Chained Soldier

Episode 11

Picking up right in the middle of the ruckus that Chained Soldier left off on last week, it makes sense that "Death Match, Aoba, Excite" is essentially a 23-minute-long fight scene. In classic battle shōnen tradition, it also opts to split our pairs of heroines up into three units, each of which has been matched with one of the Humanoids: Tenka and Kyouka are up against Aoba and the Unihorn, naturally; Himari and her sister Yachiho get to take on Naon and her Shuuki, Akura; meanwhile, Shushu and Sahara are stuck dealing with Coco and Kuma, along with all of the "Coco Juice" that comes part of the package.

Since the narrative hook of this fight is that Yuuki is too tied up to be of any use in the fights, the job of "Death Match, Aoba, Excite" is to show off its various girls' skills in unique and interesting ways, which I think the episode mostly succeeds at. The animation and choreography are pretty solid, for one, which I think is best demonstrated in the Shushu and Sahara portion of the battle. While it doesn't reach the heights of the inexplicably excellent bout that the duo shared during the Exhibition, their fight with Coco is still quite fun, what with how it culminates in Shushu pulling an Ant-Man and exploding Coco's Shuuki from the inside with her shrinking and expanding powers.

The third of the episode that features Himari and Yachiho isn't as fun to watch since the cramped quarters and muddy colors of the cave setting make it hard to appreciate any of what's going on. Plus, the animation here is much more inconsistent than in the other sections. That said, the emotional core of the sequence is stronger thanks to the sibling-rivalry setup we got in the Exhibition Arc, which makes seeing the sisters work together for a change all the more satisfying. I also have to give the segment props for climaxing with one of the most idiotic and absurd power-ups I've ever seen, involving Himari unleashing her fury and might with what I can only describe as An Afro Made of Guns. It would have easily been my pick for the featured screenshot of the week if HiDive's new and "improved" web player didn't make grabbing quality screencaps a virtual impossibility.

Finally, we have what you'd think would be the main event: Tenka and Kyouka's fight with Aoba. There's nothing wrong with it; I just found myself less invested in the action than I thought I'd be. I will credit the episode for producing the funniest joke of the episode, where Tenka fantasizes about an entire lifetime of being married to Yuuki and calling Aoba her "sister." It doesn't commit hard enough to the bit to rival its legendary competition—the funniest joke from Jujutsu Kaisen—but it still made me laugh. Kudos, Chained Soldier.

Other than the inconsistent visuals, my main complaint for the episode would be the lack of substance overall. Yeah, I was expecting a big action showcase. Still, those usually move the plot forward or get our characters to a new and interesting place in their personal storylines. Here, though, it feels like the show is just killing time until the real baddies arrive. I'm a lifelong tokusatsu nut, so please don't think I'm trying to insult the show when I say that the Eight Thunder Gods feel like glorified Power Rangers villains, but they're definitely nowhere near as interesting as Aoba and her crew, so forgive me for being somewhat skeptical of their ability to carry the season finale. I guess anything is possible, but we'll have to see if these scenery-chewing dorks can provide ample threat for our heroes to face in their climactic outing next week.

Rating:

Chained Soldier is currently streaming on HIDIVE.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.