Onihei

Onihei is a series of japanese hitorical novels that have been adapted into many forms such as live-action TV, Movie, Manga, and even a theater play. Now the story has been adapted into Anime format, and not only that, but is also the first anime that the new studio M2 has created. The story of Onihei is set during the Edo period in Edo(tokyo) , and revolves around Heizou Hasegawa the chief officer protecting against crime and arson. him and everyone else in the department hold a duty with keeping peace and safety with in region, and bring down any criminal or thieves.the entire anime itself is episodic which sometimes focuses on Heizo, our main character, or other people who work for him. each episode also focuses on a moral message or life lesson for the viewers based on what has transpired during the episode. any semblance of plot or progression in the story comes from new characters that are added into the roster who are usually involved in an episode later down the road. even then the story just boils down to a cop story with a criminal-of-the week formula. some of the episodes follow the same beats to the point that it becomes repetitive and annoying, and makes watching the show a drag to watch at times. i can't say much for pacing since it's an episodic show, but each episode does a good job at filling out their time. however in terms of writing, the show fluctuates from being good to being rather dumb , questionable, and sometimes uninteresting the show has a somewhat big cast of characters which split of into two categories. the main cast that stays through out the whole show, and the episodic cast that just stays for one episode and are never to be seen again. nonetheless it doesn't really matter when none of the characters really do stand out from the rest other than Heizo. Heizo is a rather interesting character who is fleshed out decently throughout the story either by flashbacks, or by the interactions he has with people and environment around him which shows off a multi-faceted personality. other characters also get time to be fleshed out with their given screen-time and backstory, but it's usually for one episode and is used only for the story of that episode. there are no character arcs , and no one really develops as a character. in the end there is no point to get invested in the characters other than the main character. the art style is good even when considering that this is the studios first show. the character designs are decent for the most part with some looking rather nice and detailed while others...they look like they needed a lot more work. the background art is good as well capturing the look of edo period japan, but i can't say it brought a lot of atmosphere to it. there's noticeable use of cgi when it comes to the background characters with how the city crowd contrasts itself with the background and foreground characters. there's also the lighting with a noticeable amount of minute flickering which i guess comes from the candle flames, but become annoying to the eyes, but the rest is good. the animation is done pretty well to say the least, but a large chunk of this show is just walking, sitting , and talking. the action scenes are decent if it's two people fighting, but becomes confusing when it's large police raids and the "camera" is moving all about. the voice acting for the show was decent enough with everyone sounding there part. the soundtrack is pretty much absent or at least it goes in one ear and comes out the other with the only thing worth noting is the jazz that plays during the action scene, but that's about it honestly i felt like dropping this show more than once. some episodes were a bore to watch even more so than a slice-of-life series. nothing got me invested. however there's nothing quite like this show in anime, but that still doesn't it make it good. overall for a first time show the production value is fine with slight hiccups, the stories had their ups and downs, and the characters filled their purpose.

ONIHEI ANIME REVIEW Onihei tells the story of Arson Theft Control's chief, Heizo "The Oni" Hasegawa on how he captures and deals with the thieves. I'm declaring that this anime is the best hidden gem of Winter 2017. Everything about this anime is enjoyable to watch. The story's great because you learn the underlying reasons and secrets of every thief. Every episode you will learn a new thing. The art's good as well. It was set on traditional Japan so every bit was great especially the soundtracks. It's like I've been to Japan after listening to that opening song. It was damn great. The character development in each episodewas also outstanding. You can view yourselves in their shoes after you finish an episode. You will feel their story. Just the narration in each episode was damn excellent. Overall, it was great anime to me though I really wanted more than 13 episodes. It is highly recommended to those who don't have an anime to watch yet.

I watched Onihei. Here are my thoughts: I dropped this halfway through but picked it up again a few months later and managed to complete it. Overall it was pretty mediocre but did have a couple positive qualities. Foremost, this show does a good job of depicting the 18th-century Japan setting, both visually and from a sociological perspective – many social themes that prevailed during that time period are featured in the writing (ex. caste system, prostitution and infidelity, criminality and law enforcement, gambling and drinking). This anime can be interesting from a sociological perspective. That said, I found the constant focus on burglaries became boringand repetitive, even from early in the runtime. The screentime used to demonstrate the thievery (like sneaking in, etc.) is often quite dull and repetitive, as well as lacking creativity. The low-budget undynamic animation also certainly did not complement these burglary scenes. Although there are many frames in which the setting (ex. building architecture) looks nice, the animation is not dynamic at all – it often feels like a Powerpoint presentation. There are certainly some nice static shots in here, but the character animation feels very low effort, including during the short-lived action scenes. The plot is mostly episodic with stories that are self-contained within their respective episodes. However, there is a core set of characters who persist across episodes. Unfortunately, these recurring characters are underdeveloped and not particularly likeable or memorable in any way. The episodic plots usually involve the characters reacting to some kind of conflict (i.e. generic burglary scheme #9001 + ratchety hoodrat drama that belongs on Jerry Springer), leaving little room for any kind of character development – this issue is compounded by the large size of the cast. Overall I found the storywriting tedious and repetitive. The episodic plots are quite generic and felt like they came off an assembly line – there was nothing in here that I hadn't already seen many times before in fictional writing. Like, a third of the episodes somehow involve a guy falling in love with some dumpy hooker bitch – this gets tiresome very fast, yet the theme gets repeated over and over in the writing; it was eyeroll-inducing. I personally am not at all fond of the jazz-like OST and this is another major reason why I'm lukewarm on this show. This is a matter of personal taste though, and other people may like it. Also, the voice acting was nothing special, except for maybe the MC himself who has a deep handsome voice. My overall rating: 5/10 This anime is basically a combination of Cops + Jerry Springer: Feudal Japan Edition. Similarly to these iconic American TV shows, Onihei explores many sociological issues in a highly dignified manner. Seriously though, somebody interested in historical Japan society would likely appreciate this show. Onihei's best aspect is how it depicts its setting, not only visually but in the way that so many sociological phenomena are featured in the writing. Unfortunately, the episodic plots themselves and the characters they involve are nothing special. Much like the animation itself, there are some appreciable moments but the overall execution is repetitive and lacks dynamism.

Thrilling, violent action crime drama, with a dose of humour and nostalgic poetic justice I found this series entertaining in every way. Although not a complicated tale by itself it does offer many points of view through out with different characters who are introduced in each episode. From past thieves gone rogue to innocent bystanders who also become victims from the very same thieves Heizou tracks down using his intelligence. Every episode becomes more interesting than the next as the story evolves. Good voice actors deliver touching dialogues between characters + sword fights are tense, e.g. Heizo the inspector/ protaganist fending off an assassin + no outof character behaviour: plot and decisions are driven by characters' consistent personality + promotes social justice, empathy towards inequity prevalent in Edo period society, and leniency / rehabilitation towards redeemable thieves, especially the Robinhood types + flashbacks show how Heizo grew from a bitter, impulsive trouble maker to a wise inspector with iron fists and a warm heart + violent scenes were plot driven, not gratuitous. Some cases are solved by simply tracking and arresting non-violent thieves; murderous criminals meet swift and violent end + social commentary / philosophical remarks, e.g. Heizo laments a female thief's downfall, "women, they have no paat or future; just survive in the present" elevates this series beyond a simple action crime series, because characters prompt viewers to observe the story and case in a humanized way with social context, making the episodes more meaningful Opening song is jazzy with saxophones, which doesn't complement the period of the series, and took me some time to get used to plot twists are few, since you can predict characters' decisions some episodes include intense sword fights between robbers and police, with gore and dismemberment; there are also cases of sexual assault (hinted, not shown). These episodes are unpleasant, but realistic of the crimes committed in that period * I enjoy the series because it partly reminds me of Samurai Champloo, the characters are interesting and likeable, Heizo is the chilvarous ideal friend, boss, and husband: he's fun and generous with his friends, fair and kind to his squad, empathetic and respectful towards women, youths and children; his virtues and awareness is almost ahead of his time. * Highly recommended to viewers who enjoy detective shows such as this one.

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