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Last edited by Tony K. on Tue May 16, 2023 12:13 am; edited 10 times in total

Revenger (TV)

Source: Original

Demographic: Seinen

Animation Studio: Ajia-do Animation Works

Genres: action, drama, mystery

Themes: assassins, Bakumatsu, conspiracy, crime, historical, mercenaries, revenge, samurai, swordsmen, swordplay, tragedy

Plot Summary: Raizo Kurima is a man who was betrayed by someone he trusted, and now he has no place to return. He is now a hitman working for the organization Revenger, which takes revenge on behalf of those who have no power. He works at the "Ribenjiya" store that acts as a general store on the outside while hiding the Revenger organization beneath the surface.

His coworkers include a physician with destructive impulses, a beautiful and androgynous young man who is both cruel and innocent, a gambler who loves money and alcohol, and an intelligent lacquer craftsman. The five men start to build a strange friendship by working together.

Air Date & Platform:
January 5, 2023 (Thursday)
Available on: Crunchyroll

Episode Count / Runtime: 12 episodes
----------------------------------

EPISODE INDEX

(Clicking on the episode will take you to my post that has a summary, comments, and screen-caps)

Episode 01: Once Upon a Time in Nagasaki
Episode 02: Gold Opens Any Door
Episode 03: Fortune is Fickle and Blind
Episode 04: Ask, and You Shall Receive

Episode 05: Love Never Dies
Episode 06: Adversary Advent
Episode 07: Rosy Pitfall
Episode 08: Two of a Trade Never Agree

Episode 09: Mutual Understanding
Episode 10: Nowhere to Run
Episode 11: The Die is Cast
Episode 12: The Sun Always Rises

Episode 1

I likes me a good action series set in samurai Japan and this one looks like it's going to deliver. It's obviously not going to be a straight up historical drama, but by the same token it doesn't look like it's gonna be TOO over the top with the fantastical elements, either. Looking forward to finding out more about the team that Kurima has got himself mixed up with.

Just noticed this was co-written by Gen Urobuchi. Tie that into my love for revenge/redemption stories and fascination with historical Japan and any kind of samurai/swordsman theme, and you've got me as an instant follower!

I liked bits of the first episode, but the whole suicide thing really took me out of it. Is it just because they want him single or something? Either what she did was so ridiculous that it is off, or the whole stopping him from informing her that she is fine was so bad that he probably should get pissed off at them telling him not to. Or was there meant to some sort of larger passage of time from him killing her father, as far as she would know disappearing, and then deciding to off herself? Because I think it could have done a bit better job of conveying that it was at least several days.

@ DP - my thinking was the suicide happened shortly before he showed up, but I could be wrong. To me, her action was very understandable in the context of feudal Japan: if your fiance killed your father because he suddenly went berserk for some reason, that would be reason enough not to want to endure the humiliation of the fall-out. Plus, she thought he was dead, too.

Episode 12, Finale

What a pity this show did not inspire any chatter at ANN. I'd say it was in my top 5 titles of the season. Listen, the subject of revenge is always a super dependable narrative engine which is while it will continue to be featured in content creation until the end of time. It may be a lingering product of our reptilian brains but there is something incredibly satisfying about watching a bad person getting their just desserts.

I was sorry that Raizo didn't make it in the end but dramatically speaking it feels like the right outcome. His life really was over after he killed his father-in-law-to-be and his fiancee killed herself. At least he got revenge--, er, I mean, redemption for that. I liked that the action sometimes involved physically impossible feats but the show didn't go crazy with it. If you occasionally glanced the other way, you could almost fool yourself into thinking the action was reasonably naturalistic.

Revenger is an anime original and the story is most definitely over, but there is part of me that hopes there might be more, following the continuing revenge adventures of the four survivors. Probably a long shot, I guess.

That was a much better ending than I expected. I would go so far as to call it a happy ending, as Raizo had no real drive/reason to live any further and he was only feeling guilt. He died with a smile.

It was a solid anime with some interesting episodes, the circus one in particular was a wild ride.

Yeah, the circus episode was my favourite. I was kind of hoping that Snake Woman and the kids would make a return visit but that never happened.

Episode 01: Once Upon a Time in Nagasaki

Summary: After killing a samurai named Hirata, Kurima is approached by Usui Yuen to perform "odd jobs," but refuses. When Kurima's own men attempt to kill him, Usui reveals Kurima's master, Matsumine, is an opium dealer. Kurima kills Matsumine himself, and Usui reveals the "odd jobs" include assassinations for revenge.

Comments: Another late reviewing, but I finished this a few weeks ago and am caught up enough with this Spring's schedule that I thought I'd start to backtrack and dabble on some other titles that caught my interest in some fashion or another.

Thanks to Rurouni Kenshin, I'll always have a soft spot for any kind of historical Japanese period piece taking place during the Bakumatsu era (and honestly, any period as far back as Heian, 'cause they're all really cool, from what I've seen and read about). And I have to say, this is nice and violent, just how I like my Bakumatsu anime.

I feel like this first episode sets the mood up to be like Hell Girl, where each week, some tormented person decides to enact vengeance on whoever did them wrong, and we'll eventually get some semblance of a central story somewhere down the line.

This is a pretty dark show, both visually and tonally, so at least it's got that going for it. Some of the background art in this looks amazing, and you'll probably see me capping a lot of those. The animation seems good enough, but the still art and color scheme make up for it.

Pretty sad end to this first ep., though. I'm curious to see how Kurima handles it and how it might affect his character progression. The rest of the group seem a little showy and over-the-top for the purposes of spectacle, but there's still enough realism to not make this feel goofy for a good majority like Peacemaker Kurogane. Ugh, now that was a disappointing show. I feel like even Hakuoki would be better, and that whole series is based an otome game.

Screen Caps:

I'm glad you came back to this one, Tony K., I certainly enjoyed it. I don't think it ended as strongly as it began and it'll be interesting to me if you feel the same way or differently.

Episode 02: Gold Opens Any Door

Summary: Kurima joins the Revengers, and they're hired by a dying woman named Mana who was sold into prostitution by her husband, Inohachi, and current boss, Tenmokuya. Usui and Nio assassinate them, and the Revenger doctor, Teppa, leaves flowers at Mana's grave.

Comments: Revenge and/or redemption are my favorite themes in any story. I'm fascinated at the depths people will go completely destroy or rebuild something because of whatever it is that made them wanna' do it in the first place.

I feel the one-shot episodic nature of this show diminishes the revenge factor a little and probably would've been better fleshed out if these were two-episode arcs. But since it's an original production with not a whole lot financial or fan backing, I suppose the 12 episodes will have to do.

Again, I really, really like the art. And I think I ended up taking the same cap of their home base, only with people in front, this time, because the surroundings look freakin' gorgeous. This wallpaper quality art.

The lady's husband and pimp seemed scummy enough. Like mentioned about wanting a longer arc, I feel they could've built some backstory for these victims in a first episode, then carry out the revenge in the second one. The sonic arrow shot and booster boots felt surprisingly cool and stylish. It's over-the-top, but not goofy (*cough* *points at PMK*).

I wonder how dark some of these revenge hires will get.

Screen Caps:

@Blood-

I did enjoy it. But like you said, I feel it loses some steam in the second half. I really wish this had double the episode length. That would've been plenty of cushion to have better revenge arcs and develop the villains more.

Going back through the episodes to take caps and reading these episode summaries, though, I might catch something not in the actual plot that I missed the first time. Gotta' pay attention around Gen Urobuchi stories for all the little details Wink

.

Episode 03: Fortune is Fickle and Blind

Summary: Nio takes Kurima on a tour of Nagisaki, where they witness Sakata frame a shopkeeper for opium smuggling. Usui arranges for Kurima to be Soji's roommate, while a local government official named Isarizawa, reveals that one of Sakata's victims has hired the Revengers. Kurima and Soji assault Sakata' residence, killing him and his bodyguards. And Teppa warns Usui that if Kurima gets too involved with the Revengers, it could spell trouble for them all.

Comments: Lots of shady folks in this show, which I can appreciate. Pretty much everybody seems to have this gray area in which they operate. And I guess it just comes down to each of their individual motivations.

We get introduced to Soji, who seems like a good enough guy. The gambling problem could be a bit of a wild card. I have to admit I've watched so many episodes of so many other anime and done so many other things since finishing this series, I can't recollect much beyond the basic premise of the show.

It's like re-watching these episodes to get the screen caps is almost a brand new viewing. I remember the art looking great and a bunch of scummy people getting revenged on. But I don't recall much of the little character details, namely for Kurima.

He's not quite on the path of atonement like Kenshin, but his violent justice is also a bit reminiscent of Saitoh, which I think makes his character an interesting mix. Then again, those archetypes are also what make the Kenshin franchise so fascinating. I don't think this will get nearly as in-depth with just a 12 episode lineup, but I'll keep an eye out, and hopefully be surprised by something else I might've missed.

Screen Caps:

Episode 04: Ask, and You Shall Receive

Summary: Kurima turns out to be a skilled artist who fills in for a book shop owner to watch over Sakata's supplier, Azumi-ya. Kurima spies Azumi-ya visiting his mistress and informs the other Revengers. Teppa kills Azumi-ya and Usui eliminates the mistress. The book shop owner is impressed by Kurima's art and offers to show it to publishers.

Comments: Underneath the revenge hit, I detected a little slice of life, there. Soji tried to get Kurima to be a little wiser in spending his money on some of the finer things in life. But because Kurima is such a rigid warrior guy, he found his calling, not in materialism, but in art.

I'm reminded of Zhang Yimou's Hero (2002), where Tony Leung's character, Broken Sword, talks to Jet Li's character, Nameless, about how swordsmanship and calligraphy have a shared principal of achieving a state of serene tranquility. And it's in that tranquil state that you can find all sorts of metaphysical answers to life.

And despite his very high skill as a swordsman and affinity for killing people, Kurima has this obvious genteel demeanor that really shows in his artistic ability (which calligraphy is basically art with characters/words). It might seem strange to think such a potentially violent man can also have such a soft side to him. But I feel he found some semblance of peace simply by paying attention to his surroundings.

Whenever I'm, personally, waiting on something and there are enough people around to give me camouflage, I like to observe the people and things around me. To no surprise, most people are staring at their smartphone screens, but depending on the venue, sometimes I'm lucky enough to see people actually talking to other people.

Simplicity can be a great thing. And I think that's the point of the episode.

Screen Caps:

I have some complaints about the show, but looking back on it there was plenty of fun action and pretty scenery to be had. Also, episode 5 is something special which I will not soon forget.

Yeah, I wish Revenger had gotten more eyeballs and love, too.

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