"Revenge is a dish best served cold."
This is the cornerstone expression that drives 91 Days. An expression that it lives and dies by, down to the very fabric of its being. One that we're quickly made aware of from the opening act that plants us into its world.
The arms of the clock tick in reverse, as we travel back to the days of the prohibition era. It's a cold night in April, and our young protagonist, Angelo Lagusa, enters frame. In the warm glow of his household, behind the thick wooden walls that push the harsh cold out, he's at ease with the comfort
...
of his family filling in the spaces of his living quarters. Cushioned by a blanket of security, Angelo and his little brother, Luce, awaits their father's return, hiding away in anticipation for the moment he walks through the door. It's a brief hallmark moment, the siblings' father cheerfully calling out their names, waiting for a likely response to ring out from within the closet. But little does Angelo know, that everything he's known up to this point is about to come to an end with the sudden knock of a visitor at the door—dun! dun! dun!—... and so it begins.
Three burly figures draped in thick trench coats steps inside. And just like that, the warm radiance that once filled the house is immediately sucked out. In its place, the thick stench of malice creeps in, seeping through the floorboards, suffocating the very air around them. Something is about to happen, and every beating heart in that room could feel it coming. Angelo's father lounges forward, blade in hand and his little brother bolts out the 2'x8' coffin to come to his parents' aid before Angelo could even react. Stifled by the linen hanging behind him and the fear of what he's witnessing in front, our young protagonist is left frozen to look on, powerless to take action against the chaos looming right outside his hiding space. Peaking through the wooden panels of the cramped closet, he bares witness to a sight that will forever haunt him. Bullets leave their chamber, the thunderous clap marking their departure, as they tear through the flesh of what he once called family.
This is it. This is the event. This is the anger that fuels him. This is the removal of normalcy. This is the motivation that keeps him going. This is the beginning of something sinister. This is the landmark moment that will forever pave his path with blood stains of burgundy and the sulfuric stench of gunpowder. "Revenge is a dish best served cold" and Angelo is determined to deliver it, even at the cost of innocent bystanders that are oblivious to his vendetta. The cost of him ever living a normal life. And at the cost of what little shred of humanity was left during that cold winter night. When he goes through with this, there's no turning back. No one to turn to. No one to pray for his godforsaken soul. And so we depart with him, down the topsy-turvy course of trust and betrayal, with a hit list in hand and a determination that refuses to yield. He begins his journey; the first steps are taken, day one begins.
Bearing a similar tone and structure to projects done by movie heavyweights Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, 91 Days plays out like a love-child of these two worlds being brought together. This is immediately felt with the sultry musical backing, soft piano keys being carted off by bellowing brass instruments, stylistically cropped with titles cards and blood-curdling violin strings, as the camera slowly pans across the landscape. Traversing the fledgling stages of a city aiming to shoot their infrastructures towards the heavens, we're made aware of this place that's aptly named Lawless; a nesting ground for those trying to carve out a living for themselves, as well as the mafia families that make up the seedy underbelly of the booming alcohol smuggling trade. After laying low for seven years, Angelo makes his return to this city, reborn under the alias Avilio Bruno. Here he set the plans in motion for his revenge, enlisting the help of his childhood friend, Corteo, using his talents as a brewer to get closer to the crime syndicate that massacred his loved ones on that cold night in April.
And as his plans begin to unfold, everyone is slowly entangled within it. A sprawled-out web that's inhabited by family feuds over the dominion of the city and pretexts made at a moments notice to insight altercations. A breeding ground for mutual partnerships and calculated backstabbing, with Avilio fanning the flames whenever he sees fit. These warring family factions include the Vanettis, Orcos, and Galassias. All of which participate in this codependent dance of charades that are set to the music of a zero-sum game. With lots of twists and turns scattered along the way, every chapter adds a new piece to the playing field. This, combined with the brisk, yet methodical pacing, made 91 Days a title that constantly had you wanting to see what would happen next. There were no guarantees on who will live or die, only the falsehood of plot armor that's immediately revoked when two opposing parties meet.
This became one of the show's greatest strengths; suspense backed up by tangible results.
Revenge stories that slowly taper off as it pushes forward aren't uncommon. There have been many examples of this occurring across several storytelling mediums, with the usual morality message regarding the perpetual state of hate being the star attraction set on display. Thankfully, 91 Days isn't another statistic. It sets the stage early on and delivers on its promise from beginning to end. There aren't any trade-offs made to extend anyone's relevance, if they're ensnared in a situation that they can't walk away from unscathed, they receive their just desserts like everyone else. There are still explicit messages regarding the cost of revenge, as well as themes that come default with these scenarios, but the story doesn't bend at will to adhere to the warnings of it. Revenge isn't just worn as a shiny badge before flipping the script to see the apparent wrongs of the actions being taken, no, in 91 Days, revenge is carried out without compromise. And nowhere is that made more prominent than with the cutthroat mentality adopted by the main lead, Angelo "Avilio" Lagusa.
If Angelo were summed up with one word, it would be merciless. An empty shell that lives solely for his objective, Angelo knows nothing else, adjusting his life around the need to make his targets pay. He isn't just satisfied with merely killing them; he wants to crush everything that they stand for. Dismantling the very foundation of their family's name by orchestrating events that will see them tearing each other apart. He's determined to see his plans through to the end, becoming another cog in the machine without so much as flinching at the prospect if it benefits his cause. Step by step, he draws closer to his end goal, the phantom resemblance of a smile just below the surface as bodies begin to fall. It's an obsession that borders on madness.
And it's this same obsessive state that gives birth to paranoia among all camps of the conflict. Men hunched over in their local speakeasies, glancing over their shoulders in fear of other families taking them out. Restless faces marked off by bags under their eyes, dispatching hit men before someone else gets them first. And standing in the cross-hairs of this chaos is Nero Vanetti, a man deeply devoted to his Don and father, and the extended crime family, and unfortunately, another name on the checklist to be snuffed out. Where Angelo is driven to dismantle everything around him, Nero is committed to keeping it together, who, like Angelo, is obsessed with his cause, but instead of being duty-bound to some vendetta, he instead wants to maintain the integrity of his family's name. A task that proves nigh impossible with Angelo offering a handshake in comradeship, while the other hand carries a pistol erected in his direction. A give-and-take relationship where one man stumbles in the dark, oblivious to the other's malicious intent.
But not everything in 91 Days compliments this gripping narrative. For one, the art direction and presentation often fell short of expected standards. Instead of becoming an animated series that could go toe-to-toe with the giants it patterns itself after, it only manages to measure up by the skin of its teeth. By no means should anyone approach this work expecting something on Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, or Quentin Tarantino's level. When I said, "similar tone and structure" that was the extent to which I think this anime achieves when pulling from its influences. At best, it's a slightly better rendition of the 3rd movie in the Godfather franchise, which admittedly isn't much of an accomplishment, but still, I'll give it credit for where credit is due. Regarding general scriptwriting, cinematography, and fully developed personalities, 91 Days remains an imitation of these great creator's works, but still a gripping imitation nonetheless.
The lack of eye-grabbing textures, unique shot compositions, color saturation, or other presentation nitpicks could be ignored if you're invested in the story. Although, some aspects might stick out far too often to turn a blind eye to. Such is the case with characters like Fango, who might have been an honest attempt at creating a sadomasochistic individual, but ended up resembling an off-brand Joker villain instead. Where every character involved aimed for an early Film-noir performance set in the 1920s, Fango came flying in like a man transported straight from the 1970s; complete with the general attire and appearance to boot. And as detracting as his antics were at times when placed in a setting not meant for him, after a while, his role in the story meshed in more effectively. It May have been too late by then, but at least the effort was there to course-correct the problem. There are also a few character dynamics that could have benefited with a bit more time dedicated to it, like Angelo's connection to his childhood friend Corteo, which felt too much like an afterthought at times, only there to get his foot in the door and serve as a catalyst for certain events to happen. With a bit more meat to their relationship, pivotal narrative moments could have become emotionally gripping ones as well. There's an excellent storyboard there, just not enough attention-to-detail in-between plot points to make it moments with long shelf-lives in the collective conscious of the viewership.
And despite this list of shortcomings, 91 Days remains a welcomed addition to its niche genre appeal, because when everything is said and done, the self-respect in which it carried itself made it far easier to forgive where it may have stumbled. We've had a fair share of mobster-inspired works before this, from the more character-centric ones like Gungrave and Gangsta to the rule-of-cool beat-em-ups of Darker than Black and Baccano, but there's never been a more faithful rendition of the traditional mafioso story in anime up to this point. Where those titles are riddled with supernatural occurrences that are dipped in the flourishings of the mobster lifestyle, 91 Days trades this in for a more grounded approach, containing characters that draw closer to real-world personalities than the more zany ones found in some of its contemporaries.
It may not have the energy of Baccano, the fully developed characters of Gungrave, the well-choreographed fights of Darker than Black, or Gangsta's—... oh wait, Gangsta sucks. But what it does have is an appreciation for the classics that preceded it and the commitment needed to see its vision through.
Alternative Titles
Japanese: 91Days
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
12
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jul 9, 2016 to Oct 1, 2016
Premiered:
Summer 2016
Broadcast:
Saturdays at 01:55 (JST)
Studios:
Shuka
Source:
Original
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
Statistics
Ranked:
#8922
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#277
Members:
719,032
Favorites:
8,036
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 186 / 197
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Your Feelings Categories Sep 30, 2016
"Revenge is a dish best served cold."
This is the cornerstone expression that drives 91 Days. An expression that it lives and dies by, down to the very fabric of its being. One that we're quickly made aware of from the opening act that plants us into its world. The arms of the clock tick in reverse, as we travel back to the days of the prohibition era. It's a cold night in April, and our young protagonist, Angelo Lagusa, enters frame. In the warm glow of his household, behind the thick wooden walls that push the harsh cold out, he's at ease with the comfort ... Sep 30, 2016
No, it’s not a show that spans for 91 episodes, a Baccano’s second coming, or in fact anything like that at all. On paper, 91 Days is a revenge story, a show about a guy named Avilio Bruno (real name: Angelo Lagusa) who seeks vengeance against the Vanetti Family. Why? It’s because they ruined his life many years ago when he was a child. His family was murdered (or more precisely, double crossed) by the mafia. This all happened during the Prohibition Era and it’s hard to imagine at the time what Avilio was going through. Simply put, 91 Days strives to prove itself as
...
Oct 1, 2016
You don't need a reason to live,you just live-Nero.
In today's generation we strive for more fan favorite genre shows and it's not often we get to see something different, "91 days" is one of those work which isn't made to target all viewers,some may find it immensely out of their regular taste while others will take a great interest in it. -Plot- The story is set in the early 1900s during prohibition,it start with Avilio Bruno (The main character) receiving a letter and going back to the flashback of his past, when his family was brutally murdered by Vanetti Family and he was the sole survivor,running away ... Sep 30, 2016
91 days was a genuine surprise. After finishing their splendid anime adaptation of Durarara!! they managed to make a true mafia story. Its inspiration's become apparent the moment the show begins and no time is wasted to let the story go in full throttle.
91 Days is a revenge story through and through but still manages to keep the viewers on their feet. It is best to take breaks between episodes to let the suspense set in as almost every episode ends in a cliffhanger. Sadly the animation is inconsistent. The fact that the studio had to suffer through budget constraints becomes apparent half way ... Sep 30, 2016
The brisk night air whispers across your face, gently stringing hairs in front of your eyes. Stars are barely visible above through the thicket of bare winter trees and your body aching and languid from the effects of tracking in the cold. Your target is about 100 yards away, the dim glow of their headlights is the one thing keeping you on the trail. Tonight is the night justice will be dealt, the night a culmination of seven long years of anticipation will finally come to a head. They don't deserve to live after what was done to your family that horrific night.
Suddenly the ... Aug 29, 2019
91 Days in my eyes is not as impressive as many claim it to be however this does not mean that those opinions are 'incorrect' or invalid.
I found this anime very interesting for an episode or two, the initial character development was intense and enthralling however once that effect had worn off, i was left bored. The story seems as though it could've been great but it just didn't keep my attention throughout. I enjoyed the art style and the main protagonist Avilio Bruno however it didn't make up for what I see as a lackluster way to portray it. In my opinion the only ... Oct 7, 2016
91 Days is a good choice for you if you enjoy a revenge story where a character exploits other people's self interest and/or schemes them in order to achieve his revenge. 91 Days becomes a bad choice once you start expecting anything other than onedimensional characters, and also if you hate main characters that are displayed in a way that makes them feel flawless without giving them any personality traits, especially negative.
You see, what ruined this series for me was the characters. Most of the characters are presented as onedimensional, with each being from x side or the y side or the z side. If ... Sep 30, 2016
"Why is the pineapple can there?!"
Anyway the show is good. It's definitely for you guys who like mafia stories with Japanese characterization. The art is okay at close-ups but really sucks at portraying landscapes. I dig opening song but that's just about it. It's an anime that you'd have fun more if you follow the week's progression instead of actually binge it, but nonetheless it's still a good anime. The storytelling can be jumbled up sometimes. Mafia movies always related to how many characters they try to introduce, but in the end, only some of them can stand out, and in this case, Avilio/Angelo and Nero are ... Sep 30, 2016
Okay, I never expected it to be good but it surely exceeded my expectations, usually i find genres involving mafia, guns, gangsters.. etc. to be just pure action and fireworks anime, which for me is kinda dull and overused, maybe that's the reason i wasn't really looking forward for this one, but it convinced me by around the sixth or seventh episode, i guess what made it different from black lagoon or any similar anime from the same genre, is the intense execution of the story, the goal of the story, which was actually being carried out throughout the whole series, it never diverted, usually
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Oct 1, 2016
**Written with Markdown Format**
# Introduction This show is best of 2016/Summer, to me. You will see details and reasons below. ## Story Story is so great. A drama in a city. Heavily supported with character development. There are no unique stylistic on storytelling, it just goes. And the end of story (no spoilers here) forces you to face with the absurdity (as in Camus) of life and motivation and meaning of living (and you can sense this in the dialog between Nero and Angelo in camp in the ending episode). ## Art Art is so unique. The show has specific color schemes and drawing has unique styles like details on ... Oct 1, 2016
(It's 2AM and this is my first anime review. Bear with me.)
THE SHORT OF IT: Let me say this straight. 91 Days is an anime you should watch for the thrill of it---ignore the animation quality slips that newborn-studio Shuka is still outgrowing. This is a highly story-driven, character-development heavy show with a very twisted but still realistic plot that likes to seduce you into thinking you got her all figured out. 91 Days is quite the summery masterpiece, although with (jarring) flaws; and it is the gritty mafia, Prohibition era revenge anime you want. Fair warning, however. There will be blood, but the murder-happy beware! This ... Oct 1, 2016
(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site)
[Synopsis]: Seven years ago, a dispute within the mafia lead to the violent murder of the Lagusa family save for their youngest son who escapes into the night. Years later, hollow and lusting for revenge against the Vanetti Family, young Angelo Lagusa (Kondou Takashi) is offered an opportunity to fulfill his ambitions when he receives a mysterious letter detailing the family members involved that night. Returning to Lawless, a town steeped in the black market liquor sales of the prohibition, Angelo takes up the name Avilio Bruno and befriends Nero (Eguchi Takuya), the eldest son of don ... Sep 30, 2016
91 Days is a pointless revenge story which leaves an aftermath of pointless deaths in the end. I love it.
Story: 9 This is basically the story of Angelo plotting his revenge against the local mafia family for killing his parents and brother. He takes up a false name and infiltrates the family in order to bring his revenge to fruition. You can easily see it in the OP that it will result in a final duel between Nero and Angelo. From the summary, is a good ending expected? Hahahahaha. No. That's the point which the shows hammers in from the start. Revenge is pointless and leaves ... Oct 1, 2016
The very funny thing about this show, is the fact that the name itself doesn't seem to make much sense. But, many would guess that this is the amount of time that our MC will actually revenge his fucking family by killing everyone that's associated with the murder. But really, It makes no sense, nor does it imply anything about it. But what really get me to actually watch this anime, was because it have been so long since i first see an anime with so much realism in the plot involving the revenge thing, and the setting of it. Or some may says that
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Oct 2, 2016
I dunno why is this anime getting all the hate, cause for me, it's definitely one of the gems of '16 summer. An advice from a tired anime fan- don't listen to people on this site, you yourself are an amazing person and only you should be the judge of everything in your life, including anime. So, watch it yourself first, later, come back to read some butthurt reviews.
STORY: 9/10 So I've heard people say that the story is so overdone and that there is no point in even creating this anime. I agree that it may not be the most original idea around. But ... Oct 1, 2016
Very few anime these days tend to do something different from the norm, and when something does do so, it’s very easy for it to fail. But even if they are failures, their ambition to do something different is respectable. 91 Days is not only a unique anime, but a good one too. It’s fairly rare to find a series that takes place in a western setting with mafia characters taking place during the post-WWI era. 91 Days takes that setting and adds a story of revenge to it, and it’s a story that is handled great and executed well. 91 Days manages to be
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Nov 2, 2016
91 days is a series with an interesting premise. It's a crime drama set during the US prohibition. I'll let you al know right from the outset, I'm not going to know how historically accurate it is. I am basically familiar with what happened during prohibition. There was an amendment making alcohol illegal, Crime rates surged as it became a criminal commodity. After thirteen years it was repealed with another amendment. I don't, however, know the specifics. The point is, if the series gets something historical wrong I probably won't catch it. The anime was handled by Shuka, a studio best known for producing Durarara
...
Jan 25, 2017
91 Days came so goddamned close to being great. Unfortunately, due to a few significant faults, it's merely good.
It's hard not to admire 91 Days for what it attempted, though. When it began, it immediately drew comparisons to Baccano, another mobster anime set in Prohibition-era America. In spite of this, though, 91 Days and Baccano are very different anime. Baccano was a romp, full of larger-than-life characters, absurd anime tropes, and fantastical plot elements. 91 Days is the exact opposite - it's dark, dry, and incredibly grounded. The only reason 91 Days draws this comparison so much is because it is the only anime that ... Oct 1, 2016
I don't know which is more prominent at this point, lasagna or canned pineapples but I definitely know one thing - 91 Days /is/ worth the watch.
To say that 91 Days is like any other series that attempts to exploit the theme of "vengeance" is a slight understatement. Truly, the series works on Angelo's plans of "an eye for an eye". But it doesn't simply exploit how vengeance works in the mafia world, or how vengeance can drive you to be a cold-hearted bastard and ruin people's lives. Rather, it presents the question if revenge is really worth fighting for and that at the end ... Apr 11, 2023
TBH I found this anime interesting to start but one of the worst anime, no worst pieces of media, i've seen in my life by the end. This anime is the perfect example of characters doing things for absolutely no reason except to further your story... the actions the characters take get more and more absurd as the story goes on, to where it reaches a point that if you just randomly picked the dumbest, most illogical, most absurd thing a character might choose to do then you are probably closer to the answer than what ay kind of inference based on their character building
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