Chained Soldier Episode 1 Review

The World of Mato

I don’t know what I was expecting from Chained Soldier Episode 1. But, what I witnessed was not it. For some reason, I thought it would be better than it was. Though, that’s not why I decided to add this series to my weekly review schedule.

There simply aren’t many anime I’m interested in this season. Compared to most of the other series airing right now, Chained Soldier didn’t seem that bad. But, I’m no longer so sure about that. I wasn’t impressed by this first episode. And, yes, I watched the uncensored version.

I don’t know what was uncensored here. I didn’t watch the regular version of the episode to compare. But, nothing I saw seemed like it would need censoring. There was a very brief panty shot at one point. And, I guess they could have censored the kiss for some reason, as well. That’s it.

Now, as for what the series is about, it’s another one of those “gates to another dimension opened in our world” anime. You know, like GATE, or the also currently airing Solo Leveling. In this series, the other dimension is Mato (魔都), which roughly translates to “demon city.”

And, like in Solo Leveling, some people gained special powers when these gates opened. However, in Chained Soldier, this phenomenon only applies to women. No men gained any special powers. And thus, men became second-class citizens — as they should.

The women with the strongest abilities (and fighting capabilities) join the Mato Defense Force. Their job is to fight the monsters (Shuuki) within Mato and save anyone who gets trapped there. At any point, a gate to Mato can open up and swallow unsuspecting humans. And, that’s exactly what happens to our protagonist, Yuuki Wakura, in Episode 1.

Kyouka Uzen’s Slave

Kyouka Uzen is the female lead of the series. She’s the commander of the Mato Defense Force’s 7th Squadron. And, her goal is to become the supreme commander so she can wipe out all the Shuuki.

So, how did Kyouka become a commander of a Mato Defense Force squadron? Does she have some overpowered ability? No. She earned that position through hard work and dedicating her life to swordsmanship. Compared to other members of the Mato Defense Force, her ability is relatively weak.

Kyouka’s ability allows her to turn others into her slaves. And, it doesn’t only apply to humans. She can turn Shuuki into her slaves. So, at first, this seems like it would be a strong ability. But, the issue is that it comes with some drawbacks that make it less than ideal.

For starters, it doesn’t look like Kyouka can have more than one slave at a time. So, that rules out having an army of them following her every command. And, on top of that, she has to pay a price for commanding slaves. She’s compelled to reward them with their desires.

When she enslaves Shuuki, this price isn’t that bad. She can get away with giving them meat. But, what if she were to enslave something else? Like, for instance, a human man. Well, then she’d have to reward him with his desires, whatever they may be.

And, if you haven’t figured it out by now, this is where the ecchi aspect of Chained Soldier comes in. Kyouka uses her Slave ability on Yuuki to turn him into a Shuuki-slaying monster. Then, afterward, she rewards him with a kiss. But, I have a feeling that Yuuki’s desires are going to increase from here.

Demon Defense Force 7th Squadron

Besides Kyouka, there are three other members of the 7th Squadron. They are Himari Azuma, Shushu Suruga, and Nei Ookawamura. Yuuki doesn’t count as a member since he’s a man and therefore doesn’t have any special ability. He’s just Kyouka’s slave (and the caretaker of the dorm).

Himari Azuma’s ability allows her to turn her arm into various kinds of guns. So far, it’s unclear if she can turn other parts of her body into guns or only her one arm. I assume she can do more than that, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Shushu Suruga’s ability is very simple. She can turn giant. And with her giant size comes giant strength. So, it’s no wonder she works for the elite Mato Defense Force. As with Himari, the extent of Shushu’s ability is unclear. Can she also enlarge only parts of her body?

Lastly, we have Nei Oookawamura, the youngest member of the 7th Squadron. We all could have guessed that she was young based on her appearance. But, at the end of Episode 1, she confirms that she’s 11 years old. Still, she outranks Yuuki.

Nei’s ability allows her to sense surrounding lifeforms. She can tell from which direction and how many Shuuki are attacking. And, she can locate civilians who have been trapped within the Mato. She’s the squadron’s support.

Alright, now that we’ve met the four main girls of the 7th Squadron, let’s rank them based on first impressions.

Obviously, Kyouka’s Slave ability makes her a high-tier option. But, I’m not going to put her in the #1 spot yet. After this episode, I’m going to say that Shushu is the best. After her, it’s a tie between Kyouka and Himari. And then, Nei comes in last.

Final Thoughts

Are you watching Chained Soldier? What did you think of Episode 1? Did you watch the uncensored version? Do you want to be Kyouka Uzen’s slave? And, which girl of the 7th Squadron is your favorite so far? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 2 is available now.