‘Chained Solider’ Anime Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Mato Seihei no Slave, also known as Chained Soldier, began as a manga series on January 5, 2019, and it currently has 14 volumes as of the time of writing. Written by Takahiro and illustrated by Yohei Takemura, Mato Seihei no Slave has also been adapted in the form of an anime series, which premiered on January 4, 2023, on HIDIVE. In this review, we are going to discuss the Mato Seihei no Slave anime series and reveal whether it is worth watching and whether you should stick around for more episodes of this series, produced by the Seven Arcs studio.

Seven Arcs is not among the biggest anime studios ever, but their recent series, Blue Period, became a major hit, while older fans might know them for series such as Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Sekirei, Dog Days, and Trinity Seven. Fans of these series know that Seven Arcs has been producing similar content over the years, so they can expect more of the same in Mato Seihei no Slave, both in terms of the visuals and in terms of the plot.

As far as the latter is concerned, the plot of Mato Seihei no Slave is relatively simple – there are two parallel worlds, ours and the world of demons. From time to time, the demons from their world, called Mato, enter our world and kidnap people, while a special group of warriors, the Demon Defense Force, deals with them in Mato and saves the people. But, these warriors are exclusively female, as women are the only ones who are able to obtain special powers via “Peaches”, special fruits that give humans supernatural powers.

The hero of this story, an unlikely one, Yuuki Wakura, gets sucked into Mato and is saved by Captain Kyouka Uzen and her unit. But, Captain Uzen decides to make Yuuki her slave in a desperate moment, thereby transforming him into a powerful monster to fight the demons, called Shuuki. After that, she has to reward him, and since he is her first human slave, she decides to reward him with a kiss, which turns into a quick make-out session. Yuuki is then invited to her unit’s dormitory, where he becomes the caretaker of four girls. And that is more or less it – you can expect more demon-fighting action, borderline ecchi content, and new villains as the characters grow and as the story develops further.

Mato Seihei no Slave is listed as a blend of action and fantasy, which is certainly true on the surface, as the fight against the demons is the gist of the series; the harem/ecchi content is secondary, although it is skillfully inserted into the essence of the plot, allowing the viewers to experience it as an integral part of the plot, rather than just a simple piece of fanservice. We mean, it is fanservice, without a doubt, but it’s not just there – it is integrated into the plot, which makes it a bit more acceptable in that context.

Mato Seihei no Slave is not an ecchi series, and when compared to the recently released Undead Unluck, the ecchi and harem content is more tasteful, and it makes sense in terms of the story; it is not forced and just icky, like in Undead Unluck, where all that content is there to satisfy those that love such content, but it has little to no plot value. Here, the authors managed to integrate it into the story, which is certainly positive.

The animation is fine – it’s not the best one on the market, but it is fine, and we cannot really say anything against it, although we hope it does get more creative later, as it currently seems like something that was made with little, very little effort. But, Seven Arcs’ experience with romance-type anime series is visible here, and it adds a bit of charm to the series, elevating what is usually shallow fanservice content to a level that can be tolerated and even laughed at at the right moment.

What this series lacks is depth and originality. It is not bad, and it definitely has more sense than Undead Unluck, for example, but as far as new anime series are concerned, it is not even close to the likes of Frieren or Heavenly Delusion, for example. This action-style show combined with borderline ecchi content has been seen more than once, and Mato Seihei no Slave doesn’t really add anything new to the mix, which is why we cannot really laud it as a brilliant addition to the slate. Although, if you’re a teenage boy and are into femdom, this series will be the best non-hentai content you’ll find in the current slate of the winter season.

All in all, Mato Seihei no Slave is not a bad series, but aside from labeling it as “fine”, we cannot do more. It is somewhat similar to Spy Classroom, but with more explicit content, both when the romance and action parts are concerned, so if you liked Spy Classroom, you’ll probably like this as well. Is it worth the watch? Well, we won’t say that it isn’t, but if you want more depth, then you should probably look elsewhere; if you want some good action-packed fun – then Mato Seihei no Slave will definitely deliver.

Score: 6/10

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