So this anime is pretty enjoyable partially because it is not an over-dramatization of historical events. I am not sure how the author managed this, but the author managed to balance the actual historical record and the fantastic anime story-telling. It was kind of strange to watch really. Generally, even in non-fiction anime, characters are given superpowers and special abilities. This is something that can make the anime... well a bit obnoxious. While I am pretty sure there are very few records from when this happened I am pretty happy with how this anime plays out.

Take the combat, for instance, yes they do a few kinds of magical things, but they also try and keep things based in reality. No super sword techniques that cut people down from afar or anything like that. Though some of the time people were given crushing blows that would send multiple people flying. Which I guess is not too bad since it was not something that happened too often. Plus the tactics were authentic and how the battles went were very entertaining to watch. Especially since no so much emphasis was put on the overall crowd, you would see glimpses of the crowd then there would be story about the actual progress of the battle. A common thing that that happens in anime is the focus on the computer-animated NPC battle. This anime does a good job of minimizing that.

Next, the tactics are pretty realistic. A lot of what happened was pretty easy to believe. The use of explosives and firearms was accurate. I figured that they would have someone with a musket or something, and they did not. They made a pretty good point to say that using guns was pretty much pointless given their low accuracy and the time it took to reload. Granted they also emphasized the point that when you got hit by one everything was over. It was also enjoyable watching as the fight between more modern tech and the old time tactics of the island clashed. The Mongols had to make up for their disadvantage with numbers and sabotage as their new technology was pretty crappy.

Another interesting bit was the characters motivations. Again with anime, we sometimes like to make things up. The Mongols were particularly interesting since they were mostly motivated by looting. While they had the overwhelming numbers sometimes, I fear that people would have liked to portray them as more... loyal and blind soldiers. However, seeing the various groups work against each other in an effort to get the most stuff was a nice change. Especially when they employed spies and traitors to try and speed up the process.

Of course, the constant grim situation was a good as well. I guess you could say that the author struck a balance between the heroic survival story and the grim reality of how exactly messed up the natives were. The writing makes you see just how limited the time of the combatants was, and the non-combatants did not seem like they were anything more than dead weight at times. Which gave a great deal of impact to the end of the anime even if it was a bit theatrical.

I guess I can say the last thing that I liked was the pacing. Whoever wrote this clearly put a lot of effort into establishing all of these generals and characters and stuff like that. So to have the series be over so quickly was kind of disappointing. However, the time was well-used not too much time dwelling on the past or explaining how people survived or anything like that. You might have a few memories, but for the most part, it was just run and hope you would not die. They take a moment to outsmart the Mongols. Again, it just felt well-balanced. A lot of anime with as much cut out of it as this anime rarely do that.

Overall, the balance of this anime makes it a good watch. The beginning feels a little misleading, but it is also good to see how the anime manages to keep things going. Having a well-balanced story that is told at a good pace is a huge upgrade from what I am used to these days. Which is either too much in too little of time or cram the end in 3 episodes.