Quote:
Originally Posted by EnigmaticAxiom
Edit: Hemisphere: How is Sen Otome? I have it, but I haven't read it. I heard it's more shounen-esque and fan-servicey than Vanadis, but which do you find preferable?
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It's
almost as straight as a fantasy RPG can get, with some Kawaguchi-esque deconstructions along the way (the economical value that Guilds hold, etc.). You have the standard cast of
AmaRach (the swordie), Elicia (the tank), Phil (the loli mage) and later on in Volume 2, Nagi (the lancer)
and his additional wives later on. It revolves around Rach and his journey in trying to get strong enough to beat the Maou, and save everyone along the way...
...until a major reveal hits around Volume 3 (which would make ANY main character become useless in a fantasy setting, if it were to happen to them). Along the way, several characters get to question Rach's "dream" or motivation (and pointing out his own lack of character at the same time). His character growth is mostly driven by his apparent lack of goal/motivation for himself for the first few volumes, which changes once he finds his (shounen-ish) answer for himself; then challenged once more at the end of Volume 8 onwards when he loses the very thing he could not afford to lose at that point.
At the same time, it is also about Baltuetas the Maken Breaker, Rach's master, who has been preparing for all this time so that he can defeat the Maou and save his first and only love, the Hero Sasha. Sasha who went up against the Maou, destroyed his body, and sealed the Maou's soul inside hers with the power of Claimh Solais.
Until volume 9's end hits...
It's very adventure-driven, and much of the battles are against the demons that occupy the setting of Thousand and Aegis (which might be the direction that Vanadis itself will eventually take). In contract to Vanadis and its delishuz realpolitik and strategic military encounters, Thousand and Aegis can be refreshingly straightforward - though more shounen in its tone and execution, but not overtly so. It shares several concepts in familiarity with Vanadis and
especially with Seizuyomi no Riina; and while Vanadis uses Slavic folklore as its foundations, Thousand and Aegis has Celtic folklore to show for it (oh god the terms, save me from the terminology). The fanservice...I would say that both are on par with the fanservice, though Elicia does tend to lose her clothing at the end of every volume so much that I can only assume that it is a running gag.
Which do I find preferable? I go to Vanadis for the realpolitik and the strategies, and I go to Thousand and Aegis for the adventuring and the demon-slaying. They're essentially covering different fields of interest, though they do touch on some common grounds (harem, main lead growing into a badass, etc.) that one can find familiarity with the execution. While Thousand and Aegis does read like a standard, straightforward adventure fantasy RPG story, Kawaguchi's distinct worldbuilding touch is present for those who are into it.
I swear that's my last edit. Until I realized I had some lines wrong.