Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. I remember as a kid my dad rented the movie Clue from our local video store. It was based off the board game under the same name where the game put emphasis on finding out who killed who, how they did it, and where they did it. What made this movie so unique was that when it was shown in theaters it had three possible endings with theaters all over the world watching the same movie but being treated to 1 of possibly 3 endings. I bring this up because I do enjoy a good mystery. Trying to figure out something and getting that big reveal into who’s doing this and how they did it always intrigued me and I always wanted to see an anime tackle this. Thankfully, there are a few animes out there that have tackled something like this. Probably the one anime that springs to everyone’s mind is Erased and for good reason. The buildup and mystery throughout the course of the series was great and led to a satisfying ending. However, the first one that springs to mind for me is Rokka no Yuusha. Also known as Heroes of the Six Flowers, Rokka no Yuusha is a light novel series written by Ishio Yamagata in 2011 and still ongoing to this day with a manga running beside it. On the surface, the series seems like your standard heroes chosen by the gods to defeat a great evil, and it kind of is. But where the series separated itself from animes with the same setting was having one of the heroes be a fake and the heroes having to figure out who’s the traitor among them. In 2015 the relatively new anime studio Passione (Rail Wars) took the series and turned it into an anime series making it their first major production and hoping to gain some momentum in the industry. You see in the previous year the studio released Rail Wars which was met with low scores from both the fans and critics, so Passione were really hoping to make this anime a hit and show everyone that despite their size they can make good anime. Let’s see what they bring to the table this time, this is Rokka no Yuusha.
Openings and Endings Theme
Now this had 2 openings. The first one is “Cry for the Truth” by MICHI. It was alright. The instrumental is good but the song just doesn’t match up all that well with the visuals at many parts. I actually found myself liking the visuals more than I did the song. The second opening is “Black Swallowtail” by UROBOROS which I did like more than the first one. This opening manages to give off that sense of urgency and distrust as the characters try to figure out who they can trust and who is trying to kill them. Looking back, if you pay close attention to the opening it should be obvious who the traitor was. How I didn’t realize this sooner escapes me. If that was a gun, I be dead.
Just like the opening, this anime had multiple endings as well. The first was “Secret Sky” by MICHI. Once again, not a bad song, it gives off that medieval RPG atmosphere. I could totally see this playing at festivals and slow dancing with someone to the song. The second and third opening are “Dance in the Fake” by Yoko Hikasa and “Nameless Heart” by Aoi Yuuki. These songs were good and I did like how they were both shot in a similar way putting suspicion on both characters.
Episodes 1-4
The anime opens up in this Maya/Aztec town where these two warriors are about to fight in front of a statue of the Goddess of Fate. In this world a long time ago the Demon God was born and descended upon the land killing everyone and releasing fiends to wreak havoc on the world (wow this guy was on the ball. Usually bad guys come up with this long drawn out plan, but you seem to know what you’re doing). In order to counter the threat of the Demon God the Goddess of Fate selected six heroes known as the Six Braves said to be the strongest warriors in the world to fight the Demon God and his army. They succeeded in defeating him, but they didn’t destroy him and he vowed to one day return and reclaim the land (until then, let’s party). It’s now 1000 years later and everyone is trying to pick their strongest warriors to receive the blessings of the Goddess. This leads us to our main character Adlet voiced by Sōma Saitō (Tatsumi from Akame Ga Kill) who claims to be the strongest man in the world (well he’s nothing short of confidence) who entered the fight between the two warriors to prove he’s the strongest. Naturally, the guards are against this and try to arrest him, but he defeats them using paralyzing needles and then he defeats the two warriors using his mind, strength and strategy to beat them (nice. I like characters like this, he doesn’t just rely on power he uses his mind to win battles). After his victory he gets tackled to the ground which breaks his arm (scene here: https://youtu.be/WA_oqFRZWAk, you need to drink more milk buddy) and arrested. He gets thrown in jail where one of the princess’s maids takes an interest in him and goes to check on him. They chat a little bit and we find out that the princess is also a warrior who was supposed to fight the winner of the match Adlet interrupted. The next day, Adlet is sentenced to life in jail (https://youtu.be/EzT6NGUs7Js?t=19) and gets thrown down a hole where he spends quite a few days training and waiting for his arm to heal. Once his arm finally heals he decides it’s time to escape (about time) and his escape comes in the form of that maid from earlier who is named Nashetania and she’s actually the princess (saw that coming) voiced by Yoko Hikasa (Rias from Highschool DxD). The Demon God has returned and she has received the mark from the Goddess (right on her breast) as one of the Brave Six. Adlet also receives a mark on his hand thus they’ve both been chosen to defeat the Demon God. Nashetania breaks Adlet out of jail and they escape the city and head west to the Demon God’s domain where they’ll unite with the other 4 heroes and defeat the Demon God.
In episode 2 Adlet and Nashetania make their way to the Demon God’s domain. As they travel Nashetania talks about how her father started a civil war in the country and as a result of it he became the puppet of the prime minister and even tried to have Nashetania killed (https://youtu.be/EYWbatgKN4g). She also talks about her good friend and rival Goldof a warrior who Nashetania admits is stronger than her and was sent to find the Brave-killer (then he’ll be the brave one). After much traveling they come across a group of people running away from fiends and we get our first fight where Adlet shows that he’s quite the tactician as he knew this was Nashetania’s first battle so he let her fight at a safe distance while he distracted the fiends head on allowing Nashetania to deal the finishing blow to them (not bad for a first fight). After rescuing the people they find out that one woman is left in the village and Adlet rushes off by himself to save her (https://youtu.be/4F4qzPbcFiA). Nashetania tries to follow him but more fiends show up and she has to fight them herself. Adlet makes it to the village where he finds the woman who’s name is Fremy Speeddraw (I get it, friendly/enemy speed draw) who loves dogs but hates humans. She’s voiced by Aoi Yūki (Yukki from SAO). She points her gun at Adlet ready to kill him because it turns out she’s the Brave-killer despite being a Brave herself. Back with Nashetania she manages to defeat the fiends and is joined by Goldof voiced by Kōki Uchiyama (Soul from Soul Eater) who is the 4th brave and tells Nashetania that Fremy is the Brave-killer.
Not much to say about episode 3. Fremy doesn’t kill Adlet but he tells him that she will kill the Demon God herself (someone’s overconfident) saying that if she joins up with the others they’ll try to kill each other. She takes her leave but Adlet follows her and chases her into the forest where he manages to catch her and steal her bullets so she has no choice but to work with him and they travel together to the entrance of the Demon God’s territory where we’re told that territory has poisonous air which is why an army can’t be sent in to fight and only the Braves can go in because they have the blessings of the goddess (well the author is doing a good job covering his plotholes). On their way to a forest they pass by a priestess who tells them that she and other priestesses have created a powerful barrier within the forest to trap the fiends which will save the Braves from having to fight them all. The barrier has to be activated at the temple within the forest and luckily one of them, a new character named Maura voiced by Rina Sato is on her way to activate it. Adlet decides to go and help her with Fremy but along the way they run into Nashetania and Goldof who begin fighting her.
In episode 4 Adlet manages to stop the fighting between Fremy and the others. It gets revealed Fremy is in fact the Brave Killer (which shocks Adlet for some reason even though she told him she was the Brave Killer last episode) and killed all the potential Brave candidates so that the weakest members would be chosen. For some confusing reason she wants the Demon God to revive so that she can destroy it (I don’t get it either). They agree to a ceasefire and continue to the temple to activate the barrier. As they traverse the forest, they get attacked by winged fiends who drop bombs on them (at least I hope they’re bombs). They get led to a trap where a bunch of other fiends are waiting to attack but they fight back with Adlet going on ahead to the temple while the others cover him. He reaches the temple where he finds out the barrier has already been activated meaning he and the others are stuck in the forest with the fiends (well they got plenty of meat). The others arrive at the temple and try to deactivate the barrier, but it doesn’t work. Just when they’re puzzled on what to do in come the last two Braves. The first is Chamo voiced by Ai Kakuma (Isuzu from Amagi Brilliant Park) a little girl who is the Saint of Swamps and said to be the most powerful warrior of the current age (she’s also a little annoying). The other is Maura voiced by Rina Satō (Makoto from Persona 5) a mature woman who is intelligent as well as serious. So all the Braves have gathered in one place but something is wrong. A very shady man by the name of Hans voiced by Kenichi Suzumura (Shingo from Prison School) comes in showing that he too is a Brave. So now we have 7 Braves which doesn’t make sense at all (lucky number 7). They all come to the same conclusion, one of them is a fake sent to kill them (my money says Hans, Adlet, or Goldof).
Episodes 5-8
Not much to say about episode 5. Everyone sits down, introduces themselves, and tries to figure out who’s the traitor among them (I bet it’s that silent motherfucker Goldof over there). Suspicion first starts on Fremy since she’s the Brave Killer and they find out she’s half human half fiend. Her father was forced to mate with a fiend and she was later raised by them becoming the saint of gunpowder (wow, so much to digest). However suspicion of her is dissolved by Hans who says that if Fremy was the traitor then she would do everything in her power to make sure the Braves never met yet she continued to travel with Adlet and didn’t kill him even though she had so many opportunities to do it (it’s love I tell you. Generic anime love). Hans than accuses Adlet of being the traitor because the barrier was activated around the time he reached the temple, nobody could get inside the temple without coming through the front doors, yet he blasted his way inside and unless he thinks of an alternate way to enter the temple he’s gonna die.
In episode 6 Adlet has nothing to prove his innocence and everyone gets ready to kill him. He throws a flash bomb, knocks out and captures Fremy and then escapes out of the temple (you’re not helping your case Adlet). He manages to escape them but he gets injured and passes out where Fremy heals him rather than kill him because even though she’s 99% sure Adlet is the traitor she’s still unsure about that 1% (the 1% being she doesn’t want to see the guy she likes to die). Adlet begins to speculate that there’s an eighth man hiding out somewhere in the forest and that the 7th brave was put there to push all the blame onto him (it’s wild speculation but when you’re desperate your desperate and he is desperate right now). He decides the next morning he’s going to investigate and prove his innocence.
Episode 7 starts with Adlet’s backstory. We find out that when he was a kid he lived with his friend and older sister in a village. One day the village was approached by one of the commanding fiends who offered them safety and security as long as they pledged their loyalty to the Demon God and moved to his realm (you’ll be subjugated as slaves and betray your race but that’s the price to pay for safety). Everyone except for Adlet and his family sided with the fiends, so the people of the village were ordered to kill Adlet and the others. Adlet’s friend and sister gave their lives protecting and allowing him to escape where he met a crazy old man in the mountains who trained him to be the strongest man in the world and fight the fiends. Fremy opens up about her past into how despite her mother being a fiend she was very nice and loving to her as were the other fiends that is until she failed a mission and everyone turned on her and tried to kill her (assholes). Fremy decided that she’ll get her revenge by destroying their ambitions (and killing her mother in the process). After hearing this story Adlet comes to the realization that the two of them are alike which is why he couldn’t turn against her (no it’s because you’re hopelessly in love with her and I don’t blame you). Fremy leaves and heads back to the temple but before leaving she gives him some gun powder that only she’ll be able to sense when used. The next day everyone goes out to search for Adlet except for Hans who stays behind to guard the temple. We see that Nashetania still believes Adlet is innocent and instead believes Hans is the traitor in their midst (I’m starting to think it’s her seeing as how she’s been silent this whole time). Adlet sneaks past everyone and arrives at the temple where he gets into a fight with Hans.
The fight continues in episode 8 with Adlet managing to convince Hans that he’s not the seventh by taking off his shirt (AI girls: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOAH~ *Nitsuj grabs a spray bottle of water and sprays the girls away*) and not killing Hans when he had the chance (there was also a hallucination scene Hans made to verify Adlet was telling the truth but that’s just some Naruto fanfic stuff. Scene here: https://youtu.be/CJL9t2VzxH0). So now that Hans can trust Adlet they’re back to square one on who the seventh Brave is (my money is now on Goldolf). Adlet and Hans go back and search the temple where they still find no other way to enter when all of sudden Chamot appears and she decides that she’s bored waiting around and is just gonna start killing people until she finds the fake starting with Adlet and Hans (well she’s got a 1 in 6 chance of finding them). We see that Chamot has the power to summon fiends and control them by puking them out (that’s disgusting). She does this and surrounds Adlet and Hans with fiends who can regenerate from all of their attacks.
Episodes 9-12
In episode 9 through some clever thinking Adlet and Hans manage to defeat Chamot and capture her (pump her stomach while you’re at it). They tie her up and cover her mouth where Adlet asks her if she knew anything about the temple in the forest which she says no to. With this information Adlet now knows what the plan of the 7th brave is. Nobody besides Adlet, Fremy, and Maura knew about the temple. Adlet believes that the priestess, Lauren, was tricked by the 7th brave to teach the other braves the sealing technique and when the fog set in it wasn’t because the seal was activated it was all a trick to get everyone to believe that the seal had been activated and when they all tried to deactivate the seal that’s when the 7th brave activated the seal and trapped them in the forest where their plan was to kill one of them (https://youtu.be/2-WPlvZguZ4). After figuring this all out, Adlet goes to speak to Fremy but Hans warns him to be careful because Fremy really hates him (true, but hate can easily become love). After finding and talking to Fremy about his theory she easily disproves it by showing canisters in the ground which created the fog and says that it’s impossible for two barriers to exist in the same spot. So once again Adlet’s been proven wrong and all suspicion is on him again. Just when Fremy is about to attack him Adlet tells her that if he dies she’ll be next and he tells Fremy to believe him (believe in the me who believes in me who believes that I am right). She’s hesitant at first but she slowly starts to believe in him (like I said hate can easily become love). Back at the temple Maura is pissed that Hans let Adlet escape and decides to go after him herself (hmm~, you’re sure in a hurry to kill Adlet. Why is that?).
In episode 10 Adlet takes the leap of faith and confesses to Fremy saying he loves her and everything (scene here: https://youtu.be/XcSfwt9dOlg, alright Adlet. So glad he didn’t fall for Nashetania that would be so cliché). Fremy of course doesn’t believe him, she’s been betrayed so many times in the past that she doesn’t believe anyone or anything anymore (who can blame her). Trust is a foreign substance to her and something she doesn’t want in her life because of the pain it brings. She begins attacking Adlet and alerts the others where Maura uses her powers to tell Nashetania and Gudolf that Adlet gravely injured Hans making Nashetania very upset and go a little crazy (you’re gonna believe her over someone you’ve traveled with for days? Well fuck you). Maura manages to meet with Fremy and together they fight Adlet. He decides to give himself up but before that he proves that Fremy isn’t the 7th by using some special kind of spray that detects fiends. In an earlier episode he used this spray on the altar to detect fiends and he discovered that there were no signs. Since Fremy is half fiend the spray would have picked up on her fingerprints but there weren’t any meaning Fremy is innocent. This opens Fremy’s eyes and she comes to Adlet’s aid saving him from Maura and escaping with him where unfortunately they get cut off by Nashetania.
Adlet finally proves his innocence in episode 11. The episode starts off with Nashetania going yandere on us and trying to kill Adlet (he’s not the 7th) and she actually comes close to killing him until she finally sees that Hans is okay and stops her attack realizing that Maura lied to her (that’s what he’s been telling you this whole time you crazy bitch). Everyone finally gathers around as he’s barely alive where he proves his innocence by solving the mystery of the fog. The place they’re in was originally a cold place instead of a warm place. The warmth of this place came from the Sun Saint (how many saints are there in this world? Is there a saint for everything? Is there a bug saint I should know about?) who was forced to help the fiends out and after her work was done they killed her or rather ate her whole. Adlet relying on luck tells Hans to cut up one of the fiend bodies lying by them and he was right. The Sun Saint was forced to help the fiends and was eaten by them which resulted in the fog covering the area making everyone believe the seal had been activated and when Adlet went into the temple he activated the seal trapping everyone in the barrier where the 7th would try to get everyone to kill each other trying to find the traitor among them (oh damn. Oh damn. OH DAMN).
In the final episode we finally find out who the traitor among them is, Nashetania (son of a bitch! (Yume): I knew that rabbit whore was the one. This is why you should never trust rabbits. (Nitsuj): Yume, I’m sensing a little hostility from you). Nashentania confesses that she’s the traitor and how she was hoping they would kill each other. So why did she do all of this, to bring humans and fiends together. Nashentania believes that fiends and humans can live together in peace (what’s the catch?). The catch is that in order for this dream to become a reality 500,000 humans need to die (and the scary part is she makes it sound like it’s not that big of deal. She really is a yandere). Adlet tries to kill this yandere bitch but she escapes and he passes out from blood loss while everyone goes after Nashetania (scene here: https://youtu.be/23YHRBA12z8). He later regains consciousness where Maura apologizes for not believing him (yeah you should be damn it. You almost screwed up royally). After resting, they all go outside and get ready to set off on their journey when a new character named Rolonia shows up. Rolonia is the childhood friend of Adlet as well as the Saint of Blood (I was under the belief it was Dairy with all that cow armor) who claims to be a Brave as well (kill her, she’s a liar). During this confusion, troops show up to tell everyone that more than 1,000 fiends are gathering to go back to the Land of Howling Demons. Everyone decides to stop thinking about who the traitor is (well we know it’s not Adlet this time), and instead strategize on how they’re going to kill the Demon God.
Final Thoughts
Rokka no Yuusha is definitely an underrated anime. Not the best anime but definitely a good anime that will probably never get a second season. While the story isn’t really all that interesting, where the series really shines is with its characters and the mystery that builds with each episode. Despite only having 12 episodes, the anime does a good job making each character distinct from each other, show off their skills, their roles on the team, and just making us like them with their unique personalities. Adlet is easily the best character of the bunch. He’s not your average white knight hero you see in these kinds of stories. He tries to reach the best decision in the most logical way possible, but also has a heart and tries to be humane in all of his decisions. He can be a little naïve at times but that’s what makes him a relatable character. I like how when even everyone turns on him he never lost faith that he was a hero and slowly earned everyone’s trust to prove that he was innocent. Having Nashetania as the traitor was definitely a shock the first time I saw it. At first I was mad as I felt that it should have been Goldolf as he had the best cover. He was away from everyone and everything unlike the others who had witnesses so it would have been easy for him to tricked into joining the Demon God. Now that I look back on it, it was actually a pretty good choice to make Nashetania the traitor and once again if you follow the clues during the openings and endings of the anime it really made sense that she was the traitor.
The animation is impressive in the first episodes, but it does start to go down in quality around the midway point. The backgrounds are amazing to look at. That Mesoamerican culture in the first episode has got to be one of my favorite sceneries in anime. I was really bummed we didn’t get to see more of it after the first episode. The music matches up well with the atmosphere and setting the anime is trying to create. While action scenes are few in this anime, they make them count and did like the various fighting styles everyone had.
Final Score
I give Rokka no Yuusha a 7/10. Definitely a good anime worth checking out and one of Passione’s better animes. I’m really wish a second season would come out because the story is good after this. If you want to continue this story, check out the light novel. It’s a good read. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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