We open to the explanation of what this series is supposed to be all about. When a disaster looms, the goddess calls for six heroes to awaken and save the world. This happened six hundred years before the current story as well as three hundred years before the story. There are always exactly six of these braves. Then why are there seven heroes this time around? That can only mean one thing, there is a traitor among us. But first we need to establish the seven candidates who are claiming to be members of these six heroes.
The first one is Adlet Mayer who proclaims himself the strongest man in the world and summarily interrupts a duel in front of the king. He does so by fighting dirty, but putting his methods aside, he is very effective. Then again, bringing a bunch of tricks and poison to what is supposed to be an honorable duel is a pretty shitty thing to do and Adlet soon ends up imprisoned. The second brave is the princess, Nachetanya, who is also known as the saint of blades. When both get chosen as braves, she frees Adlet from his prison and the duo set off towards their destination in the west. There they will meet up with the other four braves. Or five, as the surprise twist of the series ends up being.
The other five braves are an eclectic bunch too. The first two that we meet outside of the princess and Adlet are the princess’ personal knight Goldov as well as the presumed hero killer, the white haired sharpshooter Flamie. Where Goldov is ready to help the princess immediately, Flamie quickly proclaims herself an enemy and does not wish to join up with the rest of the gang. Separating from Nachetanya, Adlet now follows after the mysterious new girl. At the temple where they get stuck they meet the rest. Chamot, saint of the swamp, Maura saint of the mountains and finally a weirdo named Hans Humpty. It’s a colorful cast for sure, but this is the moment they all start to realize something’s wrong. That’s one too many. And all of them have the crest that makes them heroes. This is where the real story starts, a mystery to figure out who is the fake.
So we have a locked room mystery. The moment Adlet encountered the fiend at the outskirts of the temple, he tried to break open the door, and when he did so, the barrier activated. No one was seen entering or exiting the room after he entered it, and we know that Adlet didn’t activate the barrier. We’ve seen him get his crest, we’ve followed along his journey and he is the only person we know for certain that is accounted for at the time of the betrayal. Knowing what the solution is to this puzzle – as I remembered it while I was rewatching it – makes it seem super obvious, but I remember being fully unable to figure it out the first time around. With all the pieces in play, we now have to deduce who the real betrayer is, deal with them, and then continue on the journey to actually deal with the fiends.
Upon rewatching this show, I found myself having mixed feelings about it. I like the concept a lot, but both Chamot and Goldov were getting on my nerves as characters pretty early on. There are some inconsistencies in the storytelling as well that feel more like red herrings than good writing, but these are minor complaints. Flamie and Adlet, the two we spend a majority of the time on, are both fun characters in all their bravado and teenage angst. It’s a real shame this never got a sequel, as it’s based on a light novel and we all know that most anime fans can’t read. I remember wanting to read the novels back in the day, and I still may one day, but it’s not high enough on my priority list right now to start on anytime soon. As for if you should watch it, yeah, probably. It’s a fun mystery with a colorful cast that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Although the twist at the very, very end kind of sucks and is the main thing people ended up remembering from the show. I do like reading light novels from time to time, and if you’re like me and every time you think back to this show you kind of want to see where it goes from here, at least the novels have been translated to English, although I did see that the physical editions are rather pricey. Ebooks are much cheaper if you’re one of those people, but I’ll leave it up to you. For now, if you like a good mystery, give Rokka no Yuusha a watch and if not, well, at least thanks for reading.
Opal Kaharis 