Ao no Miburo

Blue Miburo — A Rurouni Kenshin-inspired era...that just doesn't quite inspire the same way as history intrigues it to be (at least from someone's POV). Don't get me wrong, I love history when it's at least interpreted right to a degree of relatability, mixed in with some element of action that keeps the rich tradition alive. Some, like the infamous Rurouni Kenshin author Nobuhiro Watsuki, know Japan's rich history when it comes to the era of the Samurai to merge a story so grand against someone whose ideals of peace create the inevitable conflict that impacts the future of Japan's modernization into the tumultuous period (rightbefore World War II). However, there are also people who want to depict a rather different take of the samurai that, though still rooted in history, hopes to be interesting to see from a POV that's unique and a sort-of prequel to whatever we're seeing of Rurouni Kenshin (through the remake) right now. This is famed Over Drive and Days mangaka Tsuyoshi Yasuda coming in with the 3rd anime adaptation of his works, featuring his latest work of Ao no Miburo a.k.a The Blue Wolves of Mibu. The story setting is adjacent to the history of the Shinsengumi during the terrorizing Bakumatsu era, featuring the Mibu Roshigumi during the Tokugawa Shogunate from October 1862 to April 1863 (before being disbanded to form the Shinsengumi), alongside its prominent members (Kondo Isami and others) that heralded the form from creation to disbandment. And in Tsuyoshi Yasuda's view of creating this from the perspective of MC Chirinu Nio, a white-haired kid living together with his granny helming a family restaurant. His days of living are meaningful and fruitful, but deep down, his sense of justice is just burning for desire. And the turbulent "blue spring a.k.a one's adolescence" meets his match when the ronin of Hijikata Toshizo and Okita Souji comes to the area around his place, which is the infamously hated Miburo, to exact their form of justice to preserve the peace of the land, which aligns with Nio's calling to want to change the world and become the group of ronin that people would come to respect instead of being offended for the longest time. Thus, he joins the Miburo as the 3rd Wolves of Mibu, hoping to instill change and hope for the future with the infamous group of samurai. In hindsight, you would think that a traditionally rooted story would help the show get on its knees following a rather enthusiastic and charismatic kid journey with the group that would evolve to become the respected historical group who would go on to protect the Kyoto Shogunate. But while that is fine and all, seeing Chirinu Nio progress from being a boy to a man...is quite the stretch, because as a young boy who has been mostly sheltered for all of his life, Nio may have witnessed a fair few of reckless murders, but for the murders to show that his idealist world of peace requires sacrifices to be done, him trying to bawl for most of his act, and being friends with both friend and foe to seek reconciliation, it's just not the way you want to paint your MC when it comes to character development. And yes, despite the Miburo guys trying to help him out to witness that everything requires the "yin and yang" balance of interest, even reminding him at times where sacrifice is needed for the greater good, Nio, at most times, fizzles out and refuses to accept the reality of people being able to live with peace, not after bouts of swordsmanship that will always end up with someone else's death. Sure, if in an alternate reality, this would be appropriate, but given such an infamous era in Japan's history, friendliness is never an option, not at all. The Miburo accompanying Nio are good guys at that, influential people who have gone through the history of the formation of the Shinsengumi from the time they were the ronin. To see them depicted in the show does give some sense of how they were like, distinguished and goofy as they are. At least they're the authority working for the greater good (that eventually paves their role to be even greater), and I have no issues seeing them being both serious and not to improve their reputation. Stereotypical guys who get the job done; I'll give credit where credit is due. Being studio Maho Film's first consecutive 2-cour series, I am very skeptical of rookie studios trying to attempt the near impossible when their average 12/13-episode shows just look so trash and unrefined. And to my (unsurprising) fears, the assumption remains true for the most part that the studio just doesn't really have the capability to remain consistent, let alone be assigned to task a project that's running for 6 months straight. Everything just looks so average and drab, and even the action feels minimalistic at best. Even the music feels somewhat less stellar, which is a surprise given that it's composed by the famous Yuki Hayashi, who's composing for several shows for the Winter season (though to different degrees of varying success). His music is iconic given his reputation on bigger franchises like Haikyuu! and Boku no Hero Academia a.k.a My Hero Academia, but the low-ball efforts here just sadly don't amount to much. Not even the 2 OP/ED song sets are even worth mentioning, between the 1st Cour set of Spyair's OP and The Jet Boy Bangerz's ED, and the 2nd Cour set of Umeda Cypher's OP and Osage's ED (though I'll give the credit to the 1st Cour for making the show stand out more). Ultimately, I get what Tsuyoshi Yasuda is trying to do with Ao no Miburo a.k.a The Blue Wolves of Mibu and its "full" adaptation (right until Part 2 of the Shinsengumi arc), but for the glaring faults that this show has that unfortunately outweigh the bad more than the good, I'm forced to concede that while the show is good on a historical level, that's just as much entertainment as you're going to get because everything else feels subpar at best. Maybe give this a try to see if it works for you. Otherwise, there's the one series remake that is doing things a lot better and is definitely worth more of your time than this show.