Rokka no Yuusha

At the rise of the Demon God, it was prophesied that six heroes called the Braves of the Six Flowers will rise to meet the challenge. They are chosen by the Goddess of Fate and given a mark to distinguish them from other people.

You cannot wish to become a Brave but that did not stop Adlet Mayer from wanting to be among the chosen. He proclaims himself as the strongest man in the world. When he was captured and detained after interrupting a competition between two warriors, he met Princess Nashetania who claimed she is one of the Braves. Adlet was chosen as a Brave that night while in detention when a mark appeared on his body. They travel together.

On their journey they heard tales about the Brave killer on the loose. They meet Flamie who was revealed to be the Brave killer by the knight Goldov, Nashetanya’s sworn protector. Flamie wanted to fight the Demon God herself, being a Brave as well, but Adlet was relentless in convincing her that they should all travel as a group

They meet three more people who claim to be Braves. Chamo is a Saint of Swamps with a peculiar fighting ability. Mora is the Saint of Mountains, a formidable woman who speaks her mind. Hans is an assassin who acts like a cat.

All the Braves have met at last, but there were seven of them. The legends said there would be six, so one of them is pretending to be a Brave. The story shifts to the mystery of finding the seventh member. Adlet was the natural suspect. He had to flee to save his life and somehow find a way to convince the others that he wasn’t the liar.

Adlet Mayer

From left: Goldov, Nashetanya, Chamo, Adlet, Mora, Flamie and Hans

Rokka no Yuusha is a mystery series masquerading as an adventure story. The sudden shift in the focus of the story was so obvious that it was a different, though not unpleasant, experience for me. I like this new approach to the over saturated mystery genre. I didn’t read the synopsis of this 12-episode series so I got a nice surprise.

The tension leading up to the final confrontation was done nicely. Adlet was trapped slowly in a net of suspicion and mistrust nearly without an escape. The pace of the narrative went from slow to fast as soon as the seven Braves met. It was almost like reading a well-written suspense short story inspired by Poe. There were intense moments interspersed with the dialogues that seemed well-planned overall. I’m not sure if it was intentional but the narrative of this series is one of the best planned that I have watched.

Jaded mystery fans might find the series interesting. You can even finish the series in one day because it’s that good. I don’t think it was mostly just figuring out who the seventh member was (because I already had a good idea who it was) but it focused on the characters’s abilities to take advantage of situations. Adlet didn’t have the subtlety that everyone else seemed to have so he fell into the trap so easily.

Rating: 9 out of 10