***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Juni Taisen. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Somewhere in the world, war prospers. There are those who suffer at the hands of cruelty. There are those who must fight the battles fueled by egos and pride. And then there are those who not only know how to kill, no one does it better than them.
Every twelve years, the deadliest warriors on the globe gather to answer one question. Who is strongest? That honor goes to whoever wins the infamous Zodiac Tournament.
The prize for the victor goes beyond unparalleled prestige. The champion will be granted one wish. A wish that will come true regardless of what the person asks for.
It's now time to begin the battle royal once again. The competitors stand ready with their own unique brand of combat.
The Rat, Tsugiyoshi Sumion (voiced by Shun Horie), is killing all. The Ox, Eiji Kashii (voiced by Yuuichirou Umehara), is killing systematically. The Tiger, Kanae Aira (voiced by Hiromi Igarashi), is killing in a drunken rage. The nameless Rabbit (voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto), is killing psychotically.
The Dragon and the Snake, brothers Nagayuki and Takeyasu Tsumita (voiced by Takuya Eguchi and Kousuke Toriumi), are killing for money. The Horse, Yoshimi Souma (voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa), is killing silently. The Sheep, Sumihiko Tsujiie (voiced by Chou), is killing deceptively. The Monkey, Misaki Yuuki (voiced by Saori Hayami), is killing peacefully. 
The Rooster, Ryouka Niwa (voiced by Ayane Sakura), is killing by pecking. The Dog, Michio Tsukui (voiced by Tomohiro Nishimura), is killing by biting. The Boar, Toshiko Inou (voiced by Youko Hikasa), is killing bountifully.
Twelve will walk into this arena. But only one will walk out.
Series Positives
This will be a difficult review.
And by “difficult”, I don’t mean this is a hard series to pin down what worked and what didn’t. There were plenty of standout moments worth commending. As well as a number of glaring, misguided flaws. Please put extra emphasis on “a number”.
No, the difficulty I’m talking about concerns what Juuni Taisen was as a whole. The positives and negatives of this series were clashing nonstop. One would not hold an edge for long before the other would come to knock it back. I’m sure you’ve come across stories like this.
There are those instances where you see both the good and bad sides of something. Afterward, you’re not sure if you liked what you saw or not. You think to yourself things like, “Boy, wasn’t it awesome when the show did this. But then it ruined it when it did something dumb like that.”
Or how about, “I couldn’t get into this one thing for these multiple reasons. Except wasn’t it cool when this other thing happened.”
This confliction keeps goes back and forth and back again. You then start looking for that one aspect to tip the balance in either direction.
Unfortunately, there are some stories that never provide that game changer. Thus, they leave you stuck in this weird void of torn opinion. There were as many things you enjoyed as there were things you didn’t.
And yes, I’m overblowing this to make a point. That point being, you don’t need to worry about such a thing happening here. Juuni Taisen wasn’t one of those kinds of shows. There were more than enough things in this series that hurt it in the long run.
I can hear some of you thinking, “But Odyssey, if this is the case, why did you bother with this convoluted setup. Wasn’t doing so just a gigantic waste of time?”
You’d be right and to that, I say, hint-ity hint-hint.
Juuni Taisen was a mixed bag to the end. This wasn’t fantastic, yet there were some fantastic things. One of this show’s biggest advantages was the actual idea behind it.
A full battle royal between twelve of the world’s deadliest warriors? Yeah, I can get on board with that. And each fighter could perform incredible superhuman abilities. Sign me right up. That sounds like it can be a ton of fun. Then when you learn who the people behind the source material are, the deal becomes even more enticing.
Granted, I myself wasn’t aware of that last point until after the fact. Regardless, had I known about it going in, it would have only added to my interest towards this show.
The Juuni Taisen series was a collaboration between manga artist Hikaru Nakamura and writer Nisio Isin. I mention this, but I owe an apology to Ms. Nakamura. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to check out her work. On the other hand, Nisio Isin’s name has appeared several times on this site.
Mr. Isin is the creator of the Monogatari series.
But before I get ahead of myself, I must make something clear. While I am a fan of Monogatari, I have never read the actual novels. My image of Mr. Isin’s talents come through the lens of his stories' anime adaptations produced by Studio Shaft. I can give no opinion on the original works themselves.
Adding to that, Mr. Ishin did not write the Juuni Taisen anime nor did Shaft make it.
That notwithstanding, there are still two things I can say. First, Monogatari and now Juuni Taisen compel me to look into going out and reading them. Second, both these series came from the same mind. Therefore, my enjoyment of one would have gotten me, to an extent, interested in the other.
Plus, this show’s animation was alright. Even when it was clear when CGI got used. This is a credit to Ms. Nakamura’s designs.
Juuni Taisen did start off on the right foot. Even if you’re like me and you didn’t know the full reason why. Then once in this series, something becomes all too apparent fast.
In episode one, we got a scene with the twelve warriors together. This was the first and would turn out to be the only time such a meeting would happen. This moment was great for many reasons which I will get into in a second. But for now, you only need to know one thing.
At this point in the story, there was no way of knowing where anything would go. The safety blanket I like to call “plot necessity” had not fallen on anyone. The ultimate victor was any of the twelve. This series blindfolded you, spun you around, strapped you to a wagon, and was ready to push you down a hill. Where you would land when it was over was anyone’s guess.
As such, there was a more practical reason why I said Juuni Taisen would be a difficult review. To discuss almost every aspect of this show would require going into spoilers. So much so, even who was in any given scene would give away too much. It’s going to be tricky to use names. That’s why I’m not going to do that.
I will be giving everyone the indicator of Warrior A through Warrior L. The letter a character got I chose at random. There aren’t any special meanings to any of them. Also, if you think you can get a sense of importance based on how I introduced everyone in the Synopsis, best of luck. I only listed them in the order they are in the Chinese Zodiac.
With this system in place, I want to give myself a little more freedom. But for people who don’t care about spoilers, you can find the character designations by clicking “here”.
I can see this becoming a huge pain in the neck. Except this series leaves me with little choice. Even still, there remain many other ways I could give something away. So, I want to say sorry in advance for any ensuing vagueness.
The Characters
If there was something Juuni Taisen needed to get right, be happy it was this.
There were many annoying and questionable aspects of this show. Yet it was thanks to this cast that prevented those lesser qualities from taking over in full. The characters were the reason why this series could offer as much enjoyment as it did.
As I said earlier, there was only one scene that had everyone together. But this was more than enough to tell us everything we needed. Never think otherwise, these twelve were dangerous. The prospects of dying, cruelty, and violence were nothing new to them.
Warrior K was a vengeful sadist who would break a person’s mind out of pure spite. Warrior J was a master manipulator with eyes and ears everywhere. Warrior A pushed their body to beyond its limits to create an impenetrable defense. The list goes on.
At the start of this series, everyone received a black crystal they had to swallow. To win the tournament, one would need to collect the other eleven crystals. The catch was, they only had twelve hours to do this. What they had actually ingested was a vial of poison. 
Though exact specifics and circumstances have varied, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this type of set up. There are always some who become angry and bitter. Then there are the ones who lose any sense of hope. And of course, there are the people who turn hysterical.
Which of these types of characters appeared in Juuni Taisen? The answer, none of the above. This was one of those special rare cases when everyone couldn’t care less. For you see, a victor would rise long before twelve hours were up. Hell, some even predicted the crystals contain poison and swallowed them anyway.
There wasn’t an ounce of naivety in this group. They all understood what world they were in.
I bring this up because Juuni Taisen didn’t have room to deal with any kind of hesitation. It wouldn’t have made sense for a novice fighter to participate in a tournament such as this. Everyone was the best at what they did. When you get right down to it, this was the norm for them. Winning the right to any wish they desired was a bonus.
But this was not a group centered anime. There could only be one winner which meant everyone was looking out for themselves. This series needed to give us interesting characters. And on the whole, that was what we got.
Two exceptions were Warriors A and B. Their backstories were nowhere near as engaging as the rest were. To be fair, there could have been much more to Warrior B. This story even indicated as such. Too bad this person didn’t last long enough for us to see where this could have gone.
When compared to the other twelve, Warrior L was the most unimpressive. What separated them from A and B was a sense of mystery. Warrior L would appear at what seemed to be the most random times. This made it difficult to get a sense of what they were able to do. Even though L didn’t do much, it was when and how they did what they did that made them unique.
Warriors K and I had okay backstories that added much to their characters. Except it was their actions in this tournament that made them memorable. Whereas with Warriors C and E, the opposite was true. I would have much rather stayed in their backstory then follow them in the main one.
Warriors G and H were unusual because we didn’t get much if anything of their background. But that was not a problem. There was nothing a backstory would have done to enhance their characters. Their role in the tournament and their role in this story was plenty.
In case you have picked up on it, I have been listing these characters from my least favorite to my most. Other than the two at the bottom, Warriors A and B, everyone held their own. But it was these next three that blew everyone out of the water.
Warriors J and F had both a strong backstory and were interesting in the actual tournament. This show didn’t have main characters and I won’t say these two were the closest to that title. They were among some of the better-developed aspects of Juuni Taisen, though. Too bad there is a problem that concerns them. This issue wasn’t their fault. They fell victim to this story not using them to their fullest.
Actually, I can say the same exact thing about every single character in this series. And I will go into more detail about this in a second.
Yet there was one character this show nailed and that was Warrior D.
This was the one person to get a full story arc. Warrior D’s background explained where they came from, why they got so skilled, and who they were before the tournament. Their ultimate goal didn’t require winning. As a result, the pressure of needing to survive wasn’t as prevalent. This character could do their own thing independent from what was going on.
Warrior D was, without a doubt, the best thing about this show. All the problems this series had, and there were many, did not apply to this character.
Warrior D was, without a doubt, the best thing about this show. All the problems this series had, and there were many, did not apply to this character.
Had this cast had more to work with, Juuni Taisen could have been excellent.
Series Negatives
The first two episodes of this series set everything up. By the time you get to episode three, this show will have established its formula. A formula Juuni Taisen would adhere to, almost without fail. It was that commitment that doomed this story.
Even before you start watching, a problem already exists. To be fair, calling it a problem at this point wouldn’t be correct. What I should be saying is, “this series faced a massive obstacle”.
There could only be one champion of the Zodiac Tournament. Due to the poison in their bodies, there was only one way to survive; win. As a consequence of that, eleven characters would need to die.
Juuni Taisen would have to establish why its characters were important to the story. Not everyone needed complex backgrounds. Not everyone needed to be around for long. Everyone only needed to have some effect on what’s going on. How does one manage that in twelve episodes?
That’s not an easy answer. Nor is there a single answer. As a viewer, it's interesting to see how a series balances the circumstance of its story. As well as manage the time it has to work with. Too bad there are scenarios that are asking for something unreasonable. This was Juuni Taisen.
Twelve episodes were not enough. This story needed a lot more room to move around. I’m not saying one or two more episodes would have done the trick. No, at a minimum, this series would have needed to double its runtime. But should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. Besides, time constraints were only part of the problem. They weren’t the major problem.
The first two episodes of this series set a precedent. All throughout Juuni Taisen, there were long stretches of story that were giant wastes of time. And this is the thing that makes this show hard to recommend.
Anti-Climatic
This story would spend most of its efforts building up to something. Building up to what, you ask. It doesn’t matter. Only once did this series offer a satisfying payoff.
This show’s main premise brought twelve skilled fighters and forced them to fight. Why then was there not a single memorable fight? Most encounters ended in one or two decisive moves. A couple times, those decisive moves were the opening ones.
Please keep in mind, these fights were endcaps to an episode’s worth of time getting to know a character. Their story would finish in an instant. This made everything that came before meaningless. And this was often the best-case scenario.
For instance, Warrior A went out in the lamest way. This character never even got a moment to do anything. They were fodder. And yet, they weren’t even one of the first to go. I say this even knowing how Warrior E died. So, while wastes like Warrior A stuck around longer than need, far more interesting characters didn’t.
Warrior F and J could have had a lot more screen time. Especially Warrior F. With how much we knew about this character, their death was underwhelming. I shouldn’t be saying this about this person. Out of nowhere, boom, dead. Why?
Yes, the suddenness of Warrior F’s death would have been shocking. It could have added ton of meaning to this story. Except, this was the sixth sudden death of this series. Any power that could’ve come from this moment dried up long before it happened. With the shock value gone, why not spend a little more effort and let this character have a proper send-off.
By the way, I used the term “sudden death”. There was nothing sudden about any of these. Almost every character did the same damn thing right before they met their demise. I won’t say what it was, but I trust you’ll pick up on it quick should you decide to watch.
Another big disappointment came during Warrior G and H’s face off. This series was leading to this encounter. You could consider this the climactic battle. Everything was in place for something cool to happen. This scene only needed one little push. Instead, this story decided to drop a steaming turd on this and said: “Nope, never mind.”
Did I miss the point of Juuni Taisen? Was there a deeper meaning going on? If this is true, someone please tell me what I overlooked. If this was indeed the case, this show did a horrible job of conveying it. And if it wasn’t, this series squandered a fascinating idea.
I’m leaning towards there had to be something more going on. Because how the hell else do you explain episode twelve. Everything that happened in the prior eleven episodes existed in their own world. This…I don’t know what this was.
At the end of everything, this story turned in a different direction. The dynamic of the character it focused on was not what we had known during this series. So many things changed at the last minute. This created a disconnect from everything else.
Yet despite this sudden surreal-ness, episode twelve best summed up this series. Juuni Taisen wanted to do all these things, but it forgot one important detail. It forgot to give us a reason to care.
Final Thoughts
I can’t say this series was void of things to enjoy. When this show got something right, it knocked it out of the park.
The characters ranged from average to outstanding. And most of them landed closer to outstanding. This story did get fascinating, there is no denying that.
This wasn’t a painful watch.
Unfortunately, there were too many things going against this show. There was a ton of unnecessary build up. Storylines didn’t go anywhere. Events became easy to read and predict. And the whole thing was about twelve episodes too short.
I kind of wish what worked for this series hadn’t. That way everything wouldn’t have been so anti-climactic in the end.
There was too much disappointment to go around. Juuni Taisen is one you can skip.
But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? Have you seen this show? How would you advise Juuni Taisen? Leave a comment down below because I would love to hear what you have to say.
And if you liked what you read, be sure to follow me on my social media sites so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this review across the internet to help add to the discussion.
 |
| Google+ Facebook Twitter |
No comments:
Post a Comment