Juuni Taisen

[Spoiler Warning] Do you know what Juuni Taisen lacked? The music in comedy anime where someone does something stupid. Everything was so stupid here that it might've been better to just make it a comedy anime. And even with that my score would've been maybe 5 instead of 4 After watching all of the show, I want to say that this anime... Had potential. And a lot of it. But it went downhill really fast. I'm going to talk about the pattern of the anime, which makes almost every episode the same, the poor "border story" and why the anime which is tagged only as "Action"- doesn't do anything interesting with action. Minor spoilers but I do not specify names. So, when I first saw Juuni Taisen, I got hyped "Another Fate? Sounds cool!" and the story is pretty simple. 12 fighters, 1 wish, fight to death, last one standing (probably). Where did it fall off? Basically at the end of the first episode, but you only realize it later. Juuni Taisen repeats a pretty bad pattern for almost every episode. Show flashbacks of character->Show character's amazing plan how to win->Character dies a random, quick death. (You sit there afterwards and ask yourself what the hell has happend)->Show next episode's title which contains an animal and spoils the next death in the next episode. I have been watching it and hoping- Will the pattern break? And also, we are spoiled the order of the deaths, I do not want to spoil where, but once you see it and realize and doesn't break pattern and unlikely to.... You lose 80% of the enjoyment. The border story? None. They fight for a wish, that's it. Oh and there's some guy who started all this and introduces them in the first episode to that Juuni Taisen, we don't know who that guy is (....yet?). I wanna give props to the music (kinda), the OP and ED were top notch. The soundtrack.. Mostly forgettable. But the art on the other hand... Went downhill real fast. In conclusion, my score is 4/10. And if you're looking for a Fate alternative, you better watch Kiss X Sis because at least it's better than Juuni Taisen.

Every season nowadays, we get one of those “dark, edgy” shows that can make our stomach growl. From this year, we had plenty of those. Titles such as Kakegurui, Chaos;Child, and even Vatican Kiseki Chousakan tried to sell its ideas to viewers with mixed results. Then, there’s Juuni Taisen, a show that features a battle royale theme. Based on the signs of the Eastern Zodiac, it’ a character battle for the ultimate grand price of having a wish fulfilled. But honestly, Juuni Taisen is a show that betrayed expectations. It didn’t fulfill my wish of a show that is memorable. Instead, it delivered a half-assed TV anime that makes headlines for the wrong reasons. Juuni Taisen is interesting to note for its creator, the brainchild behind the Monogatari novels. While that franchise takes on a more narrative approach, Juuni Taisen tried to do something different. It became a show that heavily focused on its characters, ones that I honestly found to have many problems by their standards. That’s another subject by itself though. For this anime to succeed, it had to really get viewers invested into the story and be something unique of itself. Unfortunately, the battle royale theme is hardly original. The popular Fate franchise already had a similar premise while other shows in recent years also took on such an approach. (ex. Btooom, Mirai Nikki) What Juun Taisen failed to really do is not bringing in characters that are worth watching for but instead kills them off like they are some failed experiment. To say the least, that’s just awful to realize. Watching this anime will probably get you to realize what it wants you to like. The bloodthirsty action, tragic drama, and emotional storytelling is what people should really expect from a show like this. Unfortunately, it only capitalizes on a small percent of that. Its straightforward storytelling is very predictable as you’d expect from a battle royale theme show. Every time you see an episode filled with storytelling based on a certain character, almost always expect that character to die sooner or later. As for the storytelling itself, this show took a risk and it didn’t truly pay off. Most of the characters in this anime has some sort of background story, motivation, and apparently goal for themselves. However, it doesn’t really evoke any feelings in the end as it’s hard to get attached to them. With perhaps the exception of the Tiger, almost every episode made me feel less sensitive about the characters. I don’t feel much sympathy for them because there’s really no point to after realizing what their fate awaits them. It’s so predictable that you can almost guess exactly what may from scene to scene for some episodes. The worst offender is the Usagi (Rabbit) because this anime omits any sort of character development for him. He is literally portrayed as a psychotic abomination who tries to make “friends” and enjoys the thrill of killing. It doesn’t also help that the character lacks a personality and is there to fill the bloodthirsty action part of the show. By storytelling context, I do want to say that the show provides reasons for the battle royale itself and that there’s a larger end-goal than just making a wish come true. If you came for a show with graphic content, then this may end up being somewhat of a crowd-pleaser. The body horror, bloodshed, and overall psychology lives up to certain expectations. So really, if you plan to watch Juuni Taisen, you won’t be disappointed for a show that offers its violence. I also have to add that through its battle royale theme, the show sometimes gets creative with how characters uses their approach to kill. While it’s far from being an intelligent anime with strategies and clever psychology, some characters are deceptively cunning. The anime makes it clear that there will be one victor so death is something that you’ll see often. The way these are carried out can occasionally be impressive despite the extreme predictably. Adapted by studio Graphinica, I will admit that the overall visual quality gave me some favorable impressions. From the character introductions to the battle choreography, Juuni Taisen knows how to get viewers pumped up for some of its episodes. As dark and edgy as this show can be, it does live up to some expectations in regards to its technical content with graphic horror. Body parts are shredded, blood is spilled, and mentality is tested through facial character expressions. There isn’t much censorship either. Tragic background stories has a black and white stylish tone that expresses a sense of vulnerability. Most of the animation also remains fluid without questionable raw quality. The character designs are interesting to take notice ranging from Usagi’s man service to some of the sci-fi gimmicky outfits such as those wore by Tsumita siblings. The animal motifs and characteristics are also evident to represent the Chinese Zodiac. When it comes to soundtrack delivery, there are several qualities that makes this barely watchable. First, the battle OST is far too generic. It just seems to be there and isn’t unique by any standards. Second, there are the character voices. Some of them really doesn’t make an impact while others are memorable just by their voice alone. The guiltiest example is Usagi, a character voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto. His voice from this show channels the craziest and ridiculous lines I’ve seen from this show. On the other hand, the theme songs gives a feeling of melancholy and grimmer mood. I mean, it is a very moody anime after all. Should you really watch Juuni Taisen? As a light novel adaptation with 12 episodes, it’s about as predictable as it can get. Expectations were shattered in pieces once you realize what you’re in for. Beyond the predictably, the anime fails to get over most or if any of its character cast. Even when there are characters that you try to feel sympathy for, it ends up being wasted in the end. It’s a show that I tried to accept for what it is but ended up being a dumb action flick that ran dead on its shoes.

Before the start of the fall anime season, Junni Taisen was one of the animes that caught my eye. The reason why is because it had the term Novel on what material it was adapted from. As in it wasn’t a light novel series or a regular novel series, but rather it was one single novel. As in all it needed to do has been done, and all that’s left is to adapt it to animation that has an ending in sight that will leave little to no loose ends. What started as mild intrigue was quickly overtaken with dissatisfaction as the first two episodes rolled around. Juuni taisen starts out in terms of its premise, as a very simple battle tournament between some of the best “warriors” in the world. The gimmick in this story is that each the the contenders is representative of each of the chinese zodiac. Add on top of that a desolate city where the contenders can do whatever they want, and you have a formula for some fun. It may not be the most smartest of stories, but it has the ability to bring many great fighting scenes which sadly never becomes the case. Backstories and their utilization One of the most noticeable aspects of this show, mostly because of how much time it takes from the show, is that it has a lot of backstories. Almost every episode has a backstory for one of the characters which is fine, I mean there are 12 characters and only 12 episodes worth of screen time for them. The problem is that each backstory is too long, and even worse is that it's the only shreds of characterization that we have for almost all the characters. I mean i’m fine with backstories as a way to develop a character and give them more depth, but it should be used as the base not the entirety of the character. It’s because of this that all the characters feel shallow, and it’s difficult to get engaged with them which in turn removes a lot of tension that could have been given to the anime. It’s also because of the overuse of backstory that during my time watching I began to wonder, how are backstories are used in a story? One of the answers i came to is the one i used a paragraph above, as a way to develop a character and give them some depth while serving as a base and point of reference for how far they have or haven’t changed through the course of the story. It could as be used as a way for characters to interact as a way to sympathize or persuade each other, as well as the characters and readers getting a chance to know the characters. Now how are they are inserted into the story? Well as stated above it could be through character interaction, but another way is through characters reminiscing over their past. A majority of Junni Taisen’s implementation of backstory is through reminiscing, which also becomes another of its faults. Reminiscing over your past is better used during the low points in the story when there is not much conflict and characters are allowed time to think about things without interruption. However since Junni taisen is mostly conflict it seems unreasonable for characters to think about their past, since they should be more busy thinking of strategy plans. It’s only used properly twice and that’s because it was before and after the battle royal, which is basically the low point, and it also does backstory via character interaction maybe once. All other backstories feel hamfisted into the story as a way to give the characters some form of depth. They should have also thrown in a record scratch and a freeze frame before delving into their backstories because at least that would give them some value even if comedic. Even worse is what comes after each backstories that turn the show into a bore which leads to. Character focus and the wheel of predictability Junni Taisen doesn’t really have a central that the story focuses on, but insteads puts focus on almost the entire cast, with each given an episode each. It did comes as quite the surprise during the first episode when only one character was given the most focus to, as well as a backstory, to the point that it was made to believe that they were the main character. Of course that thought was dashed away as they died in the very same episode. It was a nice subversion of expectations, but the problem is that it didn't go anywhere with this. It kept on doing the same thing over and over again with each character. If they are the main focus of the episode, and are given a backstory than they are likely to die soon. It may not be in the same episode, but they still die in a certain manner that holding back their death for an episode or 2 didn’t really matter. Another thing to add on top of that is the order that the characters die. All you need to do is look at the chinese zodiac wheel and after the death of the three contenders, it’s easy to see how the show is going to play out. It seems that the people of the show were aware of the predictability of the show, and made heavy hints on how it will play out via the ending title, and the name of each episode. Even so it really adds nothing to the show. The show tells you what it’s going to do and does it, and does nothing else. It’s fine but leaves nothing for the viewers imagination, and removes even more tension from the show. With a predictable story and shallow characters, it’s hard to see the point in the story as it drags on. the fuckery of the junni taisen world The world of juuni taisen doesn’t make any fuckin sense. At first there wasn’t much to the world other than a group of assassins wearing costumes corresponding to their zodiac animal meeting in the middle of a desolate city to duke it out in order to have their wishes granted by the host. Gimmicky and simple sure, but it allows for things to be straightforward and brush of things that are never explained such as, how are they able to fight in a city that seemed to be abandoned recently? Well if they are able to gather the best killers in the world than they must be stinkin rich which also could explain how they are able to grant a wish and have people evacuate the city, via money and power. However in the same first episode near the end magic is also introduced through the use of necromancy. So that leaves questions that weren’t questioned now difficult to explain because now the wish and the the abandoned city could have been explained with magic or money, but it seems the writers weren’t bothered now to actually explain it. So now you have a world where there is some sort of magic in the world and the contenders are able to use them, but it seems that one ability is restricted to one character each. It’s never explained why only one ability or how abilities such as theirs play in the world outside of people being assassins. It also leads to a power imbalance as it could be possible for one of the characters to have an op ability that can beat the rest of the contenders. I think the thing that bothered me more was the entire point of junni taisen was that it served as a proxy war so that unknown people can make bets to take counties, and the whole thing is just dumb. There’s been enough flashbacks from the series to show us that there is still war between nations and fighting over land outside the battle royal. Is there going to be a change of government are borders going to be redrawn especially for something that happens every 12 years. Even then it’s not like the citizens will be happy which can lead to civil unrest and rebellion. I was also going to go into the 12 families and the happenstance of the character aesthetics to their respective zodiac, but at this point it’s too much. Basically as more about the juuni taisen world is shown the more convoluted and contradictory it really is. It looks like a bunch of things slapped together with not much thought in the big picture. Production Value and other final thoughts The production value during the beginning was fine to say the least. I liked the character designs of the warriors mostly because of how gimmicky they are just…

I am sick of people saying that this anime is a non-sense. I loved the anime from the beginning. The first 2 episodes were totally unpredictable and then it got predictable. The unpredictability once again returns in the last episode. I mean who would've thought that. This anime is not just about action but also has awakening meaning.You get pretty awesome action. Intense strategizing. All 12 characters different in their thinking (except for the Dragon & Snake Brothers). Overall I loved it. I was excited every single episode. the OP is excellent. Art could be better though. One Bright spot in the Fall2017.

Sometimes it is easy to grab a club and hit a series as hard as possible with an unconvincing criticism, and we forget that our tastes are not the same as those of the readers. The plot is about a group of assassins (zodiac configuration) who joined a fight to death called Juuni Taisen, that's all. First, let me ask you something. What story do you expect from a fight to the death or deathmatch? All the characters will die, so the story is easy to follow. The substantial part of the spectacle is not in the fight against death itself; it is in the background from the secondary stories. Besides, all the personality, skills and reasons to be in the battle are explained in the secondary stories. Why should an author focus on the deathmatch, knowing the predictable outcome? The anime gives constant clues about WHO will die later, so pretending to be surprised by the plot is a big mistake. Do not have high hopes for the story, it is predictable but you can enjoy the small stories and the animation instead. Remember, it is not Death Note, Made in the Abyss, etc. Furthermore, ¿what will you expect from these characters? In summary, they all are assassins, murderers, most of them are psychopaths and antisocials so what background do you want to see? A killer lover of all living beings? ¿A killer, that have some morals and will cry at night for all the persons that died? They are not like Monkey, and that character was a killer as well. Please, do not overthink a deathmatch plot and do not try to explain it either with false and bold arguments. The art is normal. The show is predictable. Moreover, for an animation studio is hard to invest a significant amount of money and time in some fights when the outcome is evident for the audience. Also, the chapters try to explain the character's perspective, so the animation used is acceptable for this purpose. On the other hand, the sound is typical, it helps with the fights and boosts the events but nothing more. The OP was ok. In conclusion, the show gives the casual enjoyment when you watch any predictable show. For example, you could enjoy the character's short stories, but you already know the outcome, so you will feel a bit disappointed at the end because the show did not fulfill a more significant plot. Overall 6.5 rounded 7.0 Finally, the show has some remarkable short stories, but not all them are fascinating. The plot isn't hard to follow, and it is very predictable. However, the outcome fits the adaptation's objective and relinquish some information about the characters using short stories. Sadly, the pacing could be a problem because the time between the short story and the dead of the characters do not allow any further character progression. Besides, the show isn't as bad as some reviewers are trying to manifest. A lot of spectators will enjoy that genre and the story, but the show isn't fantastic either, so if you expect too much from it, you could receive a hit in the face.

Juuni Taisen is one of the best examples of a bonafide "what if" anime: What if the show was 24 instead of 12 episodes? What if the art and animation were more consistent? What if half the show wasn't pure flashbacks? What if the character deaths weren't so laughably predictable? I really could go on, and it's a shame imagining what could have been an outstanding show. The anime is plagued by a myriad of small problems which by themselves would be insignificant and ignorable, but when you account for so many of them, it becomes detrimental to the viewing experience. On its surface, Juuni Taisen aspires to be an epic, exhilarating battle royale where 12 warriors representing the signs of the Chinese zodiac volunteer or are chosen to partake in the brawl, with the winner to be granted any one wish. Naturally, comparisons will be made to the Fate/Stay Night series, and while that juxtaposition isn't too far-fetched, Juuni Taisen is far more character driven and in that fact lies the show's greatest strengths and weaknesses. On principle, most of us can't get attached to characters if a said character received little to no screen time, or barely any development or backstory. To meet this principle, the anime dedicates one episode to most of the characters, where we see the conflict from their point of view and learn about their past. The problem here is that their backstory is told through an often intruding and abysmally long flash back that takes up the majority of their episode. I'm not one of those guys that hates flashbacks, heck I loved the original Naruto, but the difference here is that Naruto had dozens of episodes to tell its story and flesh out all its characters; Juuni Taisen does not have that time or liberty, so to see almost all of a character's screen time be dedicated to a flashback feels like a superfluous disservice to them, however effective it might have been to their development. Speaking of disservice, one thing I'm sure that bothered others besides me was how suddenly the majority of the characters are killed off. About 80% of all the characters perish instantly to a sneak attack or die sacrificing themselves for another character. You can hardly call this an action anime if only 2 or 3 of the characters die fighting, while the others never really even got a chance to shine in the combat they so loved. Again, I'm not an action enthusiast, but if you're going to dump a huge flashback on us only to suddenly kill the character off afterwards, you've wasted any potential for growth that character might have had, as well as what could've been a great fight. And that leads to the other problem: Predicable deaths, very predictable deaths. The anime is very formulaic --- The episode focuses on one character, they get a 15 minute long flashback, and about 2 or 3 minutes after the flashback ends, they die, usually without a fight. While this isn't always the case, you can usually guess with surprising accuracy the next character to be killed off by just figuring out which character that previously got no screen time is suddenly getting lots and go from there. In this anime, flashbacks are the death flags, and screen time is the precursor to that. The last bit of bad news if you're interested in this anime is the often wonky art and animation. It's all over the place to be honest, bouncing between amazing and sluggishly lazy. Honestly, at the times when the animation is downright jaw dropping, it only irks me even more for the lack of action scenes that could have greatly utilized it. Even the CGI is fluid and alive, might even be the best CGI I've seen in anime. But again, it all varies as sometimes the art devolves significantly past the point of saying its the anime's art style and just leaves me wondering "why?" But of all the negatives, this one is probably the most ignorable. As for strengths, the biggest one is that its very character driven and knows how to make us care for characters in such a short amount of time, but it comes at the cost of the above negatives and due to the nature of the anime, the characters would not live long enough anyway to solidify a deep connection to. More episodes would have been amazing for this show, but we have to consume what we have been served. I can also say with certainty that not one of the problems I listed was enough to affect my overall positive enjoyment of the show, and my lower overall rating of 6 is mostly due to objective critique. I'm a firm believer of watching a show for the enjoyment rather that to look to criticize it, so if the synopsis interests you at all, I still recommend you give it a try. Just bear in mind the above qualms and perhaps lower expectations accordingly. In all, Juuni Taisen presents a simple yet effective story with compelling characters, though both of these are mired down by easy predictability and a lack of focus on action where there should be more of it. There was a lot of missed potential here, but at the same time it hit just enough right marks to distinguish itself as something truly unique in its field.

⚖️ Final Score: 2/10 – Horrible Congratulations, Juni Taisen—you’ve graduated from Very Bad to Absolutely Worthless… without quite hitting the apocalyptic bottom of a 1. The concept? Fantastic. The premise screams opportunity—twelve warriors with distinct philosophies, powers, and ideals thrown into a life-or-death scenario. It could have been brilliant. But that potential? Completely wasted. Basically a battle royale that butchered any hopes and dreams from the first episode, to the last. No spoilers, but this show is quite pointless to watch, I do not recommend, save your time, there is no value, there's nothing to look forward to. It begins, and it ends. And I wish I had never seen it, how ironic...

Disclaimer: This review might contain spoilers on the anime "Juuni Taisen". Please excuse me if I make a mistake or you don't understand a part, as English is not my first language. Thank you. Juuni Taisen or How to Scam the Audience As a fan of NisiOisiN it is uncomfortable to write this review. I still can not believe that Juuni Taisen, an anime based on his novel, could be so mediocre. And the worst thing is that at the beginning it looked promising. Everything seemed to point to this anime would be avant-garde to break with the clichés of the formula "Battle Royale"; however, episode after episode, Juuni Taisen was transformed into a mess unable to maintain interest.   Some characters so one-dimensional that, with some exceptions, it was impossible to connect with them; and a plot that folded to a totally predictable formula, killed any kind of suspense or mystery possible. In case anyone did not notice, the order of the deaths was the inverse of the order of the Chinese zodiac; and if that was very difficult to guess, the ending showed the sequence in all the episodes. In addition, what was initially innovative and unexpected, soon became a heavy and insipid structure. I mean the formula of showing a character's background right before he died. I have to admit, that even in the final episode itself I expected a plot twist that would justify everything, but no, that salvation never came. It is supposed that the subject of this type of series is that each death is unexpected and that it is never known who will win until the end; nevertheless, Juuni Taisen decided to remove that suspense from the middle to focus on making a veiled criticism of the war? The problem with that is that without suspense it is difficult to maintain interest. Not to mention that the characters have hardly any development and it is extremely difficult to empathize with them; not only because of its poor construction, but because just at the moment they develop a little they end up dying. And in the midst of that scenario, do you want to teach us that war is bad? Using cheap self-help book philosophy? With this panorama it was inevitable that this series would fail. A pity that a work of a great like NisiOisiN ends up happening without pain or glory. Of course, as in everything, there are exceptions, for example the Ox and the Tigress were two of the rescue characters; unfortunately they did not have more minutes on the screen. The rat could be another prominent character, especially for those last two episodes; however, his absence during more than 75% of the series made him lose all the weight he could potentially have. Finally, the resolution was totally anticlimactic, which did not help at all to improve the series. Only the issue of desire in the final episode was a bit like raising the quality a little; however, in the end even that was handled horribly. For that desire to forget everything had had an impact, it was necessary that the rat had more weight during the 12 episodes; If the audience had suffered their pain while living each path, for example, they would have had more connection with the boy and his predicament. On the technical section. The soundtrack only has the opening to highlight, but it is not to launch rockets; the rest of the music is totally forgettable. The animation started well, but soon it went to the floor, leaving a lot to be desired in the process. On the other hand, the direction was frightening in every minute. There were hardly two or three sequences to remember and it was not because they had been first level, but because everything else gave pity. Character design is the only thing to be highlighted within the technical section; Here I must say that a very good job was done. In short, a series that disappointed with a mediocre execution of a premise with enormous potential. If you have not seen it, do not even come near it. See you in the next review. SUMMARY A series with a huge potential that went to hell for a mediocre execution. Personal rating 4/10

A show that could be much better if had at least 24 episodes: Things that i like: +The opening +Some characters designs +Rat so some degree +Some parts of episode 10 Things that i don't like: -Too much flashbacks -Some episodes are predictable -Bad animation in most episodes -Rushed battles. -The twins are boring and they have TWO episodes of flashbacks. -Anticlimatic and dumb deaths (The Horse, Sheep) -Overpower Rabbit (and no flashback) -The wish in the last episode -Ox past is not fully explored. Also the series could be better if they explain more about the presentator of the game that we never know where come from. Whose are those people that are betting for the game? The anime have a lot of plot holes even the flashbacks of some characters.

I never thought I would write a review, but here I am. I am writing this because too few people seem to get what this series is about. First of all, I have to say that if you only like action-comedy shounens, this is not a series for you. If you want just a lot of fight scenes and plot twists, watch something else. Now, let me explain why I liked Juuni Taisen. Characters: Well, all the characters die in the expected order, and there aren't any major plot twists. In each episode, we get some backstory, a bit of fighting (I will talk about that later) and usually a death. However, I can say that the backstories are well written. Not even one of them tries to be too tragic, and the characters vary from pacifists to thieves and psychopaths. However, most of them contain some tragedy, and some of them really touched my heart. I even cried once, which I really didn't expect to happen when I was watching this series. Action: The action isn't really a focal part of this show, but the animation is really well done. However, I was more impressed by a thing you don't really see anywhere else. In general, there are two types of fights: the classic direct power clash and the more indirect fights in which the opponents try to analyze the opponent's unique power ( the activation conditions, limits and weaknesses) and try to find a smart way to win. Juuni Taisen looks at first like it belongs to the second class, but it has a surprising element of realism added to the battles: almost all of the plans DON'T work. And they end up failing for some really simple reasons that the characters just overlooked. For some, it may sound anti-climactic, but I thought it was awesome how this anime showed just how quickly a life can end in battle. Soundtrack: Well, I don't really know much about music, but I enjoyed the op, and the rest of the music was pretty good. Not one of the best, but good. Negative points: I liked this anime from the beginning and around episode 10 I was thinking I might just give it a 10/11 (11 being the masterpieces). However, the last episode was just unsatisfying. Most of the people who are reading this are probably going to ignore my advice, but I am going to say it anyway: DON'T watch the last episode. Just pretend ep 11 is the conclusion. That is going to be much better. Or, at least, stop at the half point and imagine yourself what the winner asked for. I am going to say this again: DON'T watch the last episode till the end. I mean, I get what the point of the last episode was supposed to be, but there is a huge difference between understanding what you were supposed to feel, and actually feeling it. Overall, I give this anime a personal 9/11 and a recommendation to watch it only if you think you will enjoy it in the way that I described it. You can watch it legally for free on Crunchyroll.

Juuni Taisen is a 'Battle Royale' type of anime written by Nisio Isin of Monogatari fame. The show is about a tournament that is held every 12 years where the participants are mercenaries who are each named after the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and the winner will have a wish granted. There is also no main character in the show so the one that'll win is supposedly up in the air. Knowing this, you'd probably expect a cool show where we get to see crazy mercenaries skewering each other for 12 episodes, which is what I expected.. Instead I got a show that feels like it's desperate to fill its episode count with as much philosophical monologues as possible, that aren't supported by the weight of the anime, as well as pointless character backstories and having the participants stand around and not kill each other for as long as possible. This show does its best to avoid having a main character by just focusing on a different one in each episode and killing them off straight after showing you their backstory. The duration of these backstories range from half an episode to an episode and a half. While the battles usually come down to one hit kills in about 2 minutes. And the ones that last longer than that, are usually due to philosophical monologues the characters have while standing in one location and doing absolutely nothing. Not to mention many battles stop momentum midway for no in series reason and are handled poorly in terms of choreography. Not only are the character backstories an intrusion and constantly breaks whatever immersion you may have in a battle happening in the present, but they're also entirely pointless since the characters identities and personalities and how they formed their current personalities have no bearing on how they die in the battle, with the exception of the Ox and Tiger participants where it happened to be relevant for once. Also these backstories are way too long and only inform us about basic traits that we could've picked up on just by seeing their actions in the present - "this character is a drunk soldier", "this character is greedy", "this character is a pacifist" and so on and so forth. So it all feels like a waste of time in hindsight since there's not enough content in this story to justify the 12 episode count which feels bloated in the long run. So after all that wasted time and boredom you'd think the show will at least reward us with a good ending, right? Nope, the winner of the battle turns out to be someone who'd have to be a complete moron if he'd lost since he/she had an ability that (trying not to spoil here) gave him/her an overwhelming advantage that had very few chances of losing. Not to mention that this ability was never displayed throughout the series all for the sake of a weak twist ending. Also there's a revelation midway about what else is at stake in this tournament that is never mentioned again and the wish that the winner receives only ends up being an excuse to have more philosophical ramblings take up most of the final episode as well, instead of actually delivering on this idea. Which is extremely pathetic if you ask me. Visually this show looks kind of ugly and cheap. while the character designs have cool body proportions and faces that aren't generic stocky crap, their accessories and costumes look ridiculous and the color mixes don't always match up that well. And though it does manage to pull off some cool looking individual scenes from time to time, the animation is clumsy as a whole and it often takes shortcuts when it comes to more complicated motions. It also suffers more than it should considering characters half the time just stand in one location and don't do much. It even has some random CGI models near the end that surprisingly weren't that bad looking, but were jarring nonetheless. In terms of soundtrack there's some ok techno and rock tunes that don't stand out but serve their purpose and the voice acting and sound design is passable even though the former doesn't take much effort since most of the dialogue is emotionless monologues anyway. So there you have it, a death game anime that does nearly everything wrong, brings Nisio Isin's writing ability in to question (as if it wasn't questionable already) and worth watching only for the occasional gore and the half naked women. But even if that's all you want, there are countless better titles than this in that respect alone. It's a completely skippable show that I regret wasting my time watching, so naturally I wasted even more time reviewing it.. I don't know, don't judge me.

If you were given one wish to have anything you want, what would you choose? This is the question our 12 combatants have over their heads as they try to survive in this battle royale anime where only one can survive. It is the formula that been used in many battle royale anime and so it also applies here. Who will win? Who will lose? But, most importantly, who will get the longest backstory? So sit back, relax and "Everybody, clap your hands!" as I present to you the anime review for Juuni Taisen. Lets begin: Story: 6/10 So like I said, the anime is about the Juuni Taisen. A battle royale where 12 combatants compete to kill off each other in order to win the prize of having one wish of their desires; that's about it. Honestly you don't need to have a complex story for a premise that is this simple. You are given the premise and then you move on to see what happens next. It is the kind of story that develops depending on the actions of the characters and what they do to survive. Now one of the things that Juuni Taisen does that I like is that there is no true protagonist. Almost every character gets the light shine on them for an episode or two and we get to see how they plan to win the Juuni Taisen what actions they are planning to make. We also get to see what actions they took before they entered the Juuni Taisen to get an idea of kind of character they are in backsotries. The problem is that they can be inconsistent in terms of actually being interesting and length. While some are enjoyable to watch, some of them can be kind of boring. It doesn't help that sometimes that the backstories can take an entire episode to just tell us the lives of these characters and their morals. This doesn't help when you get these long backstories and then they get killed off quickly, leaving the viewer disappointment due to it feeling anticlimactic. This is mainly due to the mistakes that the characters make but more on that later. Juuni Taisen also likes to portray the battle royale as a literal war. The city that the anime is based in is a battlefield with soldiers in it; fighting each other in order to survive. Not to win, but to survive. Because by the end of the anime you get the message that there are no winners in war, only survivors. That is exactly what Juuni Taisen is trying to portray. It's not trying to be Fate or Future Diary, it is trying to be Juuni Taisen. But the message can be difficult to understand because the characters aren't really grounded in reality when they can do supernatural things that no normal human could, making it difficult to see that message. Characters: 8/10 One of the best things Juuni Taisen gets right is that it understands that a battle royale anime needs to have a diverse set of characters and thankfully it does. Juuni Taisen has a large variety in characters all representing an animal in the Chinese Zodiac Line. From the weird dressing but psychotic nature of Rabbit to the calm and collective nature of Ox to the carefree but kindhearted Tiger. These characters are interesting to watch and makes for good entertainment when their personalities clash together.....most of the time. Some characters can be one dimensional and uninteresting to watch, making their expected deaths less shocking. I'm not going to say who due to spoilers but they can be uninteresting. Now like I said earlier, their deaths are mainly caused by their mistakes because in war, you can't make mistakes otherwise you are dead. You make a mistake, you die, simple as that. This is something people tend to gloss over without thinking because it is an important factor. They can die because they were overconfident or they can die because they let their guard down. A couple of mistakes do happen multiple times but mainly they die because of the mistake they specifically made. However I do believe that the characters can still make these mistakes and still put on some good fights. There was only a couple of fights in the anime that were noteworthy as the rest ended very quickly. I think that it is a waste considering what these characters can do. These characters can control birds, levitate for no reason, see into different world lines (get it?) and resurrect the dead. It just feels wasteful and I believe that if the anime is not going to be really using all these abilities to the fullest, then they should have more grounded characters. It would certainly make its message about war more easy to understand. Animation: 6.5/10 Now the overall animation can be rather inconsistent. But I must give credit where credit is due though, the fight scenes that are in the anime are well animated, especially in the earlier episodes. There is a lot of smooth action in them, especially since some of them are noticeably animated in 3D, making them an enjoyment to watch. The 3D animation doesn't hinder it and won't bother many people since its mainly animated in the standard 2D animation anyway. However the character designs, while being unique to represent their animal in the Chinese Zodiac line, are rather poorly animated. Most of the time they look like they've been poorly drawn as there are notable black lines in their designs, making them lack detail and look sloppy. This happens a lot in this anime and you will notice it. Sound: 7.5/10 The soundtrack most of the time didn't really stand out besides a couple of tracks at specific times. Most of the time it plays to itself to match the atmosphere and tone at that moment. However I do want to give credit the OP and ED of this show. The opening, "Rupture" Panorama Panama Town is quite possibly one of my favourite OP this year. It has a nice calm rhythm and beat that you don't normally here in an anime opening. It matches the anime well as it is not really explosive and is trying to be different than other openings. However, its ending song, "Keshin no Kemono" by Do As Infinity, is the complete opposite. Its fast and loud which, again, is the complete opposite of what many other anime ED songs matches the anime well because because like the anime, it is trying to be different. I also want to give very quick praise to the dub as I do believe the voice actors do good jobs of capturing the characters personalities well. I specifically like Jerry Jewell as Usagi/Rabbit. While the Japanese voice actor makes Rabbit sound creepy, He makes Rabbit sound quirky and sometimes humorous which I like. Overall: 6.8/10 Recommendation: "Consider it" Like I said, this show isn't trying to be Fate or Future Diary, it's trying to be Juuni Taisen. It wants to be its own thing and I respect it for it. This show is trying to portray the message that "War is hell" in the wise words of Jim Carry and it wants people to understand that. If you are looking for a show like Fate then you won't find it here but if you looking for something different in a battle royale anime then it is worth checking out. It is only 12 episodes long so it won't take you too long to watch.

I went into Juuni Taisen with a skeptical attitude having seen it receive poor reviews. After completing the show I beleive that too many people viewed this anime in the wrong light. First, I would point out that if you are simply looking for a show to take the place of the Fate series then you will be disappointed. Juuni Taisen is very different from its battle royale counterparts, but I would argue it is better than most others, aside from Fate Zero. Next I would address the most common complaint, being that the plot was too predictable. I would agree that at times the episodes fell into a pattern but the purpose of the show is not necessarily to surprise viewers at every turn. This is not a mindless action show designed to simply excite and surprise. Juuni Taisen is a look at the people who are fighting in the death game and a story about who they are, why they are fighting, and what they want in the end. it is character driven in nature, and excels at attaching you to multiple characters as you learn about what makes them, and they will make of the battle. It is far from flawless with a few of the characters falling flatter than others but for what it is, I enjoyed it more and more with each episode.

Juuni Taisen is a very unique breed of anime. It's left me with more mixed feelings than most shows I can honestly think of. Some of it's good, some of it's bad and what we're left with is a very strange package to unwrap right before Christmas. Well, let me try and tackle this with some structure. The three key things that define Juuni Taisen as a show are it's characters, it's thematic storytelling and it's anti climaxes. And all of them have their ups and downs. So i'll start with characters. It's hard not to be immediately drawn in because all the characters have pretty stellar designs, both visually and how they're written. None of the 12 participants feel interchangeable and clear work has gone into making them interesting and fun to watch. A lot of the good stuff in Juuni Taisen is just watching these characters interact and deal with one another across the show's runtime. We're given a decent amount of time to learn about most of their backstories, their motives and their goals and they work well with their actions. Unfortunately the strength of these characters is cut short as, since this is a death game, the characters tend to die off very quickly before they can have any actual development in the show. Once you know a character's backstory, for the most part, it's just a countdown to when they'll die, so sometimes it can be hard to get attached to them, especially early characters. There are some exceptions to this, for instance Tiger is easily one of the more standout characters and Rat also have some development, but they're drops in a bucket. Onto the plot, the strength of it is definitely in the themes of the show. Every character having clearly defined goals and methods means their actions and even deaths are particularly fitting. It's nice as well that it's not drawn a huge amount of attention to and there to expand on for the more eagle eyed viewer who spies a cue in a certain backstory or in dialogue. However, the plot itself is very bare bones and basic. It's your standard killing game affair with a rich group betting on it and somehow being able to grant wishes, none of which is given any detail. And on top of that, the plot does get predictable quickly, thanks to the show being based on the story of the Chinese Zodiac, if you're even vaguely aware of the story, you already know who the winner is and who will die in what order, which for a killing game is kind of detrimental. What will surprise about Juuni Taisen is its use of anticlimaxes, something not often seen in anime. These tend to be both good and bad, sometimes they will earnestly catch you off guard for how sudden an action is or how shocking an event was and other times you'll feel somewhat robbed of a potentially interesting payoff. The animation itself can be pretty good when the show actually decides to use it, certain fight scenes later in the show are pretty good but unfortunately a lot of the actual 'animation' is just used on simple talking scenes and it's something of a shame because when fight scenes are present, they tend to be pretty good and make you want more. Overall, while I personally got some enjoyment out of Juuni Taisen, this is definitely not a show for everyone. I'd say give it the three episode rule and if you're enjoying the characters and can get over the predictable nature of the plot, it's a fun but bumpy ride right until the end. If you're just here for action and violent scenes, you'll get some of it, but probably not as much as you're craving. I'm glad I watched Juuni Taisen, but it's only getting a polite round of applause from me.

Imagine a battle royale anime... but the studio *really* doesn't want to animate fighting. Well, look no further than Juuni Taisen, a fighting anime where fights last on average anywhere from 3 to 10 seconds. I'm not exaggerating. There was a lot of fluff to make you *think* fights were longer, but they truly weren't. What do they fill the rest of the episode with, you ask? Flashbacks. Yes, you get to watch roughly 20 minutes of uninteresting backstory and characters moving around the map, only to have them die within literal seconds of encountering another participant. They don't even die in interesting ways. They just Alt + F4 out of the script. This is one of the most boring anime I've ever seen, and I don't understand why it exists. Outside of episode 1, the art and animation are both subpar. The soundtrack is forgettable. A majority of the characters aren't likable or interesting. The character design is boring for the most part. The anime refuses to answer questions that most viewers would probably be asking. It just fails in almost every conceivable category. Most notably, it fails to deliver on it's choice of genre. The only reason I gave it a 2, was because I thought the dialogue and voice acting were fine. This anime is a complete waste of time and should be avoided, in my opinion.

Landonime Presents... Juuni Taisen: "That Was Awesome!" Oh man.. Juuni Taisen. The Zodiac War. Where do I even begin? I guess I'll start this off by saying i watched this show weekly with a friend which made it more enjoyable. There was a lot of whiskey and "Holy Shits!" on our journey through this show. It was a breath of fresh air that is for sure. Don't get me wrong, this isn't the greatest anime of all time by any means. I did like it though. The reason this show captured me was because how out of left field it was. A show that shows the back story for almost an entire episode just to have them almost always be the next to get brutally murdered. If you like a sort of hunger games plot, but one that is actually decent and entertaining, then watch this. All the loops this show throws you through is hilarious. Expect what happens in the first few episodes to happen all through out. This show gives zero fucks. The way me and my friend found that out was in the earlier episodes when the Fighter of The Boar got loads of dialogue. Only to get full nelsoned by a necromancer and get brutally stabbed. That caused me and my pal a giant "OH...FUCK" which is what this show always puts you through. This is one of those "turn your brain off" anime. Don't think too hard about it while watching it you'll probably drop it. For example in the back story leading up to the Rat Nezumi's victory. The tiger asks him if he wants to drink with her. He replies "I'm underaged." I'm over here thinking.. You're in highschool fighting a death game for a black market gambling system. I don't think society gives a fuck if you get intoxicated. Just little things like that are hilarious. You also get 1 wish if you claim victory, so who cares about the law? I don't know lol. Solid 7/10 from me. Juuni Taisen was pretty awesome. If you're bored of constant slice of life and just want a WTF experience. Watch this!

Ah, Juuni Taisen, one of the series I enjoyed the most last year. It took me a while to finally write this review, but here it is. First, I see way too many people complaining that the story was "predictable" because the ending theme shows who was gonna die in order. But honestly, if this is the reason why you're mad at this anime, you totally missed its point. This was obvious from the beginning. - Story 8/10 This is the original 12 Zodiac Animals story told as a battle royale. The story follows the order of the original myth - The last one to arrive at God's party (or Heavenly Gate, or the Emperor's party, depending on which version you know) is the first one to die; The first one to arrive is the winner. You see characters representing each one of the animals killing each other until there's only one left - A typical battle royale, so if you're in the mood for some free violence with fun characters, jump on it! The story is, as I said, predictable, but that is if you know the right order of the 12 Zodiac Animals. If you don't, you have the option of simply not watching the ending and everything will be a surprise to you. If you want an unpredictable show this is the only tip I can give you. Obviously nobody would know this when the anime started airing, but now it's a possible option. - Characters 8/10 This is where this show shines. All characters have their own personalities and all of them have a unique character design, mostly with traits of their respective zodiac animals. It's almost impossible to not find one that you're gonna like, even if it's one that die early. Since some of them do die very early, they have little time to make themselves likeable. The character design is the first thing to call your attention, to make you curious, and them you have at least a basic explanation of the characters' personalities and backstory, this way you can decide your favorite. Sadly the chance of you getting attached to someone who won't last long is very high. Some of them were a lot of wasted potential so it could fit the order of the original myth, and this is the only reason why I don't give them the highest score. - Sound 9/10 I'm absolutely in love with the opening theme, even a year later, and also love the ending theme a lot. The soundtrack was decent, to be quite honest I don't remember much of it, but I assume it suited the anime pretty well since it didn't leave me with any negative impression. - Art & Animation 8/10 The art is much better than the manga's, and less cutesy than the novel's, it was well adaptated in the anime. Sorry, Hikaru Nakamura, I love you, but your original design made the characters too cute for this show, Chikashi Kadekaru's style was better. The animation was good. Not exceptional but decent, at least most of the time. Although I admit the quality dropped in a few later parts. The dark atmosphere suited the story well, the use of CGI was well done. I don't really have many complains here. - Overall 9/10 I loved this show. Everything about it was interesting to me, the characters were attractive enough for me to want to learn more about them, the battle itself made me curious to know how it would be developed, how the deaths would happen, and I was really curious to know everyone's wishes, specially the winner's. This was a show that held my attention because it kept me interested in what was gonna happen next, even if the ending was predictable, the story was still good enough for me to want to now the means to the end. Juuni Taisen is a good anime for those who are into action shows, I would definitely recommend it.

I’ll keep this review short because I know how much I hate to read through long reviews. The show is simply a battle royale fought between 12 skilled fighters from 12 prestigious families, last man standing type of thing. Who is this anime for? The show itself is first and foremost an action anime. The story is not complex or hard to follow so don’t expect any deep meaning from the plot. The animation is on point and will satisfy those who love slick battle scenes. If you like to just sit back and enjoy an easy to digest action anime then this one might be worth a peek Personally I don’t see why so many people gave this a low rating because to me it was a fun watch through and through. The action kept me entertained and the story kept me engaged from start to finish; that said, I think the ending could have been better. A lot of people are calling this show predictable but I really don’t see where they got that from, throughout the whole thing I couldn’t have told you who was going to win. The show doesn’t follow any particular character, instead choosing to focus on a different character each episode. You get to learn about each fighter’s histories, aspirations, and the path that brought them into the tournament. Each character is different and original and they all have their own unique skills and abilities. It doesn’t take the path of good and evil, everyone has blood on their hands and most have redeemable qualities, so it’s up to you to make up your mind on what you think of them. If they did a sequel I’d definitely put it on my plan to watch list.

Junni Taisen is the definition of "generically unique." The story is okay. The art is okay. The sound is okay. The characters are okay. There are some worthy moments, but there are also some terribly-made episodes (like the animation is SUPER bad for one episode). I recommend this for viewers who want something NEW, however. A deathmatch is nothing new, but its the ambiance of Junni Taisen that's different. Firstly, the story is told without a main character. The attention latches you in with a mystery aspect concerning many of the characters, but these are held out just as long as they need to be. The characters have pretty unique designs too, but don't expect anything too deep. Unlike many shows, Junni Taisen actually ends and everything is answers, which is rare. Was it satisfying, not really, but it was complete. Junni Taisen is for the enjoyment. Do not think too much and consume the fight scenes.

Please note this review is intended to be read by those that have finished watching Juni Taisen and while care has been taken to ensure that there are no spoilers within story analysis there may still be spoilers in character analysis. You have been warned. When 12 fierce and powerful warriors that have the names of one of the 12 Chinese constellations are chosen to fight in a contest where the prize is one wish the only result is a fierce struggle to obtain it. Juni Taisen based on a popular light novel of the same name is an action anime that makes use of an interesting premise that when combined with the genre and theme makes it a potent combination. The traditional contest between fighters and struggles that ensures between them is reinforced by the interesting medium that it uses which is a contest between 12 houses all of which have different ideologies and the attitudes of each of the chosen fighters that take part in it. The first episode made a pretty good impression on me because it addressed one of the main problems that such anime’s have which it’s lack of a good origin story for its fighters which when combined with the actions of the characters adds much more depth to them. Taking place in modern day Japan Juni Taisen focuses on the Juni Taisen a fierce competition that takes place every 12 years and pits the representatives of each of the 12 Zodiac families against each other in a large-scale battle royal that replaces conventional war between nations on the global stage. In a battle that is fierce beyond measure 12 of the best fighters from their houses would fight with everything that they have in battles that are just as contests of strength as it is of strategy and maneuvering. The prize of this battle is the ability to grant one wish and one wish only. While the overall story of the anime is the battle royal itself the series also takes great care in explaining the backstory and origins of each of the main characters a move that I thought was well done as it allowed us the viewers to understand the motivations and desires of each of them and from there invest in the ones that we like. Dokatsu Dokatsu voiced by veteran voice actor Tomohiro Nishimura is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the fighters that were chosen to take part in this years Juni Taisen representing his house in this large-scale battle royal. A member of the House of Dogs of the 12 Zodiac families Dokatsu is an intelligent, calm and cautious person that believes in the simple belief that they should use every weapon and tactic at their disposal to eliminate their enemies and secure victory. As a result of this Dokatsu is someone that loves to break the rules and fight his way. While intelligent and fast thinking and possessing of good deduction skills Dokatsu was noted to have a certain element of arrogance about him in that he views his fellow competitors and their respective houses with disdain and venom best shown in his assessment of the other fighters when he was still in the game. His death by his miscalculation that was caused by his arrogance was somewhat ironic as a result. Hitsujii Hitsujii voiced by veteran voice actor Cho is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the fighters that were chosen to fight in this years Juni Taisen. A member of the Zodiac’s House of the Ram Hitsujii is a cautious, quiet, patient person that matches well with the traditional attributes that a ram would have. Unlike the rest of the competitors that were chosen to take part in this contest Hitsujii is by far the oldest fighter that was chosen and as a result, is often referred to as the old man of the 12 a term that I thought was appropriate to him as a sign of respect. A veteran fighter Hitsujii can easily be defined as someone that is cautious and cunning in equal nature that when combined with his patience truly makes him a fierce warrior to contend with. While not one that prefers to strike using nefarious tactics like necromancy Hitsujii is no less lethal with his method of using powerful explosives to destroy his opponents with. Hitsujii’s ability to stay both undetected by the rest and his ability to stay one step ahead of any hunters was a great proof of his abilities. While Hitsujii is noted to be an intelligent and patient person it's interesting to note that he also has the semblance of pride as well which often clouds his judgement on things. However, what I really admired about the character of Hitsujii is his backstory that was used to show his motivations for joining the fight and the backstory of what actually made him the man that he was. His reason for joining the fight I felt was also pretty heartwarming as well as his thoughts towards his family. Inounoshishi Inounoshishi voiced by veteran seiyuu Yoko Hikasa of High School DxD and Rokka no Yuusha fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the fighters that were chosen to fight in this year’s competition. A member of the House of Boars of the Zodiac families Inounoshishi is an intelligent, fast thinking and cautious person by nature that is reinforced by a fierce tenacity and cunning that matches well with what a boar’s personality will be like. On the surface, Inounoshishi is a capable fighter that seems to be cordial to others and able to think beyond of simple victories and defeats that characterize the Juni Taisen but beneath that, however, it’s another story altogether. While cordial on the surface Inounoshishi is shown to be a cruel and manipulative person that’s also rather cold-hearted and willing to do all that she can to secure victory and fame for herself. Perhaps as a result of this, she also displayed a certain level of arrogance at the other Zodiac houses seeing them as obstacles to her aims. The backstory for this character I felt did an interesting job of showing the struggles that she went through as she trained to become a fighter and her gradual evolution into cruel, manipulative and intelligent person from the quiet and reluctant girl that she was then. Though by far one of the shortest-lived fighters I felt that her backstory combined with her development from that actually made her a pretty interesting character. Nezumi Nezumi voiced by veteran voice actor Shun Horie is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the fighters that were chosen to take part in this years Juni Taisen. A member of the House of Rats of the Zodiac families Nezumi is a quiet, calm and composed person that seems to prefer solitude than working together with others. Despite that Nezumi is also shown to be intelligent and cautious in his moves willing to work together with others if their goals and ideologies remain similar to each other. While respectful and cordial towards others it can be seen that Nezumi is someone that trusts slowly and is wary of others particularly if they approached suddenly. While seemingly quiet Nezumi surprisingly can be rather talkative and perceptive at times and his analysis of the fight and its purpose was an interesting one. A prominent trait of Nezumi is his perception and his ability to understand the mood and the feelings that people near him is feeling which is a direct result of his powers. This ability I felt was an interesting one as it not only gives him an edge in combat but also able to tell if someone is trying to lie to you as well. The core ability of Nezumi, however, was by far the most interesting one but one that I felt was revealed rather late in the series. The character of Nezumi is by far the most mysterious of the fighters that took part in this years Juni Taisen. Niwatori Niwatori voiced by veteran seiyuu Ayane Sakura of Charlotte and Dragonar Academy fame is one of the main characters of the series and is one of the fighters that were chosen to take part in this year’s contest. A member of the Zodiac’s House of Roosters Niwatori on the surface is a shy, quiet and…