Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood

This anime series is set in an alternate 1931; here the shogunate continues to run Japan. In this world Japan has a means of advancing its technology without needing to open up to the wider world. A group known as the Kuchinawa is trying to overthrow the regime and end Japan's isolation. Protagonist Sawa Yukimura is orphaned by government forces hoping to use her special blood to create an army of mutated 'changelings'. She becomes an assassin determined to have her revenge. She also looks after a young girl, Asahi.

This is a decent series; it certainly looks good and has an interesting premise. I confess that I got a little confused at times but without the enforced week long gap between episodes I doubt this will be a problem for people starting to watch it now. The main characters are interesting and sympathetic; this gives some incidents a real emotional punch. There is a good amount of action. The animation and designs are impressive. Overall a good series that is worth watching.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

Before starting I had read a lot of mixed reviews most complaining about it being confusing or lackluster, although after watching it for myself, I have to say its amazing.

The animations, character designs and backgrounds are spectacular. The fight sequences are so superbly done.

The plot does move at full throttle so it's pacing is pretty fast but in no way is it confusing, you still know what's going on and each episode feels like it covers a good amount of plot without missing out of details.

The intro and outro both are so good too, even to look at.

My verdict is 8.2/10 for the first 4Eps.

AND another Spring anime just came to an end. It took place in a past era of Japan, and the story revolves around Sawa, a special blue-blood warrior who was on the path to kill those that massacred her clan.

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 and typical 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.

Watchable but really slow, with characters changing their minds all the time about who they are with little to no setup on why they break character.

Plot is also a bit of a mess at points. Figures though as the series is more about how to inject moments of heroism or poignancy or tragedy without any setup of it. Decent stylized animation, but the lazy writing is a bit of a disappointment. Watchable enough if you're running out of media though.

The anime is built around a fantasy feudal-like Japan. The main protagonist "Awa" has this transformation with a white crow that honestly reminds me of a Bleach transformation. Her quest is out to seek revenge and ultimately ends up achieving what she was set out to do. The anime features betrayal and complicated feelings. Only 1 season is available now, so it makes sense the characters are not fully fleshed out yet. However most of the characters that are presented are given the personality "business as usual" or a cold demeanor. The protagonist's relationship with her "sister" is interesting and I haven't seen anything of the like. I also enjoy they follow through with the revenge instead of the boring "revenge is frivolous, you will only beget more revenge." and then living on after said revenge has been achieved. Animation is beautiful and anyone a fan of dark fantasy should give it a watch. I would rate higher, but the anime needs to progress to reinforce what it has laid out thus far.