2014, 10 episodes:
AniDB.
Sequel to last spring's Hitsugi no Chaika.
The daughter of the evil mage-emperor is still collecting his remains
in order to give him a proper funeral.
That's how things start, but they rapidly get more complex:
there's the question of the Emperor's Fortune, the meeting of several
Chaikas, and the martial arts tournament that seems to be a prelude
to, or an excuse for, a return to the warfare that wracked the
continent before the mage-emperor was killed. Plenty of fighting and
adventure, still well-shot with clearly laid-out action scenes that
make it easy to keep track of what's happening.
Lots of questions are answered: where the Chaikas came from, why
they're doing what they're doing, and whom the suspiciously helpful
informant Guy is really working for. Unfortunately most of those
answers are crammed into the last two episodes, which go by altogether
too quickly; the coda in particular is very rushed. I wonder whether
this was planned to be another twelve-episode series, but the budget
wouldn't stretch to it.
One could pick up the story at this point, but it's very much of
a piece with the earlier series - same director, too, which is
encouraging. It does diverge from the light novel plots, which purists
consider a bad thing.
An OVA series is planned for next year, but the story could reasonably
be considered concluded at this point. Recommended, even with the
rushed ending.
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