Record of Ragnarok is an anime series set up in a warped time skip in human history. In the series, humans and Gods participate in death battles to decide the fate of humanity.
In a meeting of the gods, it was decided that humans will be wiped out. The gods grew tired of our wars, greed, and all that shit, so they felt it was time to erase us from the face of the planet.
Every thousand years or so, the decision goes into a vote and most times, the gods vote against destroying humanity. However, this time, it was different and it was decided that humans will be wiped out but there was a clause.
Ragnarok was set up by the gods as a gag, of sorts between them and humans. The idea was, in the event of a decision to destroy humanity, humans were allowed to select champions to represent them in death battles against the gods.
The thing is, human weapons don't affect gods, so Ragnarok was never expected to happen. However, a Valkyrie had other ideas as she initiated Ragnarok and humans had hope.
Human combatants are picked from different times in history. To enable them to inflict damage on the gods, human souls are merged with Valkyries who transform into weapons capable of hurting gods.
The Previous battles
Season one featured three battles between the gods and men. For fear of spoilers, I won't tell you who won the battles but I will tell you who fought.
The first battle was between Lu Bu and the Norse God of Thunder, Thor. Lu Bu is a very powerful Chinese conqueror from thousands of years ago.
The second battle was between Adam, the first man and the Greek god, Zeus. It was an intense battle with an emotional ending.
The third and final battle of season 1 features Sadaki Kojiro, a famous Japanese Samurai and Poseidon, the very irritable god of the seas. It was yet another intense battle with a lot of history lessons in between.
Season 2 battles
Season 2 started off where season 1 ended. At the end of season 1, the fourth battle was already introduced and we knew it would be against ultimate good and ultimate evil.
Ultimate good represented the gods and ultimate evil represented humans. The gods had Hercules and humans had none other than Jack The Ripper, one of the earliest recorded serial killers.
The second battle featured the Indian god, Shiva going up against Raiden Taemoon, the most powerful Rikishi(sumo wrestler) in history. It was yet another tightly contested and emotional battle between two powerful characters.
In between the fights, there were also side shows, of sorts, as we see fighting amongst the gods that include Buddha, Loki, the seven pillars of heaven and some humans as well.
Opinion
I'm a huge fan of the series and have even gone further than the animation to read the manga. However, I'll not talk about the manga because that'll mean posting spoilers.
For me, the battles aren't as fun as the little history lessons they give during each fight. Through these lessons, you get to understand the mindset of each combatant and you kind of feel a certain level of deep emotions for them.
Something else I enjoy is seeing the characters that are in the audience. I enjoy the mix of history and the way they play with cultural concepts to fuse into the anime.
The battles themselves are quite awesome and sometimes, can be technical. For example, Jack's fight against Hercules featured a series of deceitful actions that would take you by surprise.
My sister said her problem with anime is that "they talk too much" but I personally think they don't talk enough. In fact, my only problem with the animation is that they always release very few episodes every season, I wish they could release more.
After waiting for two years, they only released 10 episodes but we know that season 2 will have a Part 2 before season 3 gets released. It is so unfair that they make us wait so long and this is why I resorted to reading the manga.
For what it's worth, the manga takes nothing away from the thrill of watching the animation. Despite knowing who wins each battle, watching it all unfold is still a spectacle.
Anyway, we know Buddha is going to be in the next fight and we know he is probably as powerful as Zeus and Odin, based on their interaction. Zeus also mentioned keeping Buddha as a trump card in the battle, so he is definitely very powerful.
I give this anime a 4.5/5 rating and the only reason it doesn't get full marks is because of the time they take to release new episodes. It is a must-watch, and if you don't already watch it, put it on your list.
Posted using CineTV