The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar – Full Season QandA Rundown

What’s the important information? The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar is a Summer 2018 fantasy/isekai/harem anime that aired 12 episodes from July to September. It is based on a long running light novel series by Seiichi Takayama.

What’s it about? Yuuto is an ordinary high school boy who has been transported to ~another world~, specifically a pre-Christ Norse inspired world with many warring factions. Over the course of two years he rises to the position of ‘Patriarch’ of the Wolf Clan which he does so thanks to “cheating” through various military encounters thanks to his solar powered smart phone which gives him the edge in various situations. He is, of course surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women who are all vying for his attention but despite the temptations abounding he only has eyes for his girlfriend back home in the present day.

Such focus in the face of such adversity!

Why did you watch it? Aside from having a soft spot for isekai anime and obviously a soft spot for cute girls, which a harem is obliged to provide—it’s hard to ignore a title that long. #thatswhatshesaid

Did you enjoy the show? Much like ‘Seven Senses of the Re’Union’ my opinion on the show seemingly changed with each passing episode, while generally positive on it when engaging in harem shenanigans, I was less than impressed with the technical and narrative execution of its various battle-scenes, which felt rushed and heavily truncated. This was all but confirmed by the fact that this one, 12 episode season ~roughly~ adapted seven(!) novels worth of plot, whereas ordinarily an anime of this length would confine itself to 2 or 3 light novels per season. That said, it was still—for the most part—an enjoyable experience.

What was your favourite episode? While I’m sure it might seem ~obvious~ that I’m picking Episode 6 “Valkyrie’s Day Off” because it features the entire female cast of the show at a hot springs (and yes that’s part of the reason) but I also really enjoyed the way the show touched upon the way Yuuto is not only using his ‘otherworldly’ knowledge to gain advantage in battle but also advance society forward by introducing concepts like ‘free education’ to a society that had nothing of the sort beforehand.

What were your most favourite things about the show? Ultimately it was the characters that kept me coming back week after week, rather than the plot and by that measure I was seldom disappointed. Also, despite being a part of a literal patriarchal system there seemed to be a lot more gender equality with regard to the roles women could play within this society which was refreshing—albeit probably expected since so many of the main characters are women.

I can *guess* where these two guys are looking…

What were your least favourite things about the show? The battles never felt high-stakes enough, neither did anyone feel like any of the main cast were in any real peril regardless of their proximity to the enemy. Also, the whole ‘Norse’ aspect of their setting seemed underutilised and more for the sake of making the names of people and places sound ~foreign~.

Who was your favourite character? Easily Sigrune, she was an absolute badass beast of a lady from beginning to end and honestly deserved better than this show gave her to do. Though the action scenes where she were involved were the rare bright spot when it came to ‘action’ on this show.

Trust me, she does more than just ‘jab’ things repeatedly.

Thoughts on the OP (opening) and ED (ending) and the soundtrack in general? The OP—“Bright way” by Aya Uchida was fairly decent and high-energy—though still nothing special. The ED; “Sekaichuu ga Koi wo suru Your” by petit milday on the other hand was excellent not just musically but also showcased the best thing about the show.

What’s something unique about this show? The fact that the show skips forward the first two years that Yuuto spent in this new world is refreshing and allows us to skip a lot of the ~usual~ isekai tropes that come with someone from the ‘modern’ world ending up in a fantasy/pre-industrial time period.

Look at Albertina petting a deer in the background!

What other anime are most like it for the sake of comparison? In my episodic reviews for the show I found—at least initially—comparing it to Game of Thrones (albeit not an anime) but it was a comparison that felt less and less appropriate as time went along and characters remained alive. As for anime, there’s probably plenty of other isekai that I haven’t watched that this show is similar too so sadly I can’t really make a comparison right now!

Who would you recommend it to? It’s hard because I think this show has enough going for it to recommend, but at the same time not in any urgent or eager capacity. I was fine enough to have watched it week-to-week but to binge this show seems unnecessary. Basically if you’re bored and love isekai you’ll probably find something to enjoy about this show but it’s by no means essential viewing.

Sum up the season in one sentence: ‘Depending on your preferences you might be like me and wanting a little less action and a lot more shenanigans, otherwise it’s an entertaining—if unremarkable show.’

Final score? 73 out of 100.