You know me by now, I never catch up to the latest drama or witness the most recent movie unless it's some meme that is shared furiously over the web. Anyways, I was tempted to make this month's pick into a list of disappointing series, but realizing how much drama that could possibly stir up, it's probably not a good idea.
Drifters
I recently finished Drifters and I want the second season. You will find many similarities to Kouta Hirano's Hellsing from storyline to character design. It's not as provoking as Hellsing did for me, but I think Drifters delivers well. Shimazu Toyohisa is amidst fighting in the Battle of Sekigahara and is heavily wounded. As he walks through the forest, he finds himself in a brightly lit corridor and a strange man at his desk located at the very end. Toyohisa is then sucked in through a door and is transported to yet a strange land. Soon he meets up with Nasu no Yoichi and Oda Nobunaga, two albeit famous historical figures from two different historical eras. In the story of Drifters, a selection of historical figures are transported into this new world after their death to fight a new war. Hence it creates very intriguing combinations of events by having people from different eras clash with each other. May I also mention that there are Goblins, Elves, Dwarves, and Dragons in this story too? There is no doubt Kouta Hirano was Tolkien inspired.
One of the strong points of the series is seeing different characters come to work together despite coming from different backgrounds (eg: Hannibal of Carthage on the side with Oda Nobunaga). Hirano expresses great liberty with his interpretation of historical figures and twisting figures generally written as heroes into villains (Joan of Arc, Hijikata Toshizo). The identity of the Back King is of greatest mystery though fans speculate that it may be someone we know extremely well in history. Even I agree with the online theory. Maybe one of the things I didn't like in the series was the excessive speeches characters give at times. The first two episodes started off a bit slow though there is a great deal of information to be absorbed. You still get Hirano's humor through his caricatures and belittling Nobunaga into some old guy that likes to rant.
91 Days
I am amidst finishing up on 91 Days and I have heard good reviews about this one. This one is set in the Prohibition Era taking place in Lawless, Illinois. It's the perfect name for the setting considering how the story is mostly about mafia. Angelo Lagusa receives a letter from an unknown sender propelling him to embark on a journey for revenge. His family was shot to death by Vanetti family members and Angelo alone escaped. 7 years later he is working alongside Nero Vanetti, the don's son, to get close to him in order to extract revenge. While it does seem like a typical revenge story, I think the events hint at a final twist which will most likely involve the mysterious letter sender. Will the three mafia families end up killing each other or will one of them end up devouring the other? I don't know.
A lot of the events revolve around bootleg liquor. If you remember your American History, you would know the Prohibition was a time period where all alcohol was banned by law with reasoning that alcohol was the root of all evil. But you know with human nature, we simply can't resist living without alcohol and so the birth of speakeasies and bootlegging came about. It is no surprise that you can run a monopoly on liquor alone. It would make perfect sense if you were the Mafia to earn profit through distribution of illegal alcohol. Maybe the name Al Capone would ring a bell. Indeed he was also part of the events of the Prohibition Era, but you will not find any real figures in the anime. If you're into some crazy weirdos, Fango is the way to go in 91 Days.
Ao no Exorcist - Kyoto Fujouou Hen
If you remember Ao no Exorcist from back in 2011, you would know that they screwed up the ending quite badly by creating an entirely new ending. The entire series drove itself in an entirely different direction from the original source which was very disappointing considering how much I liked how the story began. The Kyoto arc happens during the time when Rin still hasn't been accepted by students at cram school and is still under close monitoring. The episodes aren't as tight knit as the first season often times dragging out the story. I am told that there are anime exclusive characters included as I noticed that the adaptation isn't as faithful to the manga I read as well. While I am all for trying out new things, but the changes they made in season one created some irrevocable damage for season two. I got more annoyed as the story progressed as opposed to intrigued. I'm not too sure if I should continue to recommend it.
There's not enough characterization to leave viewers intrigued. Todo makes for a typical villain and I'm neither in fear or in awe of this new powerful Impure King. I'm afraid most characters are presented in a one-dimensional form. My least favorite character has boiled down to Rin, our series' protagonist. He has come as rather loud and annoying instead of helpful. Might I add that the comedic timing has come on as poorly presented and Shura is there solely for fanservice.
Mouryou no Hako
This one is a creepy one, but the good kind of creepy. In a sense it's a story within a story and the events that happen may occur slightly out of order. Adapted from an actual novel, Mouryou no Hako is a mystery concerning the disappearances of young girls, a new cult, and an unhealthy obsession of boxes. One of your main characters is an onmyouji, but a lot of the story's elements uses the supernatural as a disguise for man-made crimes and phenomenons. It explores a lot around the questionable morality of certain characters and a mystery with a surprise ending.
My only peeve with the series is that it can get a bit boring. There's a lot of talking and building up of plot, but it takes very long to do so. The pacing is rather slow and there's a lot of attention to detail. Some scenes that occur in the story can be viewed as extraneous. For instance in the scene of fleeing prostitute, there was intent on giving the audience the idea who this young woman was, but she was a very minor character that didn't influence the overall plot. Some viewers have voted this as a niche series which I would agree. Not many viewers will be able to able to appreciate the series upon initial view.
Ghost Hunt
If you're really into paranormal mysteries, Ghost Hunt should definitely be on your list. The story isn't some fluffy thing where characters go on some happy adventure and exterminate spirits. This one goes over the consequences of possession, curses, and lingering spirits that have evil intent. In one episode, it is debatable whether the problem was actually solved. It was one of the few series that covered somewhat in detail about exorcisms and rituals from Japanese culture and the view on spirits from both a Western and Eastern viewpoint. I don't know if there are any other series like Ghost Hunt anymore that are less on the flashy animation and focus more on the suspense. The series isn't enough to be very chilling, however you get a sense of unease between the different cases concerning varying motives and psychopathic thoughts.
It's a fairly old series so the animation style and character design can come off as a bit dated. The characters themselves were well thought out as we learn about their back stories and relationships through the episodes. This was adapted from a light novel by Fuyumi Ono. You may recognize Fuyumi Ono as the creator of the 12 Kingdoms series and Shiki which are both also adapted into animes.
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