Chained Soldier, Ep 12 [END]: A Master Wrestles with Certainty

Kyouka finally avenges her village’s destruction. Aoba and Yuuki must walk separate paths before they reunite.

Episode 12 — “Homecoming, New, Resolve”

Hmm.

Adaptation from manga and anime inevitably leads to compromises in presenting the plot. But can anime-only fans of Chained Soldier trust an editorial choice to fit a story into twelve half-hour slots is only for adaptation purposes? What if a concession to time constraints was an innate problem from the manga? I can’t tell retroactive continuity from a plot sacrifice to the time budget.

There is a discrepancy between Supreme Commander Yamashiro wanting to negotiate with talking demons and slaughtering them all. Tenka and Kyouka had sought the Supreme Commander’s office to change policies, but the show never presented their reasons. Is this retroactive continuity or an adaptation compromise? I complained about the same thing earlier in the season when Kyouka introduced how she can “loan” a slave to others. I was unsure if that sudden burst of information was poor storytelling or an effect of adapting material from the manga to the anime.

Retcon or Adaptation Issue for Chained Soldier

We still don’t know why Tenka and Kyouka wanted to depose Yamashiro. But they feel a duty now to protect Aoba and the Oni Girls from the Onmyou Bureau. Again, I can’t tell if this is an instance of poor storytelling or a concession to the time constraints of an anime season.

In contrast, Kyouka’s flashbacks to her quiet village life and the origins of her hair decorations became a short montage during her battle with Unihorn. Presumably, the manga treated Kyouka’s days with her friends and family and her subsequent healing and training with much more attention. That’s an effect of adapting material from one medium to another. As for the Squad 6 and 7 commanders vying to replace the Supreme Commander, I will watch for hints of retroactive continuity in the second season.

Chained Soldier Makes Me Go Heh.

Kyouka is about to exact revenge on Unihorn for destroying her mountain village. She had a best friend with hair clips like the ones she wears now. Ah. The Thunder Gods only came to abduct Oni Girl specimens, but Shikoku wants to watch Yuuki fight. What will happen to Coco and Naon? Ugh. Unihorn’s mangled body turned into a monitor lizard? A rhinoceros beetle? And Kyouka sliced him to pieces. The rest of the Chained Soldier finale will be epilogue.

Ha. Tenka calls talking with Aoba “a family matter.” The Oni Girls have other villages, but Kyouka and Tenka think they must stay hidden. They don’t know if they can trust Supreme Commander Yamashiro because she might have known about the Onmyou Bureau’s experiments on Oni Girls. Tenka calls Yamashiro “unnerving” because the leader is steadfast in her decisions. Yamashiro would not have hesitated to kill all the Oni Girls after their truce broke down. Tenka and Kyouka have more reasons to become the Demon Defense Forces Supreme Commander. For love! The second eye-catcher shows how the Mato miasma can make beautiful auroras.

Chained Soldier Wrestles with Loyalty

And home again. Tenka warns Yuuki to prepare a generous reward for her. Be afraid, Yuuki. Be very afraid. Aw. Nei-senpai comforts her “little” kouhai. Now. Reward time. What kinky stuff will Yuuki make Kyouka do? Sleeping with her. Just sleep? In lingerie, but only sleeping. Yuuki is so excited he can’t go to sleep! Kyouka knows how to tire him out: wrestling in bed! She also needs to punish him for obeying another master. Yuuki couldn’t help it! Listening to his overbearing and charismatic older sister is a reflex. Too bad. Boston Crab! Head Lock! Leg Lock! Yuuki likes it…

Let’s check in with the Thunder Gods. Gah. They “manufacture” themselves. Come on. That’s clearly a vagina. Would the Chained Soldier censored broadcast pixelate the whole creature? Rairen claims their new “friend” is the first to require food. What does it eat? Will Coco and Naon be okay?

I lost my appetite, but Squad 6 and 7 did not. Party time! Speech and a toast, Yuuki-kun. Long enough, get to chowing down! Flashback to parting ways with Aoba. Yuuki and her allies have goals. The girls aspire to become Supreme Commander to change “policies;” Yuuki wants to find a cure for his sister and the Oni Girls. Quick! Let’s have a fun transition to the season’s ending. Tenka visits, Kyouka disciplines, Himari trains, and Shushu plots. And they all fight demons in the Mato. To be continued!

Final Thoughts on Chained Soldier.

A woman knows what her man wants. That is the underlying motivation between Mistress Kyouka and Yuuki the Slave. Even in the final episode, Yuuki’s slave session rewards always surprise him. The girls (Himari, Nei, Shushu, and Kyouka) instinctively know and let their bodies articulate Yuuki’s wishes. Chained Soldier applied that feeling to the master-slave relationship with sexy and funny results. I enjoyed how kinky a teenage boy’s impulses could be. But I also enjoyed how Yuuki’s rewards became more wholesome and emotional, befitting a progressing relationship. Yuuki’s last wish for the season was to sleep in Kyouka’s arms. Okay, in sexy lingerie, but still.

The shounen battle sequences for Chained Soldier were perfunctory affairs. Hampered by the lackluster CG character models, the fights hit emotional beats in expected ways, so I never experienced a “wow” factor from them.

Fun Exploration of Gender Roles in an Upheaval

In comparison, the world-building and slice-of-life elements showed imagination. What happens when the fundamental protection of human life falls to women (because they can eat Mato Peaches) instead of men? How would society change? Chained Soldier had much fun showing Yuuki learning how to cook and clean in gender role reversals. I hope future episodes show how that transition happened and the political power struggles between men and women in the military. The Mato Peaches didn’t make women more intelligent, but as the frontline soldiers, the women had more skin in the game. The Demon Defense Forces would necessarily train in military tactics and strategy, but women fight differently than men do. I would love to see how the power dynamics shifted as the Mato Mishaps became a staple of everyday life. Then Yuuki arrived to change it all back!

There is hope we can watch this backstory. Chained Soldier immediately announced the production of the second season. Supreme Commander Yamashiro already has a voice actor, too.

Will the second season continue Chained Soldier’s kink factor? And the show’s unapologetic nudity? We’ll have to watch to find out, but I’m hopeful.

Chained Soldier (魔都精兵のスレイブ, Mato Seihei no Slave) streams on Hidive in Japanese audio and English subtitles.

Did you enjoy Chained Soldier? How about the fetish education we received in each episode? Which was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.

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