UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie: Volume One
Aoi Kitsune
She commands the powers of time and space but can’t drive stick. She’s Valkyrie, Princess of Valhalla. The magical little girl with a big heart, but with a little kiss, and her heart is not the only thing that’s big.
After crash landing on the Tokino Bathhouse Valkyrie accidentally kills its owner, Kazuto Tokino. In order to save his life Valkyrie shares her soul with Kazuto. However, she can only maintain the form of little girl. Valkyrie has now taken residence at the Tokino Bathhouse with Kazuto and his younger sister Rika. Soon, others from Valhalla arrive to take Valkyrie back home, leaving a wake of destruction behind them. But with a kiss from Kazuto, Valkyrie temporarily regains her powers and defends love and justice.
Every fanboy fetish was thrown into the creation of this anime. Ray guns that turn women into cat-girls, Shinto priestess, lolitas, naked aliens, nude transformation scenes, childhood sweethearts, and a large female cast are here, but it’s too much of a good thing. The fan service drowns any possible character development and then crushes its wind pipe. Not only was the first episode not a character origin, but its plot lacked any depth beyond a three minute pan of the women in a bathhouse. The only shounen element missing from the mix was a male rival early in the series.
The artwork of the anime was generic at best. The background lacked detail and hardly any shading. It was flat throughout the entire volume. Character design was bland for shounen anime, they lacked complicated movements and facial expressions.
The sound quality was okay. The background music was simple and did not improve the poor artwork. The first episode contained an additional song, but it would seem more suitable if any character development had been made.
Aside from the basic extras of ADV anime, volume one includes the original Japanese commercials, messages from the Japanese seiyuu, Valkyrie world notes, and a video jukebox.
If you’re looking for a mind numbing assortment of fan service, UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie is your best solution. One part magical girl, one part harem, and an army of cat-girl maids results in this anime. This one is worth waiting the two days for Netflix to deliver it to your mailbox.
Entertainment: 4
Pretty generic shounen anime.
Technical: 4
Nothing spectacular with too many stills, loops, and lack of background details.
Overall: 4
DVD Features: 4 Episodes of 12. English, Japanese with English Subtitles
DVD Extras: “Valkyrie World Notes,” Messages from the original Japanese Actors, Music Video Segment, The on-air opening for Episode 3, Original Japanese TV commercials, Clean Opening Animation, Clean Closing Animation, Previews
