Campione!

“This is the story of a young man who has become Campione, and the women surrounding him”

Name: Campione!

Japanese Name: カンピオーネ!

Air Date: July 6 2012 – September 28 2012

Studio: Diomedea

Episodes: 13

PLOT

Some people suddenly find religion, but for 16 year old Godou Kusanagi, it’s that REALLY old time religion that’s found him! As the result of defeating the God of War in mortal combat, Godou’s stuck with the unwanted position of Campione! or God Slayer whose duty is to fight heretical Gods whenever they try to muscle in on the local turf. Not only is this likely to make Godou roadkill on the Highway to Heaven, it’s also a job that comes with a lot of other problems. Like how to deal with the fact that his enhanced status is attracting a bevy of overly-worshippy female followers. After all, they’re just there to aid him in his demi-godly duties right? So why is it that their leader – the demonically manipulative sword mistress Erica Blandelli – seems to have such a devilish interest in encouraging some VERY unorthodox activities?

[via Sentai Filmworks]

Sorry for the lateness of this post! I hope I can be excused for that, school has kept me really busy. School work is so tiring! After a long, LONG delay, I shall finally reveal my review for Campione! Whoo, lets all celebrate with some drinks (^^) I’ve delayed this for so long but it’s most likely because there were over anime series that caught my attention… I-I’m extremely sorry about that (￣^￣)ゞand also my studies are very important too so I had to get that out of the way! I do want to succeed in life and all that so it’s good to get my studies sorted. Plus with my parents pressuring me for good grades, it doesn’t particularly help either. I love you too guys (-_-)

This was one of the most awaited series of 2012 so I’m hoping to see if it lives up to its name. It better otherwise I will not be happy! I shall turn towards AMNESIA if I’m not happy enough. I’m in the otome game mood so I better get this done quick. Ikki is quietly calling for me too so I REALLY need to hurry this up… I’M COMING FOR YOU MY DARLING IKKI!!

First Impressions

The first episode kind of confused me. So the main character Godou turns up in Italy to return a stone given to his grandfather by some woman? Not for a holiday or anything normal like that? You mean to tell me that he travelled from Japan to Italy just to return a stone? Well played. And then a blonde haired girl suddenly pulls a knife on him?! Godou’s reaction is rather amusing here, naturally he though he was getting mugged! xD the blonde haired girl introduces herself as Erica working for the Copper Black Cross and the two have a rocky start. Then this gigantic boar comes out of nowhere and starts wrecking the place like a boss ＼(^o^)／

You’re getting mugged…by a girl!

So yeah by the time episode 1 finished, Godou defeats or kills a God who looks like a kid and becomes a Campione. And Erica also kissed him. Wait. I think I missed something out here. She KISSED him?! I thought she hated his guts for having that stone thingy! Gee, that helps a lot doesn’t it? Erica is a strange character. One minute she’s hot and the next she’s cold, I find it weird that she suddenly fawns over Godou in an instant. Oh well, she makes me giggle when she’s drunk xD she’s like my friend in many ways, she says she’s not drunk when she really is but that’s what makes it so darn hilarious!

I like the animation in this series. It’s really clean and nice to look at. I get the oddest feeling that I’ve gotten myself into a harem anime. How do I know that? The opening sequence where there’s like four girls draped all over Godou. Great. I will not drop this series though since it’s piked my interest. Plus I want to see these awesome powers Godou has after defeating that god from episode 1. He kicked ass there. But I’m not into harem series so I may drop this quicker than I thought. We’ll have to wait and see if my interest gets any worse…

Midway Impressions

I have to admit that this show is rather perverted in many ways. Erica is the main suspect in this case as she’s constantly trying to seduce Godou. She hates how he’s got the attention of other potential females who can snatch him away so she’s speeding up her plan a bit! It’s a girl’s dream to be the chosen one of a king right? All that fame and riches… I’m dreaming of fantasies no since there’s no way that’s going to happen to me. I shall walk away and never come back. Despair has take over me xD

Here’s a tip for you Liliana… blind dating never goes well xD

I’m getting more and more confused as I watch this and yet I learn from it too. Now I know that sounds a tad confusing but it’s true. I’m learning because Godou states a LOT of facts about the gods etc before defeating them especially when he fights against a rogue Athena for a few episodes. I’ve always been a history boffin so this was right up my street!

This series has gotten me very interested now but I already have a problem with it. Where do these characters come from? There’s one named Salvatore Doni who phones Godou and claims they’re best friends… where the heck did you come from?! He just pops out of nowhere and I had to think really hard about which episode he appeared in previously. He never turned up until this moment so obviously they decided to throw in some extras for the hell of it. No explanation for this whatsoever. My poor brain has died from the lack of brain cells I have. Obviously I haven’t read the novels so I have no clue as to who these characters are. What’s next? A gorgeous guy with a flying horse? That’ll be the day (^_^;)

And I stand corrected. There really is a gorgeous guy with a flying horse should I take up fortune telling? Because I am one heck of a predictor. I’m kidding, there was an image of him in the opening sequence xD but he seems rather cocky so I won’t say much about him though his name is Perseus. I kinda dislike him but I can’t hate him… I blame the looks. It’s always the looks. We all know I have a fetish for blonde haired guys! It all started from Ouran High School Host Club with our urm… flamboyant Tamaki! I have another complaint though, what is it with gods looking like they’re 10 years old?! Athena looks like she could pass as an 8 year old and yet I’ve been told that she’s 14. A teenager stuck in a child’s body? What has the world come to? *Facepalms*

Overall Opinion

Tales stemming from ancient Greek mythology have been adapted so many times and in many different shapes which can take the form of animation, games and live action, so this particular genre of has a lot of competition and one small step in the wrong direction can make an entire project crumble.

Campione! is an adaptation of a set of light novel series by Jou Taketsuki. A Campione is considered a king and becomes so by being successful in killing a god and obtaining their powers. A Campione or king requires subjects or knights and with this series being a harem they all turned out to be girls. He gathers companions later on as the story advances upon meeting them or finding them in some sort of situation and after assisting them, they join him as his loyal followers. A Campione also being a god killer had some situations where Godou faced off against other gods in an attempt to obtain their powers but the show made this important factor seem a secondary objective.

The first thing viewers will notice right from the offset is that obviously the studio were in a bit of a rush. The first few episodes is fast paced and a lot of information is not disclosed so it seems in a way to rely on the novel to answer some questions, meaning viewers who haven’t read the manga will be scratching their heads at the beginning as the story speeds off leaving the audience behind. I disliked that. It can be quite difficult to keep up if you have no idea about mythology and too much information can be thrown at you so you’re left at a loss of what to do. I felt this way in particular at first but it gradually grew on me.

The character art had nothing special about it, it was fairly obvious to expect from a harem like show; you have your average looking over-powered protagonist surrounded by girls who are WAY out of his league. He has no special features, just your plain and ordinary guy. Animation was a bit better, only a bit, it has some decent action sequences but at the same time, it is not a show where action is given too much emphasis since it focuses on the development of the protagonist and his new found powers.

Metis. Athena’s mother.

The opening and ending song felt like they were a bit out a place for a show that wanted to give the audience a sense of mythological fantasy and I often found myself skipping through the ending whenever it came up. I wasn’t a fan of the song choices. The animation of the opening and ending seemed to make up for the songs lack of connection with fast packed action scenes that the eyes can’t follow easily. It sets the basis of the entire series; expect some good fighting scenes and also a little bit of internal fighting…for Godou’s affections.

The characters were decent enough to watch. Some had unique characteristics that I found somewhat appealing for example, Erica’s cunningness and Liliana’s cold exterior. The girls had nice facial features and I believe most male fans would have enjoyed this. Maybe also their bodies but I won’t go into that subject. The protagonist himself is somewhat originally unhappy with his new powers but later learns to deal with it and as expected of a harem series tries as much as he can to act oblivious to the affections of the girls around him; turning down any seductive move Erica tries to pull on him. Well tried Erica, he’s a bit of a ladies man secretly!

This whole series seemed like an introduction and an attempt to introduce us to the protagonist and to the world he lives in. It had its touching moments, the characters have a series of nice spells, the powers which Godou uses are godly and hench but may initially be hard to understand and the kissing was a bit excessive in a few places if not most of the time during the course of the series. The dialogue used by the ancient gods and how they spoke was an old form of speaking which was refreshing and odd to hear so that made this anime different from others.

If you’re into mythology, harem and divine powers then you’re watching the right series. Campione! both pleased and disappointed me so overall, I have mixed opinions about this series. The only certain positive thing I can leave is that they’ve set things perfectly for a second season but I think you’re better off playing Warhammer or Yu-Gi-Oh! Oh watch it if you want but make sure you’re at a suitable age… it’s filled with perverted scenes etc. Lucky for me, I’m 16. Whoopdedoo. For a series that was one of the most anticipated of 2012, I have to say I was quite disappointed. Season 2 please!