Revenger

Tricked into assassinating his own prospective father-in-law, righteous samurai Raizou Kurima is overwhelmed with guilt. In order to reclaim his honor, Raizou swears vengeance on the lord who gave him those misleading orders. In his pursuit, he is aided by self-proclaimed merchant-of-all-trades Yuuen Usui, who is actually one of the Revengers—assassins who seek justice for the wronged and dispense bloody revenge on their behalf.

Tragedy seems destined to follow Raizou as he becomes increasingly intertwined with members of the Revengers. As he begins working as a vigilante alongside them, the complicated web between the corrupt Japanese political elite, the unscrupulous Europeans, and the Revengers gradually reveals itself. The more entangled he becomes in these affairs, the more Raizou realizes that justice is as deceptive as the honor that he sought to redeem.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Nio Main

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Kurima, Raizou Main

Kasama, Jun Japanese

Usui, Yuuen Main

Umehara, Yuuichirou Japanese

Murakami, Teppa Main

Takeuchi, Shunsuke Japanese

Souji Main

Hayama, Shouta Japanese

Henro no, Sada Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi Japanese

Liu Supporting

Hirakawa, Daisuke Japanese

Isarizawa, Jinkurou Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Kanou, Gerald Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Hawkeye Ippachi Supporting

Kase, Yasuyuki Japanese

Ozawa, Shinichirou Producer

Yamaguchi, Tatsuya Producer

Tasaka, Hidemasa Producer

Tamura, Satoshi Producer

Reviews

Mar 26, 2023

_Valentine

Recommended

Funny

If you are another wierdo who highly respect boobs and nyan cat voice acting in anime then I am sorry but this is not your show. Revenger is a character development drama with a lot of unfinished or unexplained acts. It means you will have to fill gaps by your own imagination what can cause most of down voters a huge problem with thier negative IQ and addiction to oppai chicken breasts in anime.

Sorry for the toxic behaviour, but I felt like this is a very underrated and also down voted anime thanks to the part of this community who can not really appreciate ... serious subject and message. I loved the artistic world where this anime gives birth to a huge mess of opium problem and the questionable theory of everyone should meet the consequences for their actions.

What I liked: plot, characters, world (japan, faith, culture, social classes and figures), story, art, message (addiction problems, value of life, selfgrowth)...
What I dislike: This anime tries to grab a lot, on the other hand it has a limited episodes to work all of it out in acceptable details.

If you haven't recognized yourself on the first part of this review, plase give this anime a chance. :)

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 23, 2023

CrimsonKing25

Mixed Feelings

The best way I can describe Revenger is that it's all style and no substance.

Or rather, the substance was there but the execution of it was done in such a way that it's almost forgettable in comparison to the blood and gore. Which, if the only thing I remember about Revenger is the blood and not the plot, then that should say something about the writing. I wouldn't say this is a terrible anime. At the very least I did like some parts and it did keep my attention for 12 episodes. But you're not missing out if you don't watch it. It's just ... there, like a houseplant.

The characters are interesting. But in this case, interesting doesn't mean good. Aside from Raizou and maybe Nio, everyone else felt so bland, didn't get enough screen time, or their backstory wasn't explained all that much. Teppa is probably the biggest offense because he's nothing more than just a muscular guy who can use large weapons and nothing more. Just hired muscle who used to be a pirate. And that's about as much as we'll get from him. The same can be said about Souji. What is either of their motivation to be part of the group other than them filling in character architypes of hired muscle and a gambler. As for Yuuen, I would say that while he does leave an impression, there really isn't much explaining about his backstory, why he's with the church, or anything of that matter.

As for the plot, I get what Urobuchi was trying to do but as I said earlier, it doesn't leave much of an impact other than it being a bloody show. I do like the concept of the show but somewhere along the way it lost it's meaning and turned into another action show with sword fighting. It had a lot to offer and it still does but Urobuchi didn't let it live up to it's full potential.

I won't spoil the ending but it's very anticlimactic. It ended in a way that tried to wrap everything up but it was rushed and done so for the sake of ending the story, not giving enough of a lasting impression. At best this should've been 13 episodes, not 12. That was probably the biggest disappointment of the whole show.

Revenger didn't end with a bang, but a whimper.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Mar 23, 2023

KANLen09

Not Recommended

Gen "the Butcher" Urobuchi, you're no more worth the iconic "Butcher" nickname anymore. Fool me once (with Bubble), shame on you. Fool me twice (with RWBY: Ice Queendom), shame on me. Fool me thrice (with Revenger)...I don't know what to think of anymore.

I was going through the Internet like usual to prepare for this review, only to stumble upon a very recent discussion article on ANN a.k.a Anime News Network that popped up on its feeds just the week before, citing that "Does Gen Urobuchi's Name Mean Anything Anymore?". And it was definitely an interesting, but scathing article to read through of what it means ... for shows to be slapped with the famed Nitroplus writer's name. Everything from Madoka Magica to Psycho-Pass, to the more recent failures with RWBY: Ice Queendom, Bubble and this show: Revenger, which unmistakably bears the hallmarks of the once iconic "Butcher" moniker that Gen Urobuchi lives by. Even legends do fall, and Gen Urobuchi has been nothing but repeatedly wrong after more wrongs, to the point that it's not shocking anymore that apart from the violence and gore that we've come to expect, he has become lazy in his writing calibre overall.

Revenger tells the story of hitmen: ordinary people that can come from anywhere, joining the Ribenji-ya / Revengers organization that takes revenge on behalf for people who have no power or control. All they need to do is one simple job: acquire a koban coin, bite onto it as hard as they can, and hand it over to anyone in the Revengers group. The deeper the groove and sink, the stronger the vendetta for revenge, and consider the matter done. This is especially important for the main protagonist: Kurima Raizo, the master swordsman whose loyalty to his Satsuma clan was used to manipulate him into murdering his own fiancée's father. He soon kills the man who arranged the plot, and with nowhere to go after his fiancée kills herself in despair, joins the Ribenjiya crew who helped him. Over there, he is joined by coworkers that include a physician with destructive impulses, a beautiful and androgynous young man who is both cruel and innocent, a gambler who loves money and alcohol, and an intelligent lacquer craftsman.

These 5 people are:
- Raizo Kurima, the master swordsman whose loyalty to his clan was used to manipulate him into murdering his own fiancée's father.
- Yuen Usui, the soft-spoken handyman whose day job is as a maki-e lacquerware artist. He is also the owner of Ribenjiya, a gairaigo corruption of the word "revenge," to help settle the debts of those who normally cannot afford to hire a hitman through the bitten koban coin. His preferred method of killing is slapping a sheet of gold lacquer over the target's face until they suffocate, with the large tattoo of the Virgin Mary covering his back, signifying his faith and his work for an underground Christian group, serving the priest Gerald Kano, whom also gives spiritual guidance and funding to the members of Ribenjiya.
- Teppa Murakami, a former pirate and current doctor who treats patients from all walks of life, regardless of money on hand. He creates and maintains a secret stash of weapons for Ribenjiya, and his massive frame allows him to use heavier weaponry than most people cannot use.
- Nio, the small, androgynous boy whose angelic face hides a cruel and calculating mind. His method of assassination involves using kite strings covered in tiny glass shards.
- Soji, the self-indulgent gambler who prizes money, alcohol, and women above all else, but is surprisingly compassionate when dealing with people he likes. His weapon is a deck of hanafuda cards with thin iron pieces embedded in them, which he throws at enemies' vital points.

Together, the 5 people are the stronghold of the Revengers group, with clientele visiting them every so often for the sole job that is revenge.

It's actually intriguing how the entire anime came to be under the staff team, formulating their claims about what Revenger is trying to be in the first place. Under the leadership of studio Ajia-Do's in-house director Masaya Fujimori, Revenger is meant to showcase both Western and Eastern culture in the style of "coolness", and Urobuchi hopes that based on the concepts that he conceptualized for the show, would appeal to the audience, believing that this collboration would be something special. Urobuchi even expressed his interest in the characters' inner thoughts, as well as utilizing traditional animation used to properly portray the setting that the anime is in. On top of this, Revenger uses tricky plot twists and clever strategies to aid the anime in its progressing story plot, which aside from the title of the work not containing any hidden meanings, Urobuchi believes that Revenger will make an impact, on those who are waiting for a "truly interesting" work. This is actually supported from Fujimori finding the script to be very rich and intriguing to the point where it is unbelievably fun. Furthermore, Fujimori's own experience with media from his early days, he is trying to recreate the experience of watching period dramas and criminal dramas that aired during the Showa era and update the experience for the present time. As anyone well-versed in show productions can tell, doing a period drama is very difficult, so after reviewing Urobuchi's script, Fujimori had to tip off his Fedora hat at the famed writer's contributed work on the anime.

The TL;DR is this: Urobuchi has woven a plot twist into Revenger, and it's that this feels the most like an Urobuchi joint written by Urobuchi for Urobuchi in years. Which I would have to agree that since the Butcher himself likes gore, violence and edgy undertones, this is what he incorporates into this revenge story of great proportions. I can feel myself checking out during any of its explanations of trade union politics or law enforcement jurisdiction manipulation. That is the idea of the main ex-Samurai Raizo acting as a meta-textual examination of Urobuchi himself: Someone who's decided he doesn't want to be pigeonholed as the grimdark violence guy anymore and wants to explore expressing different artistic subject matter. Just look at what being a Revenger turned Kurima into...a poetic lingua that expands upon the breath of life and what he is made out of, more than just killing for revenge.

That said, even the music has a part to play in the woven contrastness of Gen Urobuchi's creation. RetBear's OP "Downtimer" emphasizes the determination of moving forward despite not being able to properly see the future which fits with the series' ideals of revenge. Whereas Maaya Sakamoto's ED "un_mute", composed by Yūho Iwasato, the lyricist she respects the most, to write the lyrics with the image of wanting to create a song that would envelop and purify the hearts of the characters, that lived to its name as calm and gentle as it could to match the song's rhythms.

However, this makes it all the more disappointing that Revenger is just...there. It's alright. It's entirely competent as a sword-and-sandals action thing. Yet, it sloughs off both my eyes and my brain as soon as the episode ends. It's not amazing by the standards of Urobuchi's more storied work, but there are clearly like, ideas and concepts he's playing with beyond just slapping his name on the scenario and including wacky characters or someone becoming a god. I won't lie that Gen Urobuchi has style, but when it comes to the execution, he's "all style, no substance".

I have been burnt by Urobuchi's unkempt storytelling quite a lot recently that didn't amount to anything, and for a fact that there're still fans of the famed writer thinking that the Butcher could still do something right, you're seriously out of luck. And as it stands, Revenger just fills you nothing but pure mystical violent revenge of the most immaculate kind, for action and for honor only. And that's it, no more trusting with big names, yadda yadda.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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	Poll: Revenger Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 5, 2023	109 replies	by Apratim »» Dec 21, 2024 8:34 AM
	Beautiful artwork SoloNecromancer - Apr 27, 2024	4 replies	by Kreshre »» Apr 28, 2024 6:55 PM
	Poll: Revenger Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) KANLen09 - Mar 23, 2023	61 replies	by Forum »» Dec 4, 2023 10:28 PM
	Poll: Revenger Episode 7 Discussion KANLen09 - Feb 16, 2023	32 replies	by bara_king »» Aug 12, 2023 4:49 AM
	Poll: Revenger Episode 11 Discussion KANLen09 - Mar 16, 2023	14 replies	by WolfWood37 »» Apr 29, 2023 12:39 PM