First Impression: Meiji Gekken: 1874

It’s the Boshin War or Japanese Revolution of 1868 and two lone samurai face down the upstart Imperial forces at Tsuguru Castle, with tragic results. But before dying, Gen’nosuke makes bestie Shizuma promise to survive and protect his younger sister, Sumie, who will now be orphaned. Six years later, Edo is much transformed as foreign shops line the streets and the men of the new Imperial government sport Western dress and outlandish facial hair. Even Shizuma is much changed, with his bright purple leggings and floppy hair as he labors as a rickshaw puller, his past as a samurai all but disguised, and his quest to find Sumie still ongoing. That is, until someone frames him for murder (it is unclear whether inadvertently or purposefully), and he must use all his old skills to clear his name. Meanwhile, scheming politicians, shady British businessmen, double agents, cheating yakuza, disgruntled former samurai, an interreligious band of mystics including a Christian archer girl, and a geisha with a taste for assassination and pulling strings from the shadows jostle and clash in the back rooms and dark alleys of the capital, fleshing out the net that Shizuma is getting caught up in, as the nascent police force grapples ineffectually with them all. Who is friend and who is foe? And will Shizuma be able to get himself clear of this web of conspiracies?

This series has been in the works since 2020, when it started life as a Crunchyroll Original, a brand that no longer exists. The project was subsequently picked up by Tsumugi Akita Animation Lab, with some of its international production members intact, and now finally graces our screens, though perhaps “grace” is not quite the right term. This is an interesting one: there is potential here for captivating historical political intrigue, interwoven with romance and that ever-popular theme of the honor of the disgraced samurai. This episode introduces a massive cast of characters and does so more successfully with some than others so that it is difficult to get a read on where exactly Shizuma will fit in all this and who we should be rooting for. But perhaps that’s deliberate: after all, the historical period itself was chaotic and turbulent, as factions split and rose and fell like the roiling waves of an ocean storm. But this ferment makes for a muddy episode that falls a little flat in terms of characters and setup. I can’t help but think that a golden opportunity was missed here by making Sumie a nice demure old-fashioned girl instead of a serving girl spy or even one of the geisha’s minions. Seems like the male and female lead will fall into a pretty predictable pattern here. In terms of the art, the backgrounds are really nicely done, bringing the modernizing Edo to life, and there is some good animation as well in the action sequences, but it suffers frequently from thick line syndrome, and not in an avant-garde way. All in all, this is an ok first episode for a complex historical drama that may find its feet in another episode or two, once the audience can catch up with all these characters and start to get a handle on the factions. As a fan of the genre, I’m happy to give this series that chance, but it has some convincing to do to keep me hooked.

There are A LOT of characters!

Meiji Gekken: 1874 is streaming on Crunchyroll.

claire
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