Sunday, 25 May 2014

Rave-on! (Tokyo Ravens review)

Opening Songs
OP 1 - X-Encounter (Maon Kurosaki)
OP 2 - Outgrow (Gero)

Ending Songs
ED 1 - Kimi Ga Eru Yuugure (Yoshino Nanjou)
ED 2 - Break A Spell (Mami Kawada)

Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Romance, Supernatural

Episodes: 24

Its actually hard to find shows like "Tokyo Ravens", or any high school action, supernatural, romance hybrid to be exact. We get the action harems like "To Aru Majutsu No Index" or "Strike The Blood", then we get those that AREN'T harems like "Kyokai Senjou Horizon" or the likes of "Ao No Exorcist". "Tokyo Ravens" falls into the latter category, because there's really not much of a harem going on, though for capturing the spirit of a "fighting/combat" high school, it does very well. In fact, it reminds me so much of "Ao No Exorcist", its not even funny. It reminds me a lot about it, but that doesn't necessarily mean its better. There are some questionable routes which the series takes, and there surprisingly isn't a lot of character development for a 24 episode anime. There's just a lot of good fight scenes and a pretty interesting concept/lore about the world, but sometimes, that's good enough. "Tokyo Ravens" delivers well on that part, but doesn't really go beyond, and has an ending that leaves a lot to be desired to boot.

Sexy Kyouko is sexy, too bad we don't really see too much of her.

"Tokyo Ravens" has pretty badass opening and ending songs, which I really appreciate. The 1st opening theme is "X-Encounter" by Maon Kurosaki, and what do you know, it's effin fantastic. Not that I expected anything less from Maon, since she has always had amazing songs in her discography, and the fact that she juggles her work from Altima is even more amazing. Its very similar to early Mami kawada songs used in the "To Aru Majutsu No Index" series, it gives off that feel of mystery, awesomeness and sexy techno. The 1st ending theme "Kimi Ga Eru Yuugure" by Yoshino Nanjou is pretty slow, but its a typical kind of ending theme.

The 2nd opening theme is "Outgrow" by Gero, and honestly, I was a little bit disappointed by this one. Its a very typical shonen anime type opening theme, and it doesn't fully capture well the theme and or spirit of the anime. Most of the scenes are reused from the first opening as well. The 2nd ending theme though is where its at, and its "Break A Spell" by Mami Kawada. I felt like THIS should have been the opening theme, because it felt so much in line with Maon's 1st opening. Like with most Mami songs, its really strong on heavy techno beats.

Rating: 7.5/10

While I felt like it was doing good at what it was meant to do, there wasn't anything beyond that really stood out. The main action scenes and many different arcs were done decently well, but there was close to no character development or other noticeable goodies that could have really improved the experience. Characters that were supposed to be important never really stood out too much, the entire anime didn't feel very funny other than a few short segments, and the romance elements were really mediocre. Despite all this though, the anime captures the spirit of attending an exorcist school very well, though it probably didn't feel quite as atmospheric as "Ao No Exorcist". Still, action stands as its best bout, since fights based on exorcist chants and curses can be really interesting. The story was alright, but it was the overall lore that really hit me out of the park.

Two jealous know where this is going when
they look at you with those eyes.

The story focuses on Tsuchimikado Harutora, a regular country bum who happens to be the adopted son of a great exorcist bloodline. He has been living his life normally, along with his best friend Touji and another girl named Hokuto. Together, the 3 of them attended a very normal high school, and lived a very normal life. That was of course, until a very powerful exorcist by the name of Suzuka attacked their city, she was known as one of the 12 divine generals, some of the strongest exorcist around. During the attack, Harutora's more talented cousin in the ways of the exorcist, Natsume turned out to be visiting. Harutora consulted Natsume, but it seemed like it was all an elaborate trick, since Suzuka sent a familiar to steal away Natsume's powers. After witnessing the death of Hokuto,  who was killed by Suzuka, Harutora becomes Natsume's familiar, and they both take down Suzuka. After that, him and Touji enroll into an exorcist school to further enhance their abilities, so that they can help Natsume in her future endeavors.

When all is said and done, "Tokyo Ravens" was executed decently enough, but there's still a lot that could have been improved on. The ending is seriously sequel bait though, and honestly, it wasn't nice. Its like they set up everything so nicely for a sequel bait ending...meh. If there is a sequel though, then we'd have a lot more to look forward to, that much I HOPE to see.