In 1931, the Tokugawa Shogunate remains in power, marking the 64th year of the Meiji era. Holding a monopoly over the newly discovered "Dragon Vein," the government is leading Japan toward an advanced Edo period. During this time, an elite force of executioners called "Nue" is tasked with defending the Shogunate from a rebel institution known as the "Kuchinawa."
As the owner of the Tsuyukasa Bookshop, Sawa Yukimura runs the store's day-to-day business inconspicuously. But behind the scenes, she seeks vengeance against the man who slaughtered her tribe and family. With a special ability to transform granted by her blue blood, Sawa joins Nue after being promised information regarding the target of her revenge: Janome, the leader of the Kuchinawa.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
bulkyhog
If I was a teacher, I'd give Jouran an A for effort. It's got a pretty unique and interesting premise/world and the right ingredients to make a good show. Unfortunately, just effort isn't enough in life, and things didn't come together the way they could've for Jouran. Decent action, good animation, and a pretty good OST aren't enough to patch up the holes in Jouran, and I think the final episode does a great job of summarizing the series as a whole; the right ideas but just too messy. The show is "decent" at best in my eyes, but I'll have to settle for a 3given the clearly forced plot points and overreliance on cliches.
Story: 3/10
I like really liked the premise and world of Jouran: an alternate time period of Japan where the shogunate was never abolished mixed with some steampunk-ish vibes.
That being said, the story is a generic, melodramatic revenge story, one many viewers have probably seen countless times.
My biggest issue lies with the pacing. Book 1 was alright, Book 2 was messy, and Book 3 was a combination of both. We got some worldbuilding and important questions answered in Book 3, but there was a lot left unexplored that could've bridged a lot of gaps.
Aside from the pacing, Jouran makes abundant use of cliches as well. Is there anything wrong with cliches? Not really since it all comes down to how you use it. But Jouran's use of cliches was, well, cliche.
Sike villain is actually someone close to the MC but double sike he had a good reason for his "villainy". Oh sike, triple sike, he comes up clutch and sacrifices himself for the greater good. We also got the Asahi retcon, which felt very cheap and was solely used to force in a plot point for Book 3. Okay then.
Art: 8/10
What I will give Jouran props for is its art style/animation. Not everyone is a fan of it, but I like the thicc, painting-like style animations the most. Not to mention the fight and transformation scenes are quite dope, although I think the actual fighting animations could've been a tad better.
Most importantly, the animation quality remained consistent through all episodes, which is very impressive considering how often we see dips in quality as the series progresses.
Sound: 7/10
OP and ED are very good and have a touch of those traditional Japanese tunes befitting a series set during a shogunate period. The OST used throughout the series was very nice as well and equally fitting for the time period.
VAs did a great job as well, although I wasn't sure if Kuzuhara's VA was intentionally talking so muffled/quiet or if that was a processing issue. On that note, Book 2 seemed to suffer from a dip in audio quality with the lines sounding like Koikimo. It returned to normal in Book 3 but that sudden change was quite unexpected.
Character: 2/10
Similar to the story, you'll find lots of cliches in the characters. Elena was probably the most unique and interesting character out of the main cast. Without spoiling, Kuzuhara and Sawa are about as generic as you can get, Asahi is literally just a plot device and not even a character, and Tsukishiro is an even worse version of Asahi.
Seriously, I still don't understand her (Tsukishiro's) character.
This girl sets everything up so Sawa and Asahi can escape and live peacefully because she wants to set Sawa free, then turns around and says "yea actually, I miss the old Kanye" and does some weird shit. Huh?
Then there was the freaky alcohol girl who was crying her eyes out after fighting Sawa and being spared. You'd think she wouldn't return or would become a changed person, but then she appears in the finale and does that? Literally forced just so the series could have an "emotional/moving" ending. I mean, c'mon, y'all really couldn't think of a better way to deliver it?
Enjoyment: 4/10
As crummy as everything was, I wouldn't say the series is unwatchable. Certain "patches" of specific episodes and Books are actually quite good, but when it came to putting everything together it was too convoluted and all over the place. Watching Jouran is like riding a roller coaster: sometimes you're riding the high and enjoying the show/worldbuilding, but other times you're rushing down and watching things go up in flames all around you. The problem is the highs just aren't very high, and that makes for a pretty mediocre series overall when it could've been so much more (I think if the content was spread over 16 EPs instead, this show would be really fucking good).
Persona111
Revenge, assassination, existence, repression and authoritharianism. All of those sound like ambitious topics for a 1920-ish ambientated anime with industrial fictional elements; sure, good things could come up from here. So then: what novelties does Jouran bring to the table while exploring those topics? Not many, or at least not enough to make itself remarkable over any other anime of its genre. Considering Jouran’s audience is already quite niche, I don’t think I would recommend anyone that is not completely passionate about all the revenge themes to go out of their way to watch it. If you are still interested though, let’s go on adeeper analysis of its pros and cons.
Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood, was one of the titles that first caught my eye in this season. The trailer was absolutely gorgeous, and it seemed to have a great setting. So then, watching the first chapter surely was a disappointment; the world-building was messy, the animation was good, but a step down from the trailer and the moments that were supposed to be impacting were actually just confusing. Then once again the story changed completely in episode 4, and again in episode 9, in a way that was sometimes positive, sometimes negative. If you ask yourself about Jouran’s low rating on MAL, I would say that it’s not quite fair with the quality of the anime, but sure is truthful to all its letdowns and mislead expectations.
But firstly, I’ll focus on Jouran’s biggest selling point, one that cannot be overstated: it’s artistic sense. Produced by a brand new studio, with a rather unspectacular staff and a director coming from the infamous studio GoHands, Jouran was likely doomed to be visually mediocre to say the least. Nonetheless, its trailers had already revealed that the staff knew exactly what they were doing, especially with the outstanding drawings of the transformations and battles, portrayed with thick lines of ink. Jouran, as I said previously, doesn’t have a top-notch staff nor incredible freelancer key animators (even though Hironori Tanaka animated the main scene of episode 4), but the production was conscious about its limitations and managed to produce a well-planned, quite consistent product. Even without insane fluidity, some strange filters on flashbacks and the character design getting quite big brain sometimes, Jouran is one of those animes that has a completely unique aesthetic. Impressing fights, gorgeous photography whit backgrounds that remind old japanese gravures are other parts of what I find to be a great planning overall.
Going over the other technical aspects before talking about the story, I might remark that the direction is competent with the use of illumination and symbolisms. VA is fine, I guess, but I really want to highlight a certain scene involving a baby in episode 11, that was really well done. Moreover, sound design is mediocre and OST is good (actually, the op and ed, both from Raise a Suilen, are absolute bangers).
And now, the main point here: Jouran’s plot. To further talk about it, I need to divide it into three parts, each one notably different from the others. I won’t spoil anything, but I might uncover the structure of the narrative.
The first part is about revenge. The setting about assassins that work for an oppressive government and keep opposition in check is quite generic; the characters start being bland and there are some anachronisms, so this start is quite uncomfortable. Nonetheless, the animation sure is dope, there are stylish scenes and the cliffhangers are placed in the exact moments to make you interested in the next episode. Sure, I guess I will continue then… it’s not every day that you find such a bloody anime with good production values and 3 female leads. I guess it’s a 5 out of… man, episode 4 was complete fire wtf! Let’s keep watching then, I said.
And then Jouran turned into something completely different. I didn’t know how to predict the plot anymore, the characters gained increasingly more depth and the anime started discussing a lot of existentialism about what is to live without a goal. Suddenly, Jouran was completely set apart from the similar other works I had seen until then, and a lot of potential emerged about what could come next… then I had hope Jouran could be among the best of the season, be a memorable tale about life… bleh (said the actual me)
And finally, the conclusion. It was not easy to conclude in a satisfying way after all those questions that were raised in episodes 5-8, but Jouran somehow managed to do many of the difficult parts and still feel like it could have been much better. The ending has some questionable decisions here and there, that I won’t spoil, but at the same time the execution fulfilled almost every expectation I had by episode 8; so then, why do I find it underwhelming? Exactly because I could predict it from episode 8. Jouran, as I said, is far from being a bad show, or having a shitty plot, but it falls in the abyss of being irredeemably forgettable.
With those great aesthetics and the potential unravelled by the 2nd part, Jouran could have been a remarkable story, but, far from being bad, it ended up being little more than generic.
Luubie
"The Suffering Tale of a Sweet and Poisonous Young Girl" - Jouran can be defined simply by those words. As a new experimental work from 2021, Bakken Record Studio has the show as its second production and first broadcast weekly. The show begins with a perspective that intersperses underworld, government corruption, and work lurking and in the dark. Nue is a very strong and influential group in Japan, especially when it comes to their most important function: to ensure the security and political integrity of the country at any cost. In the same act we meet Sawa, the main character of the show, taking care ofAsahi, her "sister". In fact, the very coexistence of Asahi and Sawa is a matter to be considered as important for the construction of the show. It is interesting to realize that even though they appear to be good friends, the two hide a bloody past. Imagine that you are a very young child who lost your parents in a conflict. Asahi would be one of the thousands of children who would have this fate. Just as in reality, life is cruel and the anime does not hide this at any time. Even though Asahi internally seeks revenge, his immaturity and lack of experience is the cause of his failures. And even after his death, the show shows with a very impactful visual discomfort. Nowadays, there are few shows that can really have this creative freedom in using elements like these at every point in the story.
Remember when I said that Jouran was a Tale? In fact, Jouran is a theater, composed of characters with exposed roles for the sake of the continuity of a drama that moves forward and reformulates itself over time. Our protagonist? A woman who, before the show even begins, has experienced immeasurable pain and loss, simply for her clan. In the anime, Sawa finds herself on a quest for revenge on her family, especially revenge on her brother. The drive that has driven Sawa since childhood is a prominent factor in the decent progression of the entire show. Even though Sawa fights and switches sides and opinions during her life, she always fights for justice and retribution of accounts. Tsukishiro is another important character within the show, in fact, a character to be better explained. He is the complete example of someone who has sold out to pursue a personal freedom. Even though we don't know his true intentions (for example, when he allies himself with Janome), Tsukishiro fulfills the role of a supporting villain as his role in revealing the mysteries and goals of the government are shown, based we treasures and by the blue blood of the Sawa Clan.
Asahi is also a key player in Sawa's evolution as a character. In fact, Asahi is the main point that changes Sawa's perspective on the world. Since she entered Nue and was trained by Jin, she has had to suppress her more human emotions in order to perform her missions with prowess and precision, as a sign of trust and to further her own revenge. However, when reality is shown over Sawa's eyes, everything becomes a cataclysm and changes drastically. Throughout the show, Sawa has never cared about personal or loving relationships. Even the character in the first episode who teased her in the bookstore and the teacher who taught at the school where Asahi played with other children, all had trouble really effecting a change in Sawa's attitude. The perception of events and the trauma of suffering more prevented Sawa from still judging herself as a human. Many times the anime put her in a situation of internal conflict, where she made up her mind a few times to want to commit suicide, but without effect, because Jin would not allow it. All this exposition of happenings shows that Jouran exerts a depth both in the Japanese period in which it is told, and in the narrative function in which the show creates its plot. When Asahi's supposed death occurs, Sawa actually recognizes that he is still someone who can love and suffer and take someone in.
And the word of the anime is: "betrayal". Jouran has taken up the proceedings with this word. Jin's past, Nue, the allies, the government... All the groups and people who represent the show have suffered or betrayed for their own benefit. The national corruption in Japan, in Jouran, allows for creating situations where the death of characters is the solution to end these pursuits. Hana and Asahi (again) and Tsukishiro are practical and obvious examples. The show has competently and objectively exercised the reasons why it set up the conclusion of the story, without leaving serious problems of plot composition. Of course, this whole applied situation can reach a peak of confusion, where everyone is against everyone else, which can really displease, but I believe Jouran knew how to fit positively into this. The episode director and storyboard creator are to be congratulated, they pushed the show forward.
On the production side, Jouran stands out very well. Even with general inconsistencies, the show uses beautiful artistic elements, such as texture and morbid perspective. The use of placements, mainly blue, red, and black, produce a contrast, while complementing the environment and the night time period, where most of the anime takes place. Not to mention the music, which was well interspersed, with the Opening and Ending being great. The red flowers, the artwork in a watercolor-like portrait, and the culture of verisimilitude managed to stand out clearly within each episode.
Finally, Jouran deserves more recognition. It is a different show from the others, of course, you may not like it. It is an anime that doesn't encompass many positive reviews, but this time I ask: give it a chance. I was a person who looked down on this show, today I want to forget everything negative I said in the past. Jouran is indeed a worthwhile show.
- In the end, everything is a cycle, it will always repeat itself.
I would like to see a sequel to Jouran, with Asahi as the protagonist. It would be nostalgic and fun, I think...
KANLen09
Whenever I come across original anime, my first instinct is always to scrutinize the production staff team and see what are their past records, because that's always a very good indication if the anime could shoot for the moon, or in the case of Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood, be the sub-servience of another mediocre shot at hiring non-recognizable names and making generic stuff, just to waste all that money down the drain for some other anime or even mixed-media projects that could be made better and make all that effort worth its run. I'd swear: take a look at the staff team, andonly a minority have works to their name, albeit in varying degrees of success viable across the board. You have old-timer director Susumu Kudou, which aside from the terrifying work that is Dies Irae some years ago, has some impressive work under his belt, like the Mardock Scramble series...that is very dated to more than a decade ago. Sound director Yuuichi Imaizumi has also some notable works under his name (e.g. Jashin-chan Dropkick!, and one of my absolute favorite half-episode length shorts: Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san) that is worth the apt, to even the music director Michiru (Given, Isekai Bookworm and many more). Alas, the other majority that covers the show are no-names, as in the case of the story and plot tremendously holding back due to it sounding like a child's play, and my long-time complaint of creating new studios that are only temporary solutions to a never-ceasing problem.
With even a generic story, if the setting is unique enough, then it warrants some attention, and Jouran's settings are indeed just that: a Princess Princpal steampunk-like alternate Japan where both tradition (Shogunate) and modern (experimental) values meet, even down to the episode titles which are totally 100% like said show. However, unlike Princess Principal, the story while made original, it just feels like a ham-fisted sequence of events where said character(s) are tasked to do what they're told to do because it's a deadly world out there, and failure is not by choice or reasoning. Furthermore, given that the 3 monthly arcs (or books as they're categorized) are meant to showcase the timeline of events that happen in the show, it kinda defeats the purpose of trying to mimic the Princess Principal style of naming them as "Confidential File No. XXX", because they're meant to be unorthodoxies for the audience to watch back those episodes in a chronological order to get the feel for how everything started out with as opposed to the broadcast order. While Jouran managed to imitate that aspect with decency, it lost a lot of its unique appeal by conforming to the orthodox standard (the monthly Book arc pacing) with such a linear story that is easy to follow, yet at the behest of retaining watch values due to how sluggish the story and plot can be, which is much or less a heavily revenge-based show that has no redemption values whatsoever.
Sadly, the characters in this story that are meant to tell that exact story, kinda goes wishy-washy over its convolutional methods of "Must I do this to get back my revenge and my enemies' just desserts?". The central female MC Sawa "Yuki" Karasumori, hailing from your typical family clan but with a cavier's level of caveat: their "blue blood Changeling transformation" power is infectiously powerful, for the one that wields it is able to overthrow enemies, to even being a catalyst of control for a big city like ancient 20th Century Meiji Era alternate Japan standards. Her reason of joining a group of executioners called the Nue is just to seek revenge of her past memories of her clan's annihilation, though the ambition of this secretly-formed organization has been solely made to aid the Yoshinobu Tokugawa faction against insurgents who are aiming to overthrow the Shogunate. From taking care of an abandoned child (Asahi Nakamura) to getting along with the Nue members (Elena, Makoto and leader Jin), the journey of the Princess of Snow and Blood is a deadly one, where personal feelings and emotions will not be tolerated in the face of missions to seek out the embodiments of life so tragic and predictable. Throughout the course of the show, I can get why Asahi is there to help Sawa progress with her character development, but for the Nue organization, its members, the subpar villains (Janome and the Shogunate) and the rest, it just feels like characters designed and monitored to trigger death flag events as and when the story development needs to get going, and that will always be a make-or-break point if the story isn't strong enough to channel back and forth. It sure took some convincing to do, but at a forced level to be put in their shoes.
From the anime announcement to behind-the-scenes production and then full-on release, it only took less than 2 months to get this show done, which is insanely and redonculously fast for a show that mostly depends on the 2DCG computerized mish-mesh to dish out animation, especially on the aesthetic of what supposed to look like well-animated fight choreography, with all the flare and none of that hand-draw tradition work, which saves production costs but at the sacrficial cost of quality. I'd say that this is one of the most unique shows by animation levels alone, and how Bakken Record managed to channel that choreography like it went all-out with it is kinda nice, to not put a damper on delivering through animation (if all else falls apart). Just don't expect Ufotable's Demon Slayer levels of quality, even if there are similarities in its action-packed thematics.
Music is just so-so, but it's RAISE A SUILEN for the OST, so BanG Dream! fans have enough to rejoice over new songs from the band. Otherwise, it's non-existent for the most part.
I've often hear this heresay everywhere that "Why Aren't More Original Anime Made?", and it's a very good foundation and morale story behind people and studios who want to go on this extraordinary route, which is totally unlike the manga/LN adaptation landscape. Playing "safe" show concepts that uses existing tropes and clichés is almost a given, because at the end of the day, it's a business model that will evenutally have people sold on the idea. With that said, translating that to the audience is a totally different matter by itself, and like what I've said at the beginning, while heaps of money and resources has been spent on this mediocre show, there's no turning back even if the final product's good or not. Jouran falls in the latter space, and while it is not the worst anime of the season, it definitely comes off as either you love it or hate it. Good try to set expectations low, but please pan out a better story next time.
Daddy_Alchy
Jouran was a great watch, but I feel it had some short comings. It's story varied from episode to episode, with some being phenomenal, and others feeling very diluted and almost cheap compared to the overall story at work. The art for this show, the acting, the score, are all absolute pieces of art. I don't think they could've made them better if they tried. The story however, was above average in an overall sense, feeling interesting and unique, but moment to moment felt weak. at times it felt like the driving force was something akin to stereotype shonen 'The Power Of Friendship: TM'and at other points it felt very real and raw.
The main character was at times lovable and relatable and at others felt weak and whiny.
It almost feels as if half the anime was made by one set of people, and the other half another. It could have been direction issues or funding even, but there's no real way of knowing I suppose.
Overall it was a great watch that had some issues along with it. I do have criticisms of course, but it was still a very enjoyable watch and one I would recommend in the future.
OneFaintingRobin
"Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood" is a bit of an odd show, in a lot of ways. It's premise is fairly simple, at least at the start. You've got a early twentieth-century setting, a young woman driven by revenge working as an assassin for an oppressive regime, primarily out of practicality, to find the man who killed her parents. Nice and simple. As the story unravels, it adds a lot more complexity to the setting; a double agent here, a betrayal there. Despite that, it's easy to settle into what the story clearly is, there's a clear theme here that you'd expect toreach a fairly simple but satisfying conclusion.
Indeed, up until the final moments of the final episode, this conclusion stays obvious. And I don't mean that in a cynical way, it's obvious because the story has, for the most part, been coherent and competently told. And then it just sort of... doesn't. Without clear spoilers, the show pulls a final twist (and it does like a twist) on the audience, which on the one hand isn't necessarily *badly* done, the emotional side hits well enough, it's well done. But it also feels like it undermines the entire journey of the story, in a very bizarre and confusing way. Again, not in an 'it doesn't make sense' sort of way, but in a 'what were the people making this trying to say with this?' kind of way.
As mentioned, the show likes a tragic twist, it pulls them out every three episodes or so, and to the show's credit, the final undermining ending should have been foreshadowed by the fact that most of them have little effect on the story.
And yet, the worst I can say, despite all of this, is that I think the show is odd. Because the thing is, despite that, despite those last few episodes sort of dropping the ball, I actually did really enjoy this show. I loved the production design and the general atmosphere of it, I found the characters interesting and unique and cared about the protagonist's journey. I liked the soundtrack a lot, feeling modern but very period appropriate. And I really enjoyed the animation side, especially in fight scenes, which have a very unique feel and design to them, backed by an interesting supernatural concept.
Ultimately, I did like this show. I just wish that, when the chips were all down and it was trying to say whatever it was trying to say, it didn't seem to have forgotten what that was.
donhumberto
There are series that you like and you go “well, that was cool, what shall I watch next?” once you finish them. Others that you really like and make you go “That was Awesome, I’m gonna read some stuff about it on the internet”. And then, there are series that leave you speechless, unable to move from your seat and leave such a strong impression in you that you know right away that they’ll stay with you forever. Joran is one of those series. Now, first things first: Why the hell am I giving such high praise and top score to a series series that seemsto be so impopular and underwatched among anime fans? Well, you see, Joran is not a rom-com that repeats the same unfunny joke a million times, and it certainly doesn’t have the word isekai in its tittle so I guess it was never bound to be popular among fans in the first place.
Jokes aside, once we know what Joran isn’t (this is no isekai rom-com, that’s for sure), let’s talk about what Joran is and why I consider it to be a masterpiece. Whithout getting into spoilers, the series is set in the early 30’s in some kind of alternative Japan (although it does look quite realistic, to the point that there are some scenes that feature radio broadcasts that sound as if they were taken straight from that period. I really loved that detail) and it’s centered on a special group created by the government to fight against insurgents. One of the members of said group is Yukimura/Sawa, who has some kind of special powers, and the series focuses mainly on her story and interactions with the other 3 members of the group as well as her little sister.
What makes Joran (or Jouran, as it can also be written) great and separates it from other series with a similar premise is how emotionally powerful and gripping it is. It’s hard to talk about it without spoliers so let’s just say that there’s a permanent sadness and melancholy that impregnates every scene that somehow make this series to be closer to stuff like Jin – Roh (which happens to be my favorite movie ever, anime or otherwise) or Casshern Sins. Of course, this slow pacing and somber mood might to be to everyone’s taste, specially considering how gloomy and sad the world already is. But I firmly belive that it’s in hard times like these that pure, heartfelt masterpieces are more necessary than ever. And, make no mistake, Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood is one of those.
WyattWordWeaver
I was drawn to Jouran at offset by its adult female protagonist and its alt history setting, both factors that are far too rare in modern anime. I was also impressed by the end of the show which is emotionally powerful and wrapped up the character arcs rather nicely for a satisfying conclusion. Unfortunately the middle is where stumbles. Much of its writing is cluttered and rushed. A lot of plot is crammed into too small a space, leaving world building feeling thin and at least one character being utterly nonsensical. The production values also leave a bit to bedesired. While i enjoyed the attempt at a painterly aesthetic much of the show is dull, brown and unappealing. It's action scenes range highly in quality but are never enough to save the show.
Still Jouran commits. It builds its world, as slapdash as it might be. The pacing stays high. A cramped plot means you'll never be bored, and it goes hard with its emotions even being reckless at times in a few bait and switches. The music sells its historical setting and the main character was interesting to explore.
Despite its jank i can't hate Jouran. It made a valiant attempt at making an original action packed historical drama from the female perspective. It felt cheap and thin in the end but the solid ending means i won't forget it for a while. It's probably worth keeping an eye on Studio Bakken Record
I'd recommend this show to those with a patience for lower production values and want a show that feels a bit fresh, along those who like historical dramas. Conversely if you don't know much about Sengoku Era Japan you might want to do a bit of research before you watch.
5/10
Apple_Twinkle
(This is a spoiler-free review) Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood is something I went into hopeful and came out of upset. While it's presentation is excellent, Jouran's plot is convoluted and contrived. I would not recommend this anime to anyone. And it's a shame how much seemingly genuine effort went in service of a lacking story. Story - 2 The story is easily Jouran's worst aspect. Like a lot of bad mystery stories, it starts off intriguing, and quickly devolves into confusing motives and bad pacing. A lot of storytelling decisions feel like they were made just to have a cliff hanger at the end ofthe episode. I got to the end and wasn't sure why all that rigmarole had to happen. Very disappointing.
Art - 8
The art is actually very nice! Jouran is animated very well all the way through (with some dips in quality here and there). Facial expressions are really nice, the fight scenes are good (although the fight choreography has some pacing problems), and scenes are well conveyed in both space and tone. There is an effort to use a strong style sometimes, and it looks quite nice, but it's not always used when it could have been useful.
The character design is also really good for most characters (although on a few it's awful). The clothing designs are especially good.
Sound - 7
Voice acting is really good (sometimes a bit quiet) considering the nonsense plot it's impressive how much emotion is conveyed. The music is also good! Using a mix of traditional Japanese music and more modern sounds. Engages the viewer within the period.
It's possible the music is used inconsistently (like it was composed for one purpose and re-used without consideration) but I wasn't really keeping track, so we'll say it was intentional ;p
Character - 4
The main character is exceptionally passive (although you won't notice it at first). She interacts with the plot a lot but does almost nothing. All important decisions happen divorced from her. It's frustrating. Other characters have stronger motivations. But some of them are just confusing. And characters consistently make stupid, baffling decisions. The most sensible character there is Asahi, who is 7.
There is a chance that some of this was on purpose, but personally it was just frustrating to watch.
Overall I gave Jouran a 4/10. And I'd recommend avoiding it (but maybe watching a few clips to check out the animation).
aitanabe
Jouran is a phenomenal revenge story. If you enjoy works like Lady Snowblood, Kill Bill, or the films of Park Chan-Wook, then you will adore this anime. It has a fantastically realized roaring '20s/biopunk setting; its characters are all engrossing, each with their own complicated motivations and desires; and the artwork and direction are *clearly* a cut above their peers. The story itself is equally engaging, with enough twists and revelations that it will keep you engrossed until the very end without feeling trite. The only place that this anime fails is in a somewhat unsatisfying ending, but that's purely a matter of taste. Thisshow is 12 episodes well spent, and it deserves way more praise than it gets.
YeeYeeAss
Visually pleasing. This is an anime original show and is it good? Well kinda. It has its moments but not every scene or episode is perfect, but it does have so amazing animation and art considering this is the studios first anime So the story is about this woman named Yukimura Sawa who kinda does weird stuff. She is the owner of a book store but she has a secret side. She can transform into this monster things. Mostly she just kills others like her and try to stop some crimes. I honestly don't remember much of the story. Characters are somewhat well-made. They aren't the greatest butthey are not the worst. Sawa herself is kind and caring but can also be feisty when it comes to saving people.
The opening fucking slaps. It sounds so great. They background music is also pretty pleasant.
I guess i'll give like a 7. It is fun but the story is a mess and forgettable.
DykeViews
Update: The further I get out from this show the more I'm bothered by the treatment of Makoto. It just sucks. If you're reading my reviews for queer perspectives, skip this one. (And thanks, you're my target audience!watch other shows from the universe. Solid episodic structure, almost visual story-telling. They tried to do a lot in just 12 episodes with more more successes than failures. Worth watching, but on my 2nd viewing just highlights where it could have been better.
Mai_Neko-chan
In my opinion, this anime has very few fans than it should have. It is not like that cliche animes that are normaly an isekai and the protagonist it's geting stronger with every episode. It's very original, I have never seen anything like this and I would recommend to anyone. It's true that maybe it has many plot twists, but you can follow the story very well. I don't know why people say that this is not a great anime when it's very emotional, and the art style it's also great, something that it's not the most important thing, but all of us like to watchseries that are well made.
AnimeEnjoyer420
Recommendation: Skip it unless you really want to look at the pretty art and animation. That's about all it has going for it. Joran is the dictionary definition of style over substance. It has a very unique and flashy visual look, the action is very eye-catching and well-animated, and the plot is irredeemable garbage. For a while it looked like it was going for "so bad it's good" territory, but it ended up not even giving us that, it was just regular bad in a not fun way. Characters get killed off regularly for cheap drama and then brought back to lifewithout explanation for even cheaper drama. Characters and their motivations rarely make sense and they act in highly contradictory ways just to be unpredictable. The melodrama is so over the top that it has zero impact. The ending is laughably pointless and nihilistic.
Without the action scenes this would probably be one of the worst shows I've seen, but goddamn do they make it tempting to recommend anyway. It's not ultra-high budget but has a highly stylized look to it that's absolutely gorgeous. It makes excellent use of colors and big, thick lines to look unlike anything else you've seen, in a good way. It's a bit corny, but when Sawa delivers her catchphrase and begins transforming, it actually does get you excited a little bit to see what's about to unfold. She's a cool protagonist that can pull off lines that would be cringeworthy if they were delivered by someone else.
It's a real shame this show has absolutely nothing going for it beyond the pretty action scenes. That level of artistic vision really deserved a better vehicle than this below average soap opera.
Note: review has been reposted due to MAL incorrectly classifying it as preliminary
PixelB
Ah...revenge stories. I personally love a good revenge show. They always make me want to root for the main character when they can finally achieve their revenge. Or, if it's a redemption sort of story, the transformation that the character goes through towards freedom, inner peace, and the future also makes me feel good inside. Jouran truly goes through the motions and touches the surface of what constitutes of a redemptive revenge story, but fails completely in execution and storytelling. It's one thing to rush a story, and another to just obliterate any character development or personality in favor for rushing through mediocre predictable rabble. Jouran attemptsto do what Vinland Saga did in 24 episodes in nurturing a boy flooded with rage and desire for revenge in four episodes. In those four episodes, it also tries to foster a bond between siblings similar to what Dororo did in 24 episodes. It also tries to incorporate a "secret organization" that Sawa is a part of, in which she has to escape in order to truly be free of their clutches, refusing to do bloody work for them.
It's too surface level because it rushes through everything that makes the story worthwhile. Whats it to me if Sawa manages to escape her impeding clutches when I do not give a damn about her since there is nothing for me to like? What is it to me that Asahi tries to save Sawa when their bond is forced and weak?
What do I really know about Sawa? Everything I know about her is given through intermittent flashbacks tagged along with dull dialogue with fellow secret organization "executioners" that have as much personality as a piece of wood. Tsuki and her entire subplot is lost because I don't understand her motives until the story decides to give me a direct explanation with awkward monologuing. There is no arc in the story that develops Sawa as a character. Sawa needed to at least have her relationship with Asahi to be genuine, but what do I see? Zero bonding moments, spur of the moment actions, and lack of any genuine self reflection and comprehension. In the end, Asahi is a mere plot device so that Sawa has something to care about after her revenge was over. In reality, Asahi's entire personality is dependent on Sawa. There is no depth, and Sawa acts with complete ambivalence and contradiction throughout the story. She somehow internalizes the fact that she prioritizes Asahi through direct confrontation with the threat of her death in order to accelerate plot. There was no bonding moments, but rather a forced plot element that makes Sawa progress as a character, and this is a trend that keeps on happening. Nothing about Sawa feels genuine, and that can be said for all of the characters. When there are random characters that influence the plot, that confront Sawa and Asahi, I really start to lose interest. When Sawa and Asahi are just as bland as the rest of the cast of characters, I lose interest.
I should care when Asahi gets saved by Sawa. I should be tense when Asahi tries to save Sawa from Nue. I should feel a release, as well as a joy when Sawa manages to live a "peaceful" life. I should feel joy for Sawa when She gets her revenge. But I don't, and the reason is simple. Sawa nor Asahi get any love or development that is more than a plot device. Every event is just like a checklist for the plot. There is the bare minimum of dialogue and character interaction for the plot to make sense, but even then, it's not good. There absolutely needed to have more time for character relations, and personalities to shine through. If the plot is not brilliant and is predictable, and the characters abandoned in favor of plot development, then what you have is a barely functioning show.
theGodde
Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood started off as an anime with high potential. An anime original with a decent budget and a unique artstyle set in an alternate reality 1930s Japan. I wanted it to be good. I think we all wanted it to be good. But Jouran devolved into one of the biggest trainwreck anime this season. The story is the show's biggest problem. Our protagonist, Sawa, is set up with a straightforward revenge plot, however the revenge plot is resolved in the first four episodes. The show didn't build up any real direction or momentum beyond the revenge arc, and following thatthere isn't any established direction for which the show is going to head for the rest of the season. It's a jumbled mix of different plots that don't particularly relate aside from the same cast is present in all the plots. There are numerous fake-out deaths, even multiple times for some characters. It feels hard to care about anything that happens onscreen because you're not sure if it's even possible for the main cast to die.
Despite all this, there were numerous plots that I did enjoy. There are many thrilling moments and enjoyable story beats, however they are ruined by the lack of a cohesive story and the indecisive way the characters were handled.
The characters themselves actually started rather interesting. The main cast we are introduced to are all working together as members of a government run assassination force called Nue. All the members appear to get along, but each harbour a deadly secret that may some day threaten the rest of the cast. However many of these secrets amount to nothing. The plot continues, and one by one all the characters are put in situations and make decisions that are ridiculous, unrealistic, and nonsensical. The characters are slowly broken down and destroyed by the poor choices of the plot until there are no interesting characters left.
I have to admit though, the OP was a banger. The music overall is fairly solid. It didn't particularly stand out and mostly adhered to the mood of the scenes.
Overall Jouran: Princess of Snow and Blood was a fever dream that was ruined by a messy, nonsensical plot. I went into Jouran with reasonable expectations, however I quickly found that having any expectations at all will ruin the experience. If you for some reason genuinely do want to try out this show, either out of a sick, twisted sense of curiosity, or just to add another season to your anime list, it is best watched when you're feeling tired or unfocused, when you can turn your brain off and look at all the pretty pictures on the screen.
4/10 do not recommend unless you have a brain disease.
EDOSHINRATENSEI
The most noticeable thing about the anime was the unique animation. The texture and contrast of the characters felt different. The action and transformation scenes felt like paintings with this animation style. I enjoyed the uniqueness of the style and how it different it made the atmosphere feel. My major problem with the anime was the usage of premise and characters. Even though it took place in historical era, the premise took a fantastical direction with special fuels that could make special weapons and warriors. Because of this, the actions were pretty decent. However, instead of doing more with the premise, the story became a small-scale andtypical revenge quest that I have seen before. The scale of the story could potentially be good because there would be more time to focus on the characters. However, the main character, Sawa, felt typical and not too special, but her relationship with her ‘sister,’ Asahi, was sweet and got me a bit invested.
The ending was disappointingly anticlimactic. It could have made the sacrifice and redemption of a character more glorious and justified. The ending felt like nothing, and more like a fast way to wrap up the plot because the amount of episodes weren’t enough.
Overall, it had potential with the premise, but the story went for a mediocre route with beautiful animation. 6/10
kilolumi
this was one of the shows that i decided to watch this cour, and it was a wrong choice indeed. it had SO MUCH potential, but it was wasted just like that. **spoilers ahead** Story: 3/10. I couldn't understand what was going on after ep 7. i understand that there is a lot of death involved, but what ticked me off is that the characters came back to life. turns out they weren't really dead, and somehow were miraculously saved. imo it defeats the whole point of the mc's character development. the pacing was also really weird. the "main villain" was defeated early on, but in thenext eps, the place where the conflict originates from wasn't really clear. yes we have backstory, but it doesn't really explain what was going on. i was really confused watching the eps, hoping the next ep would give a clearer explanation, but nope, did not happen at all.
Art: 9/10. at least i can vouch that the art is good. it gives a traditional vibe to it, and the fight scenes were splendidly done. the opening's visuals were also really pretty to watch, and i thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. at least they didn't slack off that.
Sound: 8/10. the voice acting for the mc was awesome. i could really feel the emotion in her voice, and i felt like crying, even though i did not understand a single thing going on. i also particularly liked the voice of one of the side characters, Makoto. Aoi-san did a good job voicing her, and she was my fav character throughout the entire series.
Character: 5/10. i like how the characters had their own distinct personality, so that made it fun to watch in the beginning, but halfway through they were 'killed' off, and i think the show took a bad turn from there. i felt like in the 2nd half they were really useless, and whatever development they had in the first half had no impact whatsoever and was wasted in the 2nd half. only the mc had character development, and even i wasn't sure if it was development or not.
Enjoyment: 4.9/10. did it have me hooked? yes but did it fade away? yes to that too. i looked forward to the opening that's one thing, but the other part of me watching was just really confuzzled and barely understanding things.
Overall: 5/10. not really worth the watch, wish i had watched 86 or Vivy instead.
BroTaro_1
[SPOILERS AHEAD] A rollercoaster of expectations, Jouran was a wild ride. Seeing the visuals of the trailers enchanted my mind, which sought unique and good animation styles. But Jouran made me realise one thing for sure, animation alone cannot carry a weak story. Story We start off with an introduction to Sawa Karasumori, Yuki Yukimura, an assassin working for Nue, with an ulterior motive of avenging her clan and killing their murderer. The cast consisted of lady sasuke, Hanakaze, Tsuki and Jin, all colleagues of Yukimura. There was also Asahi, whose parents were killed by Yukimura on one of her missions. Seeing the orphaned girl, she took herin, with the deal that Asahi could kill Yukimura after she had completed her revenge.
For the first 4-5 episodes of the anime, it was a huge disappointment. The story was unclear and confusing, the characters weren’t charming and the plot was monotonous. Yukimura was your average emotionless, thirsty for revenge character. Blinded by the rage of her past, she cared not for the lives of those she killed. By the 4th episode, the supposedly main villain of the story Janome was killed. We came to know that Tsuki was a traitor and had his own objectives. What they were, we never find out.
The latter half of the story is much better in my opinion, and also where things get more interesting. Till this point I felt that the direction of the anime was rather bad. Pacing issues, too many twists were some of the writing’s and direction’s most major flaw. The pacing many times underplayed the actuality of the scene, a good example of this being Asahi’s death, which did not come off as brutal and impactful as it should’ve.
But after this point on, I felt that the character moments were much better than before. Seeing Sawa completely broken after the loss of Asahi was heartbreaking. Being given the hope, and then getting stripped of it made me pity her terribly. Another such moment was seeing Jin cry after feeling the warmth of love added depth to the once monotonous character. And then seeing him devastated at the thought of murdering the clan he had bonded with was heartbreaking. He had no choice but to kill the first beings he cared for.
Needless to say, I felt that, even though the writing was rather simple, the execution of the scenes was done very well in the latter half of the story.
Music and Art
The music was very fitting and thematic. The opening had the thrilling feel, paired with the traditional instruments. The ending had this tragic feel, as if we were in the aftermath of a sad event. In the final episode, this ending pairing up with the already depressing scene made the moment rather phenomenal. Other than the EDs and OPs, the OSTs were also good. They did their jobs and weren't very distracting
Now coming to art, the element that attracted me initially. While the art style surely is unique and cool to look at, Jouran suffers from it. The thing is, the better the art in one frame, the harder it is to maintain. And this is visible throughout the series. The animation can get flimsy at times, sometimes ruining the moment. Due to this, Jouran has many scenes which are just alterations of one still frame. Though I must say, this was a problem only during the beginning, as I wasn’t engrossed that well.
Issues
The major issues I had with the anime was its writing. As I have said, so many things were happening in an episode that it was hard to care for them. The general structure was that by the end, a new plot twist was revealed. This worked for the first 2 eps, but then it became redundant.
There were also many plot holes. The character of Makoto Tsukishiro is still very unclear. What is he trying to achieve? Why did he betray? The biggest of all was the death of Sawa. It felt like she was killed only to give a sad end to the story, The assassin had no reason to kill her. She herself said that she had no grudge against her, and was killing her only because of the order. Now that the government was no more, WHY DID SHE KILL SAWA ?
;-;
I want to separately praise the final moment of the anime, no matter how bad the reason that led up to it was. The moment was just depressing. While Asahi was looking forward to the future, living with the sister she loves so much, Sawa was filled with regret and was struggling to live. Asahi was completely oblivious, and Sawa was struggling to keep her oblivious. It was heart wrenching to watch. Had the reason been better, this moment might as well have been one of the saddest I have seen.
Conclusion
Looking back at it in retrospect, all I can think of is how it wasted its potential. The soundtracks were good, the animation was unique. Had there been better writing, the anime could’ve been much better. By the end, I was coming to like it. Therefore I was really disappointed when the illogical twist came.
