91 Days

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 ... interesting character was Bruno, many different sides of his life were shown before the events of the show, however as some other reviewers have stated, the side characters were very one dimensional and didn't seem to progress as much as I would've liked.

To conclude, I personally would not recommend this anime but if you like revenge and violence then it may be worth a try.

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 ... might infer. I mean, I honestly can't even write more... this anime is so bad it insulted me. Worst of all, it is pretty good until like ep 7, so it forces you to watch more in hopes that it will redeem itself. IT DOESN'T! DO NOT WATCH THIS PIECE OF TRASH!

"Sometimes a simple story can have as much depth as a complicated one"
-Someone, at some point in time, probably (dunno, never heard anyone say this before)

I often enjoy sitting down with a volume of manga and just letting the hours run by. Not just manga, though. I once determined to play "a few rounds of minesweeper" at 7 PM once and the next time I looked at the clock it was 3 AM. The time just seemed to go by so fast. I guess that's what happens when you're having fun, right? Well, when watching 91 Days, the time also melted away and the episodes ... felt very fast. However, this time, I believe it was a miracle from God in order to put me out of my misery quicker.

Aside from the opening theme which I really like, I'll start out by talking about what the show does right:

Okay, now for the bad.

The word "mafia" is quick to trigger a reaction in me. I love anything mafia related to death. I'm currently enjoying Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, I've seen the Godfather more times than I'm willing to admit, and I'm even making a video game involving the mafia right now. I was so excited when I heard about this show.

My friends and I have a sacred tradition where each week we watch 3 episodes of an anime and then discuss it at 7:30 PM on Sunday and 91 Days was picked for this month's show. The entire conversation was just "I have no idea what's happening." All 8 of us.

A week ago, if you asked me what a confusing anime was, I would have told you it would have to be something where the plot has no clear direction is very convoluted where you probably need to rewatch the show or read essays about it when you're done just to put the pieces together like with Madoka Magica or Evangelion. I no longer hold this opinion.

At its core, 91 Days is a very simple show. A man's father is killed by 4 gunman when he was young and he wants to find and kill each gunman. And yet, it makes no sense whatsoever. Why is that? They introduce like 30 characters in the FIRST EPISODE. I don't know anyone's name except for Nero. Not even the main character's name can I remember. They also gloss through all the important points really quickly. Want to know why it's called 91 Days? Well apparently it was because of an off-handed comment in episode 2 that I missed.

And you know what? Maybe 91 Days would be better if the premise wasn't so simple. The goal is so straightforward and yet it takes so many seemingly needless steps to get there. I don't care if there's an alliance between two gangs I don't even know the names of, I just want to see the MC get his revenge! With Evangelion, at least what it does is enough to keep you engaged by subverting your expectations of the show and taking on the mech genre in an entirely new way. 91 Days is just about everything you'd expect. You can predict the entire thing from the first two episodes (and trust me, I never say this).

Please, for your own sake, do not watch this show.

(From here on out, there will be spoilers)

Aside from the fact that it was extremely boring, nobody learns anything.

Let's recall the last line of the show: "You don't gotta have a reason to live... you just gotta live." -Nero

It's a real shame he says that right before killing the MC. I don't get why he would even say that.

Not to mention, what was the point of seeing the revenge killings is, from the viewer's perspective. It's not like the point was "killing people is wrong," we just saw funny Italian men do funny things. I guess it was presumptuous of me to assume that this show would tell a good moral story.

I came into this show somewhat optimistic. It has a nice premise: Set during the Prohibition Era, a man returns to town after years of being away because he receives new information into the deaths of his family. This is a revenge story, which is a popular focus in the mafia business – you leave one person alive in a killing spree and it will come back to bite you in the ass. However, the execution of this tale is terrible for a number of reasons.

The story starts off in Episode One by showing how the Lagusa Family was betrayed by the Vanetti Family and ... killed – all but one, our protagonist, Avilio. The episode concludes by introducing our “antagonist” Nero – who, by the way, is the guy opposite Avilio on the poster. This automatically left me with a bad taste in my mouth as I ended the episode, because this is a revenge story and that means no matter what happens these two people are going to be alive until the end, when one or both inevitably die by the other’s hand. A lot of the drama of the show is sucked up by this rule, and it adds to the predictability of an already subpar story. If the creators wanted this show to be remarkable at all, they would have kept the revenge plot from us for the beginning of the series and let the “friendship” between the two blossom before hitting us where it hurts. Now that would have been entertaining.

However, this show is so predictable it hurts. Sure, I was surprised in episode two, enough to keep me interested in the story and not drop it, but very rarely since then have I been genuinely surprised by a plot development. Some of this has to do with the rule stated above: neither Nero nor Avilio can die until the end. But some of it also because the writers feel the need to hold our hands so that a plot development doesn’t confuse the audience. For example, the head Don of a rival gang loves lasagna, so much so that we get reminded of this at least three times in the first six episodes. So, when his gruesome underling challenges him, wins, and then brings all of the top gang members in for a “nice” dinner of lasagna, it’s immediately apparent that the meat in the lasagna is the ex-head (Frey Pies, anyone?). The show also tries to convince us many times that Nero’s life is in danger – how can it be when he is the “last boss”, if you will, in Avilio’s revenge plan?

There are many other flaws in this story, all because the writers want to spice up the action with as much 1920s gang violence as they possibly can. There’s Prohibition style law breaking, betrayals among many different families, violence galore, and barely explained gang politics. Major plot developments can be introduced in minute 3 and resolved by minute 13. Can I not have more than an episode of suspense? Will this character be caught? Will they drive out that cop in more than a day? Character motivations are glossed over at best for most of these events and we are just expected to go with it because plot. It doesn’t help that the person I like the most is Corteo, a character that is barely seen in the first half but is probably supposed to be Avilio’s moral compass. The writers of this series are trying too hard to add edgy things and Gotcha! moments to a story that might have been somewhat decent without all of that spice. The overall story is therefore mediocre at best and predicable and boring at worst. The ending is also completely unsatisfying, unsurprisingly, even though there were a few good moments sprinkled into the last few episodes. The last episode is weak, disjointed, and pointless and ultimately left me feeling cheated and angry.

I mentioned above that my favorite character is a background character – this is because almost every other character is complete garbage. Both Avilio and Nero are weak, horrible characters. Avilio is defined only by his need for revenge, and most of his dealings in the story revolve around that goal. Nero is a similarly weak character: he is the heir to the Vanetti family and kind of a complete asshole. The show tries to make him somewhat sympathetic with a flashback to the night he killed Avilio’s family from his perspective, but the moment is immediately glossed over because he reveals crucial information about the night to Avilio, and Avilio only cares about his revenge. Avilio is somewhat decent at lying his way out of tight situations and getting on Nero’s good side, but only a complete moron would trust someone so completely as Nero trusts Avilio is such a short period of time. This guy is asking to be killed. These characters are not convincing and, quite frankly, both of them are unlikeable assholes.

Almost every other character is the same. Either the show doesn’t spend much time on them or they are complete moronic assholes. Nero has a small group of friends, who, I can only assume, are all going to be cannon fodder because that guy is such a moron. I’ll mourn for the dude in glasses, he seems pretty cool. Nero also has a father and two siblings, none of which are given any kind of screen time unless the plot demands it. Nero’s brother is ridiculous. Nero’s father is a pushover. Nero’s sister seems nice but easily manipulated. None of these people are given any kind of development and some act certain ways because, as stated above, the plot demands it. Some of the things these characters do are never hinted at until it happens. There are people from the other two mentioned gangs that pop up occasionally, but the most important one is Fango, who is a crazy person working for the Orco family. A lot of the B plot in the first half revolves around him and his shenanigans – suffice to say, even then, it was difficult to decide who to root for in these fights because everyone in this show sucks. He comes into a lot of power as the show progresses, and it is fun to just sit there and laugh at the morons who helped him into power and immediately regret their decision. Idiots.

There’s not much else to say. The animation is mediocre and the color palate changes to fit the mood of the scene. The sound is not much better; I don’t think the opening fits the show very well and I was hoping for a more Baccano! type song. The story is mediocre at best and predicable at worst and the characters are very poorly developed, which only adds to the story’s problems. I don’t usually complete shows I find this many problems with, which does show that it is somewhat entertaining, and by the end I was only invested to see how the Avilio vs Nero showdown happened. But entertainment does not equal good quality. All in all, 91 Days is horrible, from story to characters to even the animation. The creators are waving a set of shiny, blood red keys in our faces, hoping that it distracts us from the blatant problems with the story and characters. Well, I wasn’t distracted. Do a better job next time.

Revenge stories are boring, since there is very little you can do when a guy is obsessed with punishing a bunch of people. You might appreciate the methods he is using but it certainly doesn’t evolve characterization past the 2 dimensions. Avengers do not seek salvation, they don’t expect forgiveness or a happy ending, they are self-destructive and turn away from catharsis. V for Vendetta is a rare case that mitigated this issue with lots of social commentary, turning the punisher into an ideal besides a vigilante.

91 Days doesn’t do any of that sort and remains throughout its course a straightforward revenge story of a ... guy trying to kill those who ruined his life. Although there is some effort placed in making it seem like he is using his brains by working from within the very organization he is trying to destroy, in the longrun it’s just smokescreen for predictable assassination schemes. There are no twists, no themes explored, and not much introspection for its numerous characters.

Although not enough, the setting is eye popping, since there are very few shows taking place during the prohibition era of America. There is a lot of attention in recreating the feel of that time, but it’s nowhere near as impressive as something like The Godfather movies. The rather low budget in animation is damaging, as the backgrounds are great, the music fits the tone, while characters in the foreground are often off-model or move in a weird way.

The characterization is also hit or miss, since some in the cast are portrayed three-dimensionally and act like real people, whereas some others amongst the gangsters are over the top cartoonish bad guys. It excuses why most of them are willing to backstab allies and bosses, just so they can replace them, but it sure doesn’t make them feel like anything more than throw away greedy jerks.

As for those who have a more subtle behavior, they suffer from not being memorable. Since very little is going on in a simple revenge story, and they act like normal people, there is not much to take from a show that lasts only a dozen episodes. Especially when most of them die very fast.

Which is also a negative. Unlike most shows, there is no plot armor, since anyone can die at any moment, regardless of his importance to the story. The thing is, the way most of the characters die usually feels anti-climactic and even dumb, since none of them seem to be taking measures against getting shot. Sometimes it is excused, since the protagonist is supposed to be their ally, and thus keep their guards down, but to the most part, most deaths are the result of plain stupidity, as they don’t take any actual percussions every time they are about to do something very dangerous.

It takes away a lot of the drama when you feel it could have been easily prevented if they were using their brains. Especially after the murders become more often and should have made them more suspicious of their surroundings. It is immersion breaking when you watch it happen many times and so close to each other.

Although 91 Days lacks supernatural elements and high schools, something the staggering amount of anime have regardless of the time period they take place in, it comes off as more dull than realistic, with a simple plot, a forgettable cast, and animation that leaves much to be desired. The average anime fan will easily recommend something absurd like Baccano over it, just because it is better produced and has far more eccentric characters. Who cares about realism when it bores you to sleep, right?

Bottom line, it’s not an awful show, but it certainly could have been way better.

A soulless and dull crime drama set in the Prohibition era amongst several families of mobsters. Everyone has the personality of a cardboard cutout and you especially don't care at all about the revenge plot the main character embarks on since you don't care about him or the death of his family and there is zero characterization so everyone might as well be a cardboard cutout. Speaking of cardboard cutouts, even though some of the backgrounds look amazing, the characters look and move like cardboard cutouts, even during action sequences, and some of their facial features are so bland I get the three stooges from ... the Vanetti family easily confused. The dialogue is equally primitive, with same-y looking people throwing up different names of family members followed by yaru or yatta or yarareta. Did he do it? Did they steal the booze? Did they kill him? He was beaten! We went to Disneyland! Yaru in all it's forms is a very vague verb that means "to do" pretty much anything. So you have two-bit Japanese speaking mobsters yaru-ing everything and drinking sake, because that's exactly what Prohibition America drank. That's their entire dialogue. And when one member kills another, everybody starts making grand assumptions about who did what and acting on those assumptions, like hearsay from a school playground where all the kids are saying yaru and yatta one afternoon and suddenly want to kill each other 15 minutes in. It's even more laughable that the MC uses the details of a rain-drenched letter mysteriously sent to him to go on a murder spree without an ounce of proof of its veracity.

Story gets a 2. Tell me why someone would pick the time period in America known for being fun, happy, party, glamorized, etc., and make it a depressing, boring, and dull anime? That's the first mistake. The story itself isn't that bad, but the time period unfortunately pushes it to a 2.

The art itself is decent, but nothing that good. I give it a 4. The sound gets a 7 for being pretty good. I'll say that so far, Anime in general has good sound even if everything else sucks.

The characters were all horrible, so it gets ... a 1. The main character was like an emo guy trying to be cool and tough. "I talk in a monotone and deep voice to show how badass I am, and how cool I am." While trying to talk tough, he has yet to get in a serious fight. Even his so called weaker friend has more guts than him. The other characters were obnoxious, obsessive, jealous, or weak; sometimes they were a combination of 2 or more.

The enjoyment gets a 2 as well. The combination of the story and characters make it really hard to watch. The art and sound don't really make up for it either to be honest.

Overall it gets a 4. The sound and art brought it up, but not by much. Everything else is just so bad.

Story: 1 (Pathetic)
The piece is set during the era of prohibition in the 1930s United States when production and selling of alcohol were constitutionally forbidden. As any historical scholar may tell you, this made a lot of people unhappy and brought the Italian mafia to a position of local economic, political, and cultural dominance. This might make for an interesting political drama, alas we do not get to see that; instead, we get the story of the small fries fighting the actual fights.
MC Avilio flees with his friend Corteo from the house where his parents were assassinated by the mafia and gets hired by the ... power-hungry assassin Nero Vanetti for assassinating the entire opposing Orco family, while still enacting revenge on the Vanetti family. What follows is an account of all of these murders in diverse environments.
Would this be it, I would have given the story a mark in the range of 4-6. However, everything in it conspires to lead to the greatest possible amount of tragedy such that the viewer quickly becomes saturated, and no scenes - except the obligatory flashbacks-before-death - exist to build an emotional relation to the characters. (The plot even manages to ruin my favourite food.)

Character: 1 (Pathetic)
The characters were utterly immemorable. Only the main characters even get a backstory or motivation; for Avilio this motivation is vengeance, for Nero pride, and Corteo finally something resembling actual ethics. Outside the action scenes, there are few interesting - let alone iconic - moments of character interactions.

Art: 4 (Decent)
There are no major flaws with animation nor direction, and the visuals can even shine when they must. It will not give you anything you never saw before, and it doesn't perfect any techniques. The mysterious absence of the colour green is noteworthy.

Sound: 4 (Decent)
Whereas the story and the character development cram as much tragedy as possible into your throat, the soundtrack only wants to help you and wash it all down with industrial quantities of schmaltz. But although one can indeed argue it excels at that, its variety quickly diminishes once it leaves the minor key.

Enjoyment: 2 (Dreadful)
It is not as though tragedies do not have any merit. Some of the greatest works of culture, like Verdi or Wagner operas, are tragedies. But it is really easy to overstay the welcome of actual tragic things happening in a tragedy, which is why those often happen only in the last act. Not here though. In each of the 12 episodes, another half-invested sob story is told from which the PR managers of Amnesty International could learn a thing or two. It is like Baccano had a constant midlife crisis. The ending of the anime is a cliffhanger, in concordance with the spurious assumption it would get a second season.

brooooo this anime was so dogshit it was a rollercoaster of emotions for me, ranging from highs (laughing my ass off) to lows (raging and crying because it was such a task to finish that one and cause it's really unbearable how awful the characters were written).
overall i am not able to recommend this to anyone, but if you specifically have 12 episodes worth of time and are so bored that you're limbs are goign to fall off, if you not watch anything at the moment - i can say that it's still a worthless experience.
maybe if you hate yourself so much, that you'll go ... nuts like "fango" with his freaky chick in the first part of this anime, then it might be enjoyable enough. :)
gotta end myself
liebe grüße