Cestvs: The Roman Fighter

So before starting the review i'll say this:

Go and read the manga in only 2 episode i understood how shitty is this adaptation plus the art is god tier

Character - 1
They skipped 60% of the first manga so it's normal that you wont understand characters and you wont know them cause their introductional sequence is never shown

Sound - 6
There's nothing to say about music / sound in general it's just ok

... Art - 5
The cgi isn't that bad and honestly it's kinda need because even if they cut out like 60% of the story here on out we'll have many many fights and tbh it isn't that bad compared to other cgi anime
Even if my god the pose of the cgi model are so bad they don't move even when they are fully visible on screen and you know that are supposed to have some kind of animation in that moment
WITHOUT COUNTING THAT THE ART IN MANGA IS FUCKING GOD TIER

Enjoyment - 2
For all the reason above and the story portion (that contains spoilers for the manga that is awesome go read it) i just can't like this series

Story - 1
You know they just skipped like 60 chapters where SPOILER ALLERT
Ruska looses her lover to the slaves in cestus's first slave camp and starts to hate slave boxers

Nero's character development

Ashley

Cestus training and techniques

And so on

An interesting anime, with a different approach from the Roman Empire. Although the plot is trite, there are not many anime about gladiators and I really like that (some points remind of Spartacus).

In this anime you can expect many martial arts with different styles (pugilist, pancracio...), training and combat routines, rivalries between the protagonists and the intrigulis typical of the Roman era.

I was quite surprised by one thing, it seems that none of the protagonists like violence or do not want to fight, rather the opposite: they all have in common that they want to free themselves from their chains and be free to choose ... the type of life they want to live. It seems to me something distinctive, which has surprised me because I had not seen it until now. I am looking forward to seeing how it evolves.

About the music and the style of drawing, everything ok. Regarding the animations, sometimes they are a bit regular, and the truth is that I like the animations of the first chapter more than those of the second (they change the type of animation, suddenly XD). At the moment it seems like a series of 7, but depending on how it evolves perfectly it could go down to 6, or up to 8. I recommend giving it a try if you like these topics: history, gladiators, Roman empire, martial arts, fighting, blood and sand ;)))

Edit: I had to change my review, since from chapter 3 on, the series becomes almost completely a very bad CGI...in the first chapter the animation was normal, and in the second there was a combination... Starting from the third, a CGI is abused that I always tolerate, but this time it seemed too bad, especially because of the change and contrast from chapter 1 to 3... I abandoned the series and did not continue it. Maybe one day XD

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*

…

*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...

I decided to watch this anime because I'm a sucker for history and I'm a huge Hajime no Ippo fan, which is an anime about boxing. This sounds like the perfect anime for someone like me, right? Let's start off with the visuals.

Animation:
1) CGI usage most of the time. Character movement seems incredibly slow, clunky and worst of all, it breaks immersion;
2) Not a fan at all of the character design


Sound:
1) the soundtrack is okay
2) Most of the voice actors hired are incredibly experienced and famous. However, the seiyuu chosen for Cestvs is a rookie and I find that interesting. ... He did a solid job, giving a believable performance to the role.


Story and characters:
1) It pretends to be historically accurate by throwing random pieces of trivia to the audience;
2) The characters are boring and so is the narrative. Ancient Rome's brutality and violence are absent from this anime. Slaves, fighters and gladiators weren't killed easily for no good reason. The Roman nobility loved violence and gore. To have Nero, a real Roman Emperor and one of the most vicious ones, be confused and scared of violence was a major turn off. This guy used to doom ancient christians to serve as torches to light up the roman streets at night. Even as a kid, he would already be numb to violence as a roman noble. There are too many examples but this gives you an idea of what to expect throughout the 11 episodes;
3) I didn't read the manga but I was told (and certainly seems that way) several events were skipped between the 1st and 2nd episodes. These events aren't addressed again, except in very brief flashbacks with little to no explanation. It's a major flaw in storytelling and hurts the flow of the story. It's hard to feel connected to a character and his struggles if you don't get to experience it. This is one of the major flaws on this anime;
4) Slaves interactions with roman nobles is way too inaccurate to take this anime seriously
5) Some episodes begin with some very obnoxious and long flashbacks. Some of them took about 4 minutes in total just of footage already shown previously.
6) The ending is obviously trying to get a sequel announced but I honestly hope it doesn't happen. If you want to do a story set in a historical setting, you have to respect certain historical aspects because otherwise it feels that the audience was tricked into watching something entirely different.


In conclusion, it gets a 4/10. Awful visuals, boring characters, historical inaccuracies and skipped important events that later on the audience is supposed to understand through very brief flashbacks.

As an Anime-only watcher, it is a enjoyable series for any martial arts fan.
The fights so far are actually pretty good and pretty 'realistic' which is rare for anime shows.

Ofcourse It's CGI which for most people is a downside, but imo the (unique) setting and the fight scenes make up for it.

Story wise, nothing really special, it's about gladiators, what else to expect right.
currently it's ongoing on episode 6/11. It would be cool to see a longer series around the same time period and setting.

...

TLDR: Cestvs The Roman Fighter is an enjoyable watch for anyone who likes martial
arts/fighting sports anime.

Dropped at EP5.

It was pretty mediocre right from the start. They did a good job of being pretty accurate with regard to roman society and architecture, but then had glaring cases of slaves speaking openly to aristocracy and such. About when I stopped the characters started making choices that made no sense in their context, and just generally being anime for the sake of being anime. The CG was jarring but I could easily look past that if it were better written. Just felt bland and unremarkable. If you really have a thing for fight scenes or really just have ... a desire to see Roman architecture, maybe you'll enjoy this one, but for most folks I'd suggest a pass.

Cestvs: The Roman Fighter is a bit hard to explain without seeing the source material. This is what I'll start off with.

Story: The story, by source material, is amazing. However, the anime continues to let down those who know it by cutting out chapters. Not just one or two, but dozens. If I had to compare how the story feels, it's like watching the last season of Tokyo Ghoul without reading the manga. Things happen spontaneously that leaves the viewer bewildered how they even got to this point. I give it a 3 just for recovering, if even slightly during the Pompeii Arc.

Art: Its CG ... is honestly not that bad. It's not as "good" as Baki's CG, but it's good enough for a fighting show, and it probably shows a lacking budget due to how many fights the show has. It's bearable, overall. I give it a 5.

Sound: The music isn't really something noticeable, although the ending is quite nice. However, the crisp sounds that they use during fights are something I like quite a lot. Their feet shuffling, the sound of punching... it all feels like really solid design, and honestly the anime being in CG only makes it better, in my opinion. Giving this a 6.

Character: I can't really say I'm proud of character development at all in the anime. They skipped so much character development, you can probably skip the first episode and see episode two or even three as episode one because of the absolute monstrosity the first few episodes skipped. While later they end up going more into it, the damage is done and not everything has been properly explained as the pacing becomes more "normal." Giving this a 1.

Enjoyment: If you came for a gladiator slugfest and you don't care too much about the theatrics the story entails, then it's fine. Fights might be a bit dragged out in some scenes, but they're all relatively solid fights. I personally like them, maybe you will too. Only giving this a 5 because I feel upset about the lack of storytelling. Based on fights alone, maybe a 7.

Overall: The anime of this amazing manga is a letdown, basically. Between skipped story, lack of character development and CG characters, there's nothing that's particularly "good" about it. The only unique thing it has to offer is its unique perspective as a story about a combat slave, not some random kid growing up in a normal family. You can watch this if you want action, nice fights or really like old boxing styles. However, if you want to watch this for a unique story, I'm honestly going to have to refer you to the manga instead. You will feel infinitely unsatisfied with this disappointment.

Look like gladiators, talk like high-school kids.

The author had a chance to go over the horrible reality of slavery and gladiator fights.
Instead, this anime feels like a high school musical "dressed" in gladiator clothes.

Not only is this anime almost criminal in the 'washed down' way it portrays slavery, it is also disappointing in the way it fails to deliver any interesting fights. The world building is so bad and unfaithful to the realities of the time, doesn't sell the fantasy at all.

The author should have done some research and have some real interest in the material.

The uninteresting animation/fights also don't help.
...
Keep away.

Yes you can say this Anime is trash, why wouldn't you? it butchered the Manga, BUT...

I'm an Anime only and saw this anime is getting a lot of hate, then I got to know that the studio skipped about 60% of the story. For Manga readers, yes this is such a let down.
Although I think in the future (if they continue regardless of the hate) they will cover the rest as a flashback, that would probably make it a lot better; so I'm being optimistic here.

The use of CGI is a lot more than I expected but it doesn't matter much to me, ofcourse ... 2D looks a lot better and enjoyable but it's okay with CGI too. (in my opinion)

We see some good fighting styles that were quite enjoyable, and the next season is gonna have a lot of them, so that's a plus point for me (atleast)

I don't know why everyone is taking this too seriously.
Also, I hope Bandai do some justice to the Manga in the next season even as the flashbacks.