English Dub Season Review: Warlords of Sigrdrifa Season One

 Overview (Spoilers Below):

In the war against mysterious entities known as Pillars, humanity allies with a god, Odin who assists them with his Valkyries capable of harming Pillar when modern weaponry can’t scratch it. Claudia Bruford is reassigned to the Tateyama base of Japan after the loss of their S-class Valkyrie. She meets the younger Valkyries of the base: Miyako, Azuzu, and Sonoka. Together they fight Pillars to keep humanity safe with the blessing of Odin while flying in planes. Humanity discusses a major attack on one of the Primary Pillars, the Fuji Pillar and Odin agrees to the plan. During the battle, the Fuji Pillar reveals another god, Thor who attacks leaving humanity in disarray as they retreat.

After a bit of investigating humanity realizes that the Ragnarok that Odin spoke of was already over and that they’re fighting Odin, the only survivor to the end of the age of the gods. The remaining humans coordinated with the limited resources they have to launch another attack against the fuji Pillar which also sustained damage from their first attack. The girls defeat Odin and destroy the Fuji Pillar with the power of teamwork. Things settle back to normal as the girls welcome their new recruits to the Tateyama base.

 

Our Take:

Warlords of Sigrdrifa is anime about girls flying planes fighting against a supernatural threat. The apocalyptic situation brought by the Pillars sets up the goal for the girls to strive in eliminating the threat to humanity. The animation for the aerial combat was nice. The voice acting was good too. I especially liked it when Claudia’s voice actor sang that special song which later plays an important in their investigation in Valhalla. The Pillar designs had their unique traits which made the first half interesting to watch as the girls figure out how to get the Pillar’s core.

The first few episodes establish the effects of the Pillars and the casualties. It worked well to emphasize the emotional beats in the series like Yayoi’s and the shield squad’s death. The anime also keeps the tone of the anime light for the cute and funny moments with the girls. Their downtime at the base with the other members of the base especially. The middle is where things start to kick off the assault on the Fuji Pillar and Odin’s betrayal. Lastly, the final episodes just wrap up with Odin’s defeat and things returning to normal.

The anime makes several references to Norse mythology. It makes sense given how the girls are Valkyries and that the antagonist is Odin and Thor. The anime makes Ragnarok appear to be a great upcoming battle until we find out that it already happened. That reveal drained some of the tension in the show. The assault on the Fuji Pillar reveals the origins of the Pillars with Thor, the god of thunder with his hammer. There’s also Valhalla where Claudia and Azuzu find the portraits of the gods and connect the dots to Odin being on the same side as Thor.

Claudia is an S-Class Valkyrie however she’s got a nickname: the Grim Reaper from Odin. The reason for the nickname is because in every battle she’s the only pilot left still flying in the air. Those losses leave her with survivor’s guilt which she gradually heals from as she continues to work together with other Valkyries at the laidback Tateyama base. She’s also Odin’s favorite and the other Valkyries comment on that. It’s revealed that she’s related to Odin by blood as a distant descendant. It’s why she can open the gate to Valhalla and understand the Norse runes in the hall of the gods. This is also the reason why Odin tries to get her on his side in the final battle, but she refuses as her family is now with Tateyama base.

Azuzu is the genius of the group and often makes the plans for the girls in order to effectively fight the Pillars. She modifies their planes to give them extra firepower. Azuzu’s the one to figure out the information in Valhalla about Odin when Claudia takes her and their guards through the portal she made. Her serious personality during tense situations balances out Miyako’s cheerful personality.

Miyako is the cheerful one in the group. She’s the most insightful of the group especially when it comes to Sonoka’s strained relationship with Yayoi. She’s also the reckless one in the group. For example, she destroys a Pillar’s core with her blade after jumping out of her plane. Miyako and Azuzu have known each other for a while. Their teamwork helps during the final conflict with Odin after Claudia defeats his machine.

Sonoka is the shyest and youngest of the girls. She’s the fastest in the group, but also the crybaby of the group. She gets some development when her relationship with a former Valkyrie, Yayoi shows in the latter half of the anime. Sonoka’s grief with Yayoi’s demise on a rescue mission after the Fuji Pillar retreat worked. After interacting with the people in the base she pulls herself out of her grief to fly again for the final battle. Her fight against the fallen Valkyrie planes was good. Her speed and knowledge of their piloting helped her win the fight.

Then there’s Odin, the Norse god who takes the appearance of a blue-haired kid with an eyepatch. From the beginning, he’s suspicious with his attitude. The twist that Odin was alive after the Fuji Pillar retreat wasn’t that much of a twist. He is a god after all. His betrayal was bland with his remarks about Thor during the battle. Furthermore, his loneliness fails to be convincing. The details are never shown to the audience, and Odin merely tells of his part of the first Ragnarok. His defeat at the hands of Claudia, Azuzu, and Miyako was good. Sonoka ends up overcoming her fear and defeats the other fallen Valkyries so she doesn’t play a part in Odin’s demise.

Overall the anime has a predictable plot with the girls flying together and saving the day.