Series Synopsis
Ran Tsukikage
(voiced by Reiko Yasuhara) is a wandering samurai; or as she would say, a beautiful
drifter. She's on a journey across Japan with no particular goal in mind.
Quiet, and a tad cold, Ran has little interest in the events, lives, and
politics of the people she meets; aside from a good bottle of sake. Yet,
whenever someone is in trouble or when some wrong has been committed, she will go out
of her way to help.
Although preferring
to be left alone, Ran is an unbeatable swordswoman and any fight she is dragged
into is over in seconds. A complete catch-22 since her skills with a katana are the reason why she can never be left alone.
To make matters a
little more troubling, and a lot more of a headache, Ran meets a
highly talented, as well loud, energetic, and slightly dimwitted martial artist
named Myao (voiced by Akemi Okamura). While their personalities clash and
they never see eye to eye, the two make for an incredible fighting team and Ran
does appreciate Myao for her wallet…er, personality.
Traveling from
town to town looking for their next meal, or drink whichever, the two women
always uncover some sort of villainy. And despite a desire to the contrary, Ran will always step in to show the strength of the beautiful drifting samurai.
Series Positives
This one’s good.
Not wholly incredible, but good none the less.
 |
| Ran |
Despite its rather low key presentation, there are a few things Kazemakase does really well.
Ran and Myao
 |
| Myao |
The banter between Ran and Myao had me laughing quite a bit. They played off each other incredibly; Ran with her serious and laid back demeanor juxtaposed to Myao’s high energy enthusiasm. The two recognize that they are completely different people and they really shouldn't get along, and in many ways that’s the case.
Ran would be able
to stay out of trouble if it weren’t for Myao mindless habit of butting into
everyone’s problems and excessive ramblings. Alternatively, Myao would be much
better off financially if Ran didn’t always run up their bar tab and openly manipulate her lack of common sense.
This constant
friction often, unashamedly cause the two to publicly and loudly bicker like rival
sisters; appropriate since the two do refer to each as such. And this is why they work so well together.
While neither will
admit it, well that’s not necessarily true since Myao probably would, the two are quite close. They respect each other’s sense of justice
and willingness to help those in need, despite Ran’s vocal insistence
otherwise.The Action
Each episode leads
to a climax of Ran, and often times with the assistance of Myao, beating the
ever living s@#$ out of a group of bad guys.
Although Myao is more
than capable on her own, no is able to lay a finger on Ran. Even when outnumbered ten to one,
Ran effortlessly plows through her opponents with ease; making each battle fast paced and entertaining.
I have always
liked characters that are the best at what they do and Ran plays the role
perfectly. It’s also insanely satisfying because the vast majority of Ran’s
challengers are egotistical and cocky, thus it feels great when she smacks them off
their pedestal.
Series Negatives
I am happy that I
watched Kazemakase, but this isn’t
the type of show that will make you go out of your way to see it. There’s nothing
about it that’s fantastical and though it’s not unmemorable, it’s not going to
remain at the forefront of your mind. It will stay as that one anime you remember
liking, but can't recall exactly why off the top of your head.
A series should
always strive to be good and entertaining, but there’s no reason why they all have to be game changing. Kazemakase is
fine the way it is and that’s all it ever had to be.Are there problems though? You better believe there are.
For instance, this
series gets incredibly silly by the end. While I would, and did, describe Kazemakase as a comedy, it's much more
down to earth and the only true extravagance is with Myao. But then there’s an
episode with a giant, stupid strong foreign girl and suddenly the show uses a
lot more slapstick. This change in style is a little unwelcomed because of how abrupt
it is, and instead of being a onetime thing, traces of it never fully go away.
This issue doesn’t
come up until late in the series, so its affects aren’t that bad. However there
was something that Kazemakase never
really got right.
Leaps in Information
No episode is
directly tied to the one preceding or following it and this entire series could
be watched in any order you want. However the show does a s@#$ job at setting
all this up.
The beginnings of
this problem start in episode one and it’s with the introduction of Myao. When
we meet her and through the entirety of the episode, she's treated like a
possible reoccurring side character, instead, you know, one of the two main
leads.
Jump to episode two and Ran is by herself. Myao doesn’t show up until the half-way point and again she’s just a side character. And finally in episode three, Ran is alone, again.
Yet this time she
indicates that the two have started traveling together and have been
doing so for some time. I don’t know when that happened and that’s something
I wish I could have seen.
The show continues
to do this with other characters, but sort of in a reverse way. The series introduces someone and makes it seem as if a person is going to play some sort of pivotal
role in the rest of the series. Except they never do and only appear in a
single episode never to be mentioned again.
All throughout Kazmakase, it felt like episodes were
missing. Someone would say something in reference to an event that is never
once brought up beforehand. So whenever an episode starts, it’s not always a guarantee
that you’re going to know what’s going on.
Final Thoughts
I actually think Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran would really benefit
if it were to ever be continued as a manga, if it hasn’t already; I’m pretty
sure it hasn’t because I certainly can’t find it.
Regardless, this
is a pretty good show in its own right. The two leads, Ran and Myao, are a lot
of fun to watch and their aggressive back-and-forth is funny. Also the fights
in this series are absurdly entertaining and make for some pretty kick ass
battles. However, information does have a tendency to be withheld, but you can
always manage to piece together what you need to know.
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