Madan no Ou to Vanadis

I liked this show, but somehow it just fell a bit flat for me. Not sure why, because I usually enjoy fantasy/battle shows in general (GoT is the bomb!).

Tigre is a young nobleman from the fictional province of Alsace in Brune. He is a highly skilled bowman, but he gets captured by a cute and busty War Maiden of Zchted named Elenora during a skirmish. She takes him prisoner but treats him very well, eventually lending him her army to defeat some unpleasant Dukes in his own kingdom with designs on the throne. Cue lots of battles and bouncing bosoms.

The animation is quality and the characters are all likable. The story is interesting enough to hold your attention, but maybe I might have liked it more if it wasn't so tame. Overall, it wasn't bad, but just not great either.

I found this while not knowing what anime to binge next, so I decided to watch it. It's pretty good (not many clichés). While this is considered a harem, I don't see it as much. First of all, (I GUESS SPOILER EVEN THOUGH IT IS ONE OF THE FIRST WORDS SAID) the main lead is already "property" to this girl. The other girls that have fallen for him, Tigra, are more or less either ones that have known him forever or just take interest in him because of his skills (he is a very skilled archer).

The plot does get confusing sometimes if you don't follow along and watch/listen closely like I didn't. It was still really good and the animation itself is good too.

The voice acting is good. For the dub, there are lots of well known voice actors who are in it, and Tigra's voice is very soothing (at least to me). I would definitely watch it again if the plot was bad (which it's not) simply from the voices.

There's also a narrator that helps explain battle strategies to the audience as well as visuals on a map.

With a few small things that could've been better but I would definitely watch again.

The series plays out like a "Docudrama", with explanations of enmities and alliances, breakdowns of larger combats explaining troop movements and how a small force / "hero's" impact change the balance, etc.

(This means Anime fans who want non-stop action should likely skip this one.)

The slight difference was enjoyable and allowed for more massive engagements without turning each episode into endless combat. With only a few exceptions the majority of characters didn't feel like cardboard cutouts.

Pros:

• Battle "synopsis" during combat explaining actions taken by the armies is an interesting story trick.
• Nice variety of personalities and motivations behind the factions.
• Magic (weapons or casters) are rare and powerful, making it it something that changes the balance of conflicts.
• Characters are generally not cardboard cutouts.
• Consistent Animation.
• Good English Dubbing.
• "Fan Service" is uncommon.

Cons:

• Harem situation made sense at first and then got a little silly.
• Comically oversized special sword.
• When "Fan Service" shows up it's a bit distracting.
• Short ending.

I wish it had a follow up season, but plan to track down the OVA shorts, "Tigre and Vanadish" hoping for some closure.

The setting of this show is pretty standard high fantasy, but leaves the door open for a great show - dragons, magic weapons, political intrigue: its all there. There are other things the show does right; the artstyle is crisp and very colorful and the few action scenes we do get are pretty well animated.

However, the most important part of any show is its writing, and thats where Lord Marksman falls flat on its face.

As mentioned, the setting is pretty cliche, but I have no problems with that. The big issue is the characters and the plot.

Every character in the show is incredibly flat, with the most shallow and simple of motivations. There is no real character development, no complex relationships. Every conflict is entirely surface-level. Even the mc lacks any depth beyond "hey he's really chill and shoots arrows real good". The show fails to make you care about any character beyond their outward aesthetics.

On top of that, there are countless elements of the story just being thrown around haphazardly with no connection. New characters and conflicts just kind of drop in randomly without any setup and are resolved just as quickly. McGuffins just appear out of nowhere and are either never explained at all, or vaguely mentioned once and then entirely forgotten. The closest thing we have to introducing an internal character arc is dropped on us in episode 2, basically never discussed again until the climax, and then once again is ignored entirely immediately after it comes up.

Overall, the shortcomings arent enough to make the show unwatchable - just boring. If you want an interesting fantasy story, there are countless shows far more gripping than this one. If you just want to relax on an afternoon and throw on a short show in the background with just enough bright colors and action to keep your attention while you work on other things, this is the show for you.

I love the anime. I love the fact that's it show battle strategy. I'm also interested in the way that magic is presented in the show. I have never seen anime like this one. I will have to admit the story isn't amazing but it's still really interesting. I would love to see more of the series and I would definitely recommend it to other people.