Queen’s Blade is back one more time, recapturing much of the formula that made us fans of the series in the first place.
Sorry for not having this post out much sooner, I just kept figuring a BD release would come out. Strangely, low-resolution rips are all that can be found on the interwebs even after three months of waiting. Hopefully a BD release will find its way onto the interwebs after the second OVA comes out later on.
This series borrowed the talents of four character designers, most notably the iconic Satoshi Urushihara. It is really great seeing his designs getting animated again after a fairly long lay off from traditional anime.
While the names of the production companies have changed somewhat, the staff is mostly made up of the same people who did the pre-Rebellion seasons that were so well made. This series isn’t quite on that same level of art quality, but it’s far better than what we got from Rebellion or Vanquished Queens .
As far as the story, it’s fairly incomprehensible and weird, staying true to the series. The world in this episode is heavily inspired by Alice in Wonderland as is the central character, Alicia. A Red Riding Hood character is also one of the major characters here. There is a surprisingly strong tie in to both the original Queen’s Blade arc and the Rebellion arc, with both pre-Rebellion Leina and captain Liliana making appearances. Airi also shows up to fight about midway through before being banished.
There’s some cringeworthy moments (like the ‘singing’ flowers) that remind you that you are in one of the weirder sectors of anime fandom, so thank goodness for all those well drawn nipples to help us remember why we are watching this mostly inane series in the first place. The nudity never really feels like it lasts long enough, but it helps that the total number of nude scenes is high. It’s similar to the Ikkitousen OVA from last year in this respect.
Overall, I would say that this first OVA slightly exceeded my expectations and it bums me out that we’ll only get one more OVA episode later this year rather than a full TV series. The production values and art style remind us of better times before anime had to be made as cost consciously as possible.
If Grimoire is to be the last hurrah for Queen’s Blade , then at least the series is going out on a high note.
This series will include a second OVA, though an exact release date has yet to be determined. It was initially supposed to be ready by Spring of 2016, but considering that the first OVA was delayed by about four months, we might see a similar delay for the second OVA too.
