English Dub Review: Warlords of Sigrdrifa “Welcome to Tateyama Base!”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The world turns apocalyptic with the arrival of mysterious Pillars growing in different mountain ranges that no human technology could pierce. In a round table conference of the world’s leaders, the god, Odin appears to lend a hand and gives them a way to destroy the Pillars with his Valkyries. Years later, Claudia Bruford, a Named Valkyrie is reassigned to Japan after their Named Valkyrie, Sakura, passes away. However, despite being called the Valkyrie of Salvation Claudia considers herself to be a Grim Reaper because of the 99.9% casualty rate on her missions.

On the way to Japan, she meets Sonoka, Miyako, and Azuzu when a minion of a pillar appears in the sea targeting the transport. She later arrives at the lax Tateyama Base and meets the trio again with Miyako giving her a tour of the base. After meeting the maintenance crew, they go to get food and meet the other two girls. Then the warning horn goes off and the girls head off to the enemy, a newly formed Pillar that manages to regenerate its minions. After coming up with a plan to lure it out of the water Claudia is unsure of working together given her high casualty rate, but Azuzu snaps her out of it immediately by telling the crew out loud and they reassure her in their own way. The girls battle the Pillar and win with teamwork.

Our Take:

Warlords of Sigrdrifa is a sweet series from A-1 Pictures with writing from Tappei Nagatsuki the creator of Re: ZERO. Admittedly, I’m expecting the anime to have some horror or a shocking twist in the middle of the series considering the writing of Re: ZERO and the tone of Odin’s voice when he calls Claudia a Grim Reaper. The anime also has a bit of Norse mythology sprinkled in it. Some examples are the Ragnarok and the Tyrfing missile used to take down the pillar’s core, the Vandrande.

Now the first episode sets up the apocalyptic crisis of the mysterious pillars with the use of a nuclear warhead setting the bar on how indestructible the pillars are. Furthermore, there is the perspective of the fallen pilot on one of Claudia’s missions with the tree growing out of the Pillar’s core. That was a nice shot to emphasize the Valkyrie’s impact on the battlefield. There’s also Claudia’s sadness at knowing that she’s the only one left alive when no one responds to her, and then to parallel that scene to the last scene with the destroyed underwater Pillar was good at showing how the trio changed her perspective for those moments.

On the other hand, Sonoka, Miyako, and Azuzu are adorable and quirky in their own ways whether it’d be in or out of their planes. Their presence defines the anime as a comfortable anime to watch with their interactions. In addition, there’s their base which isn’t like the other bases that Claudia has been to as the relaxed atmosphere has confused her a bit. The trio and the general ambiance of the base is a great set up for a battlefield veteran like Claudia to heal from her trauma as the lone survivor from her past missions in Europe and begin to work on being part of a team.

The first episode shows that Warlords of Sigrdrifa is a nice feel-good anime with a military base and an apocalyptic plot. It has cute girls flying planes, a cheerful atmosphere, and teamwork saves the day vibe with the battle. Hopefully, the anime goes into the details about the Pillars and shows the physical effects of their actions. Right now I’m not quite sure how the Pillars manage to consume the land to regenerate, does it just suck up land like drinking water from a straw? I’ll just have to find out in the next episode.