REVIEW: ‘Guilty Gear Strive: Dual Rulers’ Episode 1 – “Ceremony”

Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers Episode 1, “Ceremony,” produced by SANZIGEN Inc., introduces a world where humanity was driven to war against the artificially created race of beings called Gears. But now, the wars (called the Crusades) are over, and it’s time to move on. To stand as a symbol of the need to put the past behind them, Ky Kiske (Takeshi Kusao, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince), Hero of the Crusades, is set to wed his long-time love, Dizzy (Kazue Fujita), a Gear herself. But not everyone is willing to put the old feuds to rest.

The most striking element of this latest video game adaptation is its commitment to its source material. Fighting games are a uniquely difficult genre to adapt. Bizarre, larger-than-life characters make up the casts for stories that casually dance between the epic and the absurd. This combination of serious and strange can make their stories hard for many to get behind. Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers Episode 1 makes it clear that the series is ready to embrace these elements, but it goes even further than that.

Fighting games are a niche genre compared to other genres in the medium. Due to this, the way fighting games often tell their narratives during arcade/story modes is a bit more conservative where its visual presentation is concerned. Primarily carried out in still shots, these images frequently utilize a variety of styles to impart the personalities of the characters or moments they present.

Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers Episode 1 fully embraces this sort of visual storytelling. Fluid animation brings all of the main narrative elements to life, while flashbacks and other side sequences embrace the source’s genre-specific storytelling style. From stained-glass motifs to rough, chaotic line work images, these moments bring character and personality to the visuals. Something fighting games, particularly Guilty Gear, are well-known for.

Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers Episode 1 captures the essence of its source material.

The personality doesn’t stop at the visuals. As the episode plays out, it introduces each returning character with flair. The episode is briefly halted for each introduction, and a narrator (Tomokazu Sugita, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation) delivers a brief background description with a powerful sense of gusto that manages to equal the wild energy of some of the character designs.

The series seems to know what parts of its story to take seriously and what parts are ridiculous. This sense of self-awareness will be vital for it to maintain as it barrels forward. Shifting from outlandish pirates to assassination plots can be tricky to make harmonize in a way that doesn’t leave either feeling out of place. But so far, so good.

Between stylish flashbacks and character introductions, Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers Episode 1 gets its narrative off and running. The events at Ky and Dizxzy’s wedding deliver a great launching point for the story, as the motives of their would-be assassin Unika (Yui Ishikawa, Attack on Titan: The Last Attack) are called into question. This leaves the pair’s son, Sin Kiske (Issei Miyazaki), and his mentor Sol Badguy (Jôji Nakata, Resident Evil 4), with the task of hunting her down to learn the truth. And they aren’t the only ones looking for her.

Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers Episode 1 creates a memorable opening chapter by fully embracing its source materials. From visual design, narrative tone, and even the return of Strive‘s voice cast to their familiar roles, this series seems poised to capture the energy and substance of the games that inspired it like few others have.

Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers Episode 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.