Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. It’s August and it’s time to start a new arc. Welcome to the Underrated arc. Throughout the month of August I’ll be taking a look at animes that a lot of fans overlooked, didn’t receive the attention it deserved, or don’t get talked about as much as they should. To start the month off strong we’re taking a look at the original anime, 91 Days. Released in 2016, this was an original anime directed by Hiro Kaburagi and written by Taku Kishimoto. It was produced by Shuka who up until this point didn’t do anything noteworthy aside from Durarara S2. The anime marketed itself as a crime drama/thriller about revenge during the Prohibition years of America. When the anime came out it received positive reviews by both critics and fans but since the anime ended nobody really talks about it and I think that’s a shame. I’ll admit I don’t think it’s a masterpiece, but I do think the anime deserves to be talked about and remembered more. Next to Baccano it’s the only anime I can think of that tackles a gritty mobster storyline and does it correctly. Let’s see what you’re willing to sacrifice in the name of revenge. This is 91 Days.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening for this anime is “Signal” by TK. This was one of my favorite openings from 2016 and after all these years it’s still a great song. TK’s subtle voice along with the dark and gritty music and images create such a great contrast with each other, but it fits so well with this anime. It’s like he’s trying to sing a lullaby to a child to distract them from the harsh reality and images going on around them. It’s an opening that gives me goosebumps to this day and has me hanging on every word TK sings.
For the ending we have “Rain or Shine” by Elisa. This ending was also great. I do regret not talking about this ending in the past because it’s really good. The song fits the era of the anime perfectly. Aside from ‘la la la’ this song really has no lyrics because it doesn’t need them. The melody and tone of the song convey the emotions of what’s going on perfectly that lyrics would just get in the way and spoil the song for you.
Episodes 1-4
So the anime opens up in the Prohibition years of America (definitely feeling that Baccano nostalgia) where we focus on a kid named Angelo voiced by Takashi Kondō (Akuto from Demon King Daimao) and his family enjoying his birthday party. His dad comes home late and once he arrives so too does the mafia where we find out Angelo’s dad is associated with a mob family known as the Orco Family and the don has been killed (we made him an offer he couldn’t refuse and he refused). They want something from Angelo’s dad but he refuses to hand it over to them so they attack Angelo’s mom and little brother Luce (you were expecting him to be a girl weren’t you?). The dad tries to fight them but they shoot him as well as the mother and Luce leaving Angelo the only member of his family to survive (scene here: https://youtu.be/myK2GRpQjP8. Man, worst birthday ever). He manages to escape the house and runs to his good friend’s house Corteo voiced by Sōma Saitō (Tatsumi from Akame ga Kill) for safety. The next day he leaves and returns to his home to see it burnt down and then leaves the town for safety. We fast forward 7 years later and Angelo has returned now going under the name Avilio Bruno (that’s a pretty cool name) and has reunited with Corteo who is now a bootlegger. Angelo wants Corteo to go into business with the mob and he begrudgingly agrees to do it (Corteo: I’m only doing this because I like your new name). They go to a place known as The Island which serves as the hotspot for the city’s lowlifes where they try to sell their bootleg liquor (we call it, Redneck’s backwash) but Fango a member of the mob comes in looking for Nero, son of the don, saying he stole booze from them. Angelo pretends to be him where a fight breaks out and the two escape with other bootleggers who happen to be the ones who stole the booze from the mafia and one of them reveals himself to be Nero (scene here: https://youtu.be/Hp0W3uIVf_s).
Episode 2 opens up at a wedding banquet where Nero’s sister Fio is marrying Ronaldo the nephew of another mob family known as the Galassias. We see that the Galassias are the more powerful mob family while Nero’s family the Vanettis and Orcos are the weaker families not on the best of terms with each other but Galassia wants them not to kill each other (not unless there’s money to be made off their deaths). In order to get in good with the Galassia family and preserve the existence of the Vanetti family, Nero’s dad has his daughter marry into the Galassia family (a very common thing back in the Prohibition years). Later on, Nero, his good friend Vanno (from last episode) and a few of his men want to get revenge on Fango by killing him but can’t since this would spark a gang war among the families so they ask Angelo to do it which he agrees to do. He goes to kill Fango while he’s doing S&M play with his chunky mistress (she’s the S and he’s the M. Surprisingly I’m not shocked by this). They have a shootout with Fango escaping but with the help of Vanno he does manage to catch Serpente a hitman for the Orco family who Vanno wants to kill because he killed Tronco a good friend of his. While Vanno and Tronco were making a liquor run they had to hide after spotting a car which belonged to the Orco family. Believing the car was a police car they got out, hid the car, and hid themselves where Serpente killed Tronco and Vanno barely escaped unnoticed. Vanno takes Serpente to the grave of Tronco where he tells him to pray but instead he just cries begging for his life (geez I didn’t know the great Serpente was such a bitch. This is Light from Death Note embarrassing here). Vanno kills him right in front of Tronco’s grave and then Angelo comes out and kills Vanno because he along with Nero and Vincent (Nero’s dad) are the ones who killed his family. After the credits we see Angelo tell Nero a fake story of Vanno’s death and he wants to see where it happened. He takes them to the grave where we see Vanno’s body is there but Serpente’s body is gone (what the fuck?).
In episode 3 Nero tells Angelo to find Serpente’s body or he’ll kill him. After a quick interrogation of Cerotto a bartender in the bootleg game who was there the night Angelo tried to kill Fango, he confesses that he sold Serpente’s body to Scusa a member of the Federal Prohibition Office who wants to sell the body to the Vannetis in order to clear their name (it’s a little confusing but basically everyone is going with one of two stories. One, Vanno and Serpente killed each other. Plain and simple. Two, someone from the Vanneti family killed Serpente in cold blood and if so that’s all the Orcos need to start a war. Either way, we got two dead bodies. One of them is missing and somebody has to answer for this). Angelo goes to retrieve the body where Nero also shows up following a tip and they both see the dead body of Serpente (he’s even more ugly dead). Fango and a member of the Orco family follow Nero and go into the building believing Serpente is still alive and is being held captured by Nero. They go in holding a friend of Nero hostage and arrange a trade with Angelo posing as Serpente and Fango somehow not being able to tell the difference between the two (wow, camaraderie be damned). A fight scene breaks out between the parties where Angelo and Nero escape and Fango sees the dead body of Serpente believing Nero killed him and he uses this to instigate a war between the two families. Since Nero is the suspect for killing Serpente he’s told to leave the city for the time being and Angelo offers to go with him (to keep him company and to kill him in his sleep).
In episode 4 a week has passed since Angelo and Nero left Lawless and as they travel they come to an auto camp where they perform for some orphans (that’s pretty nice of them). Nero does a juggling act for them (it was a big deal back then) and Angelo does a magic/comedy act by pickpocketing Nero. At night Nero talks about his first act as a mobster (which was killing Angelo’s family for those of you who forgot) where he says there was a fourth person at the house with them (now he has to kill some random guy he knows nothing about). The next day they arrive in a town where Nero phones home and finds out a hitman is after them (a huge goliath of a man all the way from Mexico). While Angelo gets groceries Nero hits the underground bar (man that sounds cool) where that Mexican hitman shows up (como esta bitches?) and begins beating up Nero after beating him in an arm wrestling contest. Angelo comes in to save him and then Nero kicks him in the balls to escape (ain’t even Christmas and we’re already cracking nuts). Once outside they hit the super Mexican with their car (geez GTA: Prohibition edition) which doesn’t kill him and instead destroys their car (geez, what is guy made out of, bricks?). Forced to go on foot they run into the night and hide out in a barn where that super Mexican attacks them again where he gets shot and stabbed in the back with a machete. Believing they’ve killed him they take their leave where the owner of the barn stops them with a shotgun (and with this I think it’s safe to say we’re in Kentucky). He doesn’t shoot them but he does shoot super Mexican a couple of times killing him for good (good God this guy wouldn’t die. He got hit by a car, shot at, stabbed, and shot again yet still tried to kill his targets. That was one dedicated hitman). The episode ends with Angelo and Nero on the road again this time using a horse carriage to travel (it’s better than walking).
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 Nero makes a call home where he finds out there’s going to be a truce between his family and the Orco family meaning they can come back to town (boy that was a short road trip). Before returning to town Nero shows Angelo the Lodge, Nero’s secret moonshine factory where Corteo is there producing his moonshine now known as Lawless Heaven for the mob (you couldn’t ask for a better partner in the moonshine business). Nero and Angelo return to the family household where they try to kill Nero because there’s a few conditions for the truce to take effect. One, Fango has to be killed (why? No idea, but when you got an unpredictable bomb that can go off at any second you want to get rid of it as soon as possible) and Nero has to be killed as well (a life for a life for a truce) because the Galassia family want Frate, Nero’s brother, to take over the family seeing as how Vincent is slowly dying from sickness. They escape but one of Nero’s allies got shot near the shoulder and he’s in terrible condition, unless he gets medical treatment soon he might not make it. Angelo, Nero, and his men are holed up in an undisclosed location with all their exits being blocked off and they can’t go to a doctor on account of they’ll tip them off. With no other options Angelo makes the suggestion that they seek shelter on the Island (they would ask the eagles for help but they won’t be around for another 20-30 years) which is under Fango’s rule but Nero says he has no intention of working with that madman who killed his friend. Since Nero is listening to his pride and won’t take the necessary steps to save everyone Angelo and Corteo do it for him. They make a daring journey to the Island where Angelo works out a deal with Fango who wants to take over the Orco family but can’t get to the head of the family so Angelo lies to him and tells him that Nero has a plan to get to him. Fango believes this and agrees to help them out however he’s keeping Angelo as a hostage while Corteo is Nero’s hostage (I don’t get it either but just go with it).
So in episode 6 Nero manages to get on Fango’s good side and Angelo comes up with a plan to kill Don Orco. First, he needs a chicken (my man, for real?). After that Angelo and Nero go to meet Don Orco at his restaurant where they say he’ll give him Lawless Heaven in exchange for safety (not a bad trade). Don Orco accepts the offer and they take him to the Lodge where Angelo tries to see if Don Orco was the one who sent him the letter about the people who murdered his family but he says no so Angelo decides to play both sides by telling Don about the people who killed his family hoping to earn Don’s trust. After the Orcos inspect the Lodge for safety, Don Orco goes inside to see the brewery where they hear something and begin shooting up the whiskey (dude, what the fuck?! You’re destroying the merchandise! That’s some good whiskey! I don’t even drink and even I’m pissed at what they’re doing. You might as well be taking a piss in his pool). Nero’s men come out and begin attacking the Orcos where in the heat of the moment Angelo shoots Nero (2 down. 2 to go) earning Don Orco’s trust (scene here: https://youtu.be/K27ou7h0QZQ). They have a drink to their new friendship where we see Angelo spits out the drink and knocks Don Orco out. Don Orco wakes back up in the presence of Fango, Angelo, and Nero who’s still alive. How you ask, chicken (that’s the answer for everything. That and potatoes). Fango kills Don Orco and takes over the Orco family renaming it the Fango Family and feeds the remains of Orco to the executives of the family (scene here: https://youtu.be/RZAtj127wuU, he’s so messed up).
In episode 7 Angelo and Nero turn their attention to Frate and Ronaldo. We see how Frate is slowly becoming Ronaldo’s puppet (I could be wrong but I think he’s getting Frate hooked on cocaine. Was that around during that time period?). Not wanting to see her two brothers kill each other, Fio arranges a meeting between the two where Frate vents his jealously over Nero such as how Vincent always favored him over Frate even though Frate did everything their father asked of him while Nero did whatever he wanted. Despite the negotiations breaking down Nero decides to talk to Ronaldo and give himself up in order to bring peace to his sister (you want peace, kill your husband). Angelo realizing that Nero is making a huge mistake and knowing that Ronaldo and Frate intend to kill him no matter what, he decides to take matters into his hands once again (now I have to admit at this point I thought Angelo had grown a soft spot for Nero and was going to forget about revenge. But no, what happens next is one of the most savage things he’s ever done). Angelo convinces one of Nero’s allies to try and take out Ronaldo in a drive by shoot. He misses but he did wound Ronaldo’s arm and once they’re at a safe spot Angelo kills Nero’s ally and rams the car into the tree (which makes no sense seeing as how he shot the guy so it really doesn’t look like he died in the accident). Naturally, Frate believes Nero did all of this so he retaliates by hanging the ally’s body on the bridge for Nero to see (stop desecrating this guy’s body). This causes a war to break out between Nero and Frate where lines are drawn and family members kill family members. It finally comes to a stop when Fio calls Nero and tells him she’s pregnant (and he’s the father. AHHHHHHHHHHH~ kidding) with Ronaldo’s child. Knowing it’s an obvious trap, Angelo arrives there first and gives Fio some flowers with a note inside and takes his leave. Once she sees Ronaldo hide a gun in his back pocket Fio takes out a tiny pistol and kills her husband. As for Frate, Angelo sets it up to where Nero feels the complete pain and discomfort of knowing that he killed his own brother (like I said, Angelo is a straight up savage in this episode). Fio leaves on a train with Angelo seeing her off and telling her that the story is Frate killed Ronaldo and Nero killed Frate in order to prove his loyalty to the Galassia family (and Angelo made you kill your own husband in the name of vengeance).
Episode 8 starts off with introducing us to Delphy from the Federal Bureau of Prohibition (yep, the government took the prohibition so seriously they opened their own bureau to enforce it. Too bad their few agents and police officers were easy to bribe back then). He’s come to town to end the corruption of the police and drive out the mafia families once and for all (nice try, but no). Speaking of mafia families, Fango decides to turn his attention to the Vanettis and crush them while also taking care of Delphy. We see Delphy stay true to his word and begins stopping the bootlegging to the point where bars won’t accept Lawless Heaven and Fango even gives him a tip on where to find the Lodge and he begins an investigation. This forces Nero to target his family and he sends Angelo to do the deed (woah hold up! Now look Angelo I know you want revenge on the people who killed your family but don’t go getting innocent people involved in it). Thankfully, they don’t kidnap or kill his family, they just blow up a car in his front yard with a cop inside (well that’s not so bad. (Mira): One cop died. (Nitsuj): He was a crooked cop). This forces Delphy to call off the investigation. With Delphy taken care of all that’s left is Fango where we see Corteo is acting as his spy. Why, to save Angelo. Throughout the course of the episode we see Corteo not like the way Angelo has changed and become a person he doesn’t recognize anymore. So he decides to feed Fango information hoping he’ll kill Nero and in the process return Angelo back to normal. Fango’s attempts to kill Nero fail and everyone is suspected of being a traitor (except for Angelo. Because he is cool like that). Corteo becomes worried that he’ll be exposed as the traitor and once Fango calls him in showing him the recipe for Lawless Heaven he says he doesn’t need him anymore and is about to kill him but decides not to seeing as how he’s so weak that it’s almost laughable in his eyes (that and he’s an insane idiot). He instead decides to call Nero and tell him who the traitor is and just like that Corteo snaps on us and kills Fango himself all while happy music is playing in the background (it’s honestly one of the most disturbing scenes in the anime).
Episodes 9-12
At the start of episode 9 Corteo tries to leave town but gets caught and bought back to the Vanneti family for interrogation (who are you working for?! (Corteo): No one! I swear to God! (Nitsuj): Swear to me~!). Corteo of course doesn’t talk so they decide that the only course of action is to kill him but he escapes only to get captured by a mysterious person who sent Angelo the letter of his family’s killers. He holds Corteo at gunpoint and has him call Angelo where he tells Angelo to kill Nero by 11:30pm the next day or he dies (man he has had a rough week). He tries to tell Angelo the name of the person holding him hostage but the line gets cut. The next day, Vincent steps down as the don of the Vanneti family and relinquishes the position to Nero making him the new don (about time. Who’s a man gotta kill in order to become don around here?). As Nero goes out drinking with Angelo to celebrate his new position he talks about how Ganzo, his uncle, always praised Angelo giving Angelo the clue he needed in figuring out who sent him the letter. Nero also talks about how on the night Angelo’s family was killed he didn’t fire a single shot. In the end he was too scared to kill anyone (oh but you knew about it). At the end of the episode, Angelo goes to confront the man who sent him the letter, Ganzo.
So in episode 10 Ganzo confirms that he’s the one who sent Angelo that letter. Why, because he wants to control the town (as is the deal with all these mob families). He wants Angelo to kill Nero and Vincent to which Angelo says he can kill Nero anytime he wants (yeah it’s true, he’s had like 4 times to do it but stopped himself) but he’ll need Ganzo’s help to take down Vincent and Ganzo will need his help to take down everyone in his way so Angelo demands the return of Corteo and he gets his wish. He gets Corteo to safety in the countryside where he lived as a broken man (who made his living pickpocketing people) and leaves him to return back to Lawless after his trip to Chicago to introduce Lawless Heaven to the Galassias and carry out his revenge where he plans to kill both Nero and Vincent at the playhouse where a play is set to go on in 3 days. However, trouble comes a brewing when Nero’s right hand man Barbora did a little investigating of his own and found out that Corteo was at the pier the same day Angelo left for Chicago. He accuses Angelo of being a traitor and working with Corteo to kill Nero (well he’s not wrong) but Corteo comes running in to clear things up saying that he was acting on his own in order to save Angelo from this place. Nero hands Angelo a gun and tells him to kill Corteo where we find out the reason Corteo came back in the first place was because Ganzo called Corteo and told him that Angelo was in trouble (in other words, Ganzo set up Corteo to be a sacrificial lamb for Angelo). Corteo tells Angelo to kill him saying it’ll clear his name and Angelo begrudgingly kills his best friend and the only person who in my honest opinion was keeping Angelo’s humanity and sanity in place (sort of like Alfred in the Batman series) and now that he’s gone there’s no telling where Angelo’s going anymore (scene here: https://youtu.be/FQ3AowO2a1Y).
Oh man, shit finally goes down in episode 11. It’s the opening of Nero’s playhouse where Vincent along with the don of the Galassia will be attending the opening night and the night that Angelo kills everyone. At first things don’t go well when Angelo gets caught by Barbora killing Vincent’s personal bodyguard and gets captured for interrogation where Barbora finds the letter revealing Angelo’s true identity and the people he has killed and plans on killing. Barbora knowing that Nero won’t kill Angelo decides to take matters into his own hands and kill Angelo himself (then nobody will be able to come between you and Nero. *Careless Whisper begins to play* Too easy) but Ganzo steps in and kills Barbora himself allowing Angelo to escape and cause a panic with the mob families until Angelo is able to reach the box of Vincent and Don Galassia. Angelo reveals his identity to Vincent where he pulls a twist on us and instead of killing Vincent he instead kills Don Galassia (you mad bastard. No seriously, Angelo has sealed the death of Nero’s family, the mad bastard did it). Once Strega the nephew of Don Galassia sees what happened he orders his men to kill the Vanetti family and they start by killing Ganzo. Soon the whole playhouse becomes filled with the dead bodies of the Vanetti family (might be time to go to an intermission) and Vincent finally dies from whatever the disease he has in the arms of Nero saying that they’re finished (yes you are). As for Angelo he manages to get outside injured and tired where he gets approached by Strega.
In the final episode Strega’s men continue to kill every Vanetti they come across. Things aren’t any better for Angelo who has been captured by Strega and is now being held captive in a safehouse by Strega’s men (this might be the safest place right now). Nero somehow found the safehouse, kills Strega’s men and kidnaps Angelo for himself. The two wind up leaving Lawless with Cerotto only to abandon him later on. Angelo and Nero take a trip down to the Atlantic Ocean where Angelo admits that his revenge didn’t satisfy him (the body count was too low) as he had hope and admits that this was all for nothing (not entirely. We got a good anime out of it). Nero beats Angelo asking why he didn’t kill him to which Angelo said he should have killed him but didn’t want to (he was the only who didn’t fire a shot that night. He may have been there but he didn’t kill anyone). They continue to travel for a few days with both looking and trying to find a reason to forgive each other (in a strange way these two have become friends) until they finally come to a beach where they walk on the sand Nero shoots Angelo in the back and leaves him there to die to end the anime. Now supposedly it’s believe that Nero missed and just left Angelo there alone deciding to forgive and just go their separate ways.
There is an OVA out there but it doesn’t add anything knew to the story. It’s just three 3 short stories of Nero and his siblings when they were younger as well a short scene that takes place between episodes 4 and 5 where Nero gets sick and Angelo takes care of him.
Final Thoughts
And that was 91 Days. A tragic and hard-hitting story about revenge, what one will go through to get it, and what you find at the end of it. While it’s not the most original anime the writing and storytelling are good and creates that good atmosphere of a crime-drama/thriller that keeps your attention. You want to know what happens next in Angelo’s revenge and how he’s going to kill his targets. The lengths he goes to get their trust and who he has to double-cross, sacrifice, and kill to get his revenge and if it’ll make him happy at the end. Just when you think he’s getting second thoughts about his revenge and will possibly spare someone he proves his commitment and shows just how savage he can be. The budding friendship that grows between Nero and Angelo throughout the anime was good and how at the end when it’s just the two of them left and they have all the reason in the world to kill each other neither one can and is instead searching for a reason to forgive each other and move on. I like how the ending is open to interpretation and how we’re not really sure if Nero did in fact kill Angelo or decided to let him go knowing that killing him would be pointless and leave him with nothing.
The music is great. The music actually does fit with the time period and mood of the anime and the animation for the most part is good. Where the anime really shines is with the facial expressions of the characters as you see the range of emotions they express throughout the anime perfectly. The animation depicts very gory scenes and don’t shy away from them. I think my only real complaint with this anime is that we never got a straight up gang war like they were promoting in the opening. I mean the opening made it seem like there was going to be a violent gang war that took place a broad daylight with innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfire, buildings getting destroyed and sneak attacks on mobsters in their own home or hotel. I really wanted to see stuff like that in the anime, but I’m satisfied with what we got in the final product.
Final Score
The final score for 91 Days is an 8/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. A very underrated anime that unfortunately got loss to the passage of time and doesn’t get talked as nearly as much as it should in my opinion. Do yourself a favor and check this anime out. You won’t be disappointed in what you watch and you’ll be glued to the screen wanting to know what happens next. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj as the Underrated arc continues.