Arata Kangatari
Arata: The Legend
アラタカンガタリ～革神語～
As a young boy from a noble family in Amawakuni, Arata has always expected to make life his own—until word of the princess growing weak reaches his city. Unbeknown to him, his grandmother had claimed him to be female at birth, and now, with no other girls to succeed the princess from the matriarchal Hime clan, he is next in line for the throne! Disguised as a woman awaiting a replacement to be found, Arata witnesses an assassination attempt on the princess by none other than her own guard, the 12 Shinsho. The crime is pinned on his head, forcing Arata to escape to the Kando forest, where it is said that no one comes out the same. Meanwhile, in modern-day Japan, Arata Hinohara longs for escape from the cruelty of his classmates. Hearing his name called from an alley, he wanders from his path and unwittingly switches universes with Arata from Amawakuni. With his own power as a newly awakened "Sho"—a warrior able to wield Hayagami, weapons with the power of the gods—and the help of his companions he meets along his journey, Hinohara sets out to restore order to this new world. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Synopsis
As a young boy from a noble family in Amawakuni, Arata has always expected to make life his own—until word of the princess growing weak reaches his city. Unbeknown to him, his grandmother had claimed him to be female at birth, and now, with no other girls to succeed the princess from the matriarchal Hime clan, he is next in line for the throne! Disguised as a woman awaiting a replacement to be found, Arata witnesses an assassination attempt on the princess by none other than her own guard, the 12 Shinsho. The crime is pinned on his head, forcing Arata to escape to the Kando forest, where it is said that no one comes out the same. Meanwhile, in modern-day Japan, Arata Hinohara longs for escape from the cruelty of his classmates. Hearing his name called from an alley, he wanders from his path and unwittingly switches universes with Arata from Amawakuni. With his own power as a newly awakened "Sho"—a warrior able to wield Hayagami, weapons with the power of the gods—and the help of his companions he meets along his journey, Hinohara sets out to restore order to this new world. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Characters
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Trailer
Recommendations
Reviews(8)
Yemi_Hikari
July 1, 2013
The concept of two people switching places in each others worlds is interesting, particularly when nobody recognizes the person as being a different person. Problem is you really can't sympathize with the main characters when the conflict that shows up between the characters in the series is completely unrealistic and not grounded in how people would react in reality. In fact, it seems horribly forced just so the series could have some kind of conflict to it. For example, the main antagonist was bullied when he was in middle school and he's just getting back to living a normal life only to find himself bullied byanother person. While it is true that people do bully because they are jealous of other people, Kadowaki's animosity towards Arata doesn't seem any bit grounded in reality, particularly since the two used to be friends back in middle school. I say this because he got angry at something so trivial. Even though his father is the way he is, it honestly doesn't justify his personality problems as well as his persecution complex. Another example is the conflict between Kannagi and Akachi. It's an argument that could have been resolved through simple conversation to find out what the actual situation entailed. Perhaps that is one of the major things that is lacking in this series, the inability of the characters to actually communicate with each other. One or two is understandable, but this is the majority of the cast that lack in the communication department. Which is why all of the conflict ends up being forced. Because the conflict is forced, what amounts to an interesting idea ends up being bogged down. The story line is also bogged down with this need to have characters submit to another character. The whole concept is bothersome even with how Kannagi eventually puts it to Arata. It almost feels as if it is down playing war and trying to stuff it into a bag where the victor ends up being able to win without killing. Which in turn is completely unrealistic. On top of this Arata... the one from a modern world... is horribly annoying with his poor pity me attitude. I know that he was abused, but while we see the bullying occurring, the justification for the bullying ends up being non-existent as there seems to be no realistic reason to justify Kadowaki going after Arata. Which means that the bullying is thrown in there to make Arata come across as a character needing to grow and not because the creator thought out the plot device enough. As for my enjoyment... I liked the start, I liked the style, I liked the sound. There are a few characters that caught my attention to the point I might watch a second season if it comes out, but it's honestly not the most enjoyable thing in the world.
