Forum - View topicIntrigue in the Bakumatsu - Irohanihoheto (TV).
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11293 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Intrigue in the Bakumatsu - Irohanihoteto (TV) Genres: action, adventure , drama , fantasy , mystery, romance, supernatural Themes: historical Plot Summary: The Shogunate is in its final years, and war is fast approaching. When Yojiro Akizuki, a dark and mysterious mercenary, nears something supernatural with some kind of importance to him, the ornament on the end of his sword hilt waves in its direction, his eyes glow mysteriously, and he is driven to go after it. He comes across a traveling theater group who is out for revenge for the killing of the parents of the group's leader, and whose mysterious playwright likes to secretly help along events of history. Yojiro joins them to lend them his skill against their enemies, while dark conspiracy continues to follow behind him. ---------------------------------- With this being the third Bakumatsu anime I've seen, it's a great refresher to get the "almost a total piece-of-crap" Peace Maker Kurogane taste out of my mouth. In fact, compared to the only other good Bakumatsu title (Kenshin), I'd say this takes a much more serious and realistic tone (aside from the supernatural thing). To start off, I really want to commend the production staff on their work. Just looking through the credits, you've got oodles of talented people who have worked on this. The creator is credited as Ryousuke Takahashi, most notable (to me) for his assistant directing in Kenshin and creation of Flag. This is a BIG advantage in my opinion if he can carry even the slightest bit of Kenshin over. And from what I've seen in the presentation of Flag, I think that style can work very well for portraying such a turmoiled time as the Bakumatsu. Character designs fit the series very well. By Yuusuke Kozaki of Speed Grapher, I think they do a great job presenting people as a close to real as possible while still maintaining a sense of fiction (since it is anime, after all). Music is composed by Hideyuki Fukasawa (who I've never heard of), but it's interesting to note that the music production consists of two men that worked on such soundtracks as .hack//SIGN, Gundam SEED, and Witch Hunter Robin. The opening is especially elegant and performed by FictionJunction YUUKA who, while I didn't care for too much in .hack//Roots, does a splendid job in tandem with Yuki Kajiura. BGM in particular has a very good quality to it, and I love the main melody for its beautiful and epic ambiance that really adds another layer of depth to the overall atmosphere. The seiyuu cast consists of some pretty popular names. Daisuke Namikawa (most popular for BECK and Black Lagoon) is the lead. And though he doesn't say much, I think he adds a very subtle aura of coolness and stoicism to the character (not to mention Akizuki is one badass swordsman). It's kind of weird, but somehow binding to watch the Yuyama Kakunojou Troupe. Junichi Suwabe as Kozou is a nice change of pace for him. After hearing him play so many "tough guy" roles in the past, I rather like this more comedic character. And to top things off, you have Kazuhiko Inoue playing the mysterious Ibaragi. It's been forever since I listened to him because I really like him as Kakashi (didn't care to watch the filler). He carries himself very well and has a somewhat shadiness to him. Not that I'm a historian on the real life counterpart of his character, but it seems he's got something up his sleeve (as most patriotic-ish characters do). As far as plot goes, I thought this would end up as another PMK-ish story where someone's trying to get revenge and the hero or heroes end up being half-assed losers for a majority of the series, but boy was I wrong by the 2nd episode. At this point, it feels like the whole Hasha no Kubi thing or whatever centers around Akizuki will be the main focus. But being a period piece, I'm sure they'll tie that supernatural theme into the main plot. But the presentation thus far feels very top notch. It will be interesting if/when this series ever gets licensed. Having the Bandai label on it already, this could be a nice addition to the mostly generic brand of titles they've been releasing lately. Not to say another shounen series like this will break that mold, but if you've been watching the version I am (the one with the studious liner notes), then this will definitely serve as quite the historical ("historical" in the sense of actual historical events and not just significant) ground-breaker for them. Last edited by Tony K. on Wed Oct 08, 2014 3:41 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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v1cious
 Posts: 6202 Location: Houston, TX |
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yeah i'm absolutely loving this series this so far. i hope they release the soundtrack later, cause it's one of the best i've heard in awhile. the opening song gets me every time i hear it. what worries me is that this and Flag may not get licensed as they run through exclusive online channels.
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blind_assassin
 Posts: 755 |
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I've been following the show and have seen up to episode 3 (downloading 4 as we speak) and so far its pretty good. It seems like it's going to end up as average as Buso Renkin or it'll end up being something really great. Not to say it couldn't fail but it just seems like it either won't stand out or it'll be a gem.
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sean
Posts: 101 |
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For Tony, if you like Bakumatsu period stuff, you might want to look at Shura no Toki. Its different, but still pretty good. It follows the life of 3 generations of fighters, and includes some great historical figures and groups like the Shinsengumi. For the last generation, the plot actually revolves around Ryoma Sakamota and his life/death. Might want to take a gander at it. [/spoiler]
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godakame
 Posts: 112 Location: Disney World |
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I liked the whole theater troupe kabuki style performances (or whatever you call it) that takes place throughout the series; it really enhances the atmosphere of it being a Bakumatsu period piece.
As for the main character Akizuki, he kind of reminds me of Aoshi from RK -- cold, stern, says a total of 2 lines per episode. I think they made him look too sexy. What do you think? Just like Aoshi, fangirls are going to drool over him. But I've got to say one thing, if Akizuki meets Kenshin on the streets of Yokohama/Kyoto/wherever, Akizuki is going to get his face pounded in  .
But seriously, a great series so far. I'll watch any Samurai anime. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11293 Location: Frisco, TX |
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With Aoshi being my favorite anime character (from my favorite anime  ), I can see somewhat of a resemblance in terms of personality and demeanor, but Akizuki seems a tad more sociable and not as hellbent on achieving absolute victory (yet). Although, that remains to be seen in the remaining episodes.
And yeah, that kabuki theatre theme adds a good deal of cultural ambiance to the series. A lot of times, many titles like to modernize things or thrown in some Western mannerisms that just don't give it as much of a real Japanese feel. But then again, most anime aren't Bakumatsu/Meiji period pieces that try to make some kind of sense from both history and whatever story they're writing into it. |
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godakame
Posts: 112 Location: Disney World |
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Heh, it's kind of ironic that you mention this considering the fact that the Bakumatsu was fought because of Japan's foreign policy of isolationism, and the rapid Westernization taking place (course you probably already knew this, being a Kenshin fan). Oh, the irony:D. The clash between swords and guns, and what they represent; it seems there will be plently of this type of fighting taking place in the future which I thoroughly enjoy. Bakumatsu, so many good stories have been birthed because of thee. Your comment also reminded me of one scene from the first episode which I consider the only flaw so far. The scene with the "evil" westerners and their guns. I'm not too bothered by the protrayal of the foriegners, because they introduce some badass looking ones later on (eye-patch dude), but some of them....started to speak engrish. It's pretty obvious they were not native speakers. But it was only a couple lines, so no real harm done. Eh, now that I think about it, it was actually pretty good for a non-native. |
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Ramadahl
Posts: 325 Location: MK, UK |
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Mmm, that part certainly made me cringe, but that was the only one. I'm... cautiously optimistic about the series, so far. I'm feeling a little lost under all the historical information, but I'll probably go back and watch the first few episodes again and read the notes carefully. I suppose some familiarity with the period is assumed though? Still, it's nice to have a period drama like this, I don't really know of any others off the top of my head. At the moment though, I'm waiting for things to really get into gear and see if the series holds together or falls apart. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11293 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Heh. Yes, I did realize that  . I just meant Westernizing in terms of general presentation like clothes, modern gadgets (like that sniper rifle), music (such as the Magnificent Seven inspired piece from Kenshin), and whatever else happens to feel very non-Japanese.
As for those two American guys in the first episode, I think their seiyuu did a pretty good job considering all of the Engrish I hear in a lot of other titles. I almost thought one of them actually was an American at one point, but he had a slight lapse in his speech. Still, though, not too shabby. |
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MaxSouth
Posts: 1363 |
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Negatives -- *not* necessarily in the order of importance:
1) the concept of spoiler[evil spirit] being responsible for bloody wars is not new; humanity's real blood-lust and cruelty that it causes to itself in the name of ideals are concealed behind the imaginary excuse; 2) though historical part of this anime is accurate, viewers have no way to know it unless they check names, events and places to find it out; otherwise they might think that this all is fantasy as whole and never learn the history; 3) this show does not distinctly separate magic of spoiler[the evil spirit and enchanted swords] from physics of other fights (exempli gratia: ridiculously impossible duel between sword and gun); 4) some characters are fantastical survivors after being harmed to the point of no return; 5) playwright's motives are not explained, do not quite make sense spoiler[what "500 year long destiny"? Who the hell he was?]; 6) the head spoiler[should have chosen the strongest party to bring more harm and war, not the weaker shogunate forces. Also, why the head left the fleet commander in the end?]; 7) in the middle of the series main heroine was shown as spoiler[annoying stalker who has almost killed her love, and she has laughably proclaimed she still wants to met with him understanding how dangerous it would be for him (to kill him for good this time?);] 8) in some part of this show main music theme was overused, but thankfully not in the most of this anime; 9) this anime does not show either Emperor or Tokugawa -- too sacred figures to depict? Positives -- *not* necessarily in the order of importance: 1) besides above-mentioned issues, there is no artificial or otherwise fake drama in the story, no lame-excuse seams of stupid and lazy storytelling by authors; not insulting to watch; 2) epic storytelling (coherent, not episodic), watchable in one breath; 3) genuine, non-cardboard characters; 4) historically accurate in terms of places, events, personalities and even to how they actually looked in real life; 5) thankfully, it is not about beaten-to-death Nabunaga/Tokugawa period, though mentions it and influenced by it through concept of this fantasy; 6) consistent, high quality animation (though not outstanding); 7) strong, poetic music score. Overall, its truly "Very good" anime; I voted accordingly. Could be at least "Excellent" is not the negatives I have mentioned. Though, despite lesser number, the positive greatly overweight the negatives; hence the final rating is so high. Last edited by MaxSouth on Wed Oct 08, 2014 4:09 pm; edited 6 times in total |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11293 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Wow. I'm thoroughly surprised that someone else actually saw this show and went out of their way to find this thread.
I tried watching this back in its fansub run, but I can't remember if no one ever finished it or what. I only got through, maybe 4 episodes before losing track. I thought about getting the Sentai BD releases, but I refuse to buy "half-sets," when the complete ones are inevitable. Someday, I hope to continue this series' discussion, a la my other in-depth threads. |
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MaxSouth
Posts: 1363 |
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Anthony, I thought you have watched it back in 2006-2007.
To me, it was a break from shows that annoy me to no end. I was mostly frustrated with anime that I get to see. The issue is that ANN encyclopaedia's average rating has no correlation to how much logical and consistent certain show is, or is not. For normal people, it is fine, but not for me. If anyone, like myself, likes continuous stories that mostly do not treat viewers as idiots, I can recommend this anime (though it is not perfect, obviously). |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11293 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Just FYI, Tony's my full first name. It's not short for anything.
But yeah, I really liked what I saw back then. I guess the logistics of the fansubbing never quite worked. I remember looking everywhere for it. And after a few months I gave up, 'cause I don't think anyone made it past episode 6 either from not being able to acquire the raw footage or simply not having the willingness to continue. I agree that the presentation of the show itself is very unique. Most of the mainstream or fluff titles back in those days (and I suppose even a few today) usually had at least 1 or more tropes that would sort of make it feel more "bland." For me, though, it was a mix of the art style, music, dialogue, and story that *really* gave this series a more authentic historical feel. Well, that, and the fact that I really wanted to get the taste of Peace Maker Kurogane out of my mouth. I'm *still* disappointed in that show 8 years later.. I'm very much looking forward to finishing this, someday, though. EDIT: After being reminded of this show, I did some digging around the 'Net, and discovered that a couple of groups, did, in fact, sub the whole series. Guess I just lost track of it. |
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MaxSouth
Posts: 1363 |
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Tony, I thought using "Anthony" would be more respectable way to address; I always like full names. But, as it turned out, my guess of your full name was wrong, sorry. (Apparently, I am more used to English, not American names. Relatively recently I thought "Ed" was a short from "Edward", but it turned out that "Ed" was full name, too.)
As to this show, there was BluRay release of it (fully subtitled, of course). Personally, I have said farewell to all physical carriers years ago, so I would wait for purely electronic release (through Apple's iTunes Store, for example). Among other things, it would be cheaper than BluRay. By the way, composer for this anime is the same who has come up with music for Flowers of Evil and for currently ongoing retelling of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11293 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Yeah, I'm aware they put the series on BD here in the U.S. Although, looking at the reviews here and here and taking into account that this series was made around the time of transition from traditional animation to digital, I'm expecting the video will only range from sub-par to above average, depending on the shots, since you can only do so much for SD digital graphics and such.
Like I said, though, I refuse to buy half-set collections, because all companies inevitably release full sets. It's just a matter of waiting for that release and getting it during a Christmas sale at Right Stuf. I'm more of a physical media enthusiast, though, when I can help it. Digital is nice and all, but 1) my Internet sucks, so there goes streaming, and 2), downloads take up too much space on my hard drive (HD rips, especially 1080p ones, really eat up memory). If today's technology ever went the way of Star Trek and we could store "tera-quads" of memory with very little effort, had holodecks, instant access to content within nanoseconds, etc. then yeah, I'd be all for digital media. But for the time being, I'll stick to the more steady bit rates and not-so-expensive-if-you-know-where-to-find-it pricing of physical media. And thanks for the trivia about the composer. I'm a big fan of Fate seres as well, and am now really looking forward to that score, now. |
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