Drifters – Anime Review

Japanese Title: Drifters

 

Similar: Hellsing Ultimate

Fate/Zero

Re:Creators

 

Watched in: Japanese & English

Genre: Historical Action Comedy Fantasy

Length: 12 episodes, 3 OVA

 

Positives:

• Harsh visual style
• Effort in the fantasy and samurai speech mannerisms

Negatives:

• Constant random humour is jarring
• Unfortunate use of CG
• No profiling for elf ears

(Request an anime for review here.)

I loved Drifters for about one episode. The distinct visual style, gritty action, and commitment to bloodlust had me sold. Then the comedy started and I recoiled in disgust. Why? Why do this to me?

Drifters opens in the midst of a clash between samurai armies during the Battle of Sekigahara, year 1600. Bodies litter the muddy fields as screams echo through the trees. Amongst this carnage stands Toyohisa, blood crazed and hungry for battle. Upon spotting an enemy commander, he charges the cavalry line as one soldier against many. This foolhardy act goes as well as expected and he finds himself on the receiving end of a dozen spears. He cuts down several enemies before oblivion takes hold.

However, instead of the afterlife, a white corridor lined with doors and a solitary office clerk awaits him. At a mere gesture from the clerk, one of these doors opens and sucks Toyohisa to another world, a world where knights of the human Orte Empire reap the land and oppress other races such as elves and dwarves. Toyohisa, almost involuntarily, comes to the aid of elves and makes it his mission to free them of tyranny. The fact that he gets to wage war and taste more blood is a coincidence. It should be an easy matter, after all, with his superior combat prowess and the famed Nobunaga – also ripped from his time alongside other historical figures – on this team. He didn’t anticipate that whatever supernatural being the clerk was fighting against would summon fighters of his own. Nor did he anticipate they would be so twisted by malice at the manner of their deaths that they developed powers beyond imagining.

If you told me all of the above, I would say, “Sold! I will watch Drifters.” What you would have failed to mention was the damned humour.

Have you seen Hellsing Ultimate (same manga author as Drifters)? Remember those jarring cuts to comedy in a caricature art style that punched all dramatic tension out of your gut? Remember how the few times they used it in Hellsing was bad enough? Yeah, well, now imagine it first happening once an episode, then once an act, until is ramps up to once per scene and more. If you haven’t seen the like before, I want you to imagine cartoon sound effects added to any dramatic scene you like. It is intolerable.

I cannot impress upon you enough how much they overuse this technique. How is anyone supposed to take the slaughter of innocent elves seriously when it’s going to cut to Nobunaga honking some woman’s boobs at any moment? That joke makes an appearance once per episode – at least – after the woman joins the party. Joan of Arc is on fire, literally, in perpetuity out of spite for how the Church betrayed and burned her alive. She now has the power to incinerate others. But that isn’t as important as using the same moronic cut away reaction as last episode. The opener doesn’t give any indication of this.

One could improve Drifters by simply editing out these cuts. It wouldn’t be difficult either because they are almost forgotten when we return to the actual scene. The only humour that made me laugh was Toyohisa telling Nobunaga what happened to Japan and his legacy after his death.

This negative was enough of a detractor to me that I was sick of Drifters halfway through. I found it so bad that the stylish action, harsh visuals, and even the introduction of many interesting historical figures bringing their specialities to the battlefield barely made a difference. I mean, a WWII pilot joins mid battle amongst a squad of real dragons. If a meeting of Nobunaga, Hannibal, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Rasputin, Joan of Arc, Anastasia Romanova, and the machinations of Adolf God Damn Hitler can’t save a series, nothing can.

The action is good in all of its gory stylishness and insanity. But that unfunny humour every damn time! Look, I need to stop here before I think of it any further and dwell on how it ruined a fun action series.

Art – Medium

I am torn on Drifter’s art. On one hand, I love the harsh style, thick outlines, and high contrast shadows. On the other hand, I hate the CG characters (crowds, I can understand, but principal characters?) and how lazy the art is come characters in profile. It’s most noticeable with the elves’ ears – they look the same from the front and side, which is goofy.

Sound – High

In contrast to the low effort of the elf ears, their fictional language is well done. You feel like you can understand it, though not quite. Similarly, the samurai era speech (or a good representation of it) imitates the serious and forceful mannerisms of samurai films. And the OP is dope as hell. The real letdown is the poor timing and overuse of random comedy in the script.

Story – Low

Various historical figures find themselves dragged into a fantasy world to fight a war for supernatural beings. A fun concept brought down by insisting we suffer through lame comedy every five seconds.

Overall Quality – Low

Recommendation: For action fans only. Drifters is a lot of fun and would be an easy recommendation if not for the bad humour.

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Awards: (hover over each award to see descriptions; click award for more recipients)

Positive:  None

Negative: