Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto Review - 89/100
Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto takes place in the Meiji-era, where supernatural events can occur. It follows Akizuki Youjiro, a very talented swordsman who has been tasked to seal an item called “the Lord’s Head”. This item is able to fully control others, and has to be sealed no matter what. A theatre-troupe, meanwhile is out on revenge.
One thing that immediately strikes with this series: its awesome production-values. Seriously, this series showcases some of the highest-quality art and animation for a tv-series. Characters move extremely fluid, the CG is terrific, and especially the background art is extremely detailed. The graphics just ooze with realism like no other series has managed to do before. And if that wasn’t good enough, this anime comes with an absolutely smashing soundtrack, which doesn’t lose focus for even an episode.
On top of that, it comes with a very detailed storyline, featuring both historical as fictional characters, based around Enomoto Takeaki’s mission to found the republic of Ezo, on what is now known as Hokkaido. Be warned, though, as the storyline does require some afford in order to actually understand it. A lot of references are made to the Meiji-period of Japan, and without sufficient knowledge, you’ll need to look up things a lot in order to get all the references.
Still, as the anime moves on, the story will become clearer and clearer, and it results in one of the more solid storylines I’ve seen in anime. Still, with that, perhaps one of the few problems with this anime lies. Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto may be a really solid story, it also lacks plot-twists. Most of the series is pretty straightforward, and only episodes 13 and 18 provide a number of very juicy plot twists (which, in the end, turned out to be the best episodes of the anime).
Overall, though, it may be a bit too straightforward, but it’s one hell of an entertaining series. The solid plot and great production-values more than make up for this flaw, and Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto has been one great watch.
Despite a few weak episodes and a plot that proved, as you say, straightforward until the end, Iroha almost drove me to the point of obsession during its run. While I do not think the insertation of history into an anime plot was as succesfull as it has been in the recent past (e.g Chevalier, which really did manage to intergrate an original story with actual history as well as one could expect), I believe the show to have created one of the most atmospheric historical settings around, one which allows the viewer to enjoy even the episodes that did not feature huge events. I do wish the Chess Piece Soldiers, particularly Queen, had gained some development beyond their one scene in episode 23, but I truly enjoyed the series as a whole and in particular the characters of Sousetsu, Hijikata and Enomoto.
While I also greatly enjoyed the pure theatrical nature of the final four episodes, I would agree that 13 and 18 are series high points. The moment when the harbour was revealed behind the play to show Sousetsu, Kanna and Nakaiya was one of the most exciting I have ever encounted in anime, and truly closed Nakaiya’s story off in the best way possible, even if for a moment I expected him to return from the dead once more.
Comment by Hopeless — April 6, 2007 @ 16:55
I’ve enjoyed watching Iroha, even though I started watching late. I would recommend this anime to other people!!
Comment by Christine — May 16, 2007 @ 5:04
As Psgels says, this anime has awesome art throughout the whole anime and its a really entertaining anime you dont want to miss //Mira-Ju
Comment by Zato-Sama — May 23, 2007 @ 16:46
In love with the main charas (Akizuki & Kakunojou) especially Akizuki-kun… the best episode is the 1st and the last episode… great! The story seems very classic, yet the charas has far more way of thinking exceeds their era (bakumatsu). Like future and past time-combined together = that’s Iroha.
Comment by Ayu — June 19, 2007 @ 18:56
Anime Season 2007
I miss Jean’s Anime columns, but try to keep up with what’s going on via other means. This past season, I found myself enjoying the very decent Ergo Proxy and…
Trackback by DE-duce — September 30, 2007 @ 10:49