Sengoku Youko 2nd Season

Sengoku Youko: Thousandfold Chaos Arc - A resounding finish following its prequel part, that still certifies itself as a Satoshi Mizukami original. There has never been a quote so true to an extent like "It's not how you start that's important, but how you finish." And for the second part of the 3-cour treatment, that is the adaptation of the famed mangaka's weakest work, Sengoku Youko, covering the Senma Konton-hen a.k.a Thousandfold Chaos Arc. And I have to say that the series, now in its full 35-episode count (split 13 + 22), is a lot better than I remember, putting everything as a whole, that withthe complete adaptation of the manga in this year (of 2024) alone, is a showing on why Satoshi Mizukami is still one of the most respected mangakas of his heyday and how White Fox is trying to expand outside of its usual Re:Zero quality as a studio that used to and actually can do much more than said juggernaut series. Following up with the events from Winter's Part 1: the Yonaoshi Kyodai-hen a.k.a Siblings for World Reformation Arc (covering the first 6 volumes of the manga), where the siblings of human Jinka Yamato and Youko Tama were separated after the long-standing feud against the katawara-hunting monk group that is Yazen's Dangaisyuu, this inevitably caused a rift in the world to worsen the relationship between the katawara and humanity, leading to the exile of the Thousand-Tailed Youko as Jinka's powers go horribly out of control. And the unlikely source of the enemy being the front and centre for Part 2: the Senma Konton-hen a.k.a Thousandfold Chaos Arc (covering the remainder of Volumes 7 to 17 of the manga), with Jinun's son of Senya taking the MC reins alongside the now demotivated Shinsuke just drowning in liquor after the intensity of the conflict that ultimately caused the siblings to separate and leaving him with nowhere to go; the world dynamics ever shifting into a new realm of tales with the thousand katawara within the young boy's body. Like Jinka, Senya must learn how to better control his Thousandfold Menagerie, and that's where Shinsuke, after goofing off for the timeskip of 8 years since the incident, reluctantly agrees to help him find his footing and grow strong, just like the roots that he came from the hands of Dangaisyuu with the Four Beasts of Yazen, Douren, and his own biological father of Jinun. The intensity of Part 2's arc is fundamental to Senya, as he gets to know the people that would help shape his life, for better or for worse: the death of a girl's father that she could not protect from the inadvertent damage from katawara going loose; a group of people who had toyed with fate to determine their survivability; as well as the people that were once his enemies/rivals, now fighting alongside him to settle the long dispute between katawara and humanity that would shape the future of their world. It's one hell of a long and tough journey for Senya and the girl of Tsukiko growing up alongside him, as well as Shinsuke being a mentor after all the training that he had with Tama and Jinka, now tested because of the cowardice he had back in Part 1, to reaffirm his conviction in Part 2 that he will not run away from the fear that has amassed every fibre of his being when he first started tagging alongside the siblings. This is Satoshi Mizukami at his finest, where each and every character does not get wasted for character development and otherwise, and I'm glad that despite coming out later than Hoshi no Samidare a.k.a Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Sengoku Youko still retains his early 2000s-era Shonen writing that while isn't unique by today's standards, still manages to carve its own identity that's wholly Mizukami-certified. For debut director Masahiro Aizawa and studio White Fox, the anime itself is a rather huge undertaking since essentially the entire series is produced and wrapped up all in 2024 alone. This meant that White Fox inevitably producing Re:Zero Season 3 would be just a matter of time to come (which it did this season, to eat up valuable resources), and that production for this show would have to be held back just so its A-team could work on delivering Tappei Nagatsuki's Isekai masterpiece of an adaptation. Even though production for this show did get affected at times with low-budget animation, it still delivers a consistent experience that never takes the action away from its busy premise. And what can I really say, then to be impressed that White Fox could actually handle a Shonen of this magnitude. On the music forefront, Evan Call's music is still really good, and amps the show where it's needed. But sadly, where I find that Part 1's OST is great, Part 2's OST with Stereo Dive Foundation's OP, as well as both Senya's VA Hiroki Nanami and Rainy's EDs, were obtusely (but intentionally) held back since this part serves as the climax of the series to go out with a bang. Decent songs that are not bad but not great either. All in all, I'm still thankful that Sengoku Youko remains as Satoshi Mizukami's standard when it comes to the anime side of adaptations, that both Planet With and (especially) Hoshi no Samidare a.k.a Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer severely needed to showcase their strengths when production hampered the experience. Though not perfect, the series itself is a show that has a lot of teachings going for it, and it's a lesson about people, their journeys, and where fate takes them to, cultivating in gains and losses that result in the remembrance of the path they take to get to where they want to be. I have but only one final question: So, when is Spirit Circle's anime coming? That is the finest masterpiece of works when it comes to Satoshi Mizukami, and I'm eager to see how that would turn out in due time.

In an era of Shounen Jump when so many battle Shounen are either rushed, axed or meander around losing the point of their premise, it's really cool to see Satoshi Mizukami cook up something with such an interesting plot structure, thematic backbone and deliver on all of that perfectly from start to finish. From S1's portrayal of imposter syndrome, spiral of hatred and what it means to be a human or something other to S2 interrogating what it means to be strong, accepting your own weaknesses and realizing that all of us are worth something to someone else. That someone can be loved, nomatter who they are. The series constantly grapples with these motifs and comes to very worthwhile conclusions in the end. I particularly adore how well the series tackles its exposition and how much it uses action more as a set dressing to far more impactful character moments. Only took a decade for Mizukami to get a worthwhile adaptation and boy did White Fox cook. It wasn't really a sakuga fest most of the time, but consistently good drawings and debut director Masahiro Aizawa's background as an animation director and key animator really gave the show a strong sense of direction. Fantastic storyboards, lovely use of color scripts ala someone like Masashi Ishihama's directorial works and a resourceful production all around. Shigeyasu Yamauchi's episodes were a particular highlight for me. I hope to see him around more outside of his works with studio MASSKET. It's just good to see a 35 episode production these days when most long form Manga that aren't turbo popular get scrunched into episodes far fewer than needed to accommodate all of it. Spirit circle adaptation next, White fox?

Not the anime we deserved, but the anime we needed. The Japanese folklore fantasy theme is not my kind of fantasy, but here all that doesn't matter. What we have is a story that has a descent build up (from the first season), a great execution, and a sublime finale. It does a great job of developing it's characters and storylines, all while giving us a well written and executed story. From strong and complex main characters to funny and interesting side characters, this show has it all. It's a journey that is fun to be a part of as it goes as well asafter it ends. It gives you a chance to see what Naruto could have been like without the 700 episodes of filler. Story: 8/10 - The setting may not be my cup of tea, but in the long run it doesn't matter since that's outshined by story and the characters. Characters: 8/10 - Great characters and lots of them. The majority of them were slowly being introduced in the first season, with some strong newcomers in the second, and it all paid off in the end. Character development: 7/10 - While there is a lot of that, sometimes it may feel weak or unnoticeable, so that's why I give it 7 instead of 8. I suspect this is better done in the manga. World building: 8/10 - Things are pretty clear from the start and it's been building up from there with more details. The lore, who is who, and more or less what to expect of the surroundings, etc. Some shows fail miserably here because they try to preserve that "mysterious aura", but here we don't have that and it's still interesting - I wouldn't say it's predictable, but if it is - it's in a good way. Overall: 8/10 - What more can I say? I certainly didn't expect this to be this good, especially after how most of season one was a bit of a bore.

Sengoku Youko season 2 is a sequel that I wasn’t as hyped for as I ought to have been because the first season was a bit of a downgrade from the manga, but, as a diehard Satoshi Mizukami fanboy, I gave it a go anyway and had a pretty good time. Swapping out Jinka for Senya as the main protagonist was a pretty ballsy move that ended up playing into the story’s central themes regarding the cycle of violence and self-acceptance extremely well, and seeing Senya grow and mature through the support of those around him made his final confrontation with his own self-doubt quitegratifying. This is also an incredibly unpredictable series regarding the direction of its plot, and Mizukami’s deft melding of fantasy and sci-fi flavors crafts a vibrantly fun setting. Unfortunately, this season still has mostly the same issues that season 1 did. The pacing always feels like it’s a bit too fast, leading some of the pivotal emotional moments to lack the lasting impact they could have had, and the overall artwork is just barely above average on the whole, very rarely presenting anything truly sensational and leaving Evan Call’s soundtrack to do a bit more heavy-lifting than it would have otherwise needed. At the end of the day, it’s still got all the things that make Mizukami one of my favorite authors, and with an immensely satisfying and thorough conclusion, I’m glad I stuck around to see this one through to the end.