Not Recommended
Mixing genres; as a writer, when you mix genre you have to be careful or one genre’s over-representation can overwhelm the other, and subsequently alienate your readers. There are some genres that go well together, like romance and drama, or action and fantasy. But then there are others like drama and comedy that can conflict so much the readers rage at the sight of one or the other. There is nothing stopping such genres from mixing well, but for that to happen a writer has to take care, and in the case of Nabari no ou it doesn’t seem like the writers did. Story Nabari starts byintroducing its watchers to two worlds, the world we live in now that continues to evolve and one that hides in that evolution, evolving with it but not enough to become apparent. This turns out to be necessary for that second world, as it is apparently a world where ninja thrive. As the anime starts, its already difficult not to draw comparison to other “ninja” anime, especially when you realize that the title of it translates to King of Nabari (Nabari being the ninja world) despite the comparison you draw though, Nabari actually does do a good job of creating a ninja world in modern times. There are still fantasy elements, but that aren’t so apparent that calling the ninja “ninja” is unfitting. The problem with Nabari no Ou however, starts within the ninja world that I just finished praising. While it builds up a conflict between the four or so hidden villages of Nabari, by the time the fourth or fifth episode comes around that conflict is pushed to the side in favor of something else; a quasi-romance “subplot,” and as the anime goes on that subplot gets pushed more and more to the foreground, so much so that the ninja elements become more of an aside. This is particularly bad because there are a lot of elements in that world that should have been explained. The target of interest for example, is a magical entity called the Shinra Bansho. I use entity because there is in fact something they call “fairy lady” that dwells within the person who possesses the shinra bansho. As the story goes on it becomes apparent that she wants the possessor to use the shinra bansho but there doesn’t seem to be any reason why. At most we learn that she can steal the life of the person who possesses it, but that doesn’t seem to be her goal. Another issue that comes from the ninja elements being pushed aside is that the villain’s motive gets second gun to the conflict of the quasi-romance subplot. It is not till the last few episodes that we learn what he wants to accomplish, and even after being told what his motives are, they still get second gun to the quasi-romance sub plot.
This is a case of genre clashing too, as the quasi-romance somehow manages to remain a subplot and at the same time, manages to be the main focus. Later in the anime the quasi-romance all but completely becomes the main conflict, but even then it is fragmented as watchers are never really given anything more than a shallow reason to care. This romance or camaraderie, or what have you is never exemplified in more than just one of the characters it involves saying that they have to save the other one, or that same character going on about how he and the other are so much alike.
Art
The art and animation for Nabari no Ou is for the most part, wholly unimpressive. Characters are drawn in this CLAMP-esque art style where most of them are this lanky archetype, with the only difference between them being slight differences in their faces, hair, and clothes. It is in fact the clothes that get more attention to detail than the overall character as many of them are decked in these very extravagant outfits. If they aren’t and they have a similar design then my overview of the art style takes form. Take for example the protagonist father who is seen in flashbacks, and one of secondary main characters Aizawa. Both of them are short haired males who wear glasses, and if it wasn’t for the fact that the protagonist father is taller and has a slightly different hair style and color, they’d look exactly alike. As for animation, well despite this being an action anime it is rarely ever pushed. For the most part the characters are talking to each other, making this anime essentially talking heads, but when there are moments of brief actions (and I do mean brief), they range in quality from static images with speed lines, to somewhat fluid movement. Otherwise things are pretty rigid.
Sound
The music in Nabari no ou is very much the same as the art, overall unimpressive. Despite finishing the anime only several days ago, I can barely remember the melody of the opening and ending themes, and as far as music in the show goes I can only recall a heavy use of flutes. While mediocre, I can say that the music suited Nabari’s, let’s say hushed tones. There was never a moment that called for a powerful rock ballad, and likewise the production team never used one. The music in Nabari twists toward a more classical angle, but blends in so well with Nabari that it is barely an aspect alone.
Characters
And now we get to what was likely Nabari’s main problem, and likewise go back to what I was saying before. As what is basically a romance anime clad in action anime clothes, Nabari fails overall at being either because it only gives its watchers shallow reasons to care. The conflicting forces after the shinra bansho don’t really get much development till the end, and the characters in the romance subplot gets next to none. This is not helped by the main character that is soft-spoken, manipulative, apathetic, and more than a little self-entitle. The writing tries to make us care about him by showing that he was wronged as well, but considering just how self-entitled it also makes him, making watchers sympathize doesn’t really work. This gets worse when you realize that the main romance (camaraderie, what have you) involves a character that is almost exactly the same. The difference between this character and protagonist is that the writing actually does make us care but it doesn’t say specifically why we care. This character is haunted by a troubled home life from their youth, and it alludes to there being a reason why it was so bad and why the character is so determined to achieve their goal, but that’s pretty much it; it stops at allusion. To further explain why characters is Nabari’s main problem is to draw attention toward its other characters; characters that seem interesting but get all of a few minutes of expansion. One case goes back to the story and likewise, the similarities watchers might draw. There is a character who wants to get revenge against another for killing their family. This is fine and all, albeit cliché, but the writing’s stubbornness to move away from the quasi-romance subplot makes this characters story an aside, much like the ninja world. Build up is frankly brief, and pay off is underwhelming invoking a sense of this plot only being here because it was (perhaps better) in the manga. This is the same for a lot of other characters. They are displayed as interesting but pay-off always turns out to be these few minute long, underwhelming scenes.
Enjoyment
At this point I don’t think a person needs to ask if I enjoyed this anime or not. With its unlikeable main character, and failure to mix genre, Nabari no Ou is something of a painful watch, made more so when you realize that it’s pacing is bad. Pacing notwithstanding, this is not a disdain for romance or disdain for action, but a jerking feeling I got while watching it. What I did find interesting, got next to no attention, and what I found annoying was constantly shoved in my face. Again amplifying the negativity of this, the latter was something that was forced into the main focus position. It tries to masquerade as an element of the plot, but the story’s own main character defuses this disguise by choosing a jarring reason to get involved (one that makes him more despicable when you think about it in hindsight).
Overall
If you’re planning to watch Nabari No Ou you should go in knowing that it is neither an action series, nor a romantic one. While those are genres you can tack onto it, this anime barely seems like it knows which one it wants to be. The characters aren’t developed enough to make us care about their romance (camaraderie, what have you) but they are push so hard into the main focus that something we might have cared about (The world of Nabari) becomes second gun even to the end. What Nabari could have benefited from was more than twenty-six episodes, and if that wasn’t an option, a willingness to explore more of its elements. It however had neither, and leaves an impression of time better spent
