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It's pretty criminal something like this has no reviews and only 143 people have this on their lists, especially for how popular the source material supposedly is in Japan, and even more so the fact that it has an official translation.

This thing is GOOD, probably one of the best things I read in the last few years aside from Man Without Talent, and I read a lot of trash, so I mean it. It starts out pretty innocuously, but every chapter it starts to ramp up the tension, and you'll really want to read the next chapter. The length is almost perfect, you can finish ... it in one sitting. My one gripe is I wish it were a tiny bit longer.

It's a Heian-ish period court drama that drapes itself in the possibility of being a romance, and then gradually reveals itself to be an intrigue plot that weaves the worldbuilding into your experience from the point of view of the main character. The initial framing for the plot is a very simple fish out of water thing: There are four main noble houses that compete for power by marrying off their eldest daughter to the next emperor, and the story takes place during this courting event, where you are placed in the point of view of the princess of the east, called Asebi, who has a sort of naivety from being very sheltered that allows for her interactions with everyone to teach you about how the world of the court actually works; however, as the story progresses, you start to see people aren't all they seem to say they are, and that there's more going on beyond the words they speak. Each named character (and many characters, no matter how side they seem, will be named) has their own motives, often selfish, and they all end up acting in ways that affect everyone involved, for better or for worse.

I don't want to write any more because there are some genuinely interesting twists and turns throughout the story, many of which will cause you to question what each person's true motives really are in the end. It's all killer, no filler, like a tight 100 minute movie, with none of that slice of life crap, just pure plot paced in a way that will get you to read the next chapter immediately.

My only issue is perhaps the pacing of the ending, it's sort of whiplashly, but that hardly hurts the overall experience.

The art is the reason I originally read it, because the plot is from the book, so if you're reading an adaptation you want something to really draw you in on first glance. For most of the things I read, the style is very important for me, and the stuff I really like tends to be 60-70s era Gekiga or Shoujo, if just for the linework.

The linework is great in this. Each character is drawn stylistically slightly different to accentuate not just their beauty, but also their character, and the princesses are beautifully drawn with such a strong attention to detail that it paradoxically reveals and hides who they really are beyond their words.

The princess of the east is drawn in this perpetually blushing or crying state, with mostly lighter shades that give her a certain "airiness" you get from that innocent shoujo girl style.
The princess of the north is highly detailed, down to the eyelash, like a porcelain doll, with a very strong black & white contrast to accentuate her "perfect" appearance
The princess of the south is rugged and masculinely handsome, with very strong angular linework and strong attention to the sheen of her hair.
The princess of the west has a round, plumpness to her and is always drawn with a lot of varying shades of black which sort of shows her attention to her appearance and style

Every panel that features them is absolutely gorgeous, and even if you're not into the plot, you should just look at the pictures.

All of the attendants are given more plainer, lighter linework, especially the older ones, who have a sort of scratchy, mapping pen, look to them, and background characters have a more conventional look to them.

I purely rate on my personal enjoyment, so for me it's a 9, probably objectively 8-8.5 for most people. You can read it in a day. Do it.

I enjoy a lot of trash (and I have spent years of my life exclusively watching 70s super robot shows), but this was completely impossible to watch.

For three episodes nothing happens except barely animated frames of people at school, walking home, going to the computer, and then there's a fight that causes massive destruction that doesn't seem to even bother the main characters, who otherwise seem to show no emotion whatsoever.

Even worse, because all the damage goes away, there's no gravity in the fights. They're all so lifeless, only slightly affected by the possibility of their classmates or teachers disappearing when I can only assume ... thousands of people died in the first three episodes. Why does no one care about anything??????

Even the battles were terrible because no one can make low budget CG robuts look nice, you need a budget to do that. Even poorly drawn and animated robots would look more appealing if the keyframes were fine. I figured Trigger of all companies would be willing shit out half assed, but stylized animation because it was founded by Imaishi, the king of "looks great in motion, don't look at the frames," but am I asking too much in the current state of anime in 2018????????

"Anime" means animation. Not boring still frames and awkward, barely moving CG. Why is nothing animated?????????

I don't remember the music so it probably wasn't great.

Even after the novelty of Ginguiser wore off, the first three episodes contain more characterization and action outside of the actual obligatory 5 minute battle at the end of the episode to wrap everything up.

First off, I'd like to note that there might be spoilers in the story and character section due to my analysis.

Baldios and its companion movie are probably the greatest story I have ever seen. I myself own the movie in its original VHS form and watch it several times a year, it's easily one of my most treasured possessions. The movie usually gets a bad rap compared to the series, but if you look beyond the fact that the clips were thrown together rather sloppily, you can see a true masterpiece.

The movie is basically a recap of the entire series plus the true ending we ... didn't get, where justice triumphs at the end, but at a horrible price. You can't really note anything spectacular about the story of the movie as it's rushed and a majority of great scenes are cut out to make it fit the timeframe of 97 minutes. We lose many battle scenes with the great Baldios, and those that are included are spliced in rather randomly, with cuts happening without warning.
I must admit, Baldios comes off as rather cheesy, but inside, the themes run deep.
We constantly find a struggle between two people who are very similar, but different at the same time, and at one point, the line between who is good and who is bad can be blurred. As we see that the people of S-1 are human like the Earthmen, it's really hard to want any side to win as they both have the right to live on the Earth as humans.

The art is on par with the standards of 80s mecha, with the broad line strokes and the underdetailed, but seemingly detailed character designs. Once again, the art itself can seem rather cheesy, and it's very Super Robot-esque, but I guess that's what makes it so enjoyable.
The sound is quite horrible in a good way as well. The English dub is laughably cheesy and seems over dramatic at bad times. An especially good example would have to be when soldiers as shot or blown up, where they make these hilarious grunts. It really adds to the whole experience in my opinion.

Arguably the deepest part of Baldios itself is the characters and how they develop over the period of the movie. Marin is the best example of this. You can very well say he is a tragic hero and has a pure heart. He constantly stares out to the ocean and admires the clean atmosphere of the Earth, which is what he had always dreamed of and what his father would have wished for. I like to call him the original Captain Planet because he fights to protect the Earth from pollution and to keep it the blue planet it is, unlike S-1 which was polluted beyond reason. However, in the end, he still loses what he loves most.
Aphroditia (and the lighthouse as well) is an important character for the development of Marin. Their constant meetings bring them closer to one another, and Aphroditia begins to doubt what she originally believed. In addition, the lighthouse is an important theme which stems their relation.
E.x. "You remember the day at the lighthouse, Aphroditia?" "Let's go back to the lighthouse, Aphroditia."
Lastly is Gatter, who is one of the most important characters due to his standing as the primary antagonist. However, as evil as he seems, he still has a just cause. All he wished to do was give the people of S-1 a clean and safe world to inhabit, however, he was blinded by the power he had and made the one fatal mistake where we find that Earth and S-1 aren't as different as we originally thought; and thus, his seemingly noble cause ended up being nothing but a waste.

Baldios is an interesting show, where it's many themes run deep, waiting to be discovered. It is a very enjoyable movie and I hope people can give it a chance to see how great it actually is.
Overall it gets a 7 through averaging.