It might just be intentionally predictable!
I know, how blasphemous!
As if its intention was to besmirch the name of our beloved Fate and the tarnish the genre it birthed into existence!
Did it really take everyone 12 episodes to realize that the show reveals the order of every characters’ death by the end of the first episode?
Would it be so far-fetched to imagine that Juuni Taisen actually wanted to put an original spin on the battle royale genre?
Or does every battle royale show have to be like Fate to be deemed “good”? Instead of trying to stand out with spectacular visuals, Juuni Taisen offers compelling characters and lots of new spins on the genre to keep you engaged.
Positives:
+Exhilarating Music
+Interesting Character Backstories
+Tense Action
+Solid CGI
+Innovations to the Genre
+Grimdark Aesthetic
Negatives:
-Lacking World Building
-Dragon and Snake's episodes
-Visual Quality Inconsistencies
[Story: 6.5/10]
In coming up with the score for the story I included both the actual plot and the way that the story is delivered because it is a crucial part of the experience.
Juuni Taisen understands how predictable stories in the Battle Royale genre can be, and it plays with this idea of predictability. It’s a show that acknowledges the nature of its genre, all of the opponents in a death game but one will die eventually. It rubs its predictability in your face and forces you not try to figure out who will die next, but to analyze the show’s other aspects. Namely, the characters, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
As for the setting and plot themselves, they are fairly barebones but sturdy enough to hold up the exciting action and character stories. Whenever the show draws attention to the behind the scenes of the zodiac war it feels very apparent that it’s the most undercooked part of the show. Occasionally we see anonymous bidders watching the battle, but there is little reason for these segments other than showing us important people view the game as a form of entertainment. In the backstories side characters offhandedly mentioning how the zodiac war is some myth that is typically referred to as very important, but that doesn’t come across at all during the actual war itself, as it mostly focuses on the characters.
The city that the competitors battle in is entirely devoid of life, with little explanation to the why and how. Characters have special powers connected to their zodiacs, although the powers are cool and well implemented into the action they have no explanation for their existence in the real world. Very little of the actual plot is clear, but each character’s backstory is enough to make up for its issues. The backstories worked so well to get me invested that whenever the characters engaged in combat I was on the edge of my seat hoping for the more developed character to survive despite knowing the inevitable would come.
The ending will no doubt disappoint some people, but its tameness didn't bother me. For me, it concluded the characters' stories in a satisfying way and it gave me everything I expected from the ending.
[Character: 8/10]
Most of the entertainment from Juuni Taisen comes from the characters, as you’d expect from a battle royale show with a paper-thin plot.
The cutthroat cast of twelve mercenaries/warriors are each represented by one of the twelve zodiac signs. Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. They all have special abilities related to their sign which are revealed over time, another mystery that adds a layer of tension to the thrilling atmosphere. Even their deaths are directly tied to their zodiac sign. This opens another avenue for analyzing each character, and frankly, it's not surprising to see a writer as impressive as Nisio Isin try to innovate the battle royale genre like this. Also, they’re all edgy as hell. All of them, it's funny how on point they are to the edgy battle royale genre style the show is aiming for and successfully hitting it. Their personalities are all very distinct and are represented by their character designs. Their designs also have elements that represent their zodiac sign. Whether it be Usagi’s bunny ears and high heels or Niwatori’s chicken style outfit and pitchfork for a weapon. They all look absurd and have the strong personalities and backstories to justify their designs.
Their personalities are quite overdone, but once you see the explanation for why they behave the way they do you’ll be more inclined to embrace them. Although a couple of the character backstories didn’t quite do it for me (namely Dragon and Snake) because of their stories, while funny and full of action, blatantly disregarded what made the other character so well developed. Even with all the absurdity, a majority of the challengers evoke empathy from their backstories and make you think, oh now I get why that character is trying so hard to look cool. At first, they’re vicious killing machines, then the show makes you pity them and you'll become endeared in their struggle to win, no matter how futile it may be.
[Art: 6.5/10]
The quality of the art and animation varies, it starts off great but has a noticeable drop-off in quality in the later episodes. While in the actual present-day Zodiac War the visuals are quite good, solid character art, a dark and moody desolate city, and sometimes really great battle animation. During the flashbacks is where the art quality starts to drop. In the early episodes the art and animations look good all around, but as the episodes go by the flashbacks have noticeably less motion and become mostly conversation scenes. Not to say that the conversations aren’t interesting, but the show is at its best during the high stakes action.
It’s understandable that the budget isn’t huge considering it’s a new story from a fairly small studio. I can commend Graphinica for subtly swapping the art style to CGI to save funds in the later episodes because of how great it looks. Don't expect to see low frames CGI like what we got with Ajin in this show. Graphinica previously worked a fairly good looking CGI movie, Expelled from Paradise, so it’s great to see that they’ve only gotten better through practice. I didn’t struggle to forgive the issues with the visuals while watching the show, but I have to knock it a few points for some distracting quality dips during the middle episodes.
The greatest saving grace of the show's visuals is its grimdark aesthetic. You might just call this "edge" and you'd be right, but it's consistent edge that is totally in keeping with the rest of the show. Scenes are full of shadows, dark colors, and the fact that the war takes place during mostly the nighttime with rain and clouds during the day. Every aspect of the show contributes to this style and the visuals pull plenty of the weight. While the art is far from perfect, I can say it makes up for enough of its flaws with a memorable personality.
[Sound: 8.5/10]
A nice tense soundtrack that gets the blood pumping during action sequences. It ranges from orchestral music to EDM and I liked all of it. It’s also present during the slower scenes where characters are conversing to add a layer of tension, reminding you that they have to kill each other as soon as they finish talking. There are times it strikes the audience with some more sad songs to hammering home the brevity of some of the show's tragic situations. I feel safe saying it's one of the best OSTs of the season, as well as having a great alternative rock OP. The ed has a good song that’s more subdued than the show that precedes it.
The voice acting is good across all 12 contestants and there's a dub as well that's not as good as the Japanese voice acting but it's nice to have the option.
[Enjoyment: 9/10]
Despite having exciting action, a majority of the show’s screen time is flashbacks and talking scenes. I liked a lot of the backstories, but as I said earlier not all of them are interesting. Your mileage may vary when it comes to enjoying Juuni Taisen, I really liked it but it may not be for everyone. If you can embrace the edginess regardless of the absurd plot then you’ll probably find it to be an enthralling watch.
[Final Score: 7.7/10]
When it comes to entertaining action, Juuni Taisen pulls it's weight with interesting characters and the lore behind them all. It doesn’t have the luxury of being able to slack off because its visuals aren’t anything to write home about. That's why it devotes so much time to its characters and offers up some intriguing hooks. In the end, it’s just a good time. If you go into it expecting the next Fate you’ll be disappointed.
