Much in the line of the creators previous work Hellsing, Drifters is able to take a very simple and worn in concept and inject it full of life with crude humor, intense action, and stunning sound. The characterization of historical figures, while not necessarily unique, is done in a manner that keeps you wholly entertained and engaged episode to episode; being edged perfectly with brilliantly choregraphed action and set pieces. At no point during my 5-ish hour binge of the show was bored or disengaged from the story, with my only real complaint about this work is how short it was!!
The story itself is relatively generic as far as concepts go, heroes from across time re revived in a strange land in order to fight other historical figure-heads in a battle of "good" vs "evil" (Fate meets isekai); and while the show has some obvious ticks up its sleeve putting a slight twist on how bad the villains of this show really are I wouldn't call it genius or all that remarkable. Also the antagonist of this show "The Dark King" very obviously being Jesus of Nazarene doesn't exactly sit well with me, but for the explicit purpose of fiction I can enjoy the interpretation for what it is and how it's used.
The characters are endearing on all fronts, conflicting ideologies, personalities, and approaches to combat make for constant entertainment and some real hearty laughs even if at times the humor can be a tad forced through more generic character archetypes such as Hannibals. Otherwise, always enjoyable.
Aside from that, this shows bread and butter is the stunning action. It's directed incredibly well, always having a visceral flow that's easy to follow but highly energetic and brutal! It definitely tows the line between hyper violence and just straight comedy but it's never presented in a light that takes you out of the moment; with the obvious highlights being Shimazus 1 on 1s.
All in all, if you loved Hellsing Ultimate and want more of that kind of ultra-violent high octane action this show is for you; and to reiterate my only issue is that there hasn't been a properly adapted second season yet! One would hope that if/when our lazy pig author gets around to finishing the manga we'll be blessed with a full adaptation of the series to due it proper justice. Much love and respect to the team that brought this show together!!
