Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto
Like the title implies, this story takes place in the Bakumatsu era of Japan. Akizuki Yojiro is a wandering swordsman with a mission to destroy the "Hasha no Kubi", the head of the conqueror.
Hasha no Kubi was brought over by Xu Fu during the Qin dynasty of China into Japan to seal this evil entity. On Yojiro's journey he encounters the Yuyama troupe who also have their own mission. While it seemingly looks like a coincidence, Yojiro and Kukunojo of the Yuyama troupe share a destiny that they are unaware of. Even though the Hasha no Kubi is a dangerous item, many antagonists in the story try to possess it because it gives an individual power to manipulate history.
This historical drama draws reference from known historical figures like Hijikata of the Shinsengumi and real events like the Ansei Purges and the various wars the Tokugawa Shogunate was fighting. Being that the Yuyama troupe is a group of kabuki actors, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto is sometimes a story within a story which I enjoyed a lot. The first six episodes had slow pacing in the beginning and takes a while to pick up. I guarantee that it becomes more interesting afterwards because there are elements of surprise and tragedy. It depicts how war affected the country on a large scale and on a more personal level with Yojiro's mission. The way that the story was written fit very well with actual history. For instance, Yojiro in the story knew Sakamoto Ryoma and was unable to fulfill his role as a bodyguard. It was recorded in history that Sakamoto Ryoma was assassinated. Though Yojiro may be a protagonist, the POV shifts many times in the story. Yojiro is a fairly stagnant character being that he isn't a talkative type. Most of the information about him is actually told through the POVs of other characters. This anime is a historical drama with a sense of supernatural and action.
Souten Kouro
Souten Kouro is a fictional retelling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms focusing on Cao Cao. While Three Kingdoms is already a mix of history and legend, Souten Kouro reinforces more of the legends while staying true to the historical accounts of the characters portrayed. While most Chinese and Japanese stories portray Cao Cao as a villain, Souten Kouro decides to focus on the various merits Cao Cao earned and how his wild ambition was what people perceived as antagonism. Some historical figures were reinterpreted differently in this series. Lu Bu in Three Kingdoms was recorded as an awe inspiring warlord. In Souten Kouro, I found that Lu Bu was more of a monster that everyone feared because of his strength. I did not particularly like Liu Bei in this series because I found him to be akin to an idiot. (hahaha) With this series, I liked how it put a different perspective on the traditional Three Kingdoms. From watching the anime, Cao Cao is a highly ambitious man with intentions of becoming an emperor himself because of his talent and charisma. At the same time, he has this hostility a warlord has in order to put power to use. Really he was someone with a great desire to reform what was then old customs of China, mainly Confucianism.
If I were to give a rating, I would say it is mature for some of the violence and suggestive scenes though the manga was way more explicit. I would also suggest that one be familiar with Three Kingdoms because it is more easier to understand the story.
Sengoku Basara
Based off the hack and slash game from Capcom, this is my opinion is one of the most craziest series I came across that I really like. The dramatic dialogue and scenery comes across as "badass" rather than cheesy and overused. Sengoku Basara is a based off of the Sengoku era, a period of warring states in Japan before forming the Tokugawa Shogunate. Each warlord has their own set of colors and weaponry to distinguish their clan and personal identity which most fans enjoy seeing. Masamune's not so subtle English phrases and Yukimura's hot blooded spirit become a centerpiece of the show though historically these two warlords did not have a rivalry. The over the top battles are more comedic for me and I urge that viewers not take it so seriously because it is based off a game after all. Both seasons in the anime and the movie, Last Party, involve warlords gathering together to defeat a more powerful warlord (Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi) from turning Japan into a "dark place" so to speak. It is really a metaphor for the fear of absolute rule and cruelty displayed by these two ambitious and powerful daimyo. Historically speaking, these two were responsible for uniting Japan which like ancient China was divided into separate kingdoms.
Because of Sengoku Basara, I got into learning more about Japanese history, but mostly about Date Masamune since he was the poster character for the series. He was so influential that other fictional portrayals of Masamune made after Sengoku Basara couldn't live up to it. I got pretty obsessed over the Capcom version because he had such good charisma. I don't know if it's the Engrish or the exhaust pipes of his horse.
Kingdom
I had some mixed feelings about Kingdom at first, but as a whole body of work I think it has succeeded in capturing the spirit of the warring states era. While later in history Ying Zheng would be known as the most brutal emperor China has ever seen, Kingdom recounts the building of the empire from the beginning. Ying Zheng in history had a very difficult childhood which some historians say link to his future policies as an emperor. In the series, Ying Zheng did in fact had to put up with a lot of trouble like various assassination attempts and a struggle to rise to power. It was however portrayed in a more positive light. After doing a bit of research, characters like our protagonist Xin was not a character entirely made up. He was in fact based on the general Li Xin during the warring states era. What Kingdom provides is adding personality to the historical figures which ancient texts probably did not describe. I also like the inclusion of some female characters because pre-Han China did in fact see matriarchy and powerful female figures. War isn't just about men battling out. Women too played an important part and Kingdom portrays them as directly participating in war. My mixed feelings of the series came from how I personally felt that these were samurai fighting as opposed to Chinese soldiers. Perhaps it was the author's own spin or a loss in translation, there were some instances that characters did not carry a feel of Chinese culture. If I had changed all the characters into samurai, it would have been soldiers fighting to unify Japan.
What Kingdom did succeed to do was present the story of the foot soldiers emerging to become a powerful general. I enjoyed that perspective a lot. It does do a lot of glorifying of war, but the second season and the end of the first season starts to remind you about the horrors of war. Many of the characters were very unique. Even Xin who I didn't like at first was starting to grow on me. Though he has a temper like many typical shonen protagonists, Xin carries good intentions and cares a lot for friends. My biggest criticism is the high inconsistency in animation and pacing of story. In both seasons, there is poor use of 3D models and the drawing varies from time to time. (They do grow older so drawing wise it would make sense to change a bit.) Despite being a story about war, the anime has an unusual lack of blood. It makes it unrealistic and this is due to censorship probably. The pacing in both seasons is awkward. It is always in the middle that the arcs gets dragged out unbelievably long to the point that I'm bored and start skipping scenes. However towards the end, things pick up.
Senkou no Night Raid/ Night Raid 1931
Aahh. This series was a pretty good one. Set during the first Sino-Japanese war, a Japanese military spy organization called Sakurai is in Japan for various missions. Each member of the organization possesses a unique ability such as telepathy or teleportation. Though working for the Japanese Imperial Army, the members especially Aoi start to question their mission as to whether they have a right in interfering with China and the morality of their missions. Kazura on the other hand is conflicted with his friend's liberal views and his loyalty to Japan. It is a tragic story about espionage and war. Well, since deaths of certain characters have never been confirmed they may be alive, but overall the ending was bleak because World War I was about to happen. Despite there being a disclaimer in each episode, I do believe that at least the author of this story was strongly opposed to the Sino-Japanese wars and the hostility displayed during the war.
The Chinese spoken in the anime was cringe worthy, but you have to take into account that Chinese is a hard language to learn and these were Japanese voice actors doing their very best to say their lines. The Chinese used was to add authenticity to the story and I think the story stayed very true to its setting. 1930s Shanghai was in fact a metropolis where many different races were interacting with each other and lots of shady folk lurking around.
Hakuouki series
This was one of my least favorite animes being that most otome game anime adaptations aren't that great. Hakuouki is where the heroine starts living with the Shinsengumi. Each legendary member of the Shinsengumi gets turns into a date-able bishounen in the game so you have different dream guys essentially for the heroine to pick. You have the flirty Okita, the serious Hijikata, fairly reserved Saitou, crafty Sannan, a naive Heisuke, reasonable Harada, humorous Shinpachi, responsible Kondo, and several more. The main heroine Chizuru is incredibly weak in both mind and body. Despite being the inheritor of a legendary sword, she has not swung it ever in both seasons of Hakuouki (Shinsengumi Kitan and Heketsuroku). Apparently her greatest talent lies in healing oneself and making tea. In Hakuouki, the race of oni are introduced into the historic timeline where oni have been discriminated and plan to rise to power. Some real events have been used such as the raid at Ikedaya and the war that was going on at the moment. Season two concludes in tragedy as historically members of the Shinsengumi died. Some deaths are unclear, such as Okita dying from tuberculosis. Some say he died from something else, but it was recorded that he was suffering from a disease. In the anime they made it so that each member dies heroically after consuming the poisonous Ochimizu. There is a quite a bit of blood and slashing which I didn't expect in a otome based drama.
The prequel, Hakuouki Reimeiroku, was more enjoyable for me. The fictional character Ibuki Ryuunosuke stumbles upon what was then an early formation of the Shinsengumi. Through his various interactions with the members, the audience sees how the Shinsengumi struggled to become a police force whose aim was to protect the people. The various struggles included funding, relations with higher ups, and earning favors of prestigious clans. Ochimizu in its early stages was introduced. This story was more about how the Shinsengumi became a prominent force in society.
Gosick
Gosick is predominantly a mystery drama set during the World Wars. In the beginning, Victorique and Kazuya are solving mysteries one by on, but towards the end war tears the two apart. War serves as a backdrop to the story and highlights the relationship between Victorique and Kazuya. Their initial dislike evolves into friendship and eventually love. Victorique is a very arrogant little girl, but possesses incredible intelligence which allows her to solve crimes perfectly. Kazuya is a dense fellow, but he holds pride coming from a Japanese family. The two help out each other a lot and come to respect each other. As the story progresses, you find that the greatest mystery revolves around Victorique's origins and behind it is tragedy, debt, and revenge. Even though I hated Victorique for her haughtiness, you have to pity her that she went through a lot of stuff in her childhood.
The deduction is excellent. I was never able to correctly guess who killed who or how they did it. Guess I'm a pretty dense fellow. It's very fun to see how events tie in and glimpses of who you think are minor characters fulfill their role in the great plan. Though I have to say Victorique's temper gets on my nerves and the romance between her and Kazuya was very annoying overall.
Basilisk
Wow this one was just incredible. Every single episode was just great to watch. Great action, great development, and great characters. Basilisk takes place during the Tokugawa Shogunate and ties in two ninja clans, Kouga and Iga. Both historically were incredibly famed, Basilisk turns them into two clans are ferocious monsters pitting them against each other. The opening animation before the opening theme portrays the Kouga and Iga perefectly. The eagle and the snake both are deadly hunters, one of the air and one of the earth. As the eagle's claws dive into the snake, the snakes jaws firmly clasp around the eagle's neck. The two are bloodied and struggle. In almost each episode, members of either the Kouga or the Iga die because Tokugawa Ieyasu decided that the two clans battle each other representing the two heirs he has. The deaths are often times brutal and tragic. There is a hidden story behind the both clans resulting in a blood feud which I will not spoil. I think it was brilliant. Even the title I thought was brilliant. A basilisk kills with its eyes as both leaders of the Kouga aand Iga possess unique abilities involving their eyes.
Each member from each clan has different assassination techniques ranging from morphing one's face into another to using one's blood as a weapon. For the most part, it is very much like Romeo and Juliet with similar tragedies. I really liked how the story ended even though it was a sad one and overall serves as a lesson that vengeance can really cloud one's vision entirely.
Peacemaker Kurogane
Some people I know really liked this series, but I didn't enjoy it in particular. I suppose it was a poor adaptation of the manga and not all of it became an anime. Tetsunosuke and Tatsunosuke are two brothers that are orphaned after the murder of their parents. They end up living alongside the Shinsengumi because Tetsunosuke wants to avenge his parents. Tatsunosuke on the other hand does not want to stir any more trouble. Tetsu, as he is called, works as a page for Hijikata and interacts with other members of the Shinsengumi. Being naive and hot headed, he doesn't really get what he wants, but he realizes in the end of the anime about the responsibility of being a member of the Shinsengumi. The anime ends with the seige at Ikedaya in which episode one briefly shows.
The reason I didn't like this series was because of the pacing. It was slow for me and I didn't enjoy some of the side stories. There was still stuff that I thought was important like the death of Susumu's sister that propelled Susumu to no longer be sheltered. There's supernatural elements added to it and a fair share of fictional characters. Yoshida's death in the end scars Suzu and that kinda just ends prematurely in the anime. Perhaps it serves as an opposite to Tetsu who indirectly gets his revenge while Suzu doesn't.
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