Kaze no Yojimbo

sablepatch★ 9

Well, let me first say this is my first review so bear with me! I found this anime i this site and after looking all over the Internet and not finding it I spent 20 bucks and bought it.I found it to be a great buy! I really enjoyed the story and the main character. Story:10 It kept me wondering what really happened in the small town 15 years ago. Then just when I thought I figured it out something new would show up and keep me guessing.It had several "small pieces" you could pick up along the way and fit together. Art:7 Sadly its art was a greatdisappointment.There were a few "still scenes".The characters did not blink as often as they should have. Dont get me wrong the fight scenes were very good and realistic.It was just when they were sitting and talking.So overall even though I hate to I can only give it a 7 for art. Sound:8 I enjoyed the op song and watched it every time instead of skipping it.The dramatic music they would play when someone was killed or a new "piece" was found I thought fit in well with the anime. Character:9 Almost of of the characters are great. Just one character did I want to kill.The fact I can't remember her names shows how much I hate her. She has a crush on George and I guess you could say is the average "stupid teenage woman" you see in anime.Other than her I enjoyed the steady development of the characters and each ones secrets and personality. Enjoyment:10 If you can get past the animation which is not hard to do for such a great anime and the "stupid teenage woman" you can really enjoys putting the pieces together and all the twists that come with this anime. I truly recommend this anime to all lovers of mystery anime. Trust me and spent 20 bucks on it!

Markezzo★ 7

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.