Author: Lenlo

This was perhaps the best week yet for Ranbu. There are no flashy fights or new enemies, but there is a lot of characterization and quiet moments. Lets jump in.

Ranbu starts this week right after the 1st Units victory of the unnamed Retrograde soldier. Honebami does some fawning over the units strength, before being told there is one more job left to do. Surprisingly they don’t mean more combat, but rather a humanitarian effort. Having completed their mission, the 1st Unit wants to help those affected by it. So they go around and buy some food, to hold a little soup kitchen sort of event. This was very unexpected, but very welcome. Our first unit, even the large scary one, has a heart. Unhappy with simply protecting the future, they decided to also protect the people. It’s purely character focused and I love it. Continuing this trend, the 2nd Unit has some character scenes as well, but none as good I fear.

We cut back to the Citadel, where Saniwa and our resident fox discuss the previous mission of the 2nd Unit. Apparently, they protected history by the thinnest of margins. Saniwa, being the terrible employer he is however, states they did more than he expected. Truly? Then why give them this job? Though this is all ok, as Kane has some ‘quality’ that makes up for all this. Once again, Saniwa is a terrible employer. During this conversation another emergency occurs, meaning our 2nd Unit is going to get another arc. Kane better get ready, because he has a job to do!

Speaking of Kane, he is having some confidence issues. We transition to him sitting by a river, contemplating their last mission. Apparently he has the same doubts I did, which is good to know. He has his doubts as to how history could possibly be saved with that fire, with all those dead. Its good that this is a reoccurring issue, rather than one off with him. As he considers this, Horikawa approaches, and the two set off. One by one they gather the members of the 2nd Unit, Kane asking them if they will fight once more with him. One by one we see the effects this loss had on the 2nd Unit, eventually reaching Tonbokiri.

There is a small scene with Mutsunokami losing his mind about being asked last, which went on for too long, but that is a minor gripe. It broke up the solemn, quiet moment, with some poor comedy, but it ends on a sweet note. Mutsunokami leaves a gift of Daifuku for Tonbokiri, his favorite food. In a much more subtle scene of sweet comedy, Tonbokiri reveals the mountain of Daifuku everyone else had left for him. It’s a good welcome back to the best character of the squad.

With the sunshine and lollipops of the gang getting back together though, the warning from Saniwa’s scene comes out. The 2nd Unit is summoned, once more into the breach! They are being sent out on another mission, running into the 1st Unit on their way out. By the 1st Units estimation, they are now prepared, but we will have to see.

All in all, a good episode. Quiet, lots of character moments, and the opening of a new arc. Disappointed we still don’t have an antagonist but I doubt we will be getting one at this point. Ranbu appears to like its villain of the week story, so let’s roll with it. So long as these character scenes continue, between the pretty combat scenes, Ranbu can end on a high note. I’m looking forward to see if that is the case.

See you next week!

Welcome back to another week of Ranbu. This week we have mystery, intrigue and a stupid amount of new characters. Lets jump into it.

Ranbu opens up the episode on a burning castle under siege, troops inside and a battle raging. We see a figure cut down in the smoke, only for his spirit to flow into an Oni mask on the wall. Cut to the OP. A good start, with the mask becoming our villain for the week and giving us some hints as to how the Retrograde army comes to be. Sadly this air of mystery quickly gives way to another action focused episode as the OP ends and we see our new group of heroes in action.

The first squad, who I will not name simply because I can only keep track of so many characters, are fighting the Retrograde army as they zap in. Already we see they are a step up from our old unit. They quickly tracked down the Retrograde Army to their point of entrance and are cutting them down with ease. Even an Ootachi goes down with one swing, even though our old unit had trouble with one. Its a good display of the power difference between the units. Next up we have some expository scenes, setting up the conflict and giving us some backstory to our characters.

As it turns out, most of them are from the same clan, Ashikaga. The first unit is, in some form or another, made up of great weapons from a renowned clan. Interspersed among the backstory and exposition, Ranbu shows us some scenes around town. Even though a war just ended, people are hiding in the town. We quickly learn a street slasher is going around, murdering people at night, and that many think it to be the deceased Shogun. The mystery element comes back in here for a bit, more so when we learn Mikazuki was wielded by the Shogun.

After our group eats their fill, they head out once more to the town. Scouting around town they find little, until Honebami is confronted by the Slasher. Turns out, the Oni mask turned into a spear wielding Retrograde Soldier. The Oni is made immediately threatening by being able to summon more Retrograde. We already know that a single Retrograde is no threat to the first unit, but what about a horde? After summoning more soldiers, the Oni quickly flees, motioning for Honebami to follow it. The Oni leads Honebami to a ruined site, the castle from Ranbu‘s opening scene.

Smarter than previous Retrograde, the Oni was leading our group into a trap! It summons a horde of Ootachis to deal with the first unit, oh what shall they do? Sadly, this isn’t even a challenge. Our new leads cut through this horde like butter, setting up the strength of the first unit. This fight goes on for a bit, with lots of individual flashes of style but little extended choreography. In particular I enjoyed Mikazuki’s attack displaying his crest. Its disappointing however, as the air of mystery has been completely dropped by this point. Ranbu has made it clear that flash is all it has at this point. Its pretty but the characters are shallow. It has lots of effects and paint, but no substance.

We never find out why the Shogun became a Retrograde soldier. There is no setup for a future arc. Every character aside from Mikazuki and Mitsunokami seem to have a single note. I want there to be more to Ranbu than just a pretty face, but the harder I look the more disappointed I am when I find nothing.

See you next folks, and lets be thankful we at least got the future fox food club.

Snap, crackle, pop, Ranbu opens this week on a bolt of lightning! We ended last episode on a low point, our heroes defeated and being teleported out at the last second. They reappear on a platform, surrounded by smoldering coals, in what we later learn is the Citadel. The base of operations for our party. Lots going on here, and we will get to it, but lets focus in on our heroes.

The damage from their respective fights appears to have carried over, as both Kane and Tonbokiri are rushed into medical treatment. Its a strange medical treatment, as they magically pad paper on a wound and heal a sword, but its pretty to look at. An explanation would be nice, as we still have no idea as to how our heroes exist as both weapon and time-cop. I understand time is an issue in anime, it has to be used effectively, but I do think it would help flesh out the narrative and characters abit. The rest of the party not in critical condition however, have a much easier and light hearted time.

The comedy this episode really works, as we get some TSA style inspections, witty banter and a time traveling fox food club. It does a good job of filling space between scenes that, even if they don’t succeed, attempt to be dramatic. For example we learn that Tonbokiri is in a comatose state from his wounds, good consequences for their loss. This is undercut when he recovers consciousness later on in the episode. We hear that, as of 2205, the time our characters are based out of, history has not changed. Edo gets a full broadside during an important meeting, goes up in flames, and there are no changes? Didn’t our heroes fail? They completed their mission, history is preserved, so all things considered they won with minimal casualties! Its a disappointing resolution after a well done end of an arc, leaving Ranbu in an akward place.

Speaking of arcs, lets talk about the next one. Much of this episode was focused on Mikazuki, the man in blue and usual captain of the First Squad. Everything this episode, from the music to the lighting and camera angles, leads us to think this is not a good man. Found in the Commanders office alone, ominous music and shadows cast over his face, Mikazuki might be the villain we so desperatly need. Ranbu reinforced this feeling when the Commander states that the Retrograde army usually arnt this subtle, meaning these smart tactics are new. Its laid on so thick, I could almost believe Ranbu is throwing us a red herring. I dont think Ranbu is that clever however as even Mikazuki’s laugh sounds evil.

Continuing on, theres a nice bit of video-game fan service. There is a cafeteria scene with a crazy amount of unique character designs milling about in the background. No doubt they all appear in the game series, so I am sure fans appreciated that. Some of these characters even get names and speaking lines as we are introduced to Yagens brother. A mild mannered white haired boy, he resembles Yagen alot. Curious how a weapon has a brother, but ill roll with it. Numerous scenes occur, some quite frankly pointless scenes that scream “CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT” like an air horn. Its all rather ham fisted, but I suppose its better than nothing. There does have to be consequences for how last episode ended, with defeat and a sweeping orchestra. This week atleast ends on a much less dramatic note.

This week closes out on a flash of the First Squad, which Yagens brother has just been assigned to. Apparently there is a new crisis and they have been sent out! Most likely we will follow the First Squad on this mission for a few episodes as the Second squad recovers. With this squad mostly being comrpised of villainous looking people such as Mikazuki though, I am hoping Ranbu will treat us to some First vs Second squad conflict in the future.

Its not surprising we got a breather episode to setup the next arc, but for the most part Ranbu was empty this week. Scenes could have been shorter with the same content and Tonbokiri could have spent more time out of comission. All in all a little disappointing.

Heres hoping the First Squad makes it interesting again. See you next week!

A rather shallow episode of Ranbu this week, but not without its twists, both pleasant and disappointing.

Ranbu opens up the week on Tonbokiri and Horikawa on the bridge, most likely immediately after Kane and Mutsunokami left. Little happens here, some one sided conversation with posing, before we cut back to the boat. Here is where most of the meat is going to happen for this episode. We quickly learn the name of the white cloaked swordsman, Tsurumaru, and get to see him in action. Making full use of the 3D environments, we get some ambitious soaring camera angles around the ship. This lets us get a good view of Tsurumaru’s love for the fight, as we even see him egging the Retrograde troops on. This with his facial expressions make him seem like the unhinged member of the party. Its all rather well done.

During one of his taunts, Kane and Mutsunokami finally arrive on the boat, quickly putting an end to the fight. There’s some quick, meaningless, dialogue while the crew and the boat are dealt with. Then Mutsunokami gets to live his dream and pilot a boat! Alone. I am pretty sure this is more than a one person job, but hey, rule of cool right? During all this Tsurumaru finally lets Kane, and by extension us, know that the Retrograde army doesnt have to stop the meeting. Instead, they can just burn Edo to the ground! With a ghost ship full of Retrograde army zombies! Where did they get the 2nd ship? Doesn’t matter apparently, cause back we go to the bridge.

Here at the bridge we get the continuation of the fight against the Ootachi. There are some nice cuts with Tonbokiri, before the fight is interrupted by the palanquin of Katsu, one of the men from the oh so important meeting. One could almost think this was the plan, to intercept the pallanquine, but instead the Ootach goes berserk and flees into the night! A bit ridiculous since the Ootachi will attack the palanquin later on, but we will get to that. No instead the Ootachi jumps onto a tower and lights its sword on fire, Gondor calls for aid! Curious why he didn’t light it up in the fight, but it makes for a pretty reveal. Sadly there is little foreshadowing or build up to this little twist. Makes me think the Retrograde army are less, intelligent foes, and more convenient plot generators.

One interesting thing about the Retrograde army though, they actually win this round! The cannons go off, cannons not from this era supposedly, and Edo goes up in flames. History gets a full broadside! Some beautiful fire on the ship and in the town gives us a nice scene cut into the Ootachi attacking the palanquin it avoided earlier. Here we get another interesting twist where, presumably, one of our heroes goes down for the count. After a short fight Tonbokiri, one of the least developed but most likable characters, gets a slash across the chest and a sword through the gut. Its a nice scene, the weapon which represents Tonbokiri breaking as he goes down. Tonbokiri isn’t the only one with a serious wound though, as we transition to Kane on the ship. In a rage, he kills some Retrograde, and gets a sword through the stomach. Bad day.

With Kane and Tonbokiri down, it looks like we are hitting the nadir of our heroes journey. With a howl everyone gets teleported back to home base and we get a somber credits scene. Its thematic but we know so little about these characters and what they are fighting for that the episode hit like a lightweight. The only novel thing about it is that our heroes lost, which was unexpected for this series. I hope we get to see how history changed because of all this, so we get a sense of whats at stake. Instead, we get an after credits scene.

Its a scene that dismisses everything that has happened so far and introduces another new character! Well done Ranbu, well done. Mikazuchi, leader of the first unit, who will apparently replace or join our old party. We really didn’t need new characters. What Ranbu needed was an actual villain. Someone with charisma, someone who could carry this show. Instead we get more and more of the video-game roster and a video-games shallow story. At-least we get a new arc next week.

See you next time everyone!

This is a good week for Ranbu, as it starts to hit its stride. A new mission begins, some quiet character moments occur and finally a whole new cast member is introduced!

We open in a rather unexpected manner, our party fleeing from a group of police. I was expecting a relaxing, beach like episode, with how we left off last time. However it appears we are jumping right into the next mission, as they arrive in Edo. This time our cast is tasked with protecting a 2-day meeting between Katsu Kaishu and Saigou Takamori. This meeting, if left alone, will end in a bloodless surrender of Edo. Should this meeting be attacked, no doubt war will break out, and history will take a massive swing. It wouldn’t take much to set that off, so our casts job is a difficult one it seems.

During this opening segment in Edo, the music does a good job of building suspense. Everything is very calm in the beginning, but the music gives even daylight scenes a sense of foreboding. That this mission wont go our heroes way, at least not easily. This is broken up by moments of comedy, with our cast trying to do their job while dodging the Shogunate Police. This is good, it shows that our heroes are a part of this world. Their clothing actually gets them into trouble and people see them and know they exist. They are a part of this world.

As night comes, the light hearted comedy gives way to some one-on-one character moments for some of our cast. Specifically Kane and Yagen, as they discuss their duty and their previous masters. Yagen gives a short speech which is made better by the fact that he hasn’t talked much up till now. We see through Kane’s imitation of Hijikata, his old wielder, that he still holds onto his time as a weapon. Its a nice, short scene. It fleshes out these characters during their downtime while we wait for the Retrograde army to make their move.

This time, they have managed to place a samurai in Katsu Kaishu’s party who was not originally there in history, who has slipped away between days of the meeting. As this realization hits our party, we transition to night and another fog rolls in. Soon after a new type of opponent is introduced, the Ootachi, a large sword wielder, who raises a question in my mind. Our main cast are weapons given personalities, and these Retrograde samurai are named after their type of weapon. Are they weapons history has forgotten? Why are they mindless, yet our main cast are not, even though both are weapons? These our questions I hope get answered as we progress, but for now lets head back to the fight with the Ootachi.

The Ootachi is very clearly overpowering and out fighting our cast, as we can see small, subtle movements as he reacts to our main characters attacks. Yes, with its raw strength and endurance it simply takes some blows, but for many others it seems to be acting with thought. Because of this, the Ootachi is putting up quite the fight. This combat also takes place on a bridge, which gives us a rather pretty combat scene. I have criticized Ranbu’s combat choreography before, but this episode does it well.

While all this is going on, Yagen is off trailing the Samurai who snuck off from the meeting, who apparently plans to fire on the meeting from the sea. Yagen gets some quick scenes to shine, to show what he can do, and handily defeats the ship crew. Once the Retrograde army appears though, it becomes clear that front line combat isn’t his specialty as he is pushed into a corner. Disappointingly he is saved by a new character teleporting in at the last moment, but it does make for an amazing entrance. Art has always been Ranbu’s strong point, but these scenes looked good even when compared to the previous episodes. The white against the blues and blacks of the ship at night, the red on the sword and the petals, all frame a beautiful shot to end the episode on.

Overall, this episode is a step in the right direction for Ranbu. It has improved its comedy, and the character moments are focused and the combat is stylish. The story can still improve, but it has become clear that Ranbu is more concerned with Rule of Cool scenarios. So for this season sit back, relax, and enjoy the eye candy.

See you next week!

The farther into the season we go, the clearer it becomes that Ranbu is a video-game adaptation, as this week Ranbu takes two steps forward and one step back.

We start this week off immediately where we left off, with the Dutch steamship mid explosion, and wow was it a beautiful explosion. If nothing else happened this episode, we would still get a number of good wallpapers out of this opening segment. The digital effects team of Ufotable are clearly working hard as the smoke curls around the screen and water floods in through a hole in the wall. Truly, this is 5-minutes of animation eye-candy, ending with Mutsunokami looking over a gorgeous sunset sea.

Its a good image, as it shows early on who this episode is all about, Mutsunokami. He is the main focus of this episode, as we see his ideals clash with that of our lead Kane. Kane explains that though some died here, it didn’t have a large enough effect to change the course of history and so all is well that ends well. Of course Mutsunokami disagrees, saying that while the whole future is the same, what about the individuals future? He even goes for the low blow when he brings the Shinsingumi into the argument, striking at Kane’s own original owner. Needless to say this heats up the argument and Mutsunokami goes storming off into the night, with Kunihiro following to cool him down.

This leads us to a nice transition to our next plot point, the Roushi who attacked the ship. At first I was confused as to why there was no Revisionists zombies at the ship, but it would seem our villains actually know what they are doing. In history a group of Roushi, masterless samurai, attempted to kill foreigners and no doubt blow up the ship but got caught. Rather than blowing it up themselves, the Revisionists simply helped the Roushi avoid getting caught. Its a very indirect way of effecting history, allowing them to avoid the superior combat force of our main group. This is the sign of an intelligent opponent, who I hope will stay intelligent, who I hope will continue to attack where our main group is week. If the Revisionists stay smart, there is a good shot at a genuine feeling of threat from our villains when our main cast reaches them.

Getting back to Mutsunokami and Kunihiro, the two have a quick heart to heart that really says nothing at all. What this segment is really meant to do is give the Roushi some character. To show us that the Roushi aren’t the bad guys, that would be the Revisionists, the Roushi are simply people trying to survive in their era. Had we more time with them this may have worked, but for the quick 5 minutes we were given it comes across more than a little hamfisted. It does end up turning into a good example of the moral quandaries of preserving history though, as the Roushi are caught and killed by the Police later on. Had Kane not saved a little girl in episode one, completely negating any real consequence for changing history and saving people, this would have been a much stronger scene.

It is with this scene however, plus the little girl and the final ending dialogue, that the real issue of Ranbu comes out. Nothing is lasting. There were no consequences for saving the little girl in episode one, the conflict of ideals between Mutsunokami and Kane are introduced and resolved in the same episode and finally Mutsunokami comes to terms with having to let the Roushi die far to easily. There’s no cost to their ideals. In Rurouni Kenshin, a samurai piece set in a similar era, the main protagonist Kenshin had ideals and there were real consequences to him sticking to them. He swore not to kill again, and so over and over again specters from his past arrived whom he could not definitively get rid of. It got to the point where he left his friends so that they would not get dragged into the conflict he created. Ranbu handles its characters ideals in such a way that if Kenshin were here, he would kill and get over breaking his vow in the same episode. Its disappointing, as they could do so much more with this premise had their writing been better.

While their writing is lacking however, the animation is not. We end the episode on a flashy fight scene with a 3D camera rotation through the battlefield, and each of our cast cutting down some zombie samurai. Its all very pretty, even if the choreography is a bit bland. With the Revisionists dealt with, it seems our cast is due some down time, as the little talking fox comes in and informs them of their next job. In three days we get a hop skip and a jump to another time period, with more Revisionists and hopefully more plot. Depending on when they go and how the Revisionists use the small changes in time that have occurred, things could get interesting. Lets just hope next episode isn’t a beach episode eh?

That concludes the episode review, but this does lead me into a personal theory. Based on Mutsunokami’s attitude for most of this episode, I have hope that there is actually a member of their organization that left and joined the Revisionists. It would explain why the mindless zombie samurai we see so often are acting so intelligently with their plans. It would also mean that our main casts opponent knows how they work, and would give us some much needed conflict. I have hopes that this is the case as Ranbu is in desperate need of some sort of clear antagonist. A former comrade would supply the show with some required character drama. We shall have to wait and see however, as next episode might end up being a relaxation episode.

See you next time!