What is this?
© CA/B/N, EP, P
Yamauchi is a fantastical world where Yatagarasu lives. Yukiya, a young Yatagarasu boy, is appointed as the attendant of Wakamiya, the eccentric crown prince. Before long, he becomes caught up in a web of intrigue to overthrow the heir to the throne.
Yatagarasu The crow does not choose its master It is based on Yatagarasu novel series written by Chisato Abe.The anime series is streaming on crunchy roll Every Saturday.
What did you think of the first episode?
© CA/B/N, EP, P
Nicholas Dupree
evaluation:
This is one of those shows that I love doing, but it’s very hard to follow. I’m always interested in stories of court intrigue, stories of characters trying to navigate the cruel and toxic world of the monarchy while everyone wears fancy clothes to hide their fangs. The problem is, these shows usually have a million moving parts, and characters often have multiple names and titles, so when I need to keep track of everything, my It’s when your brain shuts down. Even with a relatively simple setup like this first episode, we had to quickly create visual aids to make sense of everything.
That conflict is probably why I didn’t dock this show more with such a slow, exposition-driven introduction. Like the first POV character, Asebi, I need someone to hold my hand and explain all the passive-aggressive collusion in this land of corvids. Thankfully, these descriptions can still tell you a lot about the various characters and their perspectives. Asebi is an outsider who doesn’t know all the unspoken rules of court life and rarely makes mistakes. She is so serious and likable that you will root for her. Although Hamayuu appears vindictive at first glance, she is brutally honest, in contrast to Masuho’s Susuki, who is polite but subtly condescending. Shiratama is a bit mysterious, but she seems to empathize with Asebi as a flounder among sharks. It’s all good and good, and there’s plenty of room for interesting dynamics to play out as everyone competes for the prince’s hand.
We don’t know much about the prince himself yet, and we don’t even know if he’ll appear in this episode. That means there are a lot of questions about where the story goes from here. This is a complex story with a ton of moving parts, even before you bring in fantasy elements like everyone being giant, sentient ravens in human form. Leaving the central character a complete mystery is interesting, but it also leaves a lot of uncertainty about where this whole thing is going to go. On top of that, the final minutes of this episode introduce even more characters that have little to do with the rest of the story. That means there are multiple other vectors and storylines to track.
To be sure, a complex story isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This means you can wait until the show is all over, so you don’t have to remember all the names, titles, and dueling factions exactly in your head for months. Overall, this is a solid introduction and definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of historical dramas.
