifying imagery dude.