In the final years of the Bakumatsu, wandering mercenary Yojiro Akizuki travels the length and breadth of Japan. And while he employs his sword in the usual fashion, he also uses it to help him locate supernatural items which he pursues with single-minded determination, often with bloody results. In the course of his quest, he crosses paths with a traveling theater group whose members have their own dark agenda. Is it a chance meeting or the result of some, as yet, undiscovered conspiracy?
(Source: Sentai Filmworks)
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Comentários
PeachPieWaffle
I think it's important to firstly note that this anime is heavily influenced by Japan's history. It is a re-telling of what Japan went through in the final years of the Edo period, when the Samurai, Ronins, Citizens, and Military forces from Japan and foreign countries, fought for control of the country. The interesting battles and real-life tales of betrayal and backstabbing, are retold with a hint of the supernatural element, which although seemingly far fetched, does hold more than a hint of realism. The story is fascinating, but if the viewer is not into the history genre and does not care about sitting through,what may at times seem like a history or Asian culture class, then this series is definitely not for them.
I enjoyed this tale immensely, as it was good to see the behind the scene drama of such an important era in world history. Some of the events are fictional, injected into the series so as to make it more "watchable" and a few of the characters never existed in real life, but it does make things fascinating.
The Supernatural factor, which focuses on the protagonist's journey to destroy an object that is too powerful to remain intact among humans, can be used as an element to show what happens in real life when man becomes consumed with power and greed, and their drive to do the "right then" soon gives way to the very thing they sought to fight against. Though the powerful object did not truly exist, the story does well to incorporate into history.
The Art for the series is good. It suits the story and its time-line perfectly, and is solid for all 26 episodes. The only problem I had, which really boils down to my preference, is that the art does have a smoky-like appearance at times, as if it is being viewed through a very very thin film of mist. I can understand why the method was used, as it does relate to certain scenes in the story, but since I like to view things nice and sharp it didn't win me over completely.
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the sound is good, despite there being only a few scores, which were all used repetitively. But the thing is, they suited the story perfectly and since it's obvious that the creators did not want anything drastic and over the topic, it was right on the mark.
I'm tempted to say that the characters are Very Good, but I think "Good" is more accurate.
The lead protagonist, Akizuki, has quite a somewhat stiff and at times unreadable attitude, which suits his role perfectly. It may be viewed by some as "boring" but when really get into the story, you can tell why it's the best design for him.
Ibaragi Sōtetsu's character is one to look out for, although I don't need to tell anyone that because as soon as he is spotted, he will command your attention. I think it's very common for a character to be present whose true motives are unknown to the other characters, but very obvious to the viewer, but in Sotetsu's case he will keep you guessing about his real intentions until the very end. His character design is practically flawless.
Those two aside, even though a majority of the character designs aren't particularly intricate, someone will pop up every now and then that's quite interesting to watch.
So like I said, I enjoyed the story enough, even though it may not be extremely outstanding or addictive. I also can understand how the consistent 'history lesson breakdown' may easily be confusing and annoying to some. If you're interested about Japan's past, and a realistic view of Ronins and Samurai, you should really give this series a shot.
edythemighty
Although I haven\'t seen much of this anime, I feel I have to express myself about it, so I\'ll make this short. The story itself is certainly a refreshing change of pace from other anime which either ignore placing fantasy elements, or go overboard and spin a wild tale of youkai and miko. The art style is definitely top notch for a modern anime, especially taking into account it is not an OVA. As for the character development, I\'ve seen about 10 episodes or so, and I find the character development quite lacking, the main character simply meets up with the others and they quicklyjoin forces. Also the main character\'s past is shrowded in mystery, too much, you hardly even know why he does what he does. I certainly don\'t get the feeling that he does it out of the goodness of his heart, although it is hinted at a duty of his, I want to see more, but not too much, otherwise the mysterious aura around him vanishes. Overall an enjoyable historical anime with some dash of demons, interesting sword styles, and sometimes a bit over the top action sequences.
Unconfidence
Basically this anime had a lot going for it at the beginning, but had to balance that with what it had going against it in the same timeframe. The scenes about the theater troupe and the writing involving Ibaragi and his plays was actually very engaging and made me want to see more. The very accurate portrayal of Japanese Kabuki theater was great and made me want to watch the show. I really liked the way they jammed a lot of plot into each episode and just expected you to keep up. But at the same time the anime was tryingway too hard to push the "OP Shounen" angle with Akizuki and would have been much better off just focusing on the theater aspect than including the need for supernatural powers and deus ex machina appeals to "destiny".
The second leg of the anime descends into utter supernatural garbage without any real historical underwriting, losing all the value the first half had built up to push a supernatural Romeo and Juliet story. Gone were the accurate representations of urban Japanese life, the intrigue, and any real sense of enjoyment from the anime. I mainly finished it so that I would not have to say I dropped it. Altogether this anime was a trainwreck and sets up a lot of false expectations about the nature of the story in the first half, which it can't live up to at all.
rockman_blues
When i started with this one i was too tired of watching mecha and school stuff which i can never get enough of. I thought that this was going to be an anime that i'd rather get out of my way before going back to where i was. But the show like all anime builds up on you. I remember being so intrigued at one point that i took a day off work to finish the series. The ending in particular was a satisfying one...mostly that is. The songs were really catchy...in fact i still find myself humming them quite often. The only thing i hatedwas that they concentrated a tad too bit on the politics which is slightly a hassle. Analogies between historical personailities and characters are well placed. Character relevance is well balanced and each character is treated as a component to narate some element of the story which is a great thing since i have found that most of the time shows have good characters which are wasted or forgotten in the course of the story.
This is a great show for those interested in epic love sagas of warriors. do enjoy!
Raggadish
"It´s two sides to everything in this world". Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto (Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto) is one of these shows that are really good, but never really got through to an lager audience. Why you should watch it? I will go down to that know. Story: 8/10 The main part of the story focuses on Japanese history (1850´s) - and the civil war that accrued then. In this period the profession of samurais was phasing out, and in many factions that wasn´t welcome. Western countries as France and Great Britannia had started to get very involved in Japanese business as well, and were in some extentinvolved with the war. They have spiced the story up with some super natural elements, which made the whole story much more interesting. The show have it´s main focus on the plot and the character secondary, but not so much that it´s get´s boring. What we get is an interesting saga involved Japanese war history, samurai fights and ethics and super natural elements. The thing for me that dragged it down a little is the heavy focus on the politics, and less on the emotional aspects of the characters. I´m not saying it totally lack of the character aspect, it contain a lot of emotional moments - but often the characters doesn´t scream out their feelings, you sometimes has to read between the lines and facial expressions. And for me the ending was a satisfying one. If you are in to political intrigues with the focus on war and samurais with a touch of super natural and love, Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto will definitely appeal to you.
Art: 7/10
The art and animation, wasn´t outstanding in any means - it´s pretty standard from the time it´s was done (2006). You don´t watch Intrigue in the Bakumatsu because of the art. The thing Bandai Visuals did manage to to is to capture a pretty realistic look on the show. The motions of the character was often more realistic then in usual anime. Colors, cloths and backgrounds are very fitting to the shows plot. I liked many of the character designs, the main and supporting cast all had their unique features.
Sound: 8/10
One of the best OP songs I heard - it´s really beautiful. Overall was the soundtrack very suiting and good. Background sounds as canon fires and such, was also pretty decant. I would recommend to watch this show subbed, the Japanese staff do a really good job. It makes the show much more intense and believable in Japanese.
Character: 8/10
As I mentioned before, the main focus is on the plot, but we also have some interesting characters. They all have their part to play on this stage. To see how many of them change status from friend to enemy, and back again in this show are very well done. As for character development I guess the shows focus didn´t really let the characters to develop so much. But the characters already starts out with a lot of personality and agendas.
Akizuki are your classical silent wandering samurai on a mission, but he do have feelings which are exposed time to time. Yuyama is first appearing as not that memorable, but has a big role to play and she have to go through a lot of hardships. Kanna is a very emotional plagued character, who had a lot of positional as one of the main antagonists. He spiced things up with his own way of doing things, and I would have liked it if they did more with his character the second half of the show. Ibaragi is the puppet master in this show. He writes plays that tells true stories - sometimes before they even happen. Ibaragi has he´s own agendas, which are explored trough out the show.
Enjoyment: 8/10
I truly enjoyed the show, due to I like Japanese history, samurais and super natural themes. Sometimes it´s was to much focus on political aspects, and to many names of political people that was thrown around - but it didn´t ruin my experience of the Intrigue in the Bakumatsu. Overall very entertaining - I really wanted to see what was about to happen next.
Overall: 8/10
Always glad to find some hidden gems from the past. It isn´t the best show I watched, but was definitely worth my time. Nice historical setting, some interesting super natural elements, a plot that made the characters to face their destiny's, and some realistic love and friend relationships. If you are after something more then just passing your time with, and a cheap laugh here and there - well then this show is certainly for you.
Mr_Yaz
✪ Genre: action (swordplay, gunfights), contemporary fantasy, historical drama, seinen ✔Positive Aspects✔ ◧ By far the most impressive aspect of this series was its sound department. Beautiful and diverse melodies for every possible situation, keep the series afloat despite its multiple shortcomings (see below). ◧ I found the concept of this series very interesting, the blending of modern Japanese history (with a mostly accurate depiction of historical events) and contemporary fantasy elements, although it was not executed nearly as good as it could have been.✘Negative Aspects✘
◧ Pretty mediocre animation, low saturated colors lacking vibrancy, not as crisp as it should have been, especially for a Sunrise production. The graphics around the depiction of magical auras & of magical spells looked as if they were from the mid-90s.
◧ Absolutely terrible action scenes. Even though they tended to end very quickly, they were clumsy, lacking clarity as to what had occurred, and were characterized by a terrible use of the slow-motion technique.
◧ I had enormous issues with the plot. First off, unless someone reads or watches a couple of introductory clips on YouTube on the Tokugawa period, he won’t be able to follow the series. Secondly, too many characters, too many sub-plots, too many historical information was being introduced at a very fast pace that was making their absorption incredibly difficult. Finally, it took around 15 episodes for the series to pick up and start gaining a sense of direction.
◧ Another gigantic bummer was character development. I am not only referring to the supporting characters or even the deuteragonists themselves, but also to the protagonists. Besides knowing his motivation to seal the Head of the Conqueror, I did not get to know much about Akizuki’s personal history (some information popped up during the last 2 episodes) or his thoughts and emotions towards specific people or even the world in general. I encountered the same problem with Ibaragi. The series did not develop this character at all since I did not get to know anything about his personal history, his motivations, his thought process, the extent of his physical and cognitive abilities. He was portrayed as if he either was a psychic or by far the most far-seeing strategist in anime history. I had no idea whether he was Akizuki’s trump card (without the former’s knowledge) or a ‘trojan horse’ antagonist (being the actual primary antagonist who was masquerading as the faux primary antagonist’s right-hand man).
Overall: A pretty uninspiring series, which took quite some time to start putting things together for the viewer in order to redeem itself, but unfortunately did not manage to do so in time.
sumire_chan
The historical context of this anime is indeed demanding - you will have to wiki some names and battles - but the artistry and the theatrics employed are so great you want to keep watching the play until the right names come about. It's best lays between episodes 1 and 13 (felt some disorientation in the argument after that point, like they were trying to pull up several storylines that would somehow converge in one single point in a map). All the characters are immensely valuable, particularly the secondary ones like tayu, hijikata's right arm, nakaya jubei and the 4 english elite warriors that, as theycome, bring the story closer to us.
Hijikata's journey north towards honor is sublime and kanna's descent operates as an inverted journey into despair. We are not given the answers for all the questions this anime brings about but it is fine: there is an element of surreal that allows for it to happen.
Technically, this production has very high standards both in the drawings as well as the animation itself. The cenarios are very much in harmony with the action and the characters are very dynamic.
If that wasn't enough, the soundtrack is simply breathtaking.
pluslethatminun
Its nice to watch a historical series once in a while, you'll learn a lot on this kinds of shows. Its really interesting how they incorporate fiction along these historical events that which occured in Japan. And for me, who doesn't really know what took place on Japan, I really enjoyed Bakumatsu as an history lesson and an anime series as well. Well I'm not entirely sure though if the series is accurate, I'll look into it later. As for the story goes, the Lord's head came from a rebel who rebelled against the king of Qin dynasty(in china of course) it was approximately 2004(correct meif I'm wrong) years ago when the rebel was beheaded. He swore to take revenge on everyone who opposed him, bringing his vengeful head to fruition. Qin's king ordered his people to seal the mysteriously weird re skull, so he decided to seal the head in the Land of the rising sun which is we all know Japan. Well of course, if there's something sealed; the chances of having it unsealed is effing big. Which happened in the story, and that's when our bishounen ronin comes in! Akidzuki Youjiro is a descendant of those who sealed the Lord's head, so therefore; he's tasked to reseal the effing wild red skull who loves to float around weirdly.
Art, its good. Considering the series is 7 years old, its pretty well made. The attention on details were fantastic, main characters are pretty drawn too. As for the background characters, its chuck full of samurai-hair-styled guys, you know? Those who have long hairs and bald? Meh, you know it already! And a lot of Kimono girls too! And I actually loved the female protag! I mean she cosplays really goodas if cosplay existed that time, she's an actress in the story. So she's good at makeup and things alike)!
Music? The Opening reminded me a lot of a Magia, the ending theme of Mahou Shoujo Madoka. I don't know why. Well anyway, nothing to discuss about the music on this one, they only had 1 OP and 1 ED, but the music playing on the last episode was kinda good.
Enjoyment? In the early parts, I didn't quite enjoyed it, since there weren't a lot of action scenes. Which you would expect from an action series like this, and then I remembered; Bakumatsu is a historical show. Meaning, a lot of narration was needed. But in the later in the show, it showed a lot of promise of being a good action series, which I quite enjoyed.
Overall. Honestly, I watched the series because of Akidzuki(male protag). My feminine side quickly fell when I first saw him(its not weird to have a feminine side right? Don't get me wrong though! I ain't into Boku no Piko shit!). I mean the detail on him is quite impressive, if I could be like him; I'd make a lot girls bow before me. Kidding aside, the series is a good! As I said earlier, it was a history lesson for me, being I'm not from Japan. I learned a lot from Bakumatsu. So if you're looking for a historical-somewhat-action series with a little twist of magic and some supernatural occurances, I'd recommend Bakumatsu.
(Overall Rating : 8)
