anime dominion

I was looking at the anime spring season list before I found this anime piqued my interest. There are two reasons. One is because I want to start writing again after a four year hiatus. Second, is because I am an RPG addict myself so I would rather had Role playing game anime as my next writing project. By the way, my wait is over and from the first episode, I can say that I am satisfied that it turned out better than what I expected. In my honest opinion, I would not say it was very good but it was quite unique and had potential. Seriously, I just watched other game inspired anime title this season and I feel extremely bored during the very first episode. Having a mediocre story with just a hack and slash stuff was a big NO for me now so thankfully, this anime did not fall to the same category.

It was hinted that Yukii did exercised before but an event turned him into to game addiction

This anime is about a Virtual Reality type MMORPG which put the players consciousness directly inside the game. While the idea is not the first one, as Sword Art Online and Accel World have earlier start, this anime manages to create differences through how the main character reaction to the gaming world that he played. Meet Hiro Yuuki your ordinary student who is about to start the last year of senior high School. Hiro is also a gamer addict who enjoyed playing a video game through a Virtual Reality machine. Just For your information, Yukii was a normal student who just entering a game world he never played before. He was different from Kirito who was experienced the game world even during the beta season. He was a complete beginner in the game and he never had any exercises in real life. So, the world that was a bit too real will definitely put him stressed both physically and mentally 

Add another Z sent you to a dreamland xD

In the first part of the anime, it was explained about Virtual Reality MMORPG that take many forms and how it had became popular for recent years. Then the scene moves to our Yuki who had conversation with his teacher regarding to his plan after finishing senior high school. From here on we learned that Yuki's really didn't like how life works for him. For example, he could not enjoy exercising/ sport even though one of his friend keep pestering him to at least exercise more. Then, after school, two local bullies, who seem like other school's student, extorted his money. Even his relation to his sister wasn't great either because he accidentally saw her changing (that your fault for keep staring anyway lol). All of that events only made him considered that a virtual world, in where he could become someone else, was a better place to live on.

On the other side of the town, there was a Goblin Slayer LMAO

When he want to purchased the famous Virtual Reality Games Fantasy FiQue (FINALIZING QUEST) 22, an MMORPG titles that already had a sequels of 22 series (that quite a lot, even Final Fantasy is not at 20 yet xD). Unfortunately, he lack a thousand yen because the local thugs just extorted him before. Feeling down, he left the store until he saw a smaller game shop on his way home. With his last remaining hope, he entered the almost an ancient old game store thinking that he could get a bargain. He entered the shop and met the busty shop keeper, Kisaragi Reona. He asked Reona if the store sell FiQue at 10.000 yen and out of his exception, she told him that his choice was lame. However, after Yukii decided to leave, she grabbed his hand and said that she sold it at 10.000 Yen. After trading, he realized that the game in his hand is not FiQue but an unknown game named Kiwame quest. He tried to get his money back but Reona explained that Kiwame was an RPG that focused more on the realism and it was made for an adult. In short, after tricking Yukii that they sold Fique, she also "forced" him to buy the game.

Stop imitating Titanic LOL

This was the moment when Full Dive RPG started to get interesting. In his room, Yukii entered the game world using the VR headset. Like a usual, there is an introductory speech from a goddess telling him to leave the town and head to a city named Flora. He opened his eyes and saw how he looked exactly like his real world counterpart. He later opened the window and he could even smell and feel the wind. It was very real that when his feet slipped and struck the chair, he could feel pain. An NPC or what we usually called a Non Playable Character, Alicia entered to the room. She had a role as the main protagonist's childhood friend (so whoever came to the game first time will automatically greeted by Alicia).Yukii was amazed that even for an old game, her skin look so flawless like a real human being, and it even took of the character names out. It is as if that the game tried to left all of the game elements out. Another NPC came inside the room. A sunny and stout looking guy named Martin, who was also Alicia's brother and his "best friend" in the game, entered the room and gave him an apple. After remembering the quest given by the goddess, Hiro asked both NPCs on how to get to Flora city as soon as possible.

Right - Right + Low punch

What I didn't expect from the anime was that the NPC suddenly freaked out when he told them about the city direction. They explained that the city's gate to outside was off limit and goblins terrorized the city not to mention the world map. Yukii said that it was common for a new adventurer leaving the first town into the wilderness.Little did he know how different this game world to the other game he played before. Therefore, when Yukii wanted to step outside suddenly Martin hold bumped him from behind. Martin said that he was forbidden to leave the town and he would use violence to stop him. Yuki, who thought that Martin fighting him was an event point thought that he was the first obstacle he had to defeat. How shock he was that Martin struck him really hard that he got blood in his face; not to mention that he can truly feel the pain. Angered with how the game treated him as if he was in his real world, Yukii bumped him using his shoulder very hard. It was the shocking event that Martin, an NPC, was laying dead due to using a knife to eat an apple when Yukii suddenly bumped him.

Congrats on your first achievement Yuki ;P

The shocked Alisia told him that he just do something unforgivable thus leading to her chasing Yuki all  around the town. After Yuki finally escaped from Alisia's Wrath, a fairy came to him. The fairy was actually the shopkeeper Reona's avatar. She said that the Kiwame company gave her a fairy skin so that she could become invisible for the NPCs and the monsters; allowing her to work as a support for the main character. The anime was closed with Reona finding out that Yuki first achievement in game was a none other than a Best Friend Killer. It was shocking because Yukii took out the path that was not supposed to happen and it was a totally frantic opening quest for any character in MMORPG. However, knowing that the game had extreme realism, it was not possible too see the outcome from the player's decision. Can Yukii survived the ordeal and finished the game? 

Another week passed after the first episode of Yukimura Sawa’s quest for vengeance. I was watching the episode hoping for further explanations about some questions that I have last week and the second episode really answered a lot of questions xD. The episode starts with the first opening theme of the anime and I really do love the animation. It was combining the gritty and dark animation and at some point it manages to redraw the opening animation drawing like an ink brushes arts (which usually happen when Yukimura undergoes her transformation). It was stylish for an opening theme and combined with the cool animations made me like it more. The second episode also gave a lot of spoiler regarding to the heroines past and some of the unanswered questions. So if you want to watch the episode without getting heavily spoiled, you can stop reading now.

Cool animation and sketchy arts= great opening

The anime start with the founding of assassination victims all around the town and they are important figures for the government. The scene moves to the discussion between the NUE leader; Kuzuhara with Tsukishiro regarding to the killing. They were examining about the possibility of a traitor inside NUE because most of the target hold specific information that may shake the regime foundation.

Don't mind my lifeless like eyes..I haven't sleep for 3 days straight xD

The next part moves to our heroine Yukimura; who has just recovering from her last battle, reminisced about her past. Until now she still remembered very much about that person who stole everything from her. Her parents, even the villagers where she lived all were killed by the same person, Janome.  Not only that he razed and burned the entire villages, he also stole the power that the villagers had; the blue blood. That was the same power that made Yukimura is capable to transform into her battle formed maiden. To make it worse, Janome used that power to create changelings. That is an interesting revelation that we got there. The very monsters that she slayed before was imbued with the same power as her.

Because burning red eyes is just too ordinary

When she was burying her families and the villagers, Kuzuhara san (darn he didn’t even age for a second if you watch his current appearances) found her. Then, He told her if she wanted revenge for her family members, he could teach her about fighting.  On that day, Yukimura was first introduced to NUE, Which is an organization of assassin made by the ruler of the new era; Yoshinobu Tokugawa. Days in and days out, she trained swordsmanship under Kuzuhara’s tutelage until she finally mastered the power of the blue blood. With her swordsmanship skills along with the power of her blue blood, she started killing more and more people and became NUE executioner.

The face palate when u realize that you already lost your neck

Another revelation came up now. The girl that lived with her actually is one of daughters of NUE targets. We learnt from the last episode that the Yoshinobu Tokugawa himself isn’t a saint. He ruled with an Iron fist and would send an assassin for those that tried to cross him. It was complex that after killing her parents, Yukimura saw herself in the fainted young lady. She technically created another orphan and turned into the very same person that she hated.. Janome.  It was not very original in my books but it was nice; really nice plot. Not only that the anime managed to answer a lot of questions and cram it into a single episode, it also manages to tell me why Yukimura doesn’t seem like enjoying her companionship and why did she try to kill her when she fainted in the last episode.

This is the beauty of character development.. u see yourself turned into a monster

The second part of the anime was about how Hanakaze and Yukimura got a new order to get a woman known as “the treasurer” to safety. She had a very good memory that she knew everything about the dirty work of the government and her presence is both a blessing and a curse for the ruling party. After they got cornered by assassins, Yukimura took the girl with her while Hanakaze repelled the attackers. During the escape, Yukimura interrogated the lady about whether she knew about the village of Karasumori because Yuki knew someone tried to hide the fact of the village destructions. The lady, whose son is in government's custody, said that his son’s safety was worth more than her own life so she asked whether Yuki want to accompany her to the boat; promising to tell her everything she needs to know. Yukimura accepted her offer when suddenly they were attacked by both the assassins and one changeling. After meeting again with Hanakaze, the anime went full action mode with both Yuki and Hana killed all attackers. It was a shocking scene that after everything seems over; Hanakaze stabbed the treasurer and told her that NUE already killed her son. This enraged Yukimura because the lady  holds the information regarding her past and just when they were about to fight, the episode comes to an end.

There is no real friends or family in this anime..which is interesting..

It was a great episode to begin with many plot revelation. A tiny bit of the information regarding to dragon vein materials (which earlier mentioned as a natural resources) also covered. In addition, there was a scene when Tsukishiro gave the little girl poisoning pills so the she could feed her poison in order to get revenge for her parents. It was enough to make me more interested to continue watching the anime. As for Yukimura.. From what I see, it seems like many wanted her dead; even Kuzuhara and Tsukishiro was disappointed that she was not dead from her last changeling encounter. Did her presence even give more danger for other human beings?  Will the little girl use the pill to get her revenge? It’s as if Yukimura herself was already a dead seeker to begin with. But before that moment came, she would do her best to stay alive and get her revenge first.

I don't read many manga or light novels nowadays so when I review or give my impression of an anime adaptation title. I didn't expect any outcomes from that work. It worked well at some point that I didn't get spoiled too early or knows what event I will see later or at least how it will be animated. Somehow, it surprised me on how weird a TV series ended up due to no expectations on what I am about to see xD one the last anime I watch is Dragon goes house hunting orドラゴン、家を買う(Doragon, ie o kau).The setting is in an isekai world where heroes and monsters reside in magical land like Role playing games. Yet, the focus in this anime is not the heroes per usual, but it is one of the magical creatures, a Dragon.

How about a dragon with a slime spirit inside? xD

Now let's imagine the mystical being called dragons. Dragons are lizard-like creatures with enormous bodies and a gigantic wing. Despite its hulking mass, a dragon can fly as easily as a fowl and the earth trembles when they land. As an addition, they can breathe fire through their mouth and have gigantic razor claws to scrap their enemies. Ok the reason why I explained the might of a dragon a lot is because I need you to forget everything what I just said about a dragon LMAO

Did he play some game& watch collecting eggs or sumthin xD

Our leading hero is a red Dragons named Letty and what peculiar about him is that he was a timid and cowardly dragon and worst off all, he had no dragon's abilities except for wagging his tail and running away xD. To rub salt into his wound, his overall stats are way lower than his peers and his base luck is even minuses by 7 although he is on the equal level with the other dragons.

He doesn't fight back. Even killing mouses is  harder lol

This anime is..well ..different from the rest. The focus point is that Letty was thrown out from his family's den because he fell asleep while doing an egg guards duty. A thief stole the egg and letty was just too afraid to retrieve it back. Well, if you can stand a main character who is a coward, have no enthusiasm, and don't have a fighting spirit, at least you can stand seeing Letty's antics. After all his resolve is only finding a nest where he can live peacefully free from dangers

Funny or not, some words just need a better execution

The first episode gives the character introduction with the two main characters who are Letty (already introduced) and a bishonen elf named Dearia, who worked like a real estate agent. He provides shelter for weaker monsters like slimes. With the simple quest of a dragon finding nest, the anime slowly introduce some of the land inhabitants like harpies, goblins, and dwarves. The funny stuff that this anime trying to sell is that Letty's incompetence for being a dragon only attracting more and more bullies. Honestly, I am quite annoyed with his weak character as if he was supposed to born slime but stuck inside a dragon body. He got captured easily by dwarves too because he politely asked them If they could build him a home. The dude didn't even know that his kin is a bigger threat than a local earthquake LMAO.

You don't even need a whole party to hurt letty lol

Honestly, I'm not laughing too much on the first episode since I have seen better comedies in the other anime. Yet, in terms of weirdness (originality) it definitely is a spot on. It's so weird that I can at least have more ideas to write than more action oriented anime. Also this anime incorporates retro role playing game elements inside. So, if you are a Role playing fanatic, you can appreciate the design of two dimensional sprites similar to Role playing in it. Still i don't know if the comedy will be able to lift this anime on the later episodes with the first episode comedic being only subpar in my opinion

I love dark and gritty story-telling because it was usually geared toward mature audiences. So, when I first saw Joran’s anime cover, through its coloring; in which was mostly black and white, I already knew that it was one of the anime that I want to review for this season. It had a historical Japanese background especially during the meiji era. So, if you love watching Kenshin or playing games like the Last Blade, you will feel at home with this anime; even though most of the story depicted was fiction and different entirely to the real history. Still, this anime is definitely not another Rurouni Kenshin anime. In contrast to the more fun-filled and easy to follow plot line like Rurouni Kenshin, It started with a grim and serious tone and I think death will be aplenty for many of its recurring casts(I swear I haven’t read or watch any of it original work; P it is just my hunch). For instance, it started straight away with a fight between a lady;  whom mystical power render her mouth turned into Eren Yeager’s titan mouth alike against monstrous being that resembles a human and animal hybrid. 

You want to see Mikasa face and Eren's titan jaw mixed together?

In regard to the origin of Joran, the princess of snow and blood title, it was still ambiguous whether the main heroine is the titular princes of snow and blood; because the anime haven’t told exactly who or what Joran is. The only thing I know from the first episode of the anime is the leading lady name Yukimura. She rarely or I can say never smiles at all, was cold like an ice, had a very pale complexion like snow and she despised anyone from opposing gender touched her. In contrary to her stiffness; she was a skilled combatant with no-nonsense attitudes, and she had the ability to transform into a stronger being with the help of a white karasu (crow). I bet that there will be another break the ice queen moment in this anime. Or else there will be no character development at all

Yuki onna??

The story set in 1931 Japan during Meiji era. The ruler of Japan is Yoshinobu Tokugawa, who actually was the last Shogun of Tokugawa Shogunate in real life; use an Iron hand to take out any opposition. It was clearly depicted from the first episode with how the police arresting any person who vandalized the walls or expressing their disagreement to the ruling party. Too add the story elements; the anime introduced a natural resource called “Ryumryaku” which the government possess to strengthen further their ruling party. In the first episode, we haven’t even seen the glimpse of the aforementioned material. Is it looks like a log, precious stone, or valuable material like Gold? who knows, it's still too early

Hmm..you re still underage. It's actually illegal you know

The first part of the anime we will see that Yukimura lives with a younger girl that I think not related by blood. Her expression showed that she was not very keen to her companionship although she was technically the only person who called her sister. Another day going and we can see another man trying to win her heart only to get a rejection plus a dead threat as a bonus. At the beginning, I thought that the man will get more screen time later only to find out at the end of this episode that he was technically just another figuran.

It's very ironic..really ironic

The anime introduced us with the other character like a handsome man name Tsukishiro and a femme fatale Blonde name Hanakaze. Both of them were the acquaintances of Yukimura and by the look of it, they seems to work to an assassin organization with the leader being a man named Kuzuhara. Later they mentioned a name JANOME which I believe looks like the organization or a man that currently Yukimura party opposed too. And that JANOME control a being named changeling. I assumed that changeling is the name of the human and animal shape shifter that appear later in this episode. The anime further tell us that currently they were working for the current government; but they work in the shadow in order to protect their liege’s name who is Yoshinobu himself

As a Mature Anime, there is some nudity scene thou they re not explicit

The second part of the anime we will see how both Hanakaze and Tsukkishiro worked together to eliminate the target who was a smuggler in disguise of a trader executive. They wanted to kill him because the Intel told them he was making a deal with Janome tonight. So they ended up killing the executive and his men using their respective weapons. Tsukishiro was a weapon expert that has a saber which reminded me of a certain “light saber” from another movie series while Hanakaze’s umbrella can work as crossbow. Their part ended with them finding out that they got deceived and the aforementioned valuable was just rice contraband.

Just don't tell me that you are someone else father xD the joke is getting stale now

Meanwhile, in the other places, Yukimura walked alone in the snowy weather while holding a paper umbrella. Even before watching to the end, I already foresaw that our heroine will have her own battle against a changeling or two (too much watching anime somehow made me a clairvoyant lol). The only thing that really surprised me was when it was revealed that the changeling that Yuki slashed is none other as the man who tried to woe her earlier in this episode. This means, some of the changeling didn’t want to be a mindless monster. However, someone else did inject them with some substances and it cost them their sanity and free will. After the battle, Yuki feel exhausted and collapsed. She did regret killing the man not because she had a feeling for him but because he didn’t really want to kill her.

Killing enemies with Samurai Showdown art style

Before the end of the episode, we will see some slight of Yuki's past; whose brother tried to hide her from the assailants as well as a preview of another changeling who may turn out to be their opponents later on. At this point, here is the information from that I can gather from the first episode. First of all, Yukimura is hell-bent for avenging her brother killer. She was a woman, scarred from a past trauma and joined the other assassins in order to find the person responsible for her brother dead. Second, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, may or may not appeared later but he was literally the one who supported the assassin guild and they worked for him from the shadow. Third one, the Changelings are human shape shifter and they serve as Yukimura’s party opponents although Janome was the one who really responsible for the changelings appearances.

This episode is solid although I consider the writing is kinda predictable, I hope the following episode will have even greater impacts and more great character's development. For now I'll continue to watch it and hope more great experience from later episode ^^