English Dub Season Review: Record of Ragnarok Season One

Overview: Led by the demigod Valkyrie, Brunhilde (Laura Post), the human race strives for survival as it rages a fierce battle against ancient deities led by the sky and thunder God, Zeus (Chris Edgerly). 

Our Take: God fights and even Godlier biceps. If I had to describe this series in one protein powdered bottle, that would be about it. But that is not to say those flexing forearms are completely devoid of any charm in and of themselves. 

Record of Ragnarok features the showdown of a lifetime, literally. Ancient Gods decide whether or not humanity survives by way of an epic tournament between deities and the best of mankind throughout its entire history. Simple and to the point, this truly is the sole core of the story and the show itself. It’s all about the fights. So with that, how does it’s most crucial aspect fare? Well, they need more time in the gym. 

The series may give you the impression that it goes for broke and pulls out all the stops in giving you thrilling clashes from start to finish. At least, that’s what I thought initially  when I first saw the trailers for the series. My oh my how deceiving that marketing material was. But after watching it, I realized how it was able to pull the wool over my eyes. It has amazingly detailed character designs and uses quick cuts to the best of their ability in an attempt to hide their lack of any fluidity. Not to mention some evocative facial expressions that are out of this world. But of course, these qualities only go so far. Battles that should be big and bombastic often fall flat with, yes as the sobering hangover shake that Twitter is pointed out, a PowerPoint presentation. It’s almost as if the animation studio, Graphinca, made it to show investors the look of the series and were praised so much that they thought this would suffice. It doesn’t. The well timed editing and quality of the art makes it serviceable enough and keeps you gawking at pretty stills but nothing more than that. With a series so focused on fights as this one, it’s a damn shame they never live up to the larger than life godly beings they are trying so hard to put on display. 

What Record lacks in showdowns, it makes up for in the many colorful personalities that litter the story both on the human and god side of the equation. The human race is led by the Valkyrie warrior, Brunhilde, along with the help of her other Valkyrie sisters, most notably her little sibling, Goll. They are always a pleasure whenever they are on screen. Brunhilde is quirky as heck and that makes for some hilarity between her and the sweet innocent Goll. But it’s her vicious grudge against the gods that can also make her quite intense and very animated. It is hinted that she has her own personal reasons for wanting humans to live, most likely due to her half-human half-god nature. But for now she and Goll have charmed me enough to peak my interest and keep me interested in her story for a potential next season. Their lineup includes that of history’s most extraordinary beings in that of Lu Bu, the infamous Chinese military general and warlord. There’s Adam, the first human in existence and then Kojiro Sasaki, a master swordsman. Thankfully, each and every one of them brings something new to the table in both combat and personality so battles both during and leading up to never feel stale. Whether it’s Lu Bu’s unquenchable thirst for the ultimate opponent, Adam’s cool headedness and chivalry, or Sasaki’s hunger to get stronger and kind modesty, you can find something to love in at least one of these characters. All of the warriors get a backstory to varying degrees of success, with some compelling even for their shorter run time like Adam being driven by Eve and his family or others like Lu Bu being a bit more middling with him enduring single-minded, brutish training as a warrior. Then there’s Sasaki’s past which stands amongst one of, if not the strongest in seeing the various hurdles he overcame in his lifetime and how it shaped him. 

As for the gods themselves, they are led by the Greek titan himself, Zeus. This group in particular are certainly more of the zany variety even with the diverse characteristics on the human side. The starting lineup for their side includes Thor, the god of thunder, the big man himself, Zeus, and Poseidon, god of the sea.  Like with mankind, they too are all interesting in their own right. Most of them at least. Thor, the Final Fantasy e-boy, is in stoic-only mode and seemingly only opens his eyes when there’s a good battle, which makes him a perfect match for Lu Bu but dull overall. But hey, at least he’s cool to look at. Zeus is very playful making his teasing of Brunhilde enjoyable to watch. Poseidon, on the other hand, gives a whole new meaning to the word chad, so in that regard he excels at making you hate him. There are also those who while don’t show up in the ring this time around provide some interesting commentary while also reflecting their own unique dispositions like Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love, who literally has statues carrying her cleavage. Or the Olympian, Hermes, and his seemingly passive yet scheming nature. While not to the same extent as Poseidon, every god has an air of pretentiousness to them which makes it very easy to root against them and for humanity as a whole while also being starkly reminded how cliché that is. 

There isn’t much lore that is built throughout. Partly because half of it is dependent on human history. But what is there is very much relied upon by that of all 13 Valkyries and gods, with the tale of the unknown god factoring into Poseidon’s backstory elevating how imposing he is. The other Valkyries are unfortunately only touched upon and never delved upon very deeply with them reduced to a few sporadic appearances to being lifeless plot devices to strengthen the human faction. 

Netflix continues to knock it out of the park with the English voice acting talent they continue to get for their anime series with Record being yet another great showcase with dynamic performances across the board. Laura Stahl is charmingly funny, fantastically foulmouthed yet can be deadly cutthroat making her intense as heck. But also a strong, wise mentor for Goll to look up to and learn from. Anairis Quinones is sweet and naïve as Goll while taking Brunhilde ever changing moods as best she can. Jonah Scott is calm, cool and collected as Adam and all the while being a standout guy and wearing his heart on his sleeve. Chris Edgelry is a goofy, energetic Zeus, but also competitive with a razor sharp edge. And this is but a fraction of the amazing VA work throughout. 

Record of Ragnarok lacks the animation firepower that an action-centric seinen should have in order to fire on all cylinders. Not to mention the flabby elements in that of some underdeveloped/ formulaic characters and underwhelming world building. Instead it relies upon the strength of the vast amount of entertaining, quirky characters, some decent development from a few and great performances from a standout group of veteran English voice actors. There is a lot of potential for a much stronger second season should it build upon what it sorely lacks and while it’s by no means a must-watch, it is still an enjoyable Saturday morning romp that will satisfy most just enough.