The Armchair Empire - Anime Reviews: Reign


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Reign: The Conqueror

Volume 1 (DVD)

It’s not often that I’m left completely speechless. Sometimes I’ll think about what I’ve seen or heard before talking, but after watching the first volume of Reign, I couldn’t even think that clearly let alone get my thoughts down on paper.

In short, Reign is mess. In a good way or a bad way? I’m still trying to sort that out.

If you’re familiar with Alexander the Great’s rise to power and conquest of a good chunk of real estate around 600AD you’ll have an idea what Reign is all about. Sort of. Reign skews history by placing the story in a futuristic setting, where the men wear clothing suiting a 21^st Century bikini models, buildings are more massive than anything before, horses are the main mode of transportation (unless you can teleport), and guns are non-existent. Reign’s style is probably the biggest obstacle to getting into the action onscreen. It’s pretty damn close to gay erotica and/or campy sci-fi from the late 1950’s, but Reign can’t decide which one it wants to be. If it weren’t for the exposed boobs, the only thing to keep you watching is the moderate amount of slaughter that goes on.

And unless you know anything about Alexander the Great you’ll probably watch and be somewhat dumbfounded. Reign assumes you know some of the stories (like the relationship between Plato and Aristotle; how oracles and advisers operated) and the myths that originated from that time. (Your best source is to pick up a copy of The Cartoon History of the Universe – it’s an invaluable resource.)

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The first four episodes of Volume 1 are somewhat connected as the main players (and a man-eating horse) are introduced. Alexander, destined to destroy the world, is an arrogant, self-absorbed twerp with a really odd relationship with his mother (who may or may not be a serpent). He’s supposed to be the protagonist – the hero – but he’s so unlikeable that you want the bastard to die or get a limb lopped off. His

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rabble of followers is a more sympathetic group, you can relate on some level, but the story is always on Alexander. The antagonistic forces also come off as more likeable than Alexander. Never once did I think, “Oh that advisor, he’s such a bad, bad guy!” I was actually rooting for the advisor! He does all sorts of despicable things, not the least of which is giving his daughter to the King after scheming the divorce of the Queen, but still, I wanted him to succeed.

There’s actually quite a bit of story and plot going on but like I said, unless you have a working knowledge of 7^th Century Greece you won’t know what’s actually going on. Episode 3 is a perfect example. It doesn’t seem to be connected to anything in the overall story and there’s no context. Why are they doing this? What the hell is going on!

Of course, this works the other way too. If you’re into your ancient history you might find a lot to like about Reign in the way it weaves “fact” and “fiction”. The story is pretty good if you can get into it.

My final dig at Reign is the incredibly long title sequence. I don’t know why DVD compilations need more than one intro. GTO and Brigadoon have relatively long title sequences as well (relative to North American standards) but I’ve always been able to overlook that for some reason – possibly because the characters are more likeable and the songs aren’t so whiney. But now that I think about it, why do they need more than one title sequence per disc?

While there are 4 volumes of Reign, the first won’t do much to hook non-fans of ancient Greece (albeit a heavily modified ancient Greece). But the parts may make a better whole, so I’m hopeful that the remaining episodes can make Reign more coherent and watchable.

- Omni

(July 20, 2003)