I am a big fan of the ecchi genre. If there's something this beautiful genre has shown me, it's that it can compete with any other genre and shine with its great stories. That's why I'm very demanding with it.
Chained Soldier started very ambitiously. An ecchi anime with a deep story and mysteries to unravel. What could go wrong?
The problem wasn't the story or the fan service. The problem was the harem. Without a doubt, one of the worst I've seen in my life.
How can a harem go wrong? Let me explain:
There are two types of harems. The most common is where the girls fall in love with the guy because he is chivalrous, has good feelings, and pays attention to them. The guy is usually a pathetic type with luck who never concretizes anything with any girl out of shame (the dream come true for insecure guys). Most harems are like this.
In the second type, we have a guy who is still chivalrous but has no problem concretizing encounters with the girls. The girls fall in love with him for his prowess and power.
Chained Soldier, apparently, is of the second type. However, something fails: there is no reason for the girls to fall in love with him. It's not that the protagonist isn't a good guy. The problem is that the girls fall in love BEFORE he can prove that he is. It just happens. And it's not a light infatuation. These girls already want to marry him almost immediately.
This incoherent plot development, which seems like a mockery to the viewer, becomes the main development of the story, leaving the plot in third place (the second place goes to the fights), so one can't help but feel that they are watching an anime that is really a waste.
Now, not everything is disastrous. The mystery behind the plot is quite good. However, the best part is the fights. The battles between the girls, or between the girls and the monsters, are truly epic. There is not only violence but also strategy, reflections, and a lot of action.
In conclusion, Chained Soldier could have been better, but they wasted everything with such a fake and boring harem that the anime ends up being second-rate. When I watched the anime, I thought, "Why make this a harem? It could have been a great story with strong fan service and it would have been perfect."
THE GOOD: The fights. They are incredible.
THE BAD: The terrible development of the harem and its weight in the plot.
LET'S HOPE it improves in the second season now that apparently the harem is complete.
