Ryo

ZephSilver★ 4

Ryo is a 2013 short that's a part of a project known as Anime Mirai (Young animator training project). These shorts are essentially sponsored platforms that are used to help up and coming animators by providing funding and are usually produced by various studios. Now being an animated short doesn't imply that it can't tell a coherent story, or atleast execute a premise properly enough in order to draw intrigue into wanting to see more. You don't even have to look far, as two successes that emerged from this same program were Little Witch Academia and Death Billiards. With Academia garnering enough acclaim to havea 2nd installment and Death Billiards giving rise to the popular Death Parade. They both manage to establish their setting, gave us an interesting premise and piqued the viewer's curiosity for more. Unfortunately this is where Ryo failed. Not to say it didn't have the making for a good show but rather the execution of it is what caused it to dig its own grave. Set in Edo period Japan and giving off a strong traditional aura, Ryo had many avenues it could of taken. With themes of war, revenge, trust and betrayal, the formula for a great period piece samurai flick was there. With such a limited runtime the show made the biggest mistake by trying to incorporate all these themes in one swoop. This led to a unengaging disjointed story riddled with timeskips. It isn't hard to piece together what they were going for but the time restraint worked against it. In the end it felt like a long messy trailer for a period piece drama. If it took a more simplified approach and set a clear focus on one theme is wouldn't have been a problem. Having multifaceted themes is only good if it doesn't spread the show's potency too thin. To put it as simple as possible, this was a short that bit off more than it could chew.

Chikkoi★ 5

Being a single episode anime obviously has its limits, and this anime was no exception to the rule. However, when compared the the other three anime in Anime Mirai 2013, I definitely feel that this one fell short. My biggest problem with this anime stemmed from the story itself. Personally, I felt it was very disjointed. Although I get that there was a large time skip in between scenes, it just seemed too abrupt and not as connected as it should. Another problem I had with the story is that I just didn't comprehend it as well as I think I should have. This probablystems from the fact that I know nothing about Japanese history, however, I believe this should have been put in mind when this anime was being created. There are many non-Japanese viewers, and I could barely follow the storyline. The characters were something else. There wasn't much characterization, and Ryo's character felt a bit flat to me. By the end of it, I felt short changed. Art and Sound were alright. This whole anime wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special. It was simply mediocre.