English Dub Season Review: Chaika the Coffin Princess Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Toru Acura, a jobless saboteur meets Chaika Trabant, a girl with a coffin in the mountains while being hunted by a unicorn. After fighting off the unicorn the two get breakfast in town when Toru’s sister Akari comes looking for Toru. Then Chaika asks for their help in her mission, and the trio is off to steal a special item from one of the eight heroes that defeated an emperor in the war five years ago. That special thing is later revealed as the remains of Emperor Gaz, Chaika’s father.

Then they come across a government agency squad led by a cavalier named Gillett who reveals the implications of Chaika’s mission to gather her father’s remains as one that could start another war. However, Chaika wishes to mourn for her father instead of using his Alberic remains for revenge or rebuilding the Gaz empire. Toru decides to join Chaika on her mission to recover her father’s remains with his sister, Akari, and later they are joined by a dragoon called Frederica. While the squad searches for the remains, more enemies appear seeking the remains and the mystery of Chaika’s identity grows with each episode.

Our Take: 

If you’re looking for a good show with magical gun-wielding princesses and a journey then you’ve come to the right place. Chaika, Toru, and Akari are basically a group that only shares one single brain cell, and most of the time Toru’s in charge of that brain cell as he plans their move in the mission to help the naive Chaika gather the remains of her deceased father. Their character interactions are entertaining in between Akari’s brocon antics and Chaika’s stubbornness to help people.

Chaika’s voice actor, Kira Vincent-Davis makes her short sentences a delight with her sweet voice. The other voice cast was good in portraying their characters and their personalities. The animation is pretty good since it’s a production from Studio Bones which produced series like Noragami and My Hero Academia. The backgrounds and fighting scenes are beautiful too.

Admittedly, some characters get more developed than others. Akari unfortunately doesn’t develop much outside of her bro-con personality, but hopefully, she does in the next season. On the other hand the captain of the squad that’s hunting them down,  Alberic Gillett waver in his role as he questions his orders to deal with Chaika Trabant after hearing her reason for collecting the remains.

The series poses an interesting perspective on war, identity, and a person’s reason for living through its cast of characters. For example, Chaika’s identity is a complete mystery with her lack of memory and her supposed death as the series goes on with more than one Chaika appearing in the search for the remains each with different objectives. Memories are important to a person’s identity and without them her identity as emperor Gaz’s daughter is uncertain. Toru’s purpose for living was snuffed out because of the end of the war and after meeting Chaika he gained a purpose in life again. The war that Emperor Gaz started years ago and the after-effects of it are felt even after five years since it ended through the masses.

While searching for the remains of Emperor Gaz the trio encounters a variety of characters affected by the war. Each episode layers on how the world suffered during the war and how some people are lacking in purpose without it. From the heroes that killed the emperor to the citizens who’ve lost someone because of the war. Since the eight heroes killed Emperor Gaz they were each given a piece of his remains. Some were wizards using it as a source to fuel their magic, while others just kept it in a safe place. Either way with each hero we get a unique perspective from them after the war.

Meanwhile, there’s the government agency cleaning up after the war and the citizens from the Gax empire struggling without a place to return home. There’s also the mysterious Guy, Chaika’s informant on the remains. It appears that he projects himself as a hologram of sorts with how he leaves them. Little is known about him, but it appears that he knows more than what he tells.

Color is definitely a major part of the series as it’s used to identify the different Chaika’s and symbolize their purpose. Chaika Trabant is white and her purpose is to gather the remains for burials. On the other hand, Chaika Bohdan is red and her purpose is to get revenge on the eight heroes who killed her father. In addition to that, there’s also the bright blue color that magically gives off when it’s used. It’s a good contrast to the dimly lit portions in the scenes.

In the end in the last two episodes where things get intense, it is explained that Chaika is a tool used to simply gather the remains. This information comes from Layla, another Chaika whose color is blue and she was overcome with despair upon hearing that her existence is simply a part of someone’s plan. However, even after being told the truth, Chaika remains steadfast in her mission as it is the only thing she has left of her identity. However, the question of how the Chaika’s are made grows when someone unexpected becomes one.

The worldbuilding of the series is good from the kingdom’s politics to the trio’s journey through each location in search of the remains. There’s a bit of economics with the magic fuel that the gang needs in one of the early episodes. There’s also the magical creatures that inhabit the world like a unicorn or a dragoon that gives the world a more fantastical vibe to it. Furthermore, the magic system is pretty interesting as wizards use devices powered by magic fuel. Magic fuel can be composed of a lot of things like minerals, fossils, remains of magical creatures, and even the memories of the wizard user. All the wizard has to do is recite some magic words while a magic circle forms and with a squeeze of the trigger the wizard can execute their magic. The magic that could slice a creature in half or be used to locate whatever the wizard desires. There are also magical vehicles powered by magic fuel that the group later acquired for their travels.

Overall the season was decent, and I enjoyed how the series portrayed the characters as humans rather than tools for a grand plan. I look forward to how the next season will continue Chaika’s journey.