Chained Soldier

Episode 9

I'm very glad that Chained Soldier has finally given us some resolution on the fate of Yuuki's sister, Aoba. After spending some time building up Yuuki's growing strength and connection to Kyouka in the first half of the episode, the show makes the smart choice to shake up the status quo by having Aoba and the other Humanoid Shuuki kidnap Yuuki and spirit him away to their refuge. This gives the 7th Squadron gang an exciting new mission and provides some much-needed perspective and worldbuilding on the Shuuki/Humanoid threat that we've been battling all series.

Granted, I do wish that the series had played up the drama of the moment a little more. Yuuki has known that Aoba was (probably) alive here in Yato for a while now, but the couple of contemplative scenes that the siblings share don't do enough to sell the paradigm-shifting revelation that this entire discovery ought to be. The villainous humanoids are much more complex and relatable than we might have otherwise guessed — at least, I assume that might be the case for a viewer who has never seen another anime before — and Yuuki's reunion with his long-lost sister is going to test his bond with his Master back in the 7th Squadron. Instead of something exciting and game-changing, the introduction of Aoba, Coco, and Naon feels more like Yuuki has simply added a trio of new girls to his ever-expanding harem of Battle Mommies (and The One Little Kid Who Needs to Remain Off-Limits from Any Pervy “Rewards”, Thank You Very Much). That count includes Aoba since she clearly has the kinds of feelings for her brother that the laws of society and nature both would frown upon, regardless of whether Yuuki reciprocates them.

Still, the new Humanoid girls are fun enough additions to the cast, and they provide some new and even more blatant opportunities for fanservice if nothing else. I'm sure Yuuki thought that his rewards were getting out of hand back at the base, but he spends a solid few minutes of this episode suffocating on Coco's crotch while she enthusiastically licks his entire naked body. And this isn't even the result of a horny magic contract; Coco's just very enthusiastic about her role as a healer, I guess.

The decent gags and fanservice, combined with the surprisingly fun action scenes that get the ball rolling with Yuuki's kidnapping, make this a pretty solid episode of Chained Soldier, overall. I'm ever so slightly let down by the lack of narrative ambition on display, but then again, this is Chained Soldier so maybe the egg is on my face for having unreasonably high expectations.

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James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.