Donten ni Warau
When swords were outlawed in the eleventh year of the Meiji Era, the mighty samurai population began to dwindle. Those who rejected the ban on blades rebelled, causing violent unrest to erupt throughout the countryside. To combat the rise in criminal activity, an inescapable lake prison was constructed. Three young men, born of the Kumoh line, were given the duty of delivering criminals to their place of confinement — but could there be more to their mission than meets the eye?
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I'm probably not the only one who does that: watch the first episode of the new animes of the season and decide which one to continue. Donten ni Warau was on that list back in October but... the first episode was also a bit of a disappointment so it took me a while to actually watch the rest. Do not do like me, it actually gets better right away! Before we start, I'll just say that I haven't read the manga(s) so I didn't have any expectations. But, from the comments I saw by the readers, it seems to be a faithful adaptation.
The story is not exceptional, it has all the themes we already know from all the other works about ninjas and samourais. I wasn't much surprised by the twists and other things happening. That aside, I was still curious about that mysterious prison and what would that Orochi would do. If I think the prison deserved more attention, the Orochi storyline is well done. The characters were very stereotypical but still interesting and/or touching. The animation is quite nice, the characters aren't suddenly awful once seen from afar, which is rare nowadays. I'd say the animation is the best thing about this anime, the fight scenes especially are well done. The sound is okay, not something really noticeable but blending perfectly with the rest. I do remember though a dubstep-ish moment that felt a bit out of place.
Finally, the enjoyment. I wasn't fascinated by that anime, especially since the first episode was a bit too funny to me. I expected something a bit more serious and mysterious and it comes once you survive the first episode. Overall, I liked it, it had both cute and awful moments. I do regret that the prison wasn't given that much attention, sometimes the characters only talk about it and it's forgotten. So I'm giving it a 7/10, it was good but it also has room for improvement.
The anime only has 12 episodes so I hope I didn't spoil too many things with this review!
