The earth is under attack in Chained Soldier, produced by Seven Arcs. Based on the manga of the same name written by Takahiro and illustrated by Yohei Takemura, Demons known as Shuuki invade our world through portals from their home dimension. Luckily, there exists a special peach tree that grants superpowers to those who eat its fruit. The catch is that only women can receive the tree’s gift. Yûki Wakura (Yuya Hirose) is a young man who dreams of being a hero. But with no powers of his own, his dream seems hopeless. Until he accidentally finds himself lost in the demons’ home dimension. There, he meets Commander Kyôka Uzen (Akari Kitô, Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story). Her powers may be the key to letting Yûki become a hero. However, it will come with an uncomfortable price.
Uzen’s special power allows her to take a willing subject and make them her servant. When she calls upon them to serve her, they are transformed into monster-looking creatures with incredible physical abilities. In the opening episode of Chained Soldier, Wakura enters such a pact with her. Now serving as a mount for her to ride into battle, Wakura sees his dream of becoming a hero within reach. The only wrinkle in their partnership comes after each battle concludes.
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A side effect of Uzen’s power is that she must give Wakura a reward of appropriate size, depending on the amount of help he’s just given her. Wakura doesn’t consciously pick his reward, though. His subconscious does. Once chosen, Uzen must fulfill the desire. Unfortunately for both of them, Wakura’s mind is pretty kinky. These kinky moments of reward are part of what will turn many off from Chained Soldier.
As a battle-oriented ecchi anime, this series doesn’t shy away from showing off the various female characters’ bodies. Repeated trips to their headquarters’ hot springs hide little from the viewer. It also doesn’t worry about flashing panties whenever it can. This is especially true during Wakura’s rewards. With these moments ranging from simple kisses to Uzen standing over him while she presses her foot into Wakura’s face, the show doesn’t shy away from leaning into the sexual elements of the narrative.
While the viewer is often given an eye-full, Wakura never goes out of his way to indulge in any of the provocative views that present themselves to him. While there are a fair number of incidental mishaps, he never sets out to perv on the girls he works with. This is an important distinction, as Wakura would be a difficult character to like if he were seeking out unwelcome glimpses of his coworkers.
While these visual elements will be what grabs viewers’ attention first, they are far from the only things that Chained Soldier offers. As Wakura gets to know the girls of the 7th Anti-Demon Squad, some great character moments play out. Between battles, Wakura is relegated to being the girls’ housekeeper. This initially puts him in a position of inferiority with the girls.
Seen as lesser, he is soon subject to mean-spirited treatment by some of them. However, as they get to know him, their attitudes change. Not only is he diligent in his duties, Wakura is a genuinely good guy. He looks after them and goes to extreme lengths to help them when they are faced with dangers. This thread of growing camaraderie, however, does come to collide with the kinkier side of the narrative in an unfortunate way.
After establishing the core characters, Chained Soldier introduces several members of the 6th Anti-Demon Squad, who decide to have a training battle with the 7th. Since the 7th’s second in command, Himara Azuma’s (Yume Miyamoto, Metallic Rouge) sister is on that squad, she resolves to do whatever she can to win the upcoming fight. Using her power to copy other girls’ powers, she takes on Uzen’s to command Wakura in battle. However, all Uzen tells her about the side effects of her power is that it is “physically taxing.”
Assuming that means it strains her body, Azuma agrees to take it. This puts the young woman in a sexually explicit situation she didn’t know she was agreeing to till it started happening. This isn’t great as it paints Uzen’s putting Azuma into a situation she didn’t agree to as no big deal. The fact that this was an inappropriate thing for Uzen to do without a clearer warning isn’t even brought up.
Along with the character exploration that the first several episodes focus on, Chained Soldier also sets up a larger narrative for Wakura and his allies. During an early battle, Wakura and Uzen are confronted by what they believe to be a human-looking Shuuki. In actuality, this Shuuki is Wakura’s long-lost sister. How she came to be allied with the Shuuki and what her final goals are remain unclear so far. But given the kind nature of Wakura’s character, it won’t be easy to confront his sister when the moment inevitably arrives.
The last core element of Chained Soldier is combat. The powers that each girl brings to battles are varied, keeping each fight feeling fresh. The monster designs are also unique, with many of these threats coming with their unique powers to throw curveballs at the girls’ plans.
These moments of battle are brought to life through a solid visual performance by Seven Arcs. While the fights lack the eye-popping style of many of the current anime, it delivers where it’s most important. Speed, strength, and danger are all communicated well through the show’s visual language.
While Chained Soldier will be too much for some due to its high levels of fan service, the series has set up an interesting core scenario and some entertaining character dynamics to fill the time between plot beats. Now, it’s just left to see if it can utilize all these elements properly as the series progresses.
Chained Soldier is streaming on HiDive.
