English Dub Review: Warlords of Sigrdrifa “Tateyama Joint Forces!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After the Pillar fight, the new Valkyrie introduces herself, Yayoi Amatsuka along with her three shield pilots to the group. The girls get to destress in the baths as Claudia asks about Yayoi since it appears that they know her. Then Yayoi joins them and tells them about the upcoming plan to attack the Fuji Primary Pillar which has been approved by Odin. Azuzu’s ready to give the god a piece of her mind as Claudia joins her. They get a meeting with Odin who answers Azuzu’s questions on the countermeasure mission as they play a fighting game. After Azuzu leaves, Claudia asks him if that was why she was assigned to the base as one of the Named to which Odin confirms.

The next day the Valkyries go out to eat at a popular seafood restaurant and talk about Odin and the plan. However, Sonoka leaves while Miyako is trying to smooth things over between her and Yayoi. Sonoka goes to the commander’s office and they talk for a bit. Afterward, everyone awaits for the Fuji Pillar to go dormant and as the countdown is down Odin proclaims that Ragnorok is nigh.

 

Our Take:

It’s the calm before the storm as this episode sets up a major fight that needs all available Valkyries there to liberate Japan against the Fuji Primary Pillar when he goes dormant. The animation was good and the voice actors did a great job as well. Azuzu’s outrage at the countermeasure mission was well done.

Speaking of Azuzu, there’s her conversation with Odin on the plan as well as her weakness of taking too much time to consider all the possibilities which lead to her getting frequently shot down. Now her frequent falls haven’t been shown that much besides the last episode to make it feel like it’s a frequent thing even with the other characters commenting about it. However it does fit in with her intellect, so that scene was decent at giving Azuzu more depth. Then there’s Odin who is the carefree god who decides to help for once and that is met with a lot of suspicions. The Valkyries’ impressions about him vary, but at least he’s assisting humanity actively now. However, that last scene of him proclaiming that Ragnarok is nigh definitely raised a red flag.

Yayoi and Sonoka appear to have a complicated relationship given how Sonoka avoids her with the excuse of not feeling well. Their strained history gets picked up by Miyako who is surprisingly perceptive despite her usual demeanor. At any rate, it could have been a mission gone wrong type of conflict given how the group photo in the commander’s office has them in a happier place. Additionally, there’s Ichiro and his scene with Sonoka in his office about Yayoi. There’s definitely some history given how the picture frame on his desk is always on camera when they talked. That conversation also leans into him being their superior with the burden of having to send them out to the battlefield. It’s a sad reality that the episode takes into consideration as the time for the cute banter is over with the countdown to the Fuji Pillar going dormant.

Other than the Valkyries there are a few new details in the world-building like the Pillars being able to go into a dormant state. It looks like the Valkyries will have a tough fight in the next episode, hopefully, we get a few more Norse mythology references in there as well. Overall the setup for the next episode was good and I look forward to seeing how the mission plays out from the Valkyrie squad.