[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

(it could have been on the ground, but it's really hard to see).

One of the drawback of Vivid's art style. It's hard to discern the fight details. I can't even figure whether Heidid and Vivio actually fly there or just run really fast.

Just so we're on the same page, can you point me to where the horse shows up? I actually can't recall it off hand, and could use a refresher.

The special chapters. I think ch. 17 also has one.

Also, this is a magic universe, with many magical animals. Wouldn't surprise me if the horse could sprout pegasus-like wings or something.

Also, magic civilization... perhaps this was their tech level, and while they could magically make some things, they were essentially a standard fantasy civilization.

Maybes maybes maybes perhaps perhaps perhaps guesses guesses guesses...might as well go all the way and theorize that the horse are actually the avatar of Nanohaverse God

Which was why the Cradle, something from Al-Hazard, was such a big advantage for the Kaiser.

A bit off-topic, but IIRC the Cradle was never mentioned as being from Al-Hazard, just and older civilization.

So I don't see anything that's inconsistent, per se; just things that are awaiting an official explanation (and that we fit with theory in the meantime).

Just to straighten things up, my problem about the horse is less that there are horses in the setting (like Ironmaru said, there's suspiciously similar humans too), it's that the Kings of technologically and magically advanced nations use this:
-primitive
-impractical to fight with, compared to, say, just fight with their signature magical martial arts, which never mentioned fighting while riding horse (why should they? They could fly)
-difficult to defend compared to magically-hardened APC's, vip gunships, or just freakin's battleships,
mode of transportation. Mind you, the last two points are especially important, since Kings are prime assassination targets, and this was an age of war.

Instead of using those aforementioned rides, which would make sense since they a)have the technology and b)have been shown to use one (the battleship), both Kings Olivia and Klaus use the one thing that would raise questions....without any explanation whatsoever.

But more importantly, the horse is just the most blatant example of one worrying sign: that the artist seem to missed the message that Old Belka was medieval-ish and made it full medieval.

Lets take a look at the Wolkenritters. They use the term Knight and use weapons like sword and hammer to indicate a medieval flavor, but they are decidedly also technologically advanced due to their devices, including their cartridge system and Shamal's sensors. They're also magically advanced, with their use of offensive spells that could annihilate platoons in one swipe.

Then look at Vivid.

Stone castles.
Tents.
Soldiers, numbers of them, fighting in close packs, nevermind that considering the firepower magic could unleash moving in tight formations is suicide. Even if they use melee weapons, the soldiers should have been spread to mitigate the effects of area attacks and rapid-fire, avoiding the reenactment of the final battle of The Last Samurai.
No indication the weapons used are devices (their medieval shape not helping), nor any signs of advanced equipments.

In short: Old Belka as shown in previous series' was an advanced civilization but with medieval aesthetics and flavors. Old Belka, what little it appeared, as shown in Vivid? Actually medieval.

It's as if aside from the Cradle, the Old Belkans never actually went beyond pre-gunpowder era.

One of the things I wanted to see from Vivid, was more ancient Belkan backstory (probably shown through Olive and Claus).

Considering that the Belkan flashbacks are mostly there so justify a connection between Vivio and Heidi (read: reincarnation romance), I doubt it there would be any detail 'cept things that would spice the shiptease.

It would be better if there's a supplementary manga that devoted more to the Old Belkan details, but Olivia and Klaus are het and would have little appeal to the yuri fanbase, as well as being adults thus little appeal to the loli fanbase