Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood

In 1931, the Tokugawa Shogunate remains in power, marking the 64th year of the Meiji era. Holding a monopoly over the newly discovered "Dragon Vein," the government is leading Japan toward an advanced Edo period. During this time, an elite force of executioners called "Nue" is tasked with defending the Shogunate from a rebel institution known as the "Kuchinawa."

As the owner of the Tsuyukasa Bookshop, Sawa Yukimura runs the store's day-to-day business inconspicuously. But behind the scenes, she seeks vengeance against the man who slaughtered her tribe and family. With a special ability to transform granted by her blue blood, Sawa joins Nue after being promised information regarding the target of her revenge: Janome, the leader of the Kuchinawa.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yukimura, Sawa Main

Mimori, Suzuko Japanese

Kuzuhara, Jin Supporting

Kobayashi, Chikahiro Japanese

Tsukishiro, Makoto Supporting

Aoi, Shouta Japanese

Hanakaze, Elena Supporting

Raychell Japanese

Nakamura, Asahi Supporting

Itou, Ayasa Japanese

Takemichi, Rinko Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi Japanese

Book Selling Boy Supporting

Kuraoka, Mizuha Japanese

Janome Supporting

Sakuya, Shunsuke Japanese

Shimozono, Kyouko Supporting

Tomita, Maho Japanese

Oikawa Supporting

Kondo, Takashi Japanese

Oyama, Hiroyasu Producer

Inage, Hiroyuki Producer

Kikuchi, Ruriko Producer

Oomatsu, Yutaka Producer

Reviews

Aug 26, 2024

jadyjads

Recommended

Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood is a subtle interpretation of healing from trauma - possibly PTSD or C-PTSD specifically - that I don't blame those privileged enough not to have that experience for not getting.

It also flew under the radar, which I think is best exemplified by the fact that I know quite a few people who would be obsessed with Tsukishiro if they knew he existed.

I was introduced to Jouran while playing an anime school-girl gacha game, as the opening theme, performed by has-no-business-being-part-of-a-gacha-multimedia-franchise awesome band RAISE A SUILEN, has its own map in BanG Dream!. I fell in love with all ... of it - the voice, the music, the visuals, the designs. Much of it spoke to what I thought was super cool when I was a teenager, which I still cherish, and the protagonist portrayed in this opening theme led me to think I was about to watch a show with a strong female lead.

Which was a wrong assumption. Sawa is a mess, stunted by her blind desire for revenge. Jouran isn't so much of a "cool story" as it is a subtle telling of the messy process of healing. Sawa’s reactions and growth, even the setbacks she experiences, read like a narrative-led interpretation of the healing process for PTSD. It’s fairly subtle, so I understand how someone who may not recognise these themes may focus exclusively on the narrative - which by itself, is odd and weirdly strung together. From silently dreaming of a different life in Episode 1 to, throughout the story, sacrificing everything for the sake of the child who will break the cycle of abuse, as someone who suffers from C-PTSD, I was able to see the process Jouran represents as if it had been clearly laid out.

But it wasn't. This process is represented through the lens of a complex and cruel story. Many of the (many) plot twists were predictable, but I was drawn to the deeper story being told behind the sometimes-too-convenient narrative. The surrounding cast isn't given a backstory and only matters for the role they play in Sawa and Asahi's story - something I've seen in other anime as well, which comes as a bummer sometimes, but in my opinion, fits Jouran thematically. One very pleasant surprise was, to me, Asahi, who is most likely my favourite character. Her thought processes, feelings and behaviours are portrayed in such a way that leads me to thinking the writers have a deep understanding of the complexity of children. Her story is, ultimately, the most engaging one, and not without reason.

I can't review Jouran without mentioning my excitement that it involves a respectfully portrayed trans character. Although his identity is never mentioned, save by the one Obvious Mean Guy who's the only person to care about outing him for literally no reason, this means it is never questioned either. This trans character is your average "Toxic Entertaining Morally Grey Young Guy" anime character and there's something extremely validating about seeing a character who is like that, whilst being canonically trans. It does not impact the story whatsoever, which has left many people who have played Persona 4 a few too many times completely confused as to why "her" "backstory is hinted that but not explained". No, he's just trans, and that information is the only reason the viewers are shown his tits. (In a very SFW way.) The deeper, clever story you should look for is that of the non-linear process of healing from PTSD, not an explanation for this character presenting as a man. (By golly, what could this mean!)

The fights are cool, the designs and art are cool, the music is AWESOME. If like me, you are in the process of healing from PTSD/C-PTSD and have done introspective work or in any way learned about the process, I seriously recommend Jouran as a crude, subtle telling of how horrible it is. It's not pretty, but watching Asahi latch onto the absolute doormat that is Sawa is incredibly endearing and healing to watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Oct 30, 2021

Foxie20

Mixed Feelings

The anime was meh story is not much, just your average stuff. I did not feel like there was a main villain in the whole anime that caught my attention and even there are some characters that stood out but just not enough.

Action wise and animation its not the best but decent enough. Art style is very nice to look at and take in the scenery at some points but i find that there are alot of cuts in the anime and transitions between clips didn't feel smooth it felt like my editing lol.
also there is the soundtracks which are fitting for the era ... and the story.

The best part about this anime is characters, they are well written and drawn and i feel they deserved a better story. The ending is decent enough but i would not want a second part.

Overall 4 but for the cool characters i would say 6.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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May 3, 2022

KyleRiley

Not Recommended

It took me far longer to finish this anime than I had intended so I'm not entirely in the mood to write a lengthy review on it. I will however give a few reasons why I believe it is mediocre at best and downright awful at worst.

SPOILERS

1. Characters are not great. Besides Elena I found most characters boring or annoying. Sawa was generally okay but she was no where near good enough to carry this anime.

2. SO MANY FAKE OUT DEATHS. Holy shit. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me 5 times shame on you. Like wtf. Asahi alone had 2 fake out deaths, ... and the second onw was a huge slap in the face. I actually thought Asahi dying would be good for Sawa's story but nope, she's alive! Glad Elena survived her fake out death but Jesus.

3. Sawa's death was stupid. How she died to simply being stabbed is confusing. I understand she was killed by someone whose job it is to kill people like her but Sawa was consistently shown to have incredible healing capabilities and yet a single stab killed her.

4. Did Jin actually die? He just kind of disappears after his final kill.

5. Making is seem like it was a shock that the big government baddie dictator was a senile, old man but like... that's been done so many times before. I saw it coming from a mile away.

6. Asahi is now Sawa 2.0. Saw that coming too. It's the old cliche that revenge is a vicious cycle. How deep.

Basically I didn't really like the anime throughout due to weak characters, world building, and plot but the finale was just a fucking train wreck.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - May 11, 2021	58 replies	by chriskris91 »» Sep 24, 9:44 PM
	Poll: Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Apr 27, 2021	63 replies	by chriskris91 »» Sep 24, 8:37 PM
	Poll: Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood Episode 6 Discussion Stark700 - May 4, 2021	47 replies	by TheAquilaSamurai »» Sep 17, 3:46 PM
	Poll: Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) KiriSlays - Jun 15, 2021	107 replies	by Catalano »» Dec 31, 2023 12:41 AM
	Poll: Jouran: The Princess of Snow and Blood Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - May 25, 2021	34 replies	by nameofuser_ »» Mar 13, 2023 8:57 PM