Year 905 on the Imperial Calendar is the year that Ikta Solork, a lazy young man who is also a “defeatist”, became known as the “Invincible Lazy General.” That is the premise of this show; somewhat generic, no? However I’m a sucker for good animation, so I figured I’d give this title a try.
Ikta and his close female friend, Yatorishino Igsem, are heading together for an exam being held on an island. The exam is, as far as I can tell, to become some kind of military officer. Yatori, as she prefers to be called, is a smart young woman who is shown to be informed on military affairs. Ikta is her exact opposite, and it is initially something of a mystery why they are such good friends.
Everyone in this world, or at least our main cast, has a chibi elemental spirit who is apparently with them at all times. For example Ikta’s is Kus, who has light abilities. Some people even have little pouches on their belts for the spirits to stay in. I do not yet now how they get these spirits, or when.
After a bumpy departure with some of their peers, Yatori and Ikta board the ship and leave. En route to the exam they meet some of the other students who will be taking the exam with them. Ikta is not happy to be taking the exam; he mentions that this is the last time he will have anything to do with the military. Those 
words will come back to haunt him later.
It turns out the other people sharing their cabin are a young lavender-haired girl named Haroma (Haro) Becker, a slightly chubby guy named Matthew Tetdrich, and a green-haired guy named Torway Remeon. Yatori and Torway are both from powerful and important families, and are considered to be rivals, including in the upcoming exam. Matthew comes from a family with a military history but their surname is still not well-known to many people. Ikta seems to be the exception in this group of achievement, a commoner with no distinguishing background or family history. In addition, Ikta, Yatori and Matthew all went to school together, so the three are quite comfortable around each other.
There is one incident in which an additional passenger is revealed to be on board, possibly a civilian, but she runs off before any information can be gathered from her. She’s a little blonde girl, so it’s highly unlikely she’s a student too, but who is she?
Later in the voyage, the seas get rough and there is a lot of turbulence. At some point the ship takes some damage and starts to flood, so everyone rushes to the lifeboats. Once Ikta’s boat makes it to the sea, they spot the blonde girl from earlier trying to climb into a lifeboat, but she slips as the ship starts to tilt and she falls into the ocean. Ikta takes his shirt off and, with Yatori holding onto a tether, dives in to save the little girl.
She wakes up later and we see Ikta’s group has survived. They have washed up on an unknown location and are drying off in a cave. Ikta and Torway are out scouting their surroundings and they discover that they’ve washed up in enemy territory! They are at the border of the Kioka Republic’s lands. Which means that their situation got even more precarious because their little blonde companion is revealed to be Princess Chamille, and she, Yatori and Torway have enough importance that they can be used as bargaining chips if they’re caught. So what to do?
As the sun starts to set, their group has not come to a decision on whether to surrender and become prisoners of war, or try to sneak through Kioka’s borders. Princess Chamille makes her way to Ikta, who shows her the hammock he’s making out of tree fronds. Suddenly a blimp passes overhead and Ikta rushes the two of them into hiding. It’s the Kioka Republic’s new air unit, a blimp which is also a military weapon. Ikta leads the princess back to their cave.
In the middle of the night she wakes up to go use the washroom secretly, but she is heard by Kioka troops and is almost discovered except for Yatori and Ikta, who wake up and see that she’s missing. The Princess is about to surrender from her hiding spot except Ikta shows up and lets himself be found first.
My thoughts: Ikta is quite the character. In addition to being lazy, he’s a smartass who flirts with the ladies and tries to scare away guys he deems to be romantic competition. Yet at the same time he’s also clearly very smart when it comes to things like military strategy, and Yatori holds his honest opinion in high regard.
The flashback at the very beginning of the episode piques my curiousity. It shows what I’m assuming is Yatori and Ikta’s first meeting, and I hope we see more later about how and why they became friends.
I’ve said in previous reviews that I’m a graphics and animation whore, and Tenkyou no Alderamin pretty much solidifies that. Despite the unimpressive summary, the animation, which evokes the Escaflowne movie (2002) for me, is the sole reason why I’m giving this show a try. And it is a very pretty show indeed. The opening theme is pretty awesome too.
So far I’m impressed, but this show is being produced by Madhouse and it’s clear that they’re putting a lot of effort into this title, so my expectations are pretty high. I’m covering several other shows right now, but as long as I remains satisfied with Tenkyou no Alderamin, I can’t see why I won’t be keeping this one on my list.
Possibility of Watching: High
Possibility of Blogging: High