This challenge is turning out to be a lot harder than I anticipated! I’m definitely behind schedule, but I’m also having a lot of fun doing so…so I can’t complain too much! This time, a show about cute boys…except the boys are actually swords? Huh?
The year is 1863 as the tumultuous samurai era is coming to an end, Japan is split between the pro-shogunate and anti-shogunate factions. The fate of the world is threatened as an army of historical revisionists are sent from the future to alter the course of history. In order to bring these forces down and protect the real history, two sword warriors, spirits who are swords brought to life by Saniwa (sage), rush to Edo. The polite and thoughtful Horikawa Kunihiro and the short tempered yet skillful Izuminokami Kanesada, who served the same master, confront the invading army along with a lively gang of other warriors including Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki, Yagen Toushirou, Tombokiri, and Tsurumaru Kuninaga.”
Truth be told, I’m not one for historical shows. I don’t mind a touch here and there, but for the most part, I’m not a huge fan. I’ve seen the story told many times in anime, after all. So why put Touken Ranbu on my list in the first place?
For a start, a new approach was definitely taken. We’ve seen the same warriors fight over and over again in anime, but this time, we’re seeing it from the perspective of the weapons. A weird concept to grasp, sure. But in doing this, the show focuses a lot more on the fighting techniques and battles, as the main focus is now the equipment itself. Pretty neat.
The animation was also very fluid and well done, something I found super surprising, since Touken Ranbu is based on an online card game. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but game adaptation anime I’ve seen…weeell. Let’s say they leave a lot to be desired. But Touken Ranbu incorporated CGI animation really well. If you aren’t sure on the story, at least treat your eyes with the animation.
I should mention, of course, since a lot of peoples exposure to Touken Ranbu often includes the word ‘bait’…I can’t disagree. Touken Ranbu was designed quite obviously with a female audience in mind, the boys’ design makes that fairly straight forward. I won’t pretend that I wasn’t intrigued for this reason, ever. But past the swords’ designs, the story has enough action and a well written plot that it could be enjoyed by just about anyone, in my opinion.
My rating: 7/10.
2/50 completed – eek!
Until next time!
AHOGE GIRL 