Dated 18 May 2014: Hitsugi no Chaika is much better than I had hoped even though it turns out Chaika talks like Wilhelmina Carmel's head thingy
See also Sena's head thingy from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.
Ground-floor book readers aside, I don't think many people knew what to expect of Hitsugi no Chaika. I was vaguely interested because I heard it was about a retired soldier who develops an unlikely partnership with a young girl. I did have my reservations when I learned the "retired" soldier was only 20, but a young veteran still sounded like a more compelling protagonist than yet another middle school schmuck or stupid high school spud.
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