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Because of the infuriating industry practice of saving up all the big releases for November, Valkyria Chronicles as a game was lost in the flurry of releases last Thanksgiving that included Fallout 3 and Gears of War 2. As a result, this unique and visually impressive Playstation 3 tactical RPG went virtually unnoticed in the U.S. Thankfully, the Japanese take care of their own, and this game seems to have gained quite a following there. The latest fruit of that success is the anime adaptation of Valkyria Chronicles.

Usually I’m wary of adaptations of video games, but it makes more sense in this case. Tactical RPGs often have complex stories which are told episodically, so the format is rather conducive to adaptation into a TV series. The first episode lines up with the introduction of the game, where we see Alicia (a member of Bruhl’s militia) mistake Welkin (the son of a famous general) for a spy. When Bruhl comes under fire from enemy forces, the two set aside their differences and rise to the defense of the city.

There’s not much more to be said than that. The opening exposition sets up the war over a valuable resource that Gallia is caught in. As an introductory episode, the story is lean but there was a decent amount of character building. The visuals somehow seem less alive than the shifting watercolors of the game, but still hold up well on their own. The principal voice actors from the game reprise their roles here, including my precious Marina Inoue as Alicia. Hers is a voice that can melt steel. Just about the only thing I’m disappointed with is the score, which sounds less classical and epic than the game’s excellent soundtrack (mainly in that the game’s amazing main theme is absent here). The use of generic-sounding J-pop in the opening and ending somehow cheapens the production.

Tags: Valkyria Chronicles, Senjou no Valkyria, Super Serial