Overall Rating
Excellent
Story: 4
Dialogue: 5
Animation: 4
Entertainment: 5
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āPeacemaker Kuroganeā is a historical action/samurai/comedy anime, and quite enjoyable as a shorter piece of work that doesnāt take itself quite as seriously as most do.
Anime about the Bakumatsu period arenāt found amass on the anime market, but there are a couple. Most of those take an overall serious, dramatic tone. The time was just like that--both chaotic and cruel. (Even if Rurouni Kenshin isnāt set primarily in this era, Ruroken lovers out there might know what Iām talking about.)
āPeacemaker Kuroganeā is serious and dramatic, too, and a bit bittersweet to top it off. Yet that doesnāt mean it doesnāt take its time to insert some comedy here or there. In fact, its historical background does take a backseat for comedic purposes at times--which might not make for an awesomely consistent storyline, but which at least makes for entertainment. And when itās back on track, it does capture that historical feel quite well and even incorporates a few twists.
A bit less welcome is the quite open end. It does that better than quite a few anime that just break off like that and you wonder for ages āwhenās the next episode gonna come out anyways?ā, but thereās no doubt that a number of questions is left unanswered. The manga goes further, taking a darker direction after the anime ends, but that one went on hiatus as well a while ago, so for now, weāre stuck with open ends in any case. (Argh.)
Slight episodic-ness and an open end aside, āPeacemaker Kuroganeā by no means is a bad anime--itās fast-paced, and as such stays intriguing throughout. Thereās drama, thereās action and comedy, thereās bits of romance, thereās tragedy, so Iād say the majority of viewers would find at least something to enjoy in here, too. It might not be the best or the most effective Bakumatsu-setting anime; for all its quirkiness, it could in fact rather be labelled as the oddball among those; but itās enjoyable, it delivers in action, emotion, and comedy all the same, and where its plot part might not be all that effective due to a number of side tracks, it canāt be called generic either.
The characters--what can I say? They are, for the most part, interpretations of actual historical figures. And where they might not always stick too tightly to whatās known of their historical counterparts, they come across as believable overall, and those slightly-over-the-top traits do add to the seriesā atmosphere, both bright and dark. The characters might feel a bit funny if you know about the historical background and the charactersā actual historical counterparts, but if you donāt let that bother you, theyāre quite finely done. Drama and character development are definitely there, and the dynamics are quite fitting.
The dialogue is definitely well-done overall; the voice acting is certainly up there, and the script flows well. The for a good part dialogical comedy only helps it along--itās quirky, itās funny, itās not too stupid, and when thereās no comedy, the script conveys the drama and emotions quite well.
The animation might not be entirely up-to-date, seeing as āPeacemaker Kuroganeā aired in 2003, but itās still pretty good. The art, though it tends to slip into goofy-ness in gestures and facial expressions, works with intense colours and clear line-art; the background music is ordinary, but good; and the opener and closer, where distinctly not traditional, fit oddly well. The action is quick and only slightly exaggerated, and PMK isnāt afraid to show blood either.
āPeacemaker Kuroganeā is an oddball. I at least have yet to see another Bakumatsu-period anime that combines action, comedy, drama, tragedy, and even touches of romance in this way, and makes it work and entertaining to top it off. Itās not as serious as most historical anime out there; itās not without its plot problems either; but itās enjoyable, something to lay back and spend a rainy day watching. The action is there, the comedy is there, the emotion is there, and if itās a bit over-the-top here or there, that definitely fits its overall atmosphere.
Personally, I still like the manga that bit better. It goes further than the anime; itās more serious, more tragic also, and Iām a sucker for the serious, dramatic stuff. However, I canāt deny that the animeās pretty darn good in its own rights, and a relaxing change from most the historical stuff out there.
āPeacemaker Kuroganeā might not be perfect, but if you want a more humorous glimpse into history, with well-done drama, some tragedy, and a good amount of action in it, Iād recommend to give this a try. It might be short, and might not appear entirely complete, but itās enjoyable nevertheless.
Cheers!~
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