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Jun 22, 2022
91 days captures all the basics of a revenge story, set in an era where organized crime syndicates are in high power, and plays the main cards it has right. It's got everything a revenge story needs and more, and it utilizes the suspense created to it's highest. Utilizes most characters properly and they play right into the MC's hands in a natural way.
Avilio Bruno, formerly known as Angelo Lagusa, is our revenge driven protagonist that has it out for the people that double crossed his family and killed them all when he was just a kid. He, as the sole survivor, ran away and
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laid low for 7 years until a letter, informing him of the identities of his killers, was sent to him. He finally had a lead to go on and thus his revenge saga had begun.
Now we don't know much about Avilio's life before the letter had set his revenge in motion, but it's clear that it wasn't a happy and morally clean one. His revenge was his main and only interest, and absolutely nothing will come in his way. The banger of an opening theme of this anime makes it clear that his thirst for revenge is what really defines him. He clearly doesn't have much to live for, and that letter rekindled what was left in his empty husk of a body.
In this anime's setting in particular, alcohol is every big mafia's main source of income. Avilio knows this and gets an old friend of his, who makes good alcohol, associated with the mafia to make their way into the Vanetti family. He isn't careless and knows his revenge will take a lot of preparation to pull off, so the first eps are mainly him making a name for himself in the Vanetti family. He knows it'll take more than just killing them, and he wants to destroy them from the inside out. But also doesn't mind getting his own hands bloody either when it comes down to it.
Now, the first few eps aren't a great hook to me, especially an episode in particular where he teams up with one of his family's killers and bonds with him for some exposition. But it does lead somewhere great, and it was a good method for the audience to learn some later relevant information. These early eps introduce all the important characters, all the one's that Avilio plans to kill, and all the ones he'll manipulate and turn against each other.
After episode 5, the show really kicks off and all the work he put in pays off greatly. So if you're planning to watch the show, stick till episode 6 before dropping.
Story: 8/10
I love the setting for this anime, it's a really perfect fit. The show utilizes every card that came with the chosen setting, it felt original despite the revenge factor not being the most original generally speaking.
Unfortunately though, due to the amount of characters introduced, it's hard to keep track of who's who and all the important ones. It's rather messy when it comes to all the mafia's and which character is in which mafia, who's on which side and who on who's side. Some events unfolded perfectly while some ended up unmemorable and later confusing when they refer back to it.
It sometimes takes very obvious directions though, too many death flags pop up when a character is about to be killed off. Either hinted by the dialogue or the anime not animating eyes and so on (there's more but I'll indirectly spoil if i point them out). And other times they use it to fool the audience. Still it kinda ruins the moment.
Art: 7/10
Underrated, it nicely depicted the grim setting and fit the tone the anime has. Some shots were nicely angled and some not. I appreciate the studio's efforts and it pulled off the prohibition era look right. Definitely inspired by other shows with a similar setting and it didn't particular mess up anywhere. The animation was still a bit inconsistent and a bit outdated.
Sound: 8/10
Great op and ed, great voice actors, Fango in particular. Sound tracks were mafia-ish so no complaints there.
Characters: 8/10
Avilio is a great mc, that's undebatable. All his enemies are great too, he really knows how to kill them off perfectly and manipulate them perfectly. He can negotiate very well because he knows all his enemies' interests and personalities inside out. He's truly a calm and calculated genius. All his enemies play the right roles and its not a big surprise that a lot of them are killed off, and most of them go out in the very satisfying ways. It goes without saying that the deaths are fucking great.
But, take into consideration that these are characters in mafias, and mafias have a lot of people. Essentially I'm saying that there's just too many side characters so it's hard to keep track of them as I stated earlier. The anime doesn't exactly utilize EVERY character properly as there's simply too many in such a short anime. Not many of them leave an impression on the audience so its rather anticlimactic when they're killed off too. It's nit picky I'm aware that's why the score isn't really lowered much.
However they are realistic and react normally to how a mafia member in the prohibition era would react. They're not stupid and are always on alert for any conflicts like a mafia member should be. When they're outsmarted, they actually get outsmarted and not some by some half-assed writing except for like 2 instances which I disliked.
Enjoyment: 8/10
There's a lot that made this a great watch for me. When I was 5 episodes in, my enjoyment level was around a 4/10, I was kinda close to dropping it, but after finishing it, I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the episodes that came after No. 5 a lot. Avilio pulling the strings and stopping at nothing to quench his thirst for revenge was all fun. Many climax points in the show along side the great suspense built up prior, it was a great watch overall. Avilio had a weak point and the show knew how to play that card, very well executed. I can appreciate the foreshadowing and parallels of Angelo's family dying and then his revenge.
Seeing him climb up the ranks of the Vanetti family and gain their trust was a good pay off. Antagonists were great, realistic, and not complete morons. New information was presented naturally and each event/conflict takes place in the right time, I'm overall satisfied with everything. Just the first 5 eps sucked a bit and one important death was pretty anticlimactic. It often also ruins the moment and intensity built up a decent amount because of how predictable some of the events go down. Specifically some betrayals or deaths and so on. Other than one very bad episode and a somewhat predictable plot, I have no complaints.
Overall: 7.8/10 (surprisingly close to the anime's overall score on this site,I see that it's fairly rated)
I've already wrote down my thoughts, in conclusion the anime has it's faults but I can definitely appreciate how many things they pulled off nearly perfectly. It gave the audience what they wanted and left me satisfied. There's so much more i wanted to compliment but won't because of spoilers. This anime isn't meant for everybody, but it is a revenge story done right and got the conclusion it deserved.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 21, 2022
Honestly pretty disappointed with this. As a fan of the manga not only did this adaptation fuck up the anime, it also ruined my image of the manga. (More specifically helped me see the weak writing)
First issue that both the anime and the manga fall in, they don't build enough exposition for the characters. They just throw u into the story believing that some half-assed introductions to the main characters is enough to get us invested. It's not. Then they throw the characters into the game and waste half the episode going back and forth just talking about dumb
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pointless shit, specifically wasting half the episode over what the author seemed to believe how a group of teenage kids would react to being kidnapped. Clear pacing issues there.
Oh and like I implied, very unrealistic reactions btw, from the people who just got setup, tased, kidnapped, and forced into illegal gambling as minors, you'd think the author would resist making them react like shonen protags but nope. There's the constant useless one liner's of their inner thoughts and reminders of the game's rules and stakes. The author keeps fucking dumping the most irrelevant information about the character's traits as to make up for the zero build up. So many pointless tedious conversations take place and it feels like I'm fucking watching robots recreating how humans interact.
The first game they play shouldn't even exist, it's just there to create shock value and set the tone for the anime. It fails embarrassingly bad and the only real use it serves is the reveal of a traitor existing and even that was pretty anticlimactic.
Then the very forced and horribly written reveal that the main character is some super genius based off of his personality breaking and then him just passing the game with some half-witted bluff. Well it works but that really was not remotely enough to showcase that the mc is smart. Thing is I did end up like the mc's personality and he is shown to be actually smart in future manga arcs, but the first 2 games is just lazy writing on their part despite being actually creative.
The second game comes in and it's even worse in terms of how the characters react and interact with each other. Every shocked reaction is just some ugly freeze frame, so, bad cinematography. It spends far too long making the characters expose each other's secrets and far too long on some drama about their friendship. While that boring ordeal was going on, the main character was cooking up his plan to flush out the traitor. All cool except for the fact that the anime chooses to explain his plan through the conversations between the two women that are supervising the game watching in a security room.
Every time something confusing happens, it just cuts to them to explain it. Or it cuts to yet another shocked reaction from the supervisor and she gives the equivalent of the author telling us "Keep watching some plot twist just took place now but we can't explain it just yet.". They were just spoon feeding us a whole lot of information that we already know. While it wasn't exactly hard to keep up, it was sure as hell boring. They do this for about 3 more games in the manga, and it's so fucking annoying. The supervisor woman always hinting that he has some master plan under his little guise of being the underdog with a disadvantage. She sucks his cock dry the whole time until he wins and proceeds to spoon feed us the whole damn plan.
A recurring theme is the value of friends over money, it cuts to a monologue every now and then about Yuichi's moral dilemma of the teachings from his mother. Thing is, it's a cool and a more or less original theme, but not when they rely on the mediocre drama between the characters to make us care about their dumb friend group breaking apart. This anime seems to be under the impression that we're somehow invested in their friendships that they took like 2 minutes to nurture. Do I have to spell out that I do not give a flying fuck about their friendship. The kid mascot Manabu is always reminding us of the stakes of the games as if that'll shake me in my boots. And honestly they weren't at all high enough. Yeah sure that's a lot of money but none of us really give a shit, it's just a fucking number to us. The author especially relies on the friendship breaking as high stakes, but due to the lack of exposition, no one gives a shit still. The anime couldn't at all set the tone intended.
Pretty bad adaptation overall. The animation was pretty lazy and uninspired, it couldn't pull off the simplest of actual animation. For example, take someone getting punched. Rather than animating it, it's just another still frame with punching sound effects the whole time like it's a comic book. The animation is just so damn awkward, they keep trying weird angles and filters and POV's, all they accomplished was making it look like a fucking Bollywood movie. The sound is equally as lazy, sounds like some music I can find in a third rate roblox horror game. The voice acting is alright at best but mostly meh. The directing is horrible btw, they reaaally suck at setting the intended mood, I just end up cringing.
Another thing, for a psychological anime it's alright but its really missing an antagonist / a real opposing force. For now in the anime the "psychology" they rely on is the main character finding loopholes in the games and such. That's the most lackluster way to move the story along, and it's definitely not entertaining psychology. Even if the games are well made and creative, it still really needs good antagonists. The manga does get better, a lot better actually, and I can actually call it psychological in later arcs, but for now in just the anime, it's just a high schooler simply winning the games by finding loopholes. Essentially, it's missing a clash of who can outsmart the other.
The third game was rather fine but still weakly executed because of what they show us VS what actually happened (basically they fumbled the plot twist reveals). The anime did not pull that off right. The main character read his enemies and used the weaknesses in their personalities to achieve his preferred outcome. That's kind of psychological but the presentation of that information was not executed well either. Yet another failed attempt at making us feel that the mc is some genius manipulator. Oh and the first half of his plan was pretty dog shit.
When you make every one of his opposing enemies an idiot, obviously he'll stand out as much smarter than the rest. Every other character is just one dimensional and badly introduced, the third game just introduces a new crew even blander than the original one. It's so fucking stupid how it took one girl to make Yuichi's plan succeed. His 'master plan' that the supervisor hyped up was breaking their friend group apart using one hot girl. Ok yeah the took advantage of the weakest enemy team member to win that's cool but not when you make the enemies absolute idiots who are only capable of thinking using their wieners. It's not a very interesting to way to make Yuichi win a game in which his odds of winning were near zero. He was out numbered and at such a huge disadvantage, only to win the game using one female as simp bait. What a fucking joke.
Well to be fair the second half of his plan was actually fine and sort of enjoyable to see unfold, but the execution of the plot twists were disappointing, and the enemies fell for it so unnaturally. The two or so hurdles in his plan weren't enough to make it realistic or intense or even satisfying for me, they still were lured in too unnaturally. It was a really well made game but the enemy group needs a rework.
It went too smoothly and I believe they should've been written to be more engaged in not letting his plan work so easy. It's just disappointing how easily their relationship faltered by using one girl. It was such a forced plot and it felt lackluster because the battle of wits that we were supposed to experience was very one-sided because of how smoothly it went.
Basically I'm trying to say that in the third game, the enemy group was at such an advantage, they underestimated Yuichi and his plan worked way too well. He used the guise of being the underdog to win, and lot's of animes do this to be fair but that just makes it not engaging to the audience. This anime thinks that fully hiding his plan from the audience is entertaining but it's actually kinda counterproductive when they're just dragging out the reveal. They do this so many times in the manga except the antagonists get progressively harder to outsmart thankfully. It was such a lame way to see him win that's all.
It's really not until later arcs (only in the manga) that I reconsider my initial impression of the MC and believe that he actually is smarter than the rest.
Overall thoughts are (summary):
Art: 3/10
Lazy is the best way to describe it. Can't show emotions or reactions properly, and they didn't actually animate anything violent.
Sound: 3/10
Catchy OP but the soundtracks are music you'd find in a roblox game.
Plot: 6/10
Genuinely sort of creative but horrible execution and lazy writing in crucial aspects. Glossed over important things a lot and mostly presented very pointless information. Plot twist reveals were completely fumbled. Also lacking in actually high stakes and good antagonist(s).
Characters: 3/10
Mc and another future character are top tier in the manga but for now in this anime, the main crew are so unbelievably bland. It feels like I'm watching fucking robots trying to recreate human conversations. Also all of mc's opponents are morons so it's not exactly rewarding when the mc outsmarts characters with an IQ of a 5th grader that's hard wired to fall for his plans.
Enjoyment: 4/10
The psychology factor is missing a lot of things. We have Ms fucking obvious in the security room reexplaining everything that's taking place every 2 minutes like we lack eyes and ears. Every argument that takes place between the main crew makes me cringe without failure. The adaptation was horrid and the only thing that makes the show even slightly enjoyable are how creative some of the games can be. Still they executed the games horribly and it really ruined what had much more potential.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Apr 23, 2022
This anime is a hit or miss for most. No real plot, doesn't follow a romance anime formula. It's just there. Started watching for the clips I've been seeing and it didn't match any expectations. I just got sucked in by the pure randomness. Just the most random anime this season and I'd recommend it if you've got time to waste.
Story: 3/10
No real story here, again, it just does whatever it wants and I'm here for it.
Sound: 5/10
Pretty average there, goofy tunes and funny voice acting.
Characters: 6/10
Its got a small cast, very small. The cast gets bigger but they're mostly insignificant characters. The show
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mostly follows the story of the 2 main characters and their development. They try their best to understand each other and it's cute.
Art: 4/10
My real complaint lies here. Pretty basic art, obviously low budget. Cgi for the most basic of things. The classroom itself was full of cgi students who are literally sitting still. No life forms can be detected in that class. Desks are also cgi but at least they look normal with the environment.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I guess that's what this anime's real strong point is. It has no goals no ambitions, just purely random. The comedy is pretty decent, it's so innocent yet unfiltered it achieves being natural. The main duo are cute and funny. Mc also manages to always assume the worst and most nonsensical scenario's when he's confused.
Overall: 5.4/10
Pretty low score objectively but if you're bored with nothing to watch, this is for you. Pretty normal in all aspects but it is enjoyable and has innocent lighthearted comedy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 7, 2021
SPOILER FREE REVIEW:
I'm going to first start by saying, I'll mentally be comparing this heavily to the Fate/stay night series because of the differences. The original series has set my mental standard for this, and does live up to it. Sadly due to this being a prequel though, I already know the outcomes of some of these events which sucks but the show still manages to peak
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my interest. Though the first 3 episodes are a terrible hook in my opinion.
Main story: Same as fate/stay night. Battle royale between 7 masters & the servants they summon. They're participating in a secret war called the Holy Grail War which grants a wish for the winning pair. There's a secret mage society in it and a church that oversees the war. This is the 4th holy grail war which makes Fate/stay night the 5th. The 7 servants have a class based off their historical tale which go:
Saber-Lancer-Rider-Caster-Assassin-Archer-Beserker. The reason for every servant's class is self explanatory. The main character summons Saber.
With the premise being the same as Fate/stay night, you can know what to expect but they've handled it way better. The story isn't really strong I'd say since the main goal isn't really that interesting, we're here for the end result. The backstories of some of the characters are just forced stretched out drama that no one really cares about.
The "main protagonist" Kiritsugu Emiya or Shirou's (from fate/stay night) adopted father has little significance in the events that unfold and has very little screen time, and his little backstory is pretty stale like I said. The anime tries hard to make us like Kiritsugu and though it was a good attempt; He's still lacking in the magic that makes him a "protagonist" but that's subjective. His cool accomplishments in the anime weren't really enough to make him likable, at least to me.
The biggest difference being that the story isn't really driven by a main crew but rather more of us as the viewers seeing every servant and their master from their unique perspectives. So essentially I mean that this was handled differently from Fate/Stay night and the story shifts from one pair to which ever pair is most relevant to the story's progression. So they don't take as long in Fate/Zero to reveal all main 14 characters as they do in Fate/Stay Night. But I'm still keeping them hidden for the sake of being a spoiler free review. Kinda makes it hard to root for the main crew sometimes. Each pair of the seven masters and servants have their own interesting dynamic.
Like rider and his master being the most different as the master is just following Rider's flow the whole time with absolutely no authority as his master. One master and his servant are just straight up deranged psychopaths that bring entertainment to some of the occurring events.
Though I have to admit it's really obvious who'll be the winner of every fight, the fights are still very very interesting despite them having boring results sometimes. Colorful animation, you never lose focus of what's happening and just straight up amazing choreography. There's always the reveal of the enemies' weapons and special attacks and their identities in the real word history or folklore. And the last minute characters joining and turning the tables. Also servants sometimes being forced to do what their masters say due to the command seals. (Like turn on your ally or withdraw from the fight).
Here are some weak points viewers may find but is really just opinion based are:
Too much dialogue during the fights.
Constant turning the tables on each other. (lots of bs)
Heavy and obvious plot armor.
Fights frequently lead to nowhere. (unsatisfying results)
One episode went to waste and is really really pointless. (young Rin episode for some reason)
Fate/Zero kinda drops spoilers of Fate/stay night but it also goes the other way around.
Okay so ratings for every element of the anime:
Characters: 10/10
The characters really carry the lacking story. So many likable servants (especially rider and lancer) but the masters not so much. Also fun to see a good hearted character turn mad because of this war. As well as some not even being interested in winning the Holy Grail War. One is literally just after Saber's virginity lol (kind of). Everybody's stand point and morals are very different. Some enemies even like each other but have to fight due to the rules of the war. Some are honorable and others not so much, it's pretty diverse and I can appreciate that.
Story: 5/10
Again, the main plot is something I've seen already and I'm just here for the result. Drama is meh and lots of the fights/scenes are ruined by bullshit reasons. Some backstories were alright but overall underwhelming. Kiritsugu's backstory was the strongest but only in the second half. I didn't really find myself invested in the plot much. Just so lackluster in addition to the fact that Kiristugu didn't feel like a main character to me; which threw an important hook of the story out the window.
Art: 9.9/10
Why not 10 you ask, well it's amazing. Very amazing actually. Everything from the highly detailed backgrounds to the colorful fight scenes and even the cgi (to me at least) is really good like beserker and the weapons being thrown by Archer. But I deducted the 0.1 because of the impact of the hits. You don't really feel like the hits have as much impact as the characters say. Like look at beserker. Probably 400kg of weight right there and his strikes barely phase saber's blocks or at least her main body. Just her arms react and not anything else. It's better than Fate/stay night UBW's 9.5 animation but they're the same just a slight upgrade (and an obviously bigger budget). So many small details that only people with a good eye can catch. Basically the animation goes hard other than the slightly unrealistic physics.
Sound: 8/10
Take this rating with a grain of salt because I'm watching this on netlflix and skipped the Op and Ed multiple times (im very sorry). Op is pretty catchy, Ed is nice and both have good visuals. The ED specifically has visuals that give clues to every servant's identity and past. Soundtracks are hype and made with effort.
The voice acting is superb, Saber's VA is good at making her sound cold but at the same time showing her emotions when the climax calls for it. Rider's VA is perfect (yes i like him that much). Archer's VA is a bit corny with his "I'm so much more superior" lines but is good at making him sound angry. No one else is as note worthy as them but none are bad VAs. I also like the way Saber shouts English words like "Bah za keh "(beserker) or "EXA CALI BAHH" (Excalibur).
Enjoyment: 7/10
I really didn't like Kiritsugu Emiya being the protagonist since he's pretty boring until like s2. The other characters carry to be honest. The fight scenes were incredible despite the impacts being stiff. Some events were way too overly predictable which ruins the moment. And some scenes were brutal and gruesome. (That scene with Kiritsugu and Ilya god damn). Though most of it was pretty hype and a good fight scene goes a long way.
Overall: 8/10 (did the math)
If I somehow discouraged you from watching it, don't be. It's by no means perfect, but a very high quality, top tier anime. The first 3 episodes are a bad hook and don't be discouraged if you haven't watched Fate/Stay Night before this or any Fate series anime. If you want to get into the Fate series and don't know the watch order, just start anywhere.
Or watch it release order, that's my advice. Thanks for reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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