Alexander the Great. Genghis Khan. Hannibal. Napoleon Bonaparte. All of these were great military strategists, that have fought wars with their armies and have won many of them through employing some briljant strategies. Wars in the past were always determined in the end, by the men that waged them, and through the commanders that gave the orders. Times have changed, and even though strategies are still important, these days wars at times feel like computergames. With the power to drop bombs on remote locations through the action of just flicking a switch, one has to wonder at the insanity of it all. Not that war has ever been sane anyway. The Animeseries Alderamin on the Sky can at times be compared to a game of chess. And unlike modern days, in this series we focus again on military strategies, and a man named Ikta Solork, who is destined to become a very important general.

Alderamin on the Sky takes place in a fantasy world, and focusses on two nations, the Kiorka Republic, and the Katjvarna Empire. Both of those nations have been embroiled in a war for a very long time, with apparently no end in sight. Ikta Solork is a man that pretty much despises the war. He has no taste for it, is lazy, and has far better uses for his time namely chasing women. One day while aboard a ship together with one of his long time friends, the fiery swordswoman Yatori, they both get caught up in the war in a very unpredicatable way. It is not before long that Ikta is in training for the Empire, and it is here that his true genius is beginning to take form. With the war closing in all around him, Ikta might become his countries greatest hero. And in the desperate times ahead, his military mind will be needed more than ever….

image

I have had a love/hate relationship with this series. The first few episodes were great. We got to learn the main characters, and I especially liked the two leads Ikta and Yatori. Ikta is just a very unlikely hero. In the beginning he is a skirtchasing man, who just doesn’t fit the bill to become this all important hero. Yatori is a very skilled swordswoman, with great fighting techniques, and a strength to her that is instantly likeable. We are teased with a storyline that supposedly will lead up to a future where great battles and things that will change the world are supposed to happen. As the series progressed however, more and more characters were being added. That in itself would not be a bad thing, were it not for the fact that these characters had so little screentime that you almost had no time to get an attachment to them.

The storyline also dragged on and on, especially in the middle segment of the series, where not much of anything happened. With so many characters that were pretty flat, and a storyline that made little progress, I found my initial interest in the series start to fade. The last few episodes were a bit better, but with a pretty open ending to the series, it also did not bring about a proper closure. This series feels very much as a prelude to great things that may yet come (perhaps if this series might get a second season). The animation and music are very good, and a few battles were really cool to watch, especially with Ikta’s strategies coming into the light. I really wanted to like this show, and honestly it isn’t all bad. In the end though there were just to many things in the show that I did not like, to fully recommend this one.

I give Alderamin on the Sky a 6 out 10 score.