Cestvs: The Roman Fighter

Well, well, well. What to think of this one. It seems that the production staff team of this show didn't get the note that the main character doesn't even show up for like 90% of its adaptation, which is actually meant to flesh out the worldbuilding of this show even more. Instead, the person to blame: Toshifumi Kawase, the 3-in-1 director, script and series composer of this show, decides to do a Higurashi and lay barren the 90% of the adaptation of mangaka Shizuya Wazarai's immaculate work that is akin to the late Kentarou Miura's Berserk in full late-90s style artwork and story, all in ... 11 episodes.

You know it's legitimately bad when the anime adapts both the original (Ankokuden) and its sequel (Shitouden) with only the main character in question: Cestvs, the Roman Fighter. Obviously, Shizuya Wazarai's work of Cestvs is so much more than just Cestvs alone, and I would wholeheartedly recommend reading the manga over watching this anime, much or less it's jarring CGI which isn't half-bad, but by no means called "animation" in the first place.

The story and characters of the world of Cestvs aren't shown all that well in detail (except Cestvs), only giving "tip of the iceberg" surface-levels of characterization, which makes the anime feel less desirable to watch. Not to mention that the outsourced CGI done by LOGIC&MAGIC (which I reiterate again, is NOT bad), this show just feels like a man and a team's job of cheap production values just so that the staff working on this show can at least have a rice bowl on their table. Business-wise I understand for monetary reasons, but to see material horribly adapted like this is just...I'm speechless for words.

At least the music's not half bad too, both OP and ED are actually decent though.

It's technically a spoiler alert to say that the manga is abruptly skipped in favour for the MC, but just go ahead and read the manga instead if you're interested in the worldbuilding that the anime misconceptionally missed out on.

Cestvs has been an interesting experience for me. I never read the manga and went into this with absolutely no expectations whatsoever. Perhaps it was because of my low expectations, but I actually quite enjoyed this show.

The story is pretty average. The world building is minimal and the story often jumps around the place. As an example, the first scene of the anime only shows up again at the end of the 4th episode. This was supposed to be a smart hook then a slow build up to an interesting reveal. However those of us who were watching this as it came out had ... to wait 4 weeks, and had all but forgotten the start. To add to this, none of the assets and backgrounds look all that unique, so all the fighting arenas more or less look the same. This hook was so poorly done, that at the end of that episode, the narrator actually had to say "and now we have returned to the start of the first episode" to remind the audience that the first episode even existed. The show has numerous problems like this. The pacing is wack, the characters are surface level at their best, and at worst are nothing more than background set pieces that spew exposition. When you consider the terrible plot direction and dialogue, the question arises, how could anyone possibly enjoy this show?

This brings us to the art. The art is objectively bad. All the fights are 3d, and there are many non-fight scenes that are also done in 3d. That's fine. What is not fine is that there is 2d animation mixed in with the 3d. The issue here is that if you watch a 3d anime for long enough, you start to adjust and get used to it. Your brain tends to become a bit more lenient. And so then awkwardly shoehorning in another style ruins any appreciation you can have for the 3d because it feels so distracting.
What redeems the art, and led me to rate it so highly is the fight scenes. This is the one situation where I can honestly appreciate the choice to go 3d. The fight scenes are really well grounded. They are anatomically correct and are more intellectual than emotional. Objectively the fights aren't that good, but as a martial artist I really appreciated the attention to detail and realism that these fights bring. I've never seen fight scenes where I could actually follow and understand the choreography without having to turn off my martial arts brain and suspend my disbelief. The CG was the best choice for animating these fight scenes as all the proportions and body movements remain hyper-accurate for a fraction of the cost. I personally think it's a smart choice that paid off (probably the only smart choice in the entire show) and the fights carried the entirety of Cestvs for me.

At the end of the day, if you want to see good, accurate and realistic fight scenes and don't mind CG, then this show will be pleasant to watch, nothing more. If you are a fan of the manga or care about story and characters than avoid this show like the plague. Overall the show makes me interested in the manga, which is purportedly 100x better. Might check it out at some point and once I do I'll go back and re-write this review. I hope this provided some insight to the very, very, very, incredibly miniscule number of people who are interesting in Cestvs: The Roman Fighter

Hey everyone! And welcome to “Garbage of the Season [2]!” The series where I discuss the current season's trashy pile of unwatchable monstrosities so that mom can’t say I’m doing nothing with my life. But before I start, I’d suggest you smash that helpful button and click on notifications so that you won’t miss out on any of my upcoming reviews. So without further ado, roll the intro…

*Bibi H - How it is starts playing*

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*End of intro*

Today’s garbage is the ever popular Cestvs: The Roman Fighter or as I like to call it, a tragic misfortune. For the premise wasn’t actual dogshit, there was a ... whole lot of potential here. Something the people behind it didn’t seem to agree on.

A word of advice. Don’t cram in something that doesn’t fit. It will often end up ruining everything someway or another. But that’s what they did with Cestvs: A Tragic Misfortune. They crammed in an expansive storyline into a meager eleven episodes and yes, it did turn out as rushed as one would expect. Big chunks of the source material was thrown out the window and with it, a whole lot of meaningful character development.

I care more for used toilet paper than I do for the entire cast. Which isn’t even that big to begin with. But still felt very underdeveloped. Even the titular character, Cestvs, has not many noteworthy things about him.

In a harem he would’ve been the protagonist. That’s the level of depth we’re talking about here. He’s a slave, and he wants to gain freedom. Understandable motivation, but not something that makes him worthy of being a main character. Seeing as that’s what every other slave desires as well. He is just one sheep in a large herd and not one who stands out. That and his massive plot armor makes the fights that ensue rather uninteresting. He can’t lose since his name is in the goddamn title of the show. If he lost a fight then there would be no show. Speaking of fights…

What is an action-centered show without some good animation, right? Oh wait, it’s mostly CGI, what a shame. To be fair the CGI is not awful by anime standards. But it’s not a step forward either. I would’ve chosen this over being a slideshow, like most of the 2d segments we got were like. As meager of a praise that might be.

To summarize, I would describe this show the same way as I would my girlfriend. Not worth the time spent. But you know something that is worth spending time on? Me...GotS! And this has been Garbage of the Season! Leave your thoughts about Cestvs: A Tragic Misfortune in the comments below and I’ll see you in the next review. Roll the outro...

*A video showing Tobey Maguire dry humping the air next to a vegemite sandwich starts playing*

The End...