Sengoku Youko: Yonaoshi Kyoudai-hen

Aspiring samurai Shinsuke Hyoudou's world is turned upside down when he witnesses hermit Jinka Yamato and fox girl Tama Youko slay a brigands' lair in the blink of an eye. Tama happens to be katawara, a magically gifted species, who can share her powers with Jinka through a special ritual. Together, they travel the world as vigilantes to stop evil beings, be they katawara or human.

As Shinsuke learns more about this new world, he discovers that monks perform inhumane research on spiritually gifted civilians, in the hope of creating human-katawara hybrids that can fight against monsters. Soon joined by Shakuyaku—a girl they manage to save from the monks’ experiments—and other allies, the group embarks on a quest to achieve their respective dreams.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hyoudou, Shinsuke Main

Kimura, Ryouhei Japanese

Youko, Tama Main

Takada, Yuuki Japanese

Shakuyaku Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo Japanese

Yamato, Jinka Main

Saitou, Souma Japanese

Senya Supporting

Nanami, Hiroki Japanese

Douren Supporting

Inada, Tetsu Japanese

Mountain God Supporting

Takagaki, Ayahi Japanese

Jinun Supporting

Nomura, Kenji Japanese

Resshin Supporting

Miyagi, Kazuki Japanese

Higan Supporting

Satou, Rina Japanese

Iwasa, Gaku Producer

Matsui, Yuuko Producer

Usukura, Ryuutarou Producer

Usui, Hisato Producer

Reviews

Nov 22, 2024

ZenStarwalker

Recommended

How to even put this into words it beyond me and probably will be for a long time as my heart tatters from the sheer emotion this anime has thrust into my being. The first episode didn't strike me as anything special, just kind of throws you into what you think is the middle of the story but I can tell you this much, for being Edo style anime, this show sure packs a punch in the face, the heart and the soul.
Not many anime have struck me this hard in a long time, and by the time you get to ep 8, you ... will most likely feel the weight of the world pushing down on you. I give this show a solid 10/10. It is truly a MASTERPIECE!

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by ZenStarwalker (7)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Sep 18, 2024

Turzin09

Recommended

Let’s talk about the work of the acclaimed Satoshi Mizukami, which, in my opinion, is his best manga. I found it very interesting that White Fox took on this project, especially considering the context of “Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer.”

Sengoku Youko, like all of Mizukami’s works, has something unusual and subversive in its story and plot. Mizukami always liked to take shounen tropes and subvert them in a more interesting way. In Sengoku Youko, the subversion happens after an important event in the plot, which in the anime was used to divide the series into two arcs.

The plot follows the story of the yokai fox ... Tama and her brother Jinka, who aim to make the relationship between humans and katawaras more friendly. The aspiring samurai Shinsuke follows them to develop his skills and, in the future, build an important bond with the two. From this, they discover that a group of monks has been conducting experiments between humans and katawaras, creating a conflict between our protagonists and the antagonists of this arc.

This first arc serves as a contextualization for the future construction that Mizukami would develop in the next arc of the story. What seems to be a story focused on racial themes and the power of friendship typical of a shounen battle, later reveals itself to be something more elaborate and well-connected. The plot develops in a much more interconnected way, encompassing the points of each character. The greatest merit of the first season of the anime is the contextualization for what will be built in the future, from the characterization of the main characters to the plot itself.

As for the production of the work, I see a great effort from the team to do something well-done in important episodes. Overall, the quality varies, but there are good peaks of direction and production. I think the anime has more value in some points than the manga, mainly because of the medium it is in and the source material. The production of Mizukami’s mangas is weak, especially in Hoshi no Samidare. Although it has aesthetic value in terms of its art style, it is very simple and lacks more adequate layout. Still, the manga has great moments, especially the double-page spreads. The anime production, at specific moments, managed to adapt these aspects well. The direction often managed to convey the appropriate feelings and visual appreciation. The voice acting is good, and the soundtrack is quite memorable.

I am eagerly awaiting the end of this adaptation to see if White Fox managed to adapt Satoshi Mizukami’s best-written story adequately. So far, the first season has adapted several parts well and had a suitable pace. The direction works at key moments, and the story has contributed well to the value that will follow.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Turzin09 (1)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Apr 4, 2024

whiteflame55

Mixed Feelings

Not a bad start by any means, though it took a little while to solidly get going for me. Speaking as someone who has read Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, it certainly hasn't hit as hard as that series did, but it's planted opportunities to do a great deal more.

It's not so much that the series is slow, but rather that it lacked an identity beyond its worldbuilding and basic establishment of its core cast. From there, it just became a series of fights that slowly built on those identities before a couple of big moments started to shift the momentum. The series has been ... slow to become more dynamic as it builds things out from a basic "let's fight a new powerful opponent" as a template for most episodes and has started to introduce the larger issues in the world surrounding them and how each character relates to them. I can't say any of the characters have been terribly investing so far, but they've given them enough building blocks to make them worth following.

This is a long series, slated for 37 episodes in total with these 13 episodes comprising the first arc and the remaining 24 comprising the second. Moving slowly to create an investing narrative in order to build out the world and establish the characters is fine by me if there is certainty that there's going to be more, and based on that ending, there's a lot to expect. I'm cautiously optimistic, especially as we've seen some admittedly abbreviated character arcs play out over the course of the series so far. I can't say any of the characters have really grabbed me yet, and though there's some interesting worldbuilding, it seems minimal so far, largely kept as background noise while the series focuses on the central characters. That's not bad, but it does mean that the second season needs to go pretty hard to make this series more than just a good time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by whiteflame55 (291)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Anime not dubbed in english pt 6

by Idk5008

49 Entries · 3 Restacks

Absolute Peak (2020 onwards)

by MrXtreme07

31 Entries · 9 Restacks

Anime Based on Significantly Older Manga

by MeanMrMusician

39 Entries · 58 Restacks

Winter 2024 Simulcast List [Update 2/3]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of television anime acquired for simulcast release during the Winter 2024 season. Anime series licensed for hom...read more

Jan 2, 2024 2:51 PM by Snow | Discuss (40 comments)

Winter 2024 Preview

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of Winter 2024 titles with an accompanying promotional video, commercial, teaser, or trailer. This post will be...read more

Dec 22, 2023 8:20 AM by Snow | Discuss (3 comments)

	Poll: Sengoku Youko Episode 3 Discussion Stark700 - Jan 24, 2024	42 replies	by Playcool »» Dec 30, 2024 11:06 AM
	Poll: Sengoku Youko Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 13, 2024	35 replies	by GavrocheN7 »» Dec 12, 2024 8:48 PM
	Poll: Sengoku Youko Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Feb 28, 2024	36 replies	by GavrocheN7 »» Dec 12, 2024 7:24 PM
	Poll: Sengoku Youko Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Feb 21, 2024	85 replies	by GavrocheN7 »» Dec 12, 2024 6:56 PM
	When does this get good? Ankz - Jan 19, 2024	43 replies	by researchscum »» Oct 9, 2024 11:40 PM