Onihei

A great many anime have sought to synthesize the iconic Samurai with other aesthetics and genres, most notably the Samurai Western, but Onihei is utterly unique in this regard, representing a bold synthesis which I call Samurai Noir. Focused on crime and human drama, with a smooth, stylized aesthetic that compliments the visual landscape of 18th century Japan, this attempt at something really distinct in the medium is a resounding success. Beginning with the story, the viewer is presented with this highly episodic, human-centered tale of the dramatic struggle between the law and morality, thieve's honor and honorable thieves, and ... the flames of passion which flicker at the edges of right and wrong. Very little carries over from episode to episode, save for new characters, and the pacing feels rather fast, but as someone who really loves episodic shows, it fit Onihei and its theme really well. The writing also feels like a seamless blend of the old and the new, helping to further integrate the two aesthetics into one in a natural and comprehensive way.

The art has a good, strong sense of identity, standing out all its own, even if it does have some flaws. Namely, the occasional use of CG is quite clumsy, and characters sometimes appear ungainly or somehow cheaply drawn. Still, it solidly captures a sense of action and movement, especially when it comes to its combat.

The sound is, hands down, the strongest aspect of the show. The voice acting is impassioned and the sounds of life are detailed, but the soundtrack is simply sublime. That word I've been using, synthesis, is best represented by what this soundtrack is. A masterful combination of traditional Japanese instrumentation with Noir Jazz results in a soundtrack which spans the full range of human emotion with clarity and style. It feels pitched and tense at some times, low and mournful at others, and yet still clam and smooth at other times. It cannot be overstated, the music alone is an achievement.

The characters are generally good, broadly serving their purposes within the story, though beyond the main cast they begin to get a little two-dimensional. Among the characters, my favorites are Onihei himself, Hasegawa Heizo, and Matsuoka Juubei, a one-off supporting character. Heizo embodies both the focused and honor-driven Samurai ethos, as well as the cool and morals-driven philosophy of the Noir detective, and in this way he's instantly the best character in the show, besides just being a strong character. Juubei, however, is different. He feels engaging in a way other supporting characters fail to be, perhaps because of the unique quality of his writing. Overall, Onihei is a really cool, engaging experience throughout, and I recommend you give it a watch. This still goes even if you don't particularly like crime dramas or the Noir aesthetic, because it's worth it just to see the conceptual feat executed in this anime.

I watched this during my adolescence, a period in life where you're changing both physically, intellectually, psychologically, and socially, as well as the development of your own moral compass, and man did this Anime leave an impression.

This might sound cheesy but the way Heizou carried himself really inspired me at a time when I needed it the most. And it's not like Heizou is this perfect 2-dimensional character, the show constantly reminds us of what he used to be and it's that character development that leads him from just being a strong student of Kenjutsu to a real master. Despite his ... strict demeanour, Heizou truly cares deeply for his subordinates, and his ability to read people's intentions truly shines when judging character and upholding justice, often putting himself in harm's way to protect them. Throughout the series, he investigates and solves a variety of crimes, ranging from arson to theft, all while facing his own personal demons and struggles that often stem from his past.

Despite being on a noticeable budget the art and animation were where they needed to be since the stories were the main focus. The music on the other hand really grabbed me, it was beautifully subtle with a hint of jazz and got exciting when it needed to like cowboy bebop or Samurai Champloo, it really complemented the story's historic noir tone.

I watched Onihei. Here are my thoughts:

I dropped this halfway through but picked it up again a few months later and managed to complete it. Overall it was pretty mediocre but did have a couple positive qualities. Foremost, this show does a good job of depicting the 18th-century Japan setting, both visually and from a sociological perspective – many social themes that prevailed during that time period are featured in the writing (ex. caste system, prostitution and infidelity, criminality and law enforcement, gambling and drinking). This anime can be interesting from a sociological perspective. That said, I found the constant focus on burglaries became boring ... and repetitive, even from early in the runtime. The screentime used to demonstrate the thievery (like sneaking in, etc.) is often quite dull and repetitive, as well as lacking creativity. The low-budget undynamic animation also certainly did not complement these burglary scenes. Although there are many frames in which the setting (ex. building architecture) looks nice, the animation is not dynamic at all – it often feels like a Powerpoint presentation. There are certainly some nice static shots in here, but the character animation feels very low effort, including during the short-lived action scenes.

The plot is mostly episodic with stories that are self-contained within their respective episodes. However, there is a core set of characters who persist across episodes. Unfortunately, these recurring characters are underdeveloped and not particularly likeable or memorable in any way. The episodic plots usually involve the characters reacting to some kind of conflict (i.e. generic burglary scheme #9001 + ratchety hoodrat drama that belongs on Jerry Springer), leaving little room for any kind of character development – this issue is compounded by the large size of the cast. Overall I found the storywriting tedious and repetitive. The episodic plots are quite generic and felt like they came off an assembly line – there was nothing in here that I hadn't already seen many times before in fictional writing. Like, a third of the episodes somehow involve a guy falling in love with some dumpy hooker bitch – this gets tiresome very fast, yet the theme gets repeated over and over in the writing; it was eyeroll-inducing.

I personally am not at all fond of the jazz-like OST and this is another major reason why I'm lukewarm on this show. This is a matter of personal taste though, and other people may like it. Also, the voice acting was nothing special, except for maybe the MC himself who has a deep handsome voice.


My overall rating: 5/10
This anime is basically a combination of Cops + Jerry Springer: Feudal Japan Edition. Similarly to these iconic American TV shows, Onihei explores many sociological issues in a highly dignified manner. Seriously though, somebody interested in historical Japan society would likely appreciate this show. Onihei's best aspect is how it depicts its setting, not only visually but in the way that so many sociological phenomena are featured in the writing. Unfortunately, the episodic plots themselves and the characters they involve are nothing special. Much like the animation itself, there are some appreciable moments but the overall execution is repetitive and lacks dynamism.