Chrome Shelled Regios - Anime Review

The anime Chrome Shelled Regios is adapted from the light novel series by Shusuke Amaji and aired in 2009. The show centers the main character, Layfon Alseif, who leaves his home to attend school in another Regios, shielding his identity and hoping to start a new life. However, from the moment he walks on campus, the student council president and the leader of the 17th platoon quickly notice his skills. This unfolds a series of events where his identity and past are revealed.

The setting is a post-apocalyptic world where the atmosphere is polluted, and the world's inhabitants must live within the confines of a shelled city called a Regios. Members within the cities train in martial art and learn to use their "Kei" to wield special weapons to fight off monsters that lie in wait outside of the cities.

Let's get right into this one.

Having watched the trailer after finishing the show, the trailer is a bit misleading for my taste. I admit, for 24 episodes, I was confused and bored at the same time. For the sake of writing and give this a full review, I went back and rewatched 6 episodes. I thought I missed some information that would help me understand the plot better. That's half true; I missed information because it was hard to focus.

It was tough, but we made it through. With each episode, even after rewatching, I was no closer to understanding the plot and who these characters were.

The main character Layfon is portrayed as overpowered and spends the first half the series hiding his true identity. No anime is ever complete without a harem. Not only does he have his "best friend" (Leerin) at home, there's also his platoon members Felli and Nina, who are after his affection. Let's not forget, Mayshen, who anonymously left Layfon fancy sandwiches after he saved her life.

If I had a choose the best girl out of the four… Mayshen has my heart. Even though her food was animated, I salivated and thought it was rude when Layfon traded food with Nina.

Food aside, each episode throughout the series had good pacing. Each character was introduced, developed, and showed how they contributed to the overall plot. Besides Nina, all characters I liked. Each role, someone offered their expertise, and their personalities differed.

Filler episodes were minimal but entertaining. It pushed the harem agenda further but seeing Felli's serious brother acting as if Layfon would be his brother in law was nothing short of hilarious. These episodes are generally meant to be funny and show a different side of minor characters that otherwise wouldn't be developed.

Going back to my general confusion about the show. Throughout the series, there were random cut scenes of a random person fighting off contaminoids while driving. Thinking back now, I don't think I have an answer as to who it was. The character was featured on at least 5 different occasions and added nothing to the story. My guess is this could be a character within the light novels that have their own side story.

Overall, as it was, while all characters were well developed, and the plot wasn't bad… there was a lot of information missing. There was no explanation as to why they had military schools to fight monsters. Why they lived in Regios. The general structure of society was missing and the role they played once they left school.

After watching the series, I searched through a few fan sites which had all the information there. I was forced to conclude while initially, I thought this was a terrible show, I only thought it was awful because it specifically wasn't made for me. The show was made for fans of the light novel series that would already be familiar with that world created. Looking at it this way completely changed my opinion of the show.

I'll be easy in my scoring for this show. I wanted to give it a 3/10 immediately after watching because I was confused 90% of the time. But the character development was solid. The plot progressed nicely, which lead to an intense series finale. The filler episodes were entertaining and forced me to like some of the minor characters more. I'll settle for giving it a 6/10 purely because I had to search for further explanations of all background elements.

I'd recommend this show for those that are already familiar with the light novels and those that want a good story that doesn't care about background details.

Next anime on the list: Classroom Crisis