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

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After realizing that the enemy combatants are former fallen Valkyries, everyone is shocked and angry. They try to continue the mission while evading aerial fire. However, the commander gives the order to retreat when hundreds of secondary pillars start gathering at the location. With orders to treat the group falls back. Sonoka tries to help the two pilots who entered the Pillar after them. Sonoka suffers a head injury and she wakes up in a bunk. From the other Valkyries, she receives the news that Thor launched a large attack wiping out the command center. Ichiro and the operators evacuated at the commander’s orders.

Unfortunately, the Valkyries assume that Odin is dead with the others too. On top of the blow to the morale, there are still hundreds of secondary Pillars near Fuji and they need to evacuate the civilians. Later Yayoi talks with Sonoka and they exchange protective charms after she informs Sonoka of her rescue mission. The other Valkyries send her and her squad off with good luck and promises to come back alive. However as they waiting for Yayoi to return, only one of the Valkyries comes back, Lizbet who sadly gives Sonoka her pendant. This breaks down Sonoka who cries at the news.

Our Take:

This episode was an emotional ride as the Valkyries and the shield squadron fight against their former friends. The aerial combat was good and quick to the point. Sonoka’s voice actor did a great job at conveying Sonoka’s sadness to Yayoi’s death.

The emotional reactions from the commander and Ichiro on the former Valkyrie’s plane were great at showing their struggle at the unfolding situation. On the other hand, Odin’s calm and he is still the most suspicious god in the room when the commander questions him about Thor and his response is that he’ll tell him in Valhalla. I wouldn’t be surprised if he survives that thunder attack from Thor. He is a god, so this is probably not the last we see of him.

The conversation between Sonoka and Yayoi was good. It obviously raised a death flag for Yayoi who is killed in action at the end, but it was a tender moment for the two as they reconcile. Then we get to see the other Valkyries wish Yayoi on her mission. It was a nice detail with Miyako asking about her favorite meal and Claudia being less uptight about the send-off.

Now the mission is a failure thanks to Thor and his strike which wiped out the command center and the other buildings. It sets up a huge hurdle for these Valkyries to overcome now. However, it brings up the question of how the writers are going to go about it. So far we have only seen Claudia’s Tyrfing missile being the only weapon capable of destroying the Pillar’s core in one shot. Hopefully, we get to see other abilities from the Valkyries to take down Thor.

Overall it was a good conclusion to the failed mission with the emphasis on the casualties of the war against the Pillars.