Hey there guys. Its Wolvenciel, back from the grave. Its been like, what, three months now? Yeah. So I actually planned this review for after I did Kabukibu! but things got busy and I got lazy.
In any case, the anime is technically an old one by now but I'll still cover it because I love Yamanbagiri so damn much. Here we go.
WARNING: Lots of pictures. By my standards anyway.
Hanamaru?
In case you still didn't get the idea yet, YES this is more like a bishounen (handsome and beautiful boys/men) fan service-ish anime. It literally spells "flower boy" (roughly translated by me) in the title with a little bit of plot of course, but mostly slice of life fan service.
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| The butler cosplay I get, but SUNGLASSES?? |
One more warning, IF you are a decent boy/young man who does not like watching other boys fool around looking cute/funny/cool, stop reading now.
You Said A Little Bit Of Plot?
So Touken Ranbu Hanamaru (TRH for convenience) focuses on one of Okita Souji's swords, Yamatonokami Yasusada. who still feels a sense of attachment to Okita despite being in the care of a new master and living his daily life learning on how to move on with the help of his friends in the citadel.
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| This boy is Yamatonokami Yasusada. Fetching ponytail I guess. |
Just so you know, this little bit of plot is only applied at the beginning and the end of the series and I have to say I am very fond of that. Most slice of life anime tend to start and end their series out of nowhere. That sort of leave the viewers without a sense of closure which leads to rage in the comment section and false hopes of a second season.
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| Don't be fooled by the intro. Please. |
So yes, I appreciate slice of life anime with at least a little bit of plot to introduce and conclude the series. Its an awesome technique.
Based Off A Browser Game
In case you don't know, Touken Ranbu is based off a browser game and everything is almost the same as in the anime. You have a lot of boys around you, they all idolize you for turning them into corporeal forms, and you rage a lot because some hot boy wouldn't come to you through forging (sort of like a gatcha but a hell lot more forgiving if you ask me).
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| A LOT of boys. Yeah. |
So there are quite a few elements from the game that gets incorporated into the anime like good luck charms, chores, missions, expeditions and the general store. So for people who don't play the game, you'd be a tiny bit lost as to some of the terms used in the anime but really, it doesn't affect your viewing experience that much.
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| Chore division by the captain, also an element from the browser game. |
Now the reason I mention this is that for some people, the art from the game is so much better than the art in the anime. I understand this completely. I mean some of them just look downright daddy to me too and suddenly in the anime they look a little more fluffy and a little less manly.
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| Like this guy right here. He looked like a bad ass in the game. |
Watching the anime, you'll need to understand that the art definitely will be different because its drawn by different people and the art style compliments the way the story is told, mild and fluffy.
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| See that. Dumb and cute. |
Why Would You Watch This?
This... is optional. Scroll down to the end if you don't like Yamanbagiri or don't play the game. Really. Okay. So you should definitely watch this for the cute interactions between the swords that you can't actually see in the game and also to satisfy your fantasies. I mean let's be real. Even I watched this for that.
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| Yeah I became a fan of him during a collab with Granblue Fantasy. |
One of the cool things that you definitely should look forward to is their special attack arts. They really revved those up for the anime and if you have your favorite swords featured in the anime, you should definitely watch it. Most of them have a special episode to better showcase them independently as well.
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| Look at the flair. Phew. |
I... watch this for Yamanbagiri Kunihiro. My first sword love ever since I started playing the game. Sure he's just a starter sword but I can't help but love him. Shy and timid at times yet bold and fierce when the need arises. I even had a picture gallery made for him in the blog some eternity ago.
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| His introduction. <3 |
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| Him in the opening. |
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| Him doing a gay joke. |
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| Him blushing. Yeah I was screaming here. |
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| And I screamed here even louder. |
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| GLORIOUS. WOW. |
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| This was me when I saw the whole scene of him with his hood falling off and looking bloody awesome. |
Sorry For The Gasms
Anyways. Touken Ranbu Hanamaru is definitely a must watch if you dig boys and swords and cute slice of life stuff. I'm weird enough to like them so I don't know. If you're a boy/young man and you're still reading this, you definitely need to read your warning signs better.
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| Yes this is your obligatory megane picture from me, Wolvenciel. |
I'm not saying you shouldn't watch this or anything, its just that you're better off watching the OTHER Touken Ranbu anime. The one with UFOTABLE as the studio making it. Just saying.
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| I wasted a lot of my resources for you, damn it. (I still don't have him) |
This is Wolvenciel, Signing off.
