The series is set in 1935 C.E., in the continent of Europa. The continent is dominated by two superpowers: the East European Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation. Both powers depend on a mineral called Ragnite; however, this mineral is becoming scarce. The Empire declares war on the Federation, and the Second European War begins.
In the town of Bruhl, a young woman named Alicia Melchiott is a captain of the town watch; she is also a baker. At the beginning of the series, she finds a young man by a stream; he is making sketches of the fish in the river. However, Alicia believes that the young man is a spy, so she captures him. By the end of the first episode, she comes to find out that he is actually Welkin Gunther, the son of the country's hero (General Belgen Gunther). Alicia and Welkin must work together against the Imperial forces that are invading Bruhl.
For an anime series that is based on a videogame, Valkyria Chronicles is actually rather well-done. While the animation for the series may not be anything innovative or cutting-edge, it is still looks rather decent.
The storytelling in the first episode was done in such a way that the writers didn't expect the viewer to already know some of the information from the videogame. However, the writing was also done in such a way that the information that was revealed was done in such a way that it didn't feel like an "info dump," either. By the end of the first episode, I was interested enough in the characters of Alicia and Welkin that I would be willing to watch more of Valkyria Chronicles to see where the story goes next.
Content-wise, I didn’t see anything in the visuals that would be terribly inappropriate for younger viewers. However, with the style of storytelling being used in this series, I would personally recommend Valkyria Chronicles for anime viewers who are 14 or 15 years of age and older.
| Valkyria Chronicles | 26 | 2009 | Yasutaka Yamamoto | A-1 Pictures | N/A |
