This anime is about as GAR as it is possible to be without breaking the fourth wall. (It doesn’t quite equal the manliness of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, which is so GAR that it defies reality, but it is completely serious about it.) If the viewer didn’t already know from the fact that it is derived from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the opening makes it clear that this show is going to be about blood, death, and brotherhood.
Souten Kouro does not merely tell a Chinese tale; it tells a Chinese tale using some elements of Chinese storytelling techniques, mixed with modern film techniques. (At one point, there is even a lens flare!) Thus the show has a different feel from the average anime, even from the average shounen series. Music is stirring and suitably grand, and timed to match dramatic moments.
There is a fair amount of violence and brutality, along with social critique, the main purpose of which is to explain the main character Sousou. It presents his mindset, long vilified in literature, as a reasonable product of the times and certain formative experiences. Overall, Sousou is treated with great sympathy in this work, a fact which is sure to cause controversy.
