Lord Marksman and Vanadis (Season One)

Tigrevurmud Vorn had a chance to take out the war maiden that decimated his army, but his arrow was not true. Now a captive of the war maiden, Elen he discovers that his homeland is in danger and begs for her help.

What did you watch?

Oh, look! It’s another entry from my A to Z Anime Challenge and this time I selected Lord Marksman and Vanadis. Once more, I hadn’t heard much about this show but was aware of the series by name. A quick glance at the promotional image should tell me that this is a series I am going to enjoy. I guess it’s time we find out if I did, so let’s just dive straight in. As usual, there will be spoilers.

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What happened?

So, Tigre was captured by the war maiden, Elen. As is turned out, she also took a bit of a shine to him. Something about him trying to shoot her with an arrow got her all hot and flustered. Each to their own, I guess. Well, it turned out that without its Count around the region of Alsace was in danger of being invaded. Tigre appealed to Elen to help him save his lands and in exchange, he will give them to her. Saving his people is his top priority. She accepted his offer and lead her army against the invaders. They manage to win, defeating the army, its dragons, and the leader, but this puts Elen on a new path.

Another war maiden, Mila is aligned with the family of the invaders and is now at odds with Elen, but that won’t stop her from helping Tigre to vanquish is enemy once and for all. Before long they find themselves in conflict after conflict as the plot thickens when they find the king’s son that is actually a girl and help her to return home and take the throne from the bickering Dukes.

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What did you think?

I have mixed feelings with Lord Marksman and Vanadis. Firstly, I enjoyed the characters and their designs. They were fun and looked cool. The battles, on the other hand, is where I started to get frustrated. There was some really cool one on one moments, but the bulk of the battles were displayed to us in large dioramas with CGI chess pieces jumping around. It really threw me out of the action. I love the tactics as much as the next person, if not more, but there had to be a better way to show it. I also felt like it dragged things out a little and by the end of the thirteenth episode, I was glad to get to the end.

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What was your favourite moment?

The way it was shown aside, I really enjoyed the tactics used by Tigre and Elen. They were often at a disadvantage because of the size of their army, but they used tricks to fool their opponents or lure them into a trap. If only they had shown us more of the actual battles and not just summarized them with CGI maps, it would have been so much better. It’s ironically the same thing that annoyed me about The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar. You don’t even have to show the whole battle, but to just skip it altogether feels like a missed opportunity.

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What was your least favourite moment?

Didn’t I just do this one? Well, don’t worry, I have another. There was a scene in episode 7 where Tigra is woken by his bow and follows its directions to a mysterious temple. There, his maid, Titta is taken over by a spirit and the only way Tigre can save her is to shot her with an arrow, but Tigre being the master archer he is, manages to do it without hurting her. With that done the temple disappears and everything goes back to normal. There is no mention of the temple before or after this point. I still can’t work out the point of the scene and how it fits into the story. I can only assume that it leads to the bigger picture that isn’t covered in the anime.

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Who was your favourite character?

The war maidens were all pretty cool and rather beautiful, but my favourite character was Lim. She was just a regular knight but was more than a match for most even without a Draconic weapon. I enjoyed watching her attitude towards Tigre change as he proved his worth as a commander and a friend. He also saved her when she was bitten by a snake… Either way, Lim is cool and I would gladly watch a series just about her. That’s always a good indicator for me.

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Who was your least favourite character?

I found Titta to be a little annoying and I felt that her being there messed with the dynamics of the group. She was obviously in love with Tigre and struggled to see the other girls showing an interest. It does make for some interesting moments, but I wouldn’t have missed her if she hadn’t been there.

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Would you like some more?

I enjoyed the world-building and the story ideas but felt the execution wasn’t quite right. The characters were enjoyable, but it just didn’t all mesh together for me. I think the battle tactics scenes with the voice-over describing it was just too annoying. Every time it happened, I rolled my eyes and lost interest a little. Then it kept happening. As I said, it was an interesting story with good characters, but it was put together in an odd manner.

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What have you learnt?

I’m reminded of a piece of advice I read about showing the small details to deliver the most impact. It goes along the lines of showing a discarded dirty teddy bear in a war zone rather than trying to describe everything. Pick something small that you can focus on. I think the same would work for the battles. Rather than describing the entire battle give your character a task and follow them as they try to complete it. The rest will happen in the background and unless you’re going to have multiple points of view that explore the different elements, then that’s where it should stay.

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Other Posts in the Series

• A to Z Anime Challenge
  • Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero
  • Blood-C / Blood-C: The Last Dark
  • Cat Planet Cuties
  • Dragonar Academy
  • El Cazador de la Bruja
  • Freezing / Freezing Vibrations
  • Grimgar: Ashes and Illusions
  • Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens
  • Is It Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon?
  • Jormungand / Jormungand: Perfect Order
  • Knight’s & Magic
  • Lord Marksman and Vanadis
  • My First Girlfriend is a Gal
  • No Game No Life
  • Outbreak Company
  • Punch Line
  • Qualidea Code
  • Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
  • Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign
  • The Testament of Sister New Devil
  • Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle

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