In a way, Record of Ragnarok reminds me of Dragon Ball Z, and not in a good way. Have you ever heard the joke, “How many DBZ characters does it take to screw in a light bulb? Only one, but it takes him ten episodes to do it.”? Indeed, in DBZ we often have fights which drag on too long, often a half dozen episodes at least, while we are waiting for the plot to further develop, or at least continue. Record of Ragnarok does just about the same thing.

It does not help that the plot in Ragnarok is pretty thin to begin with. There is not much to advance, so the series has that poor excuse. We do get the action interrupted by back stories of the characters, only those are supposed to add depth to the characters, and they don’t. The back stories are done quickly and without too much effort.

OK, so let’s get this done quickly. The premise of Record of Radnarok is that the gods are pretty disappointed with mankind, so they unanimously vote to destroy humanity. But wait! Brunhilde, the eldest of the Valkyries, along with her whinny little sister Goll, is not about to let that happen. She points out that the rules do not allow immediate destruction. Humans are allowed to defend themselves in a ragnarok; that is, a tournament of 13 bouts pitting a god against a human hero. It the gods win most of the battles, the human race is to be destroyed. If the human heroes win the most bouts, they are allowed to live for another 1000 years. Brunhilde will give the human fighters a better chance by having her sister Valkyries transform themselves into weapons for the men to use. So prepare for oceans of spurting blood and severed limbs.

So the first bout drags on. Then the second. Then the third. Then season one comes to an end. It is not a very interesting anime to watch. This thin plot is stretched to its limits with real twists and turns replaced by a slight bending here and there.

I sat through all of season one for some reason. I will not make that mistake when season two comes out. You have been forewarned. Thumbs down on Record of Ragnarok.