Record of Ragnarok (Episode 1) - Ragnarok

Once every thousand years, the gods meet to determine humanity’s fate. This time, they have voted for extinction. However, Brunhilde has other ideas and tricks them into enacting Ragnarok!

Record of Ragnarok (Episode 1) – Ragnarok

What happened?

The gods have gathered in Valhalla to vote on humanity’s existence. They are disillusioned with what man has become ad see no end to its greed and warmongering. After a moment’s deliberation, Zeus concludes that humanity shall be no more. Before he can confirm the resolution, Brunhilde, the eldest of the thirteen Valkyries interrupts the proceedings and asks that they consider another way to decide the fate of humanity. She is talking about Ragnarok, a battle between man and god. More specifically, a battle between thirteen men and thirteen gods, fighting to the death.

Zeus agrees, after all, what god would be afraid to battle a human? He tells Brunhilde that she will select the thirteen humans to fight the gods from all of humanity’s history. With no time to waste, the first battle gets underway. The gods have selected Thor, the Norse god of lighting. Brunhilde has recruited what she believes to be the greatest warrior humanity has ever produced, Lu Bu. He enters the arena and strides towards Thor as if he were no more than another mortal. Ragnarok has begun!

Record of Ragnarok Episode 1 Thor versus Lu Bu

What did you think?

I was very much aware of what I was getting myself into with this series. Well, I had my expectations anyhow. I am expecting epic fights between larger than life characters from history and legend. At the moment, I am cautiously optimistic. The main source of my caution is the fact that despite the big setup, flashy animation, and banging music, we got to the end of the episode and the first fight had only just begun… With only twelve episodes I was hoping for a fight per episode. Forget all the fluff and just get it on!

However, a quick glance at the episode titles has me concerned that there is no way we will get through the entire Ragnarok tournament, at least not without giving the fights the time they deserve. This is not the time to give us One Piece style fights that last for five or six episodes. That’s why I am a little concerned after the first episode.

What have you learnt?

So, the premise is fairly simple and the execution should be a breeze. However, it already looks like they’re going to trip themselves up by not living up to the expectations of the audience. We’re coming into this expecting a battle to the death between humans and gods. They’ve chosen actual characters from history and legend so there’s no real need to go into their past too much. We can all access Wikipedia or Google. Just give us spectacular fights. Lots of them.

If it was me and I was working with a thirteen round fighting tournament, I would have gone with a thirteen-episode season and played the formula. You want insane fights! Here’s one an episode. Sure, you could argue that it might get boring, but I’d disagree. Look back at the old Van Damme or Bruce Lee movies which involved a tournament. You know who’s going to win, but the fights are what keep you entertained. This should have been an easy win, but I feel like they are going to fumble. I hope I’m wrong.