So apparently this series is going to run two cours (consecutively, rare in this day and age). That means my source for saying 12 (it rhymes with mybanimelist) in last week’s post was in error. This is good news, certainly, for those of us hoping Baraou no Souretsu can make a good run of things with this huge historical story. Another positive is that the manga has just ended, meaning the adaptation can give us the ending Kanno Aya intended. It still has to cram 16 manga volumes into 24 eps but at least it knows the deal going in.
Knowing that it must be said, the pacing is still pretty darn fast here. To a certain extent I think that goes beyond simply the reality of the source material’s length and gets to the fact that modern anime viewers probably have a finite tolerance for the minutiae of Medieval English history. What struck me even more than the pacing, though, was how little animation there was here, given it was only the second episode. This was not minimalist animation, this was straight-up minimal. It’s shoujo fantasy, it’s J.C. Staff, it’s two consecutive cours – this is to be expected. But that doesn’t make it any less of a concern.
Obviously we’re seeing a lot of liberties taken with the history (as it’s broadly accepted). I rather like the concept of Richard being painted as a sympathetic figure – when not filtered through a Tudor lens I think he sort of does in real history too. It’s going to be interesting to see how much that continues as Richard progresses into the uglier passages of his historical story (we saw the beginnings of that here). This Richard is as much as anything a victim, mostly thanks to his mother’s hatred of him. Just how justifies she was in her feelings towards him as an ill omen remains for the story to answer, but she doesn’t come off very well in this prologue section.
It’s sort of ironic given the protagonist’s portrayal, but a key figure emerges in Margaret of Anjou (Ohara Sayaka). She was dubbed by some as “more a man than woman” for her fierceness in battle and in governance. Obviously Henry wasn’t much use in either (historically accurate, though the specifics are pretty fanciful here), so in effect Margaret ruled Britain (and theoretically France, for a time) during his reign. In fact it was her snub of the York faction in her so-called Great Council of 1455 that triggered the War of the Roses in the first place.
Things don’t go at all well for Richard Duke of York here. It’s also ironic that mommy dearest tricks him into leaving little Richard behind when marching off to battle, only to have the very disaster she feared his presence would invite happen anyway. Whether York was tricked or simply made a terrible decision, his decision to leave his stronghold and march into the Battle of Wakefield led to his demise (here directly at the hands of Margaret – the crown of thorns was a nice touch). She loathed him because the agreement that he would ascend the throne on Henry’s death disinherited her son Edward (who was seriously aged up here – he was 7 at the time).
As for Richard himself, his mother has him imprisoned – though her act of abandoning him and fleeing with his brother makes him worthless as a hostage. There’s another chance meeting with Henry in the town, but not before Richard kills a Lancastrian soldier to escape – a seminal event in his life to be sure, especially once he realizes the man had a wife and kids. I don’t think there’s any question that Richard’s loyalty to his father is absolute, but we’ve seen nothing in him so far to indicate a love for violence for its own sake or sense of cruelty. Fate may have issues with that, but that’s for the rest of the story to depict.
Even with all the liberties it takes with the historical record, I can only imagine that what’s happening in Baraou no Souretsu so far is very difficult to follow for anyone who doesn’t have a working knowledge of it. This was an issue with Heike Monogatari’s anime too, an even more rushed adaptation. Yoshida Naomi’s decision there was simply to cut away the connective tissue altogether – Requiem of the Rose King seems rather to be trying to cram as much of it in as possible. I’m not sure which approach is better – both are concessions to the reality of what anime is in 2021 – but I suspect this series is going to struggle to keep a new audience feeling connected to these events.
Collectr
January 17, 2022 at 11:15 pmThe lack of animation was disappointing. Doing the battles via blocks on maps? Understandable; battle scenes are expensive to animate and aren’t the core of the story. But still frames when figures are talking (like the Earl of Warwick)? Not excusable, in my book. The director didn’t even bother to move the camera around, to give some illusion of movement.
At the moment, the series is cramming a manga volume into an episode, which is way too fast for any continuity. You can’t tell the players without a scorecard, and, I fear, a magic decoder ring as well. On the other hand, the moments that have been kept are quite faithfully adapted. I’m rereading the manga volumes available in English, which helps. Not many viewers will be willing to do that, which probably implies not many viewers at all.
Several striking points in this episode. One, the mangaka and animators seem to be channeling GeGeGe no Kitarou in their portrayal of child Richard lost in the forest (one visible eye, somewhat dumpy figure), strengthening the notion that he is a demon (or a yokai, in Japanese terms). Second, the portrayal of Margaret of Anjou is way over the top; her behavior is straight from the villainess trope book. And third, Richard’s fatal encounter with the Lancastrian soldier, but even more so, his macabre reunion with his beloved father, are the catalysts for his evolution as a character; the preview title (I am the Shadow, the Darkness Behind the Light) gives it away.
Marty
January 18, 2022 at 1:10 amFrom Kingdom to Réquiem of the Rose King, It appears that Historical Epics in anime are doomed to be on the lower end of animation budgets. It’s ubfortunate, but the reality.
I might honestly just switch to the manga at this point. If something as massively popular in the manga world as Kingdom needs 3 seasons to be well-animated, what hopes do lesser series have?
Darrel
January 18, 2022 at 11:02 amI would argue that Kingdom’s production values remain lacklustre at best. It just isn’t painful on the eyes.
Guardian Enzo
January 18, 2022 at 11:49 amPretty much agree there.
Guardian Enzo
January 18, 2022 at 6:51 amThis is anime in the 2020s…
Chani Elkin
January 20, 2022 at 12:14 pmThis is one of my favorite series from the Winter 2022 season. Now, I happen to like historical fiction and love this simply for being inspired by Shakespeare. Seeing the reactions to the anime, the largest point is that I have yet again fallen into the trap of assuming a basic level of knowledge/education and intelligence for people to have.
Even if you’re a bit lost on characters or relationships, it doesn’t hurt anything to pause the episode and google for clarification. That’s what I’ve done with both episodes so far to make sure I understand who exactly the characters are & the relationships involved.
Finally, I did note the animation (especially in the 2nd episode). Rushed pacing is unfortunately very popular for studios in modern anime – I haven’t read the manga, and I’m hoping the story ‘officially’ starts after Richard III finds his dad’s head I liked the voiceovers actually.
I’m assuming the anime has almost no budget whatsoever (which is a shame for more intellectual or library fame style anime). It means that whatever narration, dialogue and animation there is can be so important to the story. They do such a good job drawing me into the story and emotions – this is one of maybe 3 anime of the Winter 2022 season where I can’t even glance away from the screen while I watch the episode. I’m completely engrossed in the episode and the story – that they can do that for me with such limited animation and budget… It really makes me wish someone would gift them with a larger budget, because they could give us this story as a breakout hit or a seasonal/Year 2022 star-quality anime that viewers would love and remember and praise. At the very least, I love this anime.
Guardian Enzo
January 20, 2022 at 12:55 pmI think you can largely blame light novels for this expectation that everything will be explained to you, starting with the title.
No budget is a pretty safe assumption. It’s a shame.
Kuma Shock
January 22, 2022 at 8:19 pmI’ve been watching Réquiem of the Rose King and enjoying it immensely. I’ve pretty well versed with history of the period and Shakespeare’s version of it, so the show’s story and continuity cause no problems for me at all. I’m enjoying the show’s departures from Shakespeare’s narratives because I find they actually work mostly really well (Okay Margaret’s scene chewing performance was a bit much but they didn’t let that go on too long). I thought the animation had a suitably gothic tone to it that I liked also.
In terms of knowing the history, a quick read of Wikipedia could be helpful, or if you have the time hunt out the BBC series “The Hollow Crown” (2012) which is a great modern adaption of Shakespeare’s Wars of The Roses plays.