Ronin Warriors: Legend of the Inferno Armor

In the middle of a massive heatwave, Ryo, Sage, Kento, Rowen and Cye find themselves drawn to the center of Tokyo.  Here a mysterious warrior from Africa appears with the power to take on all five Ronin Warriors singlehandedly.  Even more alarming is the warriors possession of a Black Inferno Armor.  When Ryo and Sage are snatched to Africa, the remaining Ronin Warriors must find a way to get them back and defeat this powerful new foe.  But this lone warrior is merely the herald of a much greater calamity.  Two sets of armor call to each other and will stop at nothing to have their final battle…and that includes turning the armor of the Ronin Warriors against their wearers.  Can the team survive a battle for the ages without the full use of their powers?

Yeesh, with the bar set so low by Gaiden, there was nowhere but for the next Ronin Warriors OVA to go but up.  And up this one went.  Legend of the Inferno Armor brought back everything we liked about the Ronin Warriors TV Series and gave us a movie level event that compliments the series nicely.  It’s definitely not without some drawbacks but this was a huge improvement over the 0/10 Gaiden from the end of last week.

Legend of the Inferno Armor attempted to give us a good look back at the origins of the powers of the Ronin Warriors while also looking forward to everyones futures.  I’m glad Cye was at the forefront of that latter plotline (and makes me wish we’d spent more time with him and the others like this as well).  His internal battle with the need to fight evil and his desire to leave it all behind works nicely with the rest of the OVA, particularly where Mukala is concerned.  This newcomer is more than just Black Panther in Samurai Armor, he is what Cye fears will become of the Ronin Warriors if the desire to fight for the rest of eternity overwhelms them.  Everyone had to face their darker sides as the armors that had been their allies for so long slowly began to turn against them and start ushering in the apocalypse…holy crap does that mean Talpa was right about them after all?  One thing that definitely benefited from this scary reevaluation of everything was the bond between our core characters.  I feel like we got to see the best interactions between Ryo, Sage, Cye, Kento and Rowen better than ever before and remember why they are such an effective team; not because theyre strong fighters but because theyre family.  Thankfully, Mia and Yuli are along for the ride too, playing equally important roles as always and reminding the team that alone they are might but together theyre the freaking Ronin Warriors.

Mukala himself could have used a bit more development.  His near mute performance spoke wonders as the guys learned more about their plight and saw the same in Mukala.  It would have been a better idea to give Mukala and his beautiful bride to be, Nadia, some flashback scenes to show them together before the Black Inferno Armor began to corrupt him.  That said, Mukala is a huge improvement over the lackluster antagonists of Gaiden and the later episodes of the TV Series.  He isn’t even really a villain as we learn, just someone who is blinded by misplaced faith and has become a pawn in a battle he might not have been part of if he had the choice.  There’s a definite tragedy about Mukala that puts him up there with Kayrua and Anubis and that’s a pretty big compliment.

This OVA took advantage of the scenario placed before it and made good on setting and all of the action.  I would never have expected Ronin Warriors to go to Africa but the country looks amazing and is far more full of life than the boring streets of New York and LA in Gaiden.  The minute Ryo and Sage ended up there after the first fight with Mukala, I felt like we were in a movie level story with scope to match.  And the action worked along with it.  Mukala’s powerset might’ve been a tad bit OP but he had some fun battles with Ryo and the gang, getting a chance to fight most of them one on one and even give us the cool visual of shattering everyones helmets to they had to fight without them.  The final showdown between Inferno Armors was also excellent, putting everything on the line and reminding us that this story had stakes to it…along with a status quo changing finale that im looking forward to seeing play out in Message.

Like I said earlier, this OVA isn’t perfect though its a lot better than Gaiden.  While the action in the finale is great, the use of 3D effects to simulate an eclipse feels totally out of place.  There’s also the fact that the OVA kind of just ends.  Sure the situation is resolved but there’s the aforementioned status quo change that I thought would get a little more exploration before the end credits, especially since it is also the resolution to an important plot point of the OVA.  I would say that as nicely paced as this story was, maybe it could have used an extra episode to handle these little complaints and give us some more time with Mukala and Nadia’s history and maybe even show us Mukala maybe fighting dark forces with the Black Inferno Armor before he was fully corrupted.

Ronin Warriors: Legend of the Inferno Armor is a welcome and awesome addition to the franchise.  It expands on the lore while taking better advantage of an international adventure and continuing to excel at great action and great focus on character.  I think this could have easily been a movie all on its own but even if it could have used an extra episode to shore up some points, Legend of the Inferno Armor is one of the franchises finest hours.  Thus I’m awarding it an 8/10.

A good recovery from the dismal Gaiden.  Now, let’s see if the final OVA and the final chapter of the Ronin Warriors legacy can stick the landing.  Check back on Wednesday for Ronin Warriors: Message and see how it all ends right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.