After watching Valkyria Chronicles, it makes me want to play the first game on the PS3 even more. The PSP sequel was a really enjoyable game. That's also why I got interested in this show partly because of the sequel's excellent presentation and wondered if the VC universe continues on with the story. Good to see that it indeed does and that the show isn't as bad as Sega's other game to Anime adaptation World Destruction.

Spoilers ahead for both the show and second game.

Presentation

From what little of the PS3 game I've managed to gather from the trailers, they seem to have made a great adaptation of the game. If the sequel was anything like the first, it seems they've brought in all the huge roster of characters available from the game but don't give them much screen time. I guess that's for the best considering how the character development goes mainly towards the protagonists Welkin and Alicia whenever there's a break from battle. That said, even the side characters are given quite a number of lines in the game during side quests though.

I liked how they kept the game music and pencil lines. Mechanical and other props aren't overly sci-fi either in terms of setting. I think this is better presented than Persona Trinity Soul which means perhaps A1 Pictures are starting to get better at their work although the animation during action scenes towards the end of the show dropped to a point where it was like watching a slideshow of rough sketches.

After watching all the trailers from the Japanese site, I noticed they fixed the Engrish "Atlantic Ocean Federal Organisation" and "East Europe Empire Union" to what it currently is ^^;

Voice acting wise, I think they're casting Midorikawa too much because he plays a villain in both games and I can recognise it's his Persona 3, Akihiko voice instantly. Fukuyama as Maximilian on the other hand isn't too bad. He still reminds me of Lelouch from Code Geass but he only has serious lines this time instead of the fun crazy antics he might have had at Ashford Academy. I think he's better suited to villain roles instead of a role in a show like Akikan.

Also interesting to note Alicia's voice actor Marina Inoue played a small role in Persona 3 Portable as the new Heroine too.

I enjoyed this show because the interaction between the characters is good. Some you can actually relate to in modern day life - Discrimination, questions of loyalty, friendship, loss etc. Then it's all neatly wrapped up with an epic war going on, looking at how everyone is affected by it and with a little romance squeezed in so there's something for everyone. Also, one of the rare shows where the male protagonist isn't portrayed with a harem and sensual fan service is kept to a fair minimum.

There are tense and tragic moments but not to the point where the characters act as if they're completely invincible. I know how important it is to the Japanese not to give up but really - It gets a little ridiculous in the shows sometimes. It's also not simply about two sides of good and evil since we see there are corrupt, selfish leaders on both sides of the force that make the situation far worse than it has to be.

Story Continuation

If the shows any indication of her original character, Alicia has changed quite a bit after she's grown older in the second game. In the show she's a lot more lively and quick tempered whereas in the sequel, she seems to be a lot more settled. I guess it might have something to do with her happy marriage to Welkin and their unborn baby.

So Alicia was an orphan who was adopted by the bakers and wears that scarve around her hair because it gets in the way of baking bread. She keeps it on because she doesn't want to forget how she was brought up but... That still doesn't explain the mini skirt uniforms for the female troops. Well, that's Anime for you - Has to be fun and fictional.

On the other hand, Welkin hasn't changed. Still enjoying studying and research! So his father was a war hero, he's into wildlife and had his best friend Faldio as his rival before he managed to get Alicia's hand in marriage. Fun ^^;

And Cordelia was only a pawn with a wig and very odd looking hat until the end of the show.

Interesting to learn the history about Valkyrians and Darcsens is fake and that the Valkyrians were the true invaders who wrote themselves down as heroes.

Then we have a flying pig for a cute mascot while in the second game, it's a bird. Can't miss out on those cute mascots for any shows now can we? Is this pig really in the game?

As I mentioned at the start, I'm glad to see the story in the sequel picks up from the first game. But in the end, the showdown is still linked to the villains wanting the power of the Valkyrians through science.

Where Next?

If they continue expanding the on the VC universe, I wonder how many more generations or battles will Gallia be caught up in the conflict between the Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation? Or better question - How many titles is Sega planning to create for this series?

They've already shown the Imperial invading Gallia for their Ragnite resources in the first game while in the second, a civil war breaks out in Gallia. What can happen next...? I really can't see Sega bringing Welkin and Alicia's unborn child into the series any time soon.

Maybe they'll turn the series into a trilogy and deal with the Federation? They still have the Artificial Valkyria scientist Clementia Forster on the loose after all so maybe she'll ends up being successful in embedding Ragnite into humans to give them Valkyrian powers for the enemy. Then the Darcsens finally decide to fight back somehow and unites.

Or maybe they'll go down the old "ancient evil re-awakens" kind of scenario? Not all the details have been spilled about the history between the Valkyrians and Darcsens yet after all and nothing was mentioned about the whole re-written history in the second game. They still portray the Valkyrians in good light mostly but then again, Maximilian never revealed it to anyone before his demise in the first game.

Plenty of ways the VC universe can branch out I guess but if they go with the human experiment route or overly used ancient evil, I think Sega will ruin the little history and details it's set up so far.

Thoughts

In any case, lets hope any third VC title Sega has planned isn't on the PS3 again. Still not enough games to make me buy one although Valkyria Chronicles is really tempting... If Atlus' Persona 5 ends up on the PS3, that will probably make the final push for me. Well, providing they don't just take P3's system and add in few little changes like they did with P4 ^^;

Other PS3 titles being considered but not entirely compelled to pick up are Heavy Rain, End of Eternity and Nier Replicant... Maybe FFXIII too although I've heard a lot of bad things about it.