From the anime publisher Sentai Filmworks and Section23 Films comes the second chapter of the Madhouse anime adaptation of Keiichi Sigsawa’s light novel series, Allison & Lillia.
Now as the name implies the series is focused on the children of the main cast of characters from the first part of the series, taking place around fifteen years after Allison, Wil, Carr and Fiona had their adventures. After ending the longtime war between Sol Beil and Roxche, restoring Fiona’s family to power in Ikstova and dealing with an attack on a train that involved Allison’s dad the first series cast take a backseat to the new generation of Lillia, Allison and Wil’s daughter and Treize, Carr and Fiona’s son.
Much like their parents Lillia and Treize meet up during Lillia’s break from school as they travel around to different countries for vacation, and just like their parents they have a knack for getting caught up in conspiracies and assassination attempts. While they really don’t have as grand of an adventure as the first generation did they definitely have a great journey that is interesting to watch as they save a plane full of children, help rescue Treize’s parents from kidnappers and find that traveling by train is just as hazardous as it was for their parents.
All of this is also happening while Treize does his best to keep the fact that he is a prince hidden from Lillia and he tries to work up the courage to tell her that he is in love with her. If Treize doesn’t manage to confess his love for Lillia before he turns twenty it will be too late as he made and agreement with his parents that he would marry the Sol Beil princess instead, which is what his twin sister, Merielle, is hoping for.
The story for the second generation is really an entertaining one and with many of the characters from the first part making a return it really adds a bit of enjoyment for the fans of the series to see those characters again. While the adventures aren’t as exciting it is still a lot of fun to watch the drama unfold between the two main characters and also to see how things have changed throughout the world in the years that have past, even though it appears that the end of the war between Roxche and Sol Beil is still causing problems for innocent people throughout both empires.
Visually the series looks great, the characters are all well designed and the grown up looks of the first generation cast was nice to see, though it was kind of sad to see that there weren’t as many dogfights or variations of planes as the first part of the series had. The combat and other action scenes were all really smooth and had nice flow. The Japanese voice cast also did very well with their characters and this time around the male lead had a better voice actor which was nice to hear. The subtitles were all clear and easy to read as well, while also staying on screen long enough to finish reading.
The box art features Lillia on the cover with different planes in the background and has a look that resembles a manga cover more than anime box art, but it is a nice touch. The on-disc features include the clean opening and ending as well as trailers for other Sentai Filmworks anime. Both themes for the series are slower paced songs that really do fit the mood of the series well.
All-in-all Allison and Lillia is a great series that is full of action and a serious war filled story that has just the right amount of comedy to keep it from feeling too dramatic. The second generation continues to focus on issues that are connected to the war and the problems that occurred immediately after its end, but it did feel like it had a little bit less action, though the romantic side of the story felt a little bit better than the first.
The main cast from the first part really work well as the supporting cast of the second and it helped the story a lot, though leaving out Treize’s sister, Merielle, from the main cast kind of felt like they were leaving out a character that could have added something to the story. Another potential issue was the lack of English voice over options, although the Japanese cast was great so it really didn’t hurt things that much.
Fans of the first series and those who enjoy a good action series that focuses on the after effects of a war, like Pumpkin Scissors, will likely find this series one worth picking up.
Score
4.5 Out of 5
Allison & Lillia Gen 2
Publisher: Sentai Filmworks
Number of Episodes: 13
Runtime: 325 minutes
Number of Discs: 2 DVD
Languages: Japanese with English subtitles
Age Rating: TV 14
Release Date: July 12th, 2011
(A review copy of Allison & Lillia Gen 2 was provided by Sentai Filmworks.)
