Anime Review: ORIENT

ORIENT
Genres: Adventure, Action, Fantasy
Rating: PG-13

When I was first recommended ORIENT by a close friend, I thought it would be a breath of fresh air in the shounen genre. So, even though I wasn’t seeing a lot of hype being built up around it, I decided to give it a try, especially since the mangaka had previously created the popular Magi series.

Unfortunately, this anime fell flat, and other reviews of it seem to agree. The first several episodes of the series feel like they are following a formulaic approach to shounen anime. Boy + Sword + Demon = Good Anime. And while there are several amazing anime featuring a boy with a sword going toe to toe with demons, this author seems to have missed the point about what exactly made those anime so entertaining to watch.

The main character, Musashi, lives in a world where oni have begun to take over the earth, slowly enslaving humans one civilization at a time. Only the bushi warriors, who wield special blades, are able to take them down and fight for humanity. Musashi grows up wanting to become one of these bushi warriors even though all of the adults in his life look down on them and call them trash.

Maybe the story moved a little too fast for my liking, but Musashi’s journey to become a bushi warrior felt too easy. His friend, Kojirou, the son of a bushi warrior who is ridiculed for his family’s past, forgives Musashi too easily for joining in on his family’s torment. Musashi is able to acquire an oni-slaying blade very easily despite many factors working against him, and he even manages to find a love interest who is genuinely interested in him in record time.

If you want to watch a shounen anime where the protagonist faces minimal struggle and an easy ride to victory, I suppose this show is for you. But if you’re really wanting to see a boy do some cool sword moves and take down some demons, you’re better off watching Demon Slayer.

4/10.