Happy White Day weekend
(Mira): Hello. My name is Mira. Welcome to Project Nitsuj.
(Yin-Yang): I’m Yin-Yang. What’s up?
(Mira): This week our master is busy attending to some business and will be absent so me and Yin-Yang will be reviewing today’s anime.
(Yin-Yang): That and it is the week of White Day and since it worked out so well last year why not do it again.
(Mira): And with that said today’s anime is Donten ni Warau.
(Yin-Yang): Also known as Laughing Under the Clouds when translated Donten ni Warau was an anime that came out in 2014 under the studio Dogakobo (Plastic Memories).
(Mira): It was a short and quick manga series written by Karakara-Kemuri from 2011-2014 and focuses on the lives and drama of three brothers growing up in the Meiji Era of Japan.
(Yin-Yang): Wait drama! You never said anything about drama. I’m a wolf of comedy not drama.
(Mira): Oh hush you could use a little drama in your life. Now be a good wolf, sit down, and watch the anime with me.
(Yin-Yang): Ugh~, fine.
(Mira): Good girl. I’ll give you a treat later.
(Yin-Yang): Don’t push it. Let’s get this over with and take a look at Donten ni Warau.
Opening and Ending Theme
(Mira): This anime had the pleasure of having two openings in its run. The first was “Biran no Kaze” by Ryuuji Aoki. I like the guitar riff at the beginning and the instrumental is great. The singer is okay, he sounds a bit unpolished to me. Probably should have did more takes on the song as he just sounds like he’s a little uncomfortable singing the song. Surprisingly the song sounds like something from SID.
(Yin-Yang): The second opening is “Ryuuten no Hi” by Ryuuji Aoki. This song has darker and sadder tune to it. Once again the instrumental is great here and the singer sounds a lot better this time around as you can hear the passion and emotion in his voice. Just like Mira this song sounds like something SID would sing. I wonder if Ryuuji is a close friend of theirs or a fan of their work? Out of the two openings this was favorite.
(Mira): Mine as well. The ending is “Attitude to Life” by Galneyrus. It’s a very powerful and deep song that fits the series well. The singer sounds amazing, the instrumental is fantastic and like I said before the song is powerful and deep.
(Yin-Yang): At first I didn’t like this song but as the anime went on I started to see how well it went with the anime and grew to like it a lot.
Episodes 1-4
(Mira): So the anime begins in the small village of Otsu a land cursed by the cover of dark clouds due to some prophecy. It’s the 11th year of the Meiji Era and Japan is becoming westernize building western buildings and wearing western clothes (and in today’s world the youthful westerners are trying to become more easternize. (Yin-Yang): This situation resulted in a lot of weeaboos being born). The way of the samurai is dying in Japan and anyone caught carrying a sword that isn’t a public authority will be arrested on sight. We focus on one of these samurai’s trying to escape authorities but he gets taken out by Tenka voiced by the great white tiger himself Yūichi Nakamura (Ikuto from Shugo Chara) and is escorted to prison by Tenka’s younger siblings Soramaru voiced by Yuuki Kaji (Issei from Highschool DxD. (Yin-Yang): Another white tiger) and Chutaro voiced by Tsubasa Yonaga. These three brothers are members of the Kumoh clan a clan who has been working with the authorities for generations to keep Japan safe and escort prisoners to GoKumohnjo, Japan’s largest prison and apparently Hell on Earth for anyone who walks through its doors (just think of Alcatraz only in Japan). After that we just spend the rest of the episode focusing on the boys and getting an idea of who they are. We find out that their parents died of tuberculosis leaving Tenka the new head of the family. Even though their parents are dead the boys are dedicated to their family legacy and are still energetic people. We see that Tenka is a little eccentric in that he cares deeply for his brothers and wants their affection always that he’ll go as far as spying on Chutaro at school just because he was acting strange (scene here: //youtu.be/WZtv4ShxWwc, (Yin-Yang): Apparently he’s the funny brother). Soramaru is the middle child who’s very serious about his training and just wants to be acknowledged by Tenka as someone he can rely on (the serious brother. Never thought I see this VA being the serious one). Finally, Chutaro is the youngest one who is rather respectful to everyone around him and follows his brothers accordingly (and he’s the normal one). There’s also Shirasu a freeloader voiced by Takahiro Sakurai (Suzaku from Code Geass) who acts as a servant of the Kumoh family. Other than learning more about the brothers we see them fight against a group of samurais trying to escape. Tenka takes down a large group of them while Soramaru tries to defeat another samurai where even though he’s the better fighter the experience of the samurai gets the better of him and he gets caught off guard and saved by Tenka. We end the episode with Soramaru feeling bad about his failure but Tenka telling him to cry and get it over with then become stronger.
Episode 2 starts us off at the doctor’s place where the boys are getting treatment. It’s here that we learn that Soramaru doesn’t like people touching his neck as it gives him flashbacks of his past to his parents dying (he saw the death of his parents. Talk about nightmare fuel). Chutaro tries to play a joke by tickling Soramaru’s neck but it backfires and makes Chutaro believe that Soramaru is angry at him (I can understand that, that was a pretty nasty prank). We also learn more about Shirasu by finding out that he’s a ninja (Yin-Yang: He just got more attractive) who Tenka saved. After Tenka gets his treatment he is informed that a ruthless criminal named Naoto is in the area and is planning on killing the emperor by forming an army with the criminals in GoKumohnjo. Sure enough we see Naoto try to take advantage of Chutaro’s innocent naïve nature (that’s is so low even for a criminal) to take him to GoKumohnjo by himself but Soramaru comes back to the temple and fights Naoto pretending to be Tenka (Yin-Yang: I know you aspire to be like him but don’t try to become him kid). Speaking of Tenka, he tries to get back to the temple but is stopped by members of Yamainu the army of the emperor. We find out later that Tenka use to be a member of the group until he and the current captain Sosei no Sosei had a disagreement with each other and went their separate ways. Tenka fights his way through the soldiers with ease using his fan (deadliest weapon ever) and the commander makes the mistake of talking about Tenka’s family which angers him and he knocks him out with ease (big mistake). Back on Soramaru’s fight he has a hard time fighting Naoto who we find out is looking for the Orochi Vessel (Yin-Yang: Whatever that is). Shirasu comes in to fight Naoto where he does a better job fighting (Soramaru is really going down the totem pole isn’t he?) and once Tenka arrives they manage to beat Naoto but he refuses to stay down and gets back up only to get taken out again by Sosei and his men who came to personally apologize to Tenka for having one of his men act without consent. They take Naoto into custody and leave. The episode ends with us finding out that Chutaro’s teacher is also looking for the Orochi Vessel as Tenka and Sosei. Tenka wants to protect the vessel while Sosei wants to break it (Yin-Yang: And I want to see it).
In episode 3 Soramaru overhears Tenka’s conversation with Botan (Chutaro’s teacher) who happens to be looking for the Orochi Vessel as well (and disguising yourself as a teacher was going to help you how?). Soramaru wants to know more about this Orochi Vessel but Tenka wanting to keep his younger sibling from carrying the burden he carries plays it off and tells Soramaru nothing (Yin-Yang: You can’t protect him forever you. . .you. . .God his voice is so hot). At a party Soramaru goes to meet Sosei in the hopes that he’ll train him in the ways of the sword (uh weren’t you paying attention last episode he hates your brother why would he train you?) but Sosei says no and kicks him out. But one of Sosei’s men tells him that Sosei is investigating some dealings going down in GoKumohnjo and says that if Soramaru goes undercover and gets the information for them it would help him greatly (Yin-Yang: Yeah because I totally trust the mask wearing Chinese geezer). So the next day Soramaru sneaks into GoKumohnjo under disguise (not telling the guards about any of this. That would have helped him out greatly. Come on, you’re literally walking into hell it might be a good idea to get the demons on your side) and literally sees hell where the prisoners are treated as slaves and work all day with torture here and there (Yin-Yang: Are you sure you’re not talking about Walmart or Microsoft’s X-Box division?). Soramaru eventually finds what he’s looking for, one of the prisoners has been having the other prisoners bring him popping flowers (I hear those things are popping, //youtu.be/SfOkA_UvYW0. What? How could you not laugh at that? (Yin-Yang): Just stick to analyzing and I’ll make the jokes and puns). Soramaru goes to the prisoner running the operation where he begins to freak out because apparently this is the guy responsible for killing his parents (and to think he was right under your nose the whole time). Meanwhile, Tenka quickly figures out where Soramaru went and since he’s in no condition to go rescue Soramaru himself he begs Shirasu to save him and after changing into a sexy ninja outfit (I want him so much right now. (Yin-Yang): Back off he’s mine. (Mira): Hey you have Tenka it’s either the good-looking big brother with the sexy voice, the sexy ninja servant, or nothing. Choose your pick. (Yin-Yang):. . .Give me the big brother with the sexy voice. But I also want the littlest brother as well I see some potential in him plus he’s so cute and well-mannered. (Mira): Very well but I get the sexy ninja and the stubborn but hot middle child. Anyone after that we will talk it out. (Yin-Yang): Deal. *Mira and Yin-Yang shake hands* (Mira): Good, now do the next three episodes).
(Yin-Yang): Episode 4 opens up with Soramaru still freaking out and attacking the masked man where he fights back causing himself to pass out. During this time we see that the masked man did in fact kill Soramaru’s parents and it was Tenka who protected him from the attacker. After regaining consciousness he reawakes in another cell where one of the wardens (who I’m not sure is a girl or boy) figures out who he really is and promises to keep his identity a secret from the other wardens and prisoners (Mira: Seeing as well every prisoner probably wants to kill him) since she (or he) wants to also take revenge on the masked man since he’s responsible for killing her (or his) clan (man the guy has quite the resume. No wonder he got thrown in GoKumohnjo). Just then an explosion happens and prisoners use this to try and escape but little do they know this explosion was caused by Shirasu who uses the prison break to get Soramaru and sneak out (ahh, ninja tactic 12: Using your enemies as an attraction to complete your mission. A classic maneuver). Before leaving Soramaru goes to face the masked man again where he says he won’t kill him (Mira: That a boy Soramaru) and instead punches him so that the masked man won’t forget who he is (my name is Kumoh. Soramaru fucking Kumoh) and he tells the warden not to let revenge control her (or his) life but to instead laugh often and smile a lot (that’s a lesson I can get behind). Once Soramaru and Shirasu return they’re greeted by Tenka wearing an open robe with his manhood standing out (tissues. I require tissues immediately). He beats him up and they return to the temple where Tenka tells Soramaru to stay away from Yaimanu and Soramaru tells Tenka he wants him to rely on him more. Stop carrying the burden himself and let his brothers help him. This of course results in a funny scene happening and that scene only to get overshadowed by Shirasu who explains that the masked man is from his clan and the one responsible for killing his clan (geez this is evil. I’m surprise he’s not the main villain of the show. He pretty much screwed all of them over big time). Shirasu tried to avenge his clan but failed and was left to die where Tenka found and saved him (Mira: And the story you know from there). We end the episode with the brothers sleeping in the same room together like they did when they were children to welcome back Soramaru.
Episodes 5-8
Episode 5 starts with us finding out that the warden who helped Soramaru is actually a girl and not just any girl but a ninja who is also a survivor from Shirasu’s clan. She approaches Shirasu calling him chief and telling him that she knows where the man is who destroyed their clan (he’s chained up in a jail cell experimenting with opium. Come on, let’s get them while he’s high as a kite) but Shirasu says to just move on with her life and not worry about it. After that we get some exposition about the Orochi Vessel which serves as the revival of the Orochi. The Orochi fuses his spirit with that of a human and slowly begins to consume that human until the human finally turns into the Orochi (Mira: And then the goddess Amaterasu descends from the Heavens in the form of a wolf and with the help of an annoying talking bug and a magic brush she manages to defeat the Orochi). Soramaru goes to give Sosei his report about GoKumohnjo which helps Sosei’s investigation greatly and he agrees to train Soramaru in the ways of the sword. It finally gets revealed that Tenka is the Orochi and is slowly becoming the Orochi (no surprise there. (Mira): Yeah it was kind of obvious). Tenka gets taken away by the government offscreen with the boys finding out about the Orochi and being shocked by it.
Episode 6 is the saddest episode in the series (what the hell do you have me watching!? You know my stick is comedy and nothing else). Tenka has been sentenced to execution as the Orochi vessel under the disguise of causing that huge explosion at GoKumohnjo. As Tenka is being led to his hanging Soramaru and Chutaro fight their way to see their brother and they’re not the only ones who showed up to stop the execution, the townsfolk are there as well voicing their outrage at Tenka’s execution and demanding that he be spared (Mira: It’s a very moving scene). Tenka is shocked to see all of this and smiles telling everyone that he’s sorry that he’s leaving before them, says how much he loved Soramaru and Chutaro, and how having them as his little brothers was his greatest joy in life (oh man, the tears, they’re coming). And just like how we first met him he leaves us with a smile on his face and goes to his death where he is hung (scene here: //youtu.be/Qn5nowPKJTU, *Yin-Yang begins to cry* My white tiger~).
(Mira): Well it looks like I’ll be taking over for a while. Episode 7 is just a filler episode showing us the past and how the ancestor of the boys helped seal away the Orochi all those years ago. In all honesty this episode should have just been an OVA instead of an actual episode it totally takes away from the series especially after the heartbreaking moment we had to endure last episode. I was hoping they would continue with that story. The only thing of value worth taking away from this episode is that Botan isn’t human she’s actually a demon who’s been serving the Sosei family for centuries performing her duty to stop the Orochi at all cost.
Episode 8 returns us back to the main story where we are still feeling the effects of Tenka’s death (Yin-Yang: WAHHHHHHHHHHHH~! I love you, Tenka~! (Mira): Some of us more than others). Ever since he died it’s been raining nonstop in the village of the boys (even the heavens moan the loss of the white tiger. That or they’re weeping with joy since they got a white tiger up in Heaven now). We see that Soramaru has a hard time dealing with the death of Tenka as does Chutaro. It even gets to the point that Soramaru decides to stop going to practice with Sosei who’s also pretty sad that his best friend is dead but putting on the tough loner act refuses to show it to anyone (aww Sosei don’t act so tsundere. Just let it out. Embrace the bromance within you). One day when Soramaru is out walking looking for Chutaro he discovers that warden girl a few episodes back (okay can we give the girl a name already?) injured on the side of the road. He brings her back to the temple where they treat her wounds and when she’s alone with Shirasu she asks him once again if he has any intention to rebuild their clan and once again he says no. The warden girl tries to stay by his side asking to be his follower but Shirasu says he has no need for an unfledged ninja like her (Yin-Yang: Ouch that was harsh. (Mira): Oh you’re back. How are you feeling? (Yin-Yang): Better, but it still hurts to think about it). The police arrive at the temple telling them that a prisoner has escaped into the woods and they want Soramaru’s help in catching him. He agrees to help and as he’s searching the warden girl appears before him still wounded and half-naked (I was wondering how they would work in the fanservice for this anime) asking Soramaru if she can do anything to help (yes, go back home and rest). The warden girl begins to talk about her past and how she failed to become a full-fledged ninja of Shirasu’s clan. We find out that children are trained at an early age in the art of assassination and the final trail they go through is kill someone close to them and be locked up in confinement for days slowly going crazy and having their black hair and eyes transform into beautiful white hair and gorgeous purple eyes (okay as cool and disturbing as this is I have to question the science of this transformation). Unfortunately during her trial the warden girl couldn’t take it and backed out of it resulting in half her hair turning white and one of her eyes turning purple as a reminder to everyone and herself that she is not a true ninja. After the story the escapee comes out and attacks them (Yin-Yang: Dude! We were having a moment). During the fight Soramaru realizes that he and the warden girl aren’t that different from each other, just two people who haven’t realized their true potential yet but at the same time shouldn’t wallow in their misery and move on with their lives. After beating the escaped prisoner Soramaru carries the warden girl back to the temple where he makes her a maid at the temple giving her the name Nishiki (finally), resumes his training with Sosei, and becomes the next head of his family.
In episode 9 after getting into an argument with Soramaru in the last episode Chutaro runs out on him where he runs into Naoto who somehow escaped prison and is back on the streets (how he’d pull that off? (Yin-Yang): Ninja. (Mira): That tells me nothing. (Yin-Yang): Doesn’t have to. Once you’re a ninja you can get in and out of anywhere you want). Naoto manipulates the innocent Chutaro into believing that Tenka was murdered by the country and convinces him to avenge Tenka by killing and he decides to do it (wow, he went over to the dark side quick. He did it even faster than Darth Vader. Give him credit he at least hesitated at first and had doubts). You want even more shocking news? It turns out that Tenka wasn’t the Orochi’s Vessel, he was an artificial vessel created by another prefectural squad (Yin-Yang: Wait! Are you saying these idiots killed my white tiger for nothing? (Mira): It appears that way, yes. (Yin-Yang): Son of a bitch). Sosei figures this out and sends his right hand man Takamine to investigate the Shigo prefectural who are responsible for executing Tenka (Yin-Yang: Good now I know who I have to kill) where he finds a building deep within the mountains and gets attacked by an unknown shadowy figure on his way back and falls into a coma. Sosei also has another member of his force named Ashiya a powerful mage go to investigate GoKumohnjo believing that something is a mist in the prison and sure enough he’s right. We get a glimpse into the prison where we see the fox mask wearing opium guy is controlling the guards and taking over the prison (wow, and all he needed was a bag of opium. He’s good). Near the end of the episode Soramaru figures out that it was him who attacked Takamine and that he’s the real Orochi’s Vessel (Yin-Yang: The twists just keep on coming). But the biggest twist of all is after the credits. While Shirasu and Boton are looking for Chutaro, Boton tells Shirasu that she’s figured out a way to separate Orochi from the vessels once and for all. She says that 300 years ago when the sealing of the Orochi happened he swallowed the sealing as well as the swords of the Kumoh family. The swords were later retrieved and now she believes that the key to killing Orochi once and for all lays within the swords (excellent detective work). Shirasu attacks Boton after hearing all of this because it turns out he’s a traitor who serves Orochi and wants him to revive (why? Don’t you know he’s going to destroy the world and everyone in it?).
(Yin-Yang): So it turns out in episode 10 Shirasu is a traitor who not only betrayed his friends but is actually the head of his clan the Fumo clan. We find out that the Fumo clan has been serving the Orochi for years but there were some who opposed the whole resurrection of the Orochi within the clan (oh good so there were sane people in the clan) and were killed off by the hands of Shirasu. Shirasu than snuck into the Kumoh clan to learn their secrets and protect the Orochi (ingenious. As a fellow ninja I am pleased. (Mira): Yeah, I’m impressed. Why is my white tiger a traitor!?). Botan tries to fight him but she’s no match for him and gets saved by Hirai’s descendent a one-armed man who I have no idea who his name is (Mira: Weren’t you paying attention? (Yin-Yang): Alright Ms. Smartypants why don’t you tell us what his is. (Mira): My pleasure it’s. . .it’s. . .just continue the review you damn wolf). While that’s going on back in Gokumohnjo the fox masked man reveals himself to be Kotoro the younger twin brother of Shirasu (alright twins I call the evil younger brother). He’s eliminated all of the guards and has all the prisoners hooked on opium (Prisoner: *scratches his body* I’ll suck your dick for a hint of opium bossman) making them his obedient servants and they all escape GoKumohnjo (really? How the hell do you miss over a hundred people escaping a prison?). Soramaru figures out he’s the Orochi’s vessel and tries to kill himself but the Orochi won’t let him so he goes to Sosei and begs him to kill him (Mira: There you go Sosei you get to make your wish come true). But Sosei says no because he’s grown to like Soramaru (aww he cares for his student) and instead wants to save Soramaru instead of kill him (and he can start now by defending Soramaru from the Fumo clan who are outside the front door of his office building (Mira: Oh how the hell did they not notice a bunch of white-haired purple-eyed ninjas surround their place? (Yin-Yang): Ninjas. (Mira): You know you can’t answer every question with the word Ninja, it’s not the answer to all of life’s problems. (Yin-Yang): Can, will, and is). Shirasu and Kotoro capture Soramaru as well as his swords and Chutaro is somewhere in the mountains near his village with that Naoto guy still wanting revenge. And finally, just when you think all is lost just when you think all of our characters are screwed hope comes and it comes in the form of a man we all thought was dead, Tenka (my white tiger lives~).
(Mira): Okay so we find out in episode 11 that when Tenka was younger he received a fatal injury protecting Soramaru when Shirasu came to kill his parents. The scientist of Japan saved him by giving him the Orochi’s poison which has amazing healing powers but will also turn him into an artificial vessel. Before he was about to executed the scientist decided to keep him alive because they felt they could still study him more (Yin-Yang: That and it would be such a shame to lose a white tiger). Once Tenka finds out what’s happening he busts out of the lab and goes to save his brother (gone for 4 episodes and look what happens the whole world has gone to hell). We then go to the Fuma clan where the Orochi has taken over Soramaru’s body completely and wants to destroy the country (at times like this I wish we could call on Amateratsu no Okami to deal with him. (Yin-Yang): We don’t need her you got me. (Mira): And that’s what worries me the most). The Yaminau track them down and fight them hoping to save Soramaru and return him to normal. Nishiki infiltrates the Fuma clan pretending to be loyal to them when in reality she’s still on Soramaru’s side and wants to bring him back (back off sister he’s mine). She retrieves the Kumoh swords and escapes with Yaminau covering her. Chutaro comes to his senses and says he doesn’t want revenge anymore. He gets saved by his tanuki pet who transforms into a giant tanuki (Yin-Yang: I was hoping it would fly in the sky and collect coins) and reunites with Botan and Nishiki where they tell him to take the swords and lure the Orochi underneath GoKumohnjo where they plan to have the Orochi pop up in Kyoto and expose him to the sunlight believing that’s his weakness since he’s always reborn in an area where the sun doesn’t shine. He does this but runs into a dead end where they Orochi corners him and he gets saved by Tenka.
(Yin-Yang): In the final episode Chutaro uses the family swords to remove the Orochi from Soramaru and bring him back to his senses where he’s both shocked and happy to see Tenka (yeah so is everyone else). Despite the Orochi getting removed from Soramaru’s body it still gets resurrected back into the world and proceeds to go on a rampage destroying everything. Sosei hands Soramaru his family sword and Tenka tells Soramaru that he is the only one who can defeat the Orochi (who is missing about 7 heads) once and for all. Soramaru heads out with Chutaro and Rakucho (a rookie serving under Sosei who develops a rivalry and friendship with Soramaru) to defeat the Orochi while Tenka and Sosei go to confront Shirasu and his army. Kotoro grabs Tenka and Sosei and sacrifices himself to Orochi hoping to kill them but they survive and just get half their bodies burned (Mira: I knew they were hot but not hot to burn their skin). The Yamainu becomes exhausted and outnumbered by the ninja clan and the prisoners where they get saved by the townsfolk who despite carrying pick axes and forks fair off well against the ninjas and prisoners (yeah I’m gonna call bullshit on that). Soramaru, Chutaro and Rakucho stab the Orochi in its three eyes (Mira: The creators of this show do know dragons only have 2 eyes right?) and this destroys it once and for all (wow that was fairly easy. Why didn’t they do this at the beginning of the series?). With the Orochi defeated and losing everything Shirasu commits suicide by falling off a cliff to his death (Mira: Damn it!). The anime ends with everyone having a party at the Kumoh shrine and the clouds finally lifting over the village and sun shining down on all of them.
Final Thoughts
(Yin-Yang): So that was Donten ni Warau. From the perspective of a person who hasn’t read the series at all I didn’t find myself enjoying it all that much. The way they describe this series was like a deep psychological view on what’s right and what’s wrong with the boys capturing different criminals that would shape or alter their thoughts on right wrong. Instead we get this fast-paced drama where they don’t take the time to get us invested in the characters or their situation and leaves out a number of things that create loose ends and many questions left unresolved once the series is over. The boys are good as you really do come to love the brotherly love they share with each other but I just wished they added more to their personalities. Tenku is good. He’s the whacky big brother who keeps the family together by making them laugh and taking on their burdens do that they can continue to smile. It’s quite admirable. Soramaru is okay. His only trait is that he has an inferiority complex with Tenku and wants him as well as everyone else to be seen as his equal. Which is understandable. But could we do more with his personality and character? Chutaro really serves no purpose throughout the anime. He doesn’t do anything and just follows his older brothers around telling them how cool and awesome they are. Besides that he contributes nothing to the anime. You could write him out and the anime wouldn’t change at all. The rest of the cast is even worst as we never get a chance to establish these characters because the story moves so fast thus we can never get invested into their characters and they just come across as plot devices. The only thing that got a shock out of me was Shirasu being the main villain but that’s only because it comes out of nowhere, is unexpected, and really wasn’t explained as well as it could have been. Overall I really didn’t find myself enjoying this anime. How about you Mira?
(Mira): As a fan of the series I too found the anime to be a letdown. The story is solid and very good but just like you said it’s rushed and fast-paced. The anime really would have benefited if it had 24 episodes as this anime tried to cover a 6 volume manga in 12 episodes. Not the best idea. Because of this the anime is poorly put together and leaves you lost at a lot of moments. The animation is nothing special but the music in this series is amazing. That’s the one thing everyone loves about this anime. The music is amazing. Also, you have to admit the funny moments are funny and the dramatic moments are dramatic. When the series wants you to laugh you laugh when it want you to try you cry. I wouldn’t exactly call this series one of the all-time greats but it is a series that took it’s time and got you emotionally involved in the characters, the story, and it’s setting. Too bad it didn’t translate well to the anime.
Final Score
(Yin-Yang): My final score for this anime is a 4/10. Didn’t enjoy it all that much and didn’t really explore some aspects I was hoping to see.
(Mira): My final score is a 6/10. As a fan I won’t say it’s a total disaster but it’s not a series that translated well into an anime due to poor pacing. So the average score for this anime is a 5/10. Again, if the anime had more episodes and explored more of the ideas of right and wrong it would have made for an interesting series but unfortunately it didn’t do this. I suggest checking out the manga, it’s much better and way more interesting than the anime. Not to mention it’s a good read.
(Yin-Yang): Thanks for reading, happy White Day weekend and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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