English Dub Review: Warlords of Sigrdrifa “Fuji Pillar Assault!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The Valkyries from around the world gather at Tateyama as the operation to take down the dormant Fuji Pillar including Lisbet and Leyli, Claudia’s old friends from Europe. They attend a meeting where the commander gives a motivational speech then Odin joins in and makes a similar speech but extends it to the people outside of the meeting room. The girls arrive at the hangar and when Sonoka gets the news that Yayoi and Ichiro are having a serious talk she runs off to find them. Sonoka finds out about how Yayoi sabotaged her plane to make sure she avoided fighting given her young age at the time and runs away in tears as Miyako runs after her to comfort her.

Later moments before the operation starts the girls get into their places and Sonoka is motivated to prove herself in the air. Once in the air, the Valkyries show off their skills as England’s Named damages the Fuji pillar with a heavy bomb. The rest of the Valkyries go inside to take the core when they see the broken planes from Valkyries all over the world. Then they run into trouble as one of the dead’s planes attacks them and Sonoka and Yayoi are respectively shocked and furious to recognize the plane as one of their former teammates.

Our Take:

The episode starts up mundane as the girls get acquainted with the other Valkyries from the other countries. It even had its amusing moments before the battle like choosing a nickname for Claudia and Miyako and the others being scolded by Azuzu. The episode’s transition from cute and fluffy to dark and horrifying was great.

Everything is fine and dandy until the meeting after the bearded commander’s speech Odin shows up with a display of the deceased Valkyrie, Sakura showing up behind the bearded commander who looks for a moment shocked before recomposing himself. Odin’s dramatic speech rouses the people both in the meeting room and outside of it thanks to his power as a god, However, despite the cheers for Odin, some aren’t too happy about it like Yayoi and the general of the operation who later comments that they shouldn’t be too happy that children are being used in the war.

Then there’s Yayoi and Ichiko’s conversation where Sonoka finds out that Yayoi was the reason why she couldn’t fly because of her over-protectiveness. That flashback really hits why their relationship is strained and the reveal of that sabotage cuts even deeper. That was a great moment for Sonoka to stand out in this episode as she then gets motivated to prove herself in the operation as her speed reaches Claudia in the battle. The revelation that she’s the youngest candidate to be Named like Claudia was also a surprise.

Now the battle showcases most of the Valkyries’ abilities and their teamwork with one another as well. Then when they enter the Fuji Pillar and encounter the giant that Odin calls Thor, things get dicey for the group as the graveyard of planes starts attacking them with one of their deceased comrade’s planes. Also, Odin’s whisper on the dead coming was definitely ominous and suspicious with that grin. The fact that Thor woke up as soon as he said its name doesn’t help his case either.

Overall the episode kicks off the assault on the Primary Pillar to a great dramatic start with the implication that the Valkyries will have to fight their deceased comrades on top of the giant Thor. It sets up a great beginning to an epic battle for the Valkyries, however, since it’s war and humanity’s on the losing side, there’s got to be a few casualties in the process in the next episode.