I was going through the Internet like usual to prepare for this review, only to stumble upon a very recent discussion article on ANN a.k.a Anime News Network that popped up on its feeds just the week before, citing that "Does Gen Urobuchi's Name Mean Anything Anymore?". And it was definitely an interesting, but scathing article to read through of what it means for shows to be slapped with the famed Nitroplus writer's name. Everything from Madoka Magica to Psycho-Pass, to the more recent failures with RWBY: Ice Queendom, Bubble and this show: Revenger, which unmistakably bears the hallmarks of the once iconic "Butcher" moniker that Gen Urobuchi lives by. Even legends do fall, and Gen Urobuchi has been nothing but repeatedly wrong after more wrongs, to the point that it's not shocking anymore that apart from the violence and gore that we've come to expect, he has become lazy in his writing calibre overall.
Revenger tells the story of hitmen: ordinary people that can come from anywhere, joining the Ribenji-ya / Revengers organization that takes revenge on behalf for people who have no power or control. All they need to do is one simple job: acquire a koban coin, bite onto it as hard as they can, and hand it over to anyone in the Revengers group. The deeper the groove and sink, the stronger the vendetta for revenge, and consider the matter done. This is especially important for the main protagonist: Kurima Raizo, the master swordsman whose loyalty to his Satsuma clan was used to manipulate him into murdering his own fiancée's father. He soon kills the man who arranged the plot, and with nowhere to go after his fiancée kills herself in despair, joins the Ribenjiya crew who helped him. Over there, he is joined by coworkers that include a physician with destructive impulses, a beautiful and androgynous young man who is both cruel and innocent, a gambler who loves money and alcohol, and an intelligent lacquer craftsman.
These 5 people are:
- Raizo Kurima, the master swordsman whose loyalty to his clan was used to manipulate him into murdering his own fiancée's father.
- Yuen Usui, the soft-spoken handyman whose day job is as a maki-e lacquerware artist. He is also the owner of Ribenjiya, a gairaigo corruption of the word "revenge," to help settle the debts of those who normally cannot afford to hire a hitman through the bitten koban coin. His preferred method of killing is slapping a sheet of gold lacquer over the target's face until they suffocate, with the large tattoo of the Virgin Mary covering his back, signifying his faith and his work for an underground Christian group, serving the priest Gerald Kano, whom also gives spiritual guidance and funding to the members of Ribenjiya.
- Teppa Murakami, a former pirate and current doctor who treats patients from all walks of life, regardless of money on hand. He creates and maintains a secret stash of weapons for Ribenjiya, and his massive frame allows him to use heavier weaponry than most people cannot use.
- Nio, the small, androgynous boy whose angelic face hides a cruel and calculating mind. His method of assassination involves using kite strings covered in tiny glass shards.
- Soji, the self-indulgent gambler who prizes money, alcohol, and women above all else, but is surprisingly compassionate when dealing with people he likes. His weapon is a deck of hanafuda cards with thin iron pieces embedded in them, which he throws at enemies' vital points.
Together, the 5 people are the stronghold of the Revengers group, with clientele visiting them every so often for the sole job that is revenge.
It's actually intriguing how the entire anime came to be under the staff team, formulating their claims about what Revenger is trying to be in the first place. Under the leadership of studio Ajia-Do's in-house director Masaya Fujimori, Revenger is meant to showcase both Western and Eastern culture in the style of "coolness", and Urobuchi hopes that based on the concepts that he conceptualized for the show, would appeal to the audience, believing that this collboration would be something special. Urobuchi even expressed his interest in the characters' inner thoughts, as well as utilizing traditional animation used to properly portray the setting that the anime is in. On top of this, Revenger uses tricky plot twists and clever strategies to aid the anime in its progressing story plot, which aside from the title of the work not containing any hidden meanings, Urobuchi believes that Revenger will make an impact, on those who are waiting for a "truly interesting" work. This is actually supported from Fujimori finding the script to be very rich and intriguing to the point where it is unbelievably fun. Furthermore, Fujimori's own experience with media from his early days, he is trying to recreate the experience of watching period dramas and criminal dramas that aired during the Showa era and update the experience for the present time. As anyone well-versed in show productions can tell, doing a period drama is very difficult, so after reviewing Urobuchi's script, Fujimori had to tip off his Fedora hat at the famed writer's contributed work on the anime.
The TL;DR is this: Urobuchi has woven a plot twist into Revenger, and it's that this feels the most like an Urobuchi joint written by Urobuchi for Urobuchi in years. Which I would have to agree that since the Butcher himself likes gore, violence and edgy undertones, this is what he incorporates into this revenge story of great proportions. I can feel myself checking out during any of its explanations of trade union politics or law enforcement jurisdiction manipulation. That is the idea of the main ex-Samurai Raizo acting as a meta-textual examination of Urobuchi himself: Someone who's decided he doesn't want to be pigeonholed as the grimdark violence guy anymore and wants to explore expressing different artistic subject matter. Just look at what being a Revenger turned Kurima into...a poetic lingua that expands upon the breath of life and what he is made out of, more than just killing for revenge.
That said, even the music has a part to play in the woven contrastness of Gen Urobuchi's creation. RetBear's OP "Downtimer" emphasizes the determination of moving forward despite not being able to properly see the future which fits with the series' ideals of revenge. Whereas Maaya Sakamoto's ED "un_mute", composed by Yūho Iwasato, the lyricist she respects the most, to write the lyrics with the image of wanting to create a song that would envelop and purify the hearts of the characters, that lived to its name as calm and gentle as it could to match the song's rhythms.
However, this makes it all the more disappointing that Revenger is just...there. It's alright. It's entirely competent as a sword-and-sandals action thing. Yet, it sloughs off both my eyes and my brain as soon as the episode ends. It's not amazing by the standards of Urobuchi's more storied work, but there are clearly like, ideas and concepts he's playing with beyond just slapping his name on the scenario and including wacky characters or someone becoming a god. I won't lie that Gen Urobuchi has style, but when it comes to the execution, he's "all style, no substance".
I have been burnt by Urobuchi's unkempt storytelling quite a lot recently that didn't amount to anything, and for a fact that there're still fans of the famed writer thinking that the Butcher could still do something right, you're seriously out of luck. And as it stands, Revenger just fills you nothing but pure mystical violent revenge of the most immaculate kind, for action and for honor only. And that's it, no more trusting with big names, yadda yadda.
