Orient

Freed from the rule of samurai 150 years ago, the people of Hinomoto live peaceful lives and revere their liberators—demons whose true forms remain elusive—as gods. Fated to mine rocks for the demons to feast on, Musashi knows the grim truth: humanity is enslaved by these otherworldly beings and the samurai are the last bastion fighting for freedom. Hiding his true opinion from his peers and growing distant from his childhood friend Kojirou Kanemaki, Musashi lives in angst until the day of his graduation.

When the fresh graduates arrive at the mine, they are horrified to see the inhumane treatment of miners and the uncanny physical appearance of their overseers. However, Musashi manages to endure thanks to Kojirou's help. As the demon leader wreaks havoc on the quarry, Musashi is saved once more from certain death by the Takeda samurai clan. Recovering from humiliation and yearning for adventure, Musashi embarks on a journey to become a samurai and form his own clan!

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Orient was released on Blu-ray in Japan in three volumes from March 25, 2022 to May 27, 2022.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Orient
Sequel:	Orient: Awajishima Gekitou-hen

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Musashi

Main

Uchida, Yuuma
Japanese

Hattori, Tsugumi

Main

Takahashi, Rie
Japanese

Kanemaki, Kojirou

Main

Saitou, Souma
Japanese

Saruwatari, Michiru

Supporting

Yasuno, Kiyono
Japanese

Inukai, Shirou

Supporting

Shimono, Hiro
Japanese

Naoe, Kanetatsu

Supporting

Hanae, Natsuki
Japanese

Takeda, Naotora

Supporting

Hino, Satoshi
Japanese

Kokuyo no Megami

Supporting

Kuwashima, Houko
Japanese

Shimazu, Akihiro

Supporting

Uchiyama, Kouki
Japanese

Uesugi, Tatsuomi

Supporting

Maeno, Tomoaki
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Abe, Shoujirou

Producer

Nishimae, Shuka

Producer

Suzuki, Seiji

Producer

Satou, Naoya

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Break out" by Da-iCE

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Ending Theme

"Naniiro (ナニイロ)" by Wataru Hatano

Reviews

Mar 25, 2022

AyemAFK

Recommended

It was 8,98 for me with my own aspects of review.

Story; 9,12
At first I thought this anime was quite unclear because it seemed that many plot holes were left behind, including the power system that people often talk about. But in my opinion, the execution of the last few episodes managed to change things, from Plot Hole to Cliffhanger which will keep you glued to see what happens next, and I think this is a good thing.

Characterization; 8,97
The MC attitude that not everyone thinks about, but worth it and manages to make a good first impression. Finally came the MC whose problem was not whether ...

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Mar 23, 2022

ESER10

Mixed Feelings

I like to think of Orient as a fast food shounen. It has those things you may want from your shounen: bit of tragedy, some back stories and flashbacks, a couple fights and situations that make characters come out stronger. But in the end, you know damn well it isn't really that good. Can it potentially hit a spot if you’re desperate? sure. But um. Anime isn't fast food. You have options here, so there isn't much of a point to watch this.

But to actually explain what this even is, we have a world where demons exist and are thought of as gods, and the ...

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Mar 23, 2022

KANLen09

Not Recommended

If I have to sum Orient in one sentence, it would be this: A prolific mangaka's fall from grace, and what worse than karma to make a horrible adaptation out of it.

If you have absolutely no idea who mangaka Shinobu Ohtaka is, go do yourself a service to read and watch Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic series. For anyone whom has even heard and/or seen Magi (yours truly included), most of them would consider the series to be the her crème de la crème, pièce de résistance of a work, and to think that it has been almost 10 years (as of this review) with ... Magi's anime adaptation starting in 2012, wow, life must feel so long. And let's not forget her first series of Sumomomo, Momomo in the mid-2000s, that only now exists as a footnote in her biography work that's completely overshadowed by Magi.

Come this year, and we have her newest series: Orient, which started in 2018, and features the same Shonen tropes as per similar counterparts like Hiroyuki Takei's Shaman King (which the recent complete adaptation of a reboot is more rushed and boring than the unfaithful-but-better 2001 adaptation) and Yuki Tabata's Black Clover (which I admit that it has the same problems as Orient at the very beginning), all with the same unchanging beautiful art style. Except...let's repeat Black Clover's problems with Pierrot and make it "double the trouble" with outdated studio A.C.G.T which produced the horrible, lambasting and lamentable Dies Irae done from 2017-2018! For such a dated studio whose work on the Freezing! series during the early 2010s is the best that it could muster, that says quite a lot.

But let's not speedrun our way through Orient. There's gotta be a place to start, and that's with the ludicrous story that is just a copy-paste from Black Clover, change some things here and there to make it look more Magi-like, and why not incorporating stuff like a motorcycle to make it feel modern at least! Honestly, reading this in manga form just felt so awkward, and finally watching it in anime form only solidified the fact that for such a series to have a bad start, this to me, just feels like Black Clover all over again. I mean, for a story set in the Sengoku period with demons/Oni called "Kishin" and samurai called Bushi that travel in groups called Bushi bands lead by leaders with their family names on display, it's pure expected typical Shonen that rests on its execution to deliver, and oh boy, the execution...let's just say that it doesn't exist at all. Even when the anime is following the manga's first few volumes to adapt, which is really a rough start for investment values because of time constraints, I'd say that Black Clover has the edge overall from broadcasting in the same TV station (TV Tokyo) but on the more suitable Shonen dinner timeslot that everyone can watch (6~7 p.m.) as opposed to airing this at midnight in Japan, much less working with only 12 episodes to boot.

The characters feel so dated, and that's not for the lack of trying. The worst offender of MC protag-kun Musashi feels like Asta but doesn't have the likability of Aladdin, Kojiro Kanemaki is a more depressed and downcast version of Alibaba, and Tsugumi Hattori like Morigana, is cheerful and forgiving, but has severe personality issues when faced with adversity. Couldn't even bother to name the other characters because they are so one-note-ish, and taking Tsugumi's oppressor Hideo Kosameda for example, he's leading his Kosameda Band of what looks like a population of retirees with children, only to be a manipuative asshole to the people serving under him, including Tsugumi to instill fear within the people that both Musashi and Kojiro would ultimately save them from his fear of oppression. Sorry for the spoilers there, but I could not for the life of me, fathom how shallow the character writing has gotten to this stage, and to experience it TWICE from reading the manga and now watching the inferior anime adaptation, that's kinda of a low-blow.

I've already gushed how absymal the animation is, heck, I'd rather read the crappy story and experience it with Shinobu Ohtaka's amazing art style, which is something that she is very consistent in the manga. But to think that High School DxD and Seireitsukai no Blade Dance a.k.a Blade Dance of the Elementalers director Tetsuya Yanagisawa is directing this adaptation, that honestly cuts the knife deeper for me to see that how did such an esteemed director like him could go off the rails THIS BAD. Honest to god, I'd expect at least he would do some changes being in a directorial position, but he didn't do much to save this god-awful adaptation. Even with series composer Mariko Kunisawa whom did a fantastic job with Honzuki no Gekokujou a.k.a Ascendance of a Bookworm, she did some things that made the watching experience better, even if by a tad bit. What in the world...

The music fares no better either. J-Pop boy band Da-iCE isn't a remarkable group to say the least, and their Oricon singles charts since their debut in 2014 only peaked best at No. 2 since then. Even so, their OP here is just typical Shonen one pony hat-trick fanfare, it gets old really fast, and I REALLY mean it. Also, it's weird how Wataru Hatano's ED song just doesn't fit at all, being yet again like a song meant for disposition use when nothing works. Don't get me wrong, I love it as a standalone song, but incorporating together with the anime just...felt so strange and off-putting, not to mention the RGB influence on a PowerPoint slide show of a lazily-put ED.

Not every Shonen anime these days needs to come close to Demon Slayer or even Jujutsu Kaisen levels of treatment for enjoyment, just a better execution and a better staff team (not to mention a better animation studio) could've just worked things right. And sadly for Orient, as much as I would want to say that Shinobu Ohtaka kinda shot herself on the foot for the basis of her new manga, it just feels so out of touch with the modern Shonen juggernauts these days, and I would like to have you believe that her best days are certainly behind her. Even as a work just to earn enough for a rice bowl, it'll only take another season for Orient to really show off what it's capable of, and this prologue just didn't cut it at all.

Magi, until the absurd final moments, at least it was a good ride. But for Orient, you could have been a good post-Magi effort...but this is what we got. Just an immeasurable disappointment that could've been much better being in the hands of capable people. See you again in Summer with the The Battle of Awaji Island arc.

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Recent News

'Orient' Gets Second Part for Summer 2022

The 12th and final episode of the Orient television anime announced on Thursday a second part, which will be adapting the Awajishima Gekitou-hen (The Battle of Awaji...read more

Mar 23, 2022 10:35 AM by DatRandomDude | Discuss (11 comments)

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Dec 29, 2021 1:21 PM by Snow | Discuss (43 comments)

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Poll: Orient Episode 12 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 23, 2022	45 replies	by Destroyer31 »» Dec 5, 2023 9:30 PM
Poll: Orient Episode 11 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 16, 2022	45 replies	by ionelHeredia »» May 27, 2023 8:17 AM
Poll: Orient Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 5, 2022	111 replies	by PuppyGoWoof »» May 27, 2023 1:18 AM
Poll: Orient Episode 10 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 9, 2022	26 replies	by ionelHeredia »» May 25, 2023 9:16 PM
Poll: Orient Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 2, 2022	19 replies	by ionelHeredia »» May 24, 2023 8:33 AM

Orient

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Musashi

Hattori, Tsugumi

Kanemaki, Kojirou

Saruwatari, Michiru

Inukai, Shirou

Naoe, Kanetatsu

Takeda, Naotora

Kokuyo no Megami

Shimazu, Akihiro

Uesugi, Tatsuomi

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Orient

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