100 years after the settling of the continent of Patria,
a civil war erupted between the North and the South over an energy source known
as Somnium. In order to compete with the large numbered Southern
Confederation forces, the Northern Union created a new kind of weapon: the
Incarnates, soldiers who can transform into mystical beasts and lay waste to
entire platoons almost singlehandedly. Hank Henriete was once the proud
and kind leader of this unit. But when the war came to a sudden conclusion,
he was betrayed by those closest to him to preserve save the Incarnates from
extermination. Now Hank seeks revenge against his second in command, the
man who killed the woman he loved. Aided by a girl who wants him dead but
whose thirst for revenge rivals his own, Hank begins the search for answers as
to why he and his unit was betrayed and if there’s a way to save him from the
fate of insanity that befalls all Incarnates.
Whew, now that wasn’t quite the first episode I expected
to watch but man was I pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. To
the Abandoned Sacred Beasts asks a very interesting question: what if the Civil
War was fought with monsters instead of conventional weapons? Granted, lots of
countries have a North and a South and many of them have had internal conflicts
across time. For some reason, the American Civil War just pops to mind
even if its not the best analogy…anyway moving on. It’s been a while
since ive seen an Anime about secret weapons of war being cast out after their
use for fear of their destructive power. And while the premiere does
focus plenty of a tight knit trio of characters (Hank, Elaine and Cain…more on
the third in a second), I felt the bond and comradere between their large unit
of monstrous shapeshifters. Ruthless and unrelenting on the battlefield,
the Incarnate Unit was anything but in their downtime. That’s probably
why the humor caught me off guard, I didn’t expect to see genuine laughs in a
series with such a serious premise. But it helped humanize the Incarnates,
particularly when things began to go to hell for them…because of course when
you dabble in black magic to aid in your war, 9/10 times it will come back to
bite you in the ass.
I totally felt for Hank and his men. This was a
group that was so close, they often teased Hank about his ever obvious crush on
the beautiful Elaine and all he can do is blush and stutter. How hard
will it be to watch Hank track down his former friends and take them down one
by one, if the need calls for it? Honestly, I find that dilemma more
fascinating than the central revenge plot. Not that it’s bad and the
betrayal that kicks things off does come from out of nowhere…at the
beginning. But when the even “bigger” betrayal comes from a character who
is so blatantly, obviously evil, he’s pretty much named Evil McBadGuy…well some
kind of red flag should have been raised well in advance. The first
episode also doesn’t feature Hanks’ partner, the musket sporting Nancy, and
that might be good reason to give the series a little more of my time beyond
the great first episode.
To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts might be a bit of a
mouthful title but it’s debut makes it one of the most promising new Anime of
2019 for me and I think I’m going to keep running with it to see what happens
to Hank and how Nancy fits into this little bloody quest for vengeance.
Rarely can a first episode nicely balance heartache, humor and bloody action so
well. Again, if it hadn’t been for Evil McEvilton’s “SECOND ACT TWIST”
(that’s an MST3K reference for ya), this might be a near perfect first
episode. As far as things go, however, To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts
most certainly has my attention. Let’s hope it fairs better than the
strong starting but steadily lackluster Sirius the Jaeger.
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