Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman

Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman is an anime that is based around the mascots of a pachinko game. That would not sound particularly appealing except for the character designs were done by Monkey Punch(Kato Kazuhiko), the artist behind the Lupin III series. If you are familiar with Lupin you probably noticed the similarities in the art style and even the characters looks. Also the anime had Satoshi Hirayama, someone who has worked on a few Lupin movies working on it. So, with such a recognized artists being involved with this anime why do so few people seem interested in it? I will try to answer that with ... this review, but I just want to point out that despite the similarities this is NOT just Lupin in 1800s Japan.

Story(6): The story is fairly straight forward and not very original. It takes place in 1800s Japan, where a crew of "get backers" try their best to help out people in need. No matter what the problem is, or how dangerous, they deal with it. The leader of this crew is Roman, who is shown fairly early on to have a suit that pretty much gives him super powers. The suit has to be used sparingly though, so it is only used when things get serious. A few episodes in it is shown that there are some western naval forces off shore, and the story basically revolves around explaining what they're doing there and what their objective is. I would define this anime as an action/comedy, it is about half serious moments and fighting half comedy bits. This is where I felt the anime really lost a lot of its potential. There were very obvious issues with pacing, and lacklustre attempts at comedy. The writers attempted for it to be an action/comedy, but in my opinion they failed. The comedy falls short, and quite a few episodes are wasted on them trying to get laughs. For me the show felt at its best during the more serious moments. During the last few episodes it was clear that the time spent on failed comedy attempts could have been used for more back story and character progression. I know what they were going for, and I don't think the comedy should have been taken out completely but it just fell short. The serious moments still had a kind of parody type comedy to them, since a lot of the things that go on are just ridiculous. Kind of like JoJos Bizarre Adventure, how it isn't a comedy but some of situations that occur just make you laugh. Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman could have been improved greatly if the writers tried incorporating more of that style humor.


Art(8): I'm a sucker for Monkey Punch's art style and character design. Without a doubt the show looks good, it has that 80s-early 90s look but with the modern polish which I love. The animation during the action scenes is done very well. While I'm sure not many people would say it is bad, I'm sure there are some who just aren't a fan of this particular style. I happen to really like it.

Sound(6): Well, hard to really say all that much about the sound. It was good, the voice acting was very well done(apart from some amazingly bad engrish), and each character had a lot of personality. Never noticed any really bad sounding effects or anything like that, although I admit I don't pay that close of attention to that stuff. I enjoyed the OP and ED a lot. That is about it.

Character(8): Like the art the characters where one of the best things about the anime. Each character was likeable and had tons of personality. Everyone I've heard says the main character is just like Lupin, I don't completely disagree but they are different in a lot of ways. It isn't just Lupin with a beard in 1800s Japan, he has his own personality. One character who is very much like a Lupin character is Okuni, who is just like Mine Fujiko. There is also Suzuki who is very similar to Goemon. Still they both have their own personalities and differences, they're not just clones. The rest of the cast plays a big part too, especially the members of Romans inner circle who help him. Including Romans little sister Koharu, who is a prime example of good female character design. She is extremely cute and loveable, based completely off her personality and design not ecchi fanservice or panty shots. Then there is the rest of the gang. Gennai, a perverted old man who invents all the gadgets the crew needs. Hans, a German doctor who also has found a way to create zombies that he uses for assistance. And finally Kanade, a shrine priestess, who also like Koharu is a great example of good female character design. They all secretly work together to help others, no matter what risks it involves.

Enjoyment(7): I enjoyed the anime, it never really felt like I was forcing myself to finish an episode. The only thing that caused me to give it a 7 instead of an 8 is the lacklustre attempts at comedy, and one or two episodes that I felt were just not done well at all.

Overall(7): It's not perfect, but what pains me the most is the potential of what it could have been. Still, to anyone looking for a fun short anime that thought this looked interesting I would recommend you give it a shot.

Thank you if you read all of my review, this was my first attempt at doing a written review for an anime. I hope it was helpful.

One of the things about the Crack Fic Genre is that it can be touch and go on how successful the work is at pushing ones willing suspense of disbelief. Many times the work takes the believability issues to far and instead ends up grating on the nerves. This particular Anime though actually doesn't push to far and the stretching of believability is used well for comedic effect. This is what drew me into Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman in the first episode as well as the historical references and it remained through the entire series.

They style used also fits the genre well, not to mention the ... music. What really makes this series though is the characters. Each has a very distinct personality that is blown over the top and exaggerated, and yet I couldn't help but falling in love with them, not to mention they didn't grate on my nerves. I also like how despite the fact the plot has an over all comedic tone to it, underneath there is a darker theme running. The connections between the characters relationship wise is also interesting as well.

One thing is for sure, I at first expected this to be a much longer series and was surprised to find out that it was as short as it was. On one side the series wasn't dragged out making it so that I got bored with the repetitiveness, but the funny thing is towards the end it got less repetitive and less formulate. In the long run it made for a fun laugh and an enjoyable ride.

Bueno, was there a time when you're watching some show and saw something that was similar from what you've watched from other shows. Or, do you have no idea that there maybe some scene that were plagiarize, well, this anime was simply what it is, in fact the Chinese have a term for that which they call it " chop suey" literally means mix together, and this anime was a mixture of various scene and spin offs from other shows or anime all loosely combined to form a sort of "Lupin III" like thing. The plot was nice, but the execution was bad, it ... was enjoyable at first but it goes downhill from episode 3 to the ending. But what I like about this anime was its retro opening theme and a few of fanservices that come along, and that as good as it gets... for me, that is. So here are my ratings for each category:

Story: good #7

Like I said the story plot was good, but the execution is bad.

Art: fair # 6

I did mentioned about the few fanservices that comes with the show right? But I also like Otsu's illustration both in a kimono and in a catsuit.

Sound: fair #6

I don't have anything to say, but I do like this anime's opening theme, it basically combines retro with jazz.

Character: poor #3

Safe to say that director, Hirofumi Ogura did utilize the characters properly, in fact the characters themselves have very chaotic roles.

Overall: pathetic #1

Bueno, what can I say, this anime was a total "SNAFU," if only director Hirofumi Ogura try to make this anime as a good "Lupin III" spin off, then it would have been worth watching.