Kaze no Youjinbou

Kaze no Yojimbo is a re-imagined tale based on Akira Kurosawa’s movie Yojimbo, the story of a ronin that enters a village only to find it controlled by two opposing gangs, which he decides to play against each other. I have yet to see the movie so this review will not make any direct comparisons. One thing that is clear however is the atmosphere, which despite taking place in a modern setting, could easily fit a samurai or western story. The strong protagonist with no name that wanders in to stir up the community, the rivalling families that strive for power, the thirst for revenge,and to top it off a lost train filled with bricks of gold. It all captures a certain air of je-ne-sais-quoi that makes it charming. With a strong base to build upon, Kaze no Yojimbo starts off as an intriguing series, with a cast of characters that feel human and fleshed out. The show has an over-arching plot that connects nearly all episodes, doing so with sensible pacing, where the stakes slowly get higher in a natural way. There are a few filler episodes, yet smaller things that are established in these episodes are brought up again later, making the series strong as a whole despite some weak individual moments. The soundtrack consists of guitars and harmonicas that would fit any western, creating a mood of being stuck out in a desolate town in the middle of nowhere. Add in some melancholic trumpets for down-time, along with some icy violins to signal danger, and you have a solid soundtrack. The series does well in that it knows when to let the sounds of the environment set the tone, from windy snowfields, to cramped up bars and wild marshes. There is a list of things that hold the show back, the most striking thing being its animation. From the start it is apparent that it suffers from a low budget. Combine this with some strange visual quirks and bad editing, and you will end up with a lackluster presentation, making it hard to get fully immersed. Examples include scenes that lack timing or drag things out to fill the running-time, plus a bunch of distracting pixelated static in the background. This is a weakness that makes it hard to recommend Kaze no Yojimbo as an action-series, considering the low number of action-scenes that actually look good. The main thing that will either make or break the series however is the mystery. The town and its characters hold many secrets, which the main character wishes to dig up. Even the main character’s motivation for doing this is hidden for a majority of the show. A masterful mystery will still be good on a second viewing even when you know the answers. This is where Kaze no Yojimbo has me conflicted. Several mysteries are unearthed throughout the plot, some revelations being interesting, others less so. When the majority of the story revolves around the two crime families struggling for power, the true goal of our main character gets shoved to the side until the latter parts of the show, making the final revelation feel less meaningful. Despite this, the destinies of everyone else caught up in the conflict come to stronger conclusions throughout the series. Overall, Kaze no Yojimbo is a diamond in the rough, a crime-thriller with great atmosphere but lackluster production-values. With more polish to the animation, perhaps a tighter script and fewer episodes, this could have been worth more than one watch. If you can look beyond some sloppy art, this series will serve you a perfectly alright adventure.

I came into this honestly not expecting much. Its clear that its a lower budget anime as most is simply drawn and the action scenes themselves are mostly still frames through out the series, so don't go in expecting crazy action. What really did it for me was the story of this series. It feels like a older 80's or early 90's crime investigation movie. The pacing itself is fairly slow but it always gives you enough to keep you interested (at least me anyways) and doesn't give away so much your disappointed. However by the end it builds up really well and had asatisfying ending. If your willing to look past the budget and sit back and enjoy a nice story you'll like Kaze no Yojimbo. overall: 8/10

Kaze no Yojimbo is mystery and light action sorta show. It revolves around the main character playing two factions against each other while trying to uncover clues. [*]A slow paced mystery with the reward coming at its conclusion. [*]Likable main character with a mysterious past. [*]Not action or romance heavy. More of a drama and mystery. [*]The animation itself feels a bit low budget but I feel like that adds a certain charm to it's old school vibe.[*]Characters are interesting and have their own hidden agendas. [*]Everything wraps up nicely at the end. There aren't any plot holes and such. It all feels complete. I'll be frank about this. If you don't like these slow paced mystery drama type of shows than you probably won't like Kaze No Yojimbo. There's nearly no romance and while there are action sequences that isn't the main focus on the show.

First of all Yeah the plot is slow, the first few episodes are kind of like those episodes added between dramatic animes having too much gore or too much losses you know like akame ga kill, akudama drive level of sorrow. Well, after ending the anime when you look for synopsis you will find that it was never a gang war, just people roped in trying to live better lives with their circumstances. You will understand it if you watch it. But when it gives it GIVES The MC personality is just what you want from MCs there's no DxD, no powerless mc vibe that iscommon in animes with this kind of art style. The Villains despite looking like H+, too are well likeable you might hate them once or twice but can't help feeling for them

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