For fans of Tolkien’s unexplored lore concerning the kingdoms of men in The Lord of the Rings, the new anime film The War of the Rohirrim is a special treat. Unlike the live-action prequel series The Rings of Power, this story is much smaller and set in one general place in Middle-earth: the land of Rohan, and some of the surrounding regions to which it connects. While full of several Easter eggs, including some appearances from ring-obsessed Orcs, and an eleventh-hour cameo from the late Christopher Lee as the wizard Saruman the White, the film is focused on its subject matter: how and why a war erupted between Rohan and the Dunlending men of the Westmarch.
If all of that sounds complicated and deep in the weeds of the appendices of Return of the King, don’t be intimidated. The film is refreshingly simple and as its stars, Gaia Wise and Laurence Ubong Williams, tell Inverse, designed to be enjoyed as a standalone adventure.
