The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - Northern War

I might have enjoyed the series more if I were familiar with the video game series. I would have understood the context better and it would have helped me to put together the whole picture. The series does a pretty good job of making me believe that its world is immense and full of all sorts of interesting characters, and this is just one of its many stories. It made me curious to find out more about all the fascinating secrets it had to offer. The storyline about Lavi and her quest to find out what it means to be a hero had a point and didn’t feel like a waste of time. I also grew quite fond of the main character, even though it took me a while. Unfortunately, the series failed to make the mecha stuff and magic compatible for me. Robot sentinels, automatons, and some bizarre magic on top of that - maybe I just didn't get it. Maybe everything works well together in the game, and it’s part of many awesome stories, but here it just seemed weird. I could do without certain silly parts of the story, such as a whole episode about looking for a hot spring, which did seem like a waste of time. Also, the series didn't sell me on more than half of the characters. There were so many of them who just came and went, and I had no idea who they were or if they were even important (such as a bunch of characters in one episode who just got together in a pub to reminisce about old times). Then again, I bet they were important characters or nice cameos for the players of the game. As for me, I can’t tell. Another thing I wasn't too thrilled about was the animation. It didn’t seem like anyone made any effort, and CG robots are just never going to be my cup of tea. All in all, for someone like me who’s unfamiliar with this universe, it’s pretty much an average series. 5/10 (24.03.2023)