While the premise of a group of people adventuring in a medievalesque world is admittedly a tad too common in TV media the same cant be said for anime. While some animes do have this as their base premise they usually deviate from it well into their midpoint. Very few animes follow this premise as closely as Hitsugi no Chaika does and thats what makes it one of the better animes of last season. Story: 16/20 and Characters: 14/20 The story follows Toru Acura a saboteur basically a hired gun whos out of jobs due to the war being over. While scavenging for food in the forest he meets Chaika Trabant a peculiar girl who carries with her everywhere a coffin hence the title Chaika the coffin princess. It turns out that Chaika is the daughter of the late Emperor Gaz the person who plunged the world into war years prior. Things happened and eventually they along with Torus sister decided to embark on an adventure to collect the late emperors remains in order for Chaika to give him a proper funeral. The premise itself is already quite interesting. It grants infinite possibilities in where they would go next and what obstacles await them in their next destinantion. Usually this comes in the form of a former hero who is overprotective of the remains but the show throws you a curveball every now and then. It keeps you hooked and wondering what happens next. Chaika is certainly one of the few animes this season that kept me counting the hours to the next episode. That said Chaika isnt without its shortcomings. The pacing can sometimes feel rushed this is mostly evident in season ones ending an additional episode wouldve done much better for the series. It also contains many haremlike elements and I heard many people despise that. But the biggest shortcoming is surprisingly the titular heroine Chaika herself. Its not that shes unlikable or anything youll likely find yourself attached to her once youre at the animes midpoint. The problem is that she has a very peculiar way of speaking. If you dont have the patience youll likely drop this anime just because you couldnt stand her speech. Other than that the other characters are quite likable. While many of them can be shallow at times and theres little to no character development youll likely find them hard to hate. Animation: 10/20 The animation of Chaika is very bones. It has thick outlines its mostly handdrawn and anything that moves looks different to anything that doesnt move. That said the animation isnt bad per se its just quite average. You wont find any eyepopping or ridiculously beautiful scenes that are better described as works of art and neither will you find scenes which are dissapointing. Still if youre a fan of bones animation style you may find the animation in Chaika to be very good. Sound and Music: 15/20 First of all the OP and ED were pretty catchy. It doesnt particularly stand out and most of you will probably find it average but I found that it is quite suiting to the shows tone. The background music on the other hand were pretty neat. They really fit with the shows medievalesque backdrop and they often add emotional impact to the scenes in which they were played. In the voice acting department I dont have anything to complain about. You may find Chaikas the character voice acting to be very annoying at first as I said above but trust me youll get used to it. The voice acting doesnt particularly stand out like say Ping Pong The Animation but it does the job. Enjoyment: 20/20 Most of Chaikas pieces may be the very definition of average but as they say the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The beauty of Chaika shows when it all comes together. No episode felt unnecessary and you wouldnt even notice bones slipped an anime original episode somewhere in there. Unlike many animes of Spring 2014 Chaika is very consistent and youll never felt youve wasted a week waiting in anticipation for a new episode. Theres always a new development around the corner. Ill give the anime an additional 5 points for this. Conclusion: Not particularly a stand out but this is something Id definitely recommend given the proper context.