Nabari no Ou

I was excited to watch Nabari no Ou because I like ninja anime. I really don’t think I have been this disappointed in an anime in a very long time. The premiseof Nabari no Ou is all of the Ninja clans clamor for this one secret art that has been tucked away in a apathetic little boy. The secret art , Shinrabansho, is said to allow the user to become the king of not only the ninja world but the world outside as well. However, because the boy is apathetic he doesn’t care about becoming the ruler even when other try to convince him. The best thing about this anime is the artwork! Everything looked as if someone took a manga and added movement. I really loved how sharp the colors were and how pretty the scenery was colored. The art work is great but the story line failed. It began with a premise that wasn’t bad, however it didn’t deliver. Somewhere around the 5th or 6th episode the main character Miharu randomly began to care about a stranger and turned the story into a soft shonen-ai tragedy. I became almost sick at all of the almost shonen-ai for the next 20 episodes. What would have made it better would have been the hope of some cool ninja fight scenes, but there were none. Maybe I have been watching too much Naruto, but the fight scenes mainly consisted of throwing kunai or stars and that made me so sad. Also there were no super cool ninjas, in every ninja anime there is one really cool ninja who really means business when he fights- but not here. On top of the other fails of this anime, the attempt to examine the complex and dangerous relationships between the ninja in this story was insufficient. Every episode it seemed like they introduced someone new, a new back story and soon it became too many characters to even care about. More or less the main character became annoying, selfish and way too much of a little girl. The promise of a king was never realized, the end montage of characters I was supposed to care about I couldn’t remember their names and some of their functions, and to be quite honest I said wth! at my computer screen way too many times. I gave it a 5 because at least they were all bishonen.

As strange as it may have sounds, but I don't really love this story line, I gotta say the plot of this story is pretty average and the fact that it could only fair up to 6/10. Reasons? Subplot of yoite past could have been revealed and the fact that why is he practicing 'kira' and why is 'hatori' saving him by practicing kira? Also, why is Shinra Banshou actually bad? If the person inside miharu's mind is able to have a good conversation, wouldnt the shinra banshou be good? I mean power can be a double edge sword, it swings both way. From what I see, this story still has lots to be refine in order for the story to be better. For the art of this anime, I will give this a 3/10. Before anyone rant at me, I have gotta say that this anime is shown in the year of 2008 yeap? But, the art is not even on par of what is of today's standard, I mean even a 90's anime could be better, lots of scene unless is important aint even colored well enough. Also, I couldn't believe that miharu and yoite is skinny like hell, well I mean their legs... so yeap, its unacceptable for me. For the sound, I will give this a 7/10. The songs and voice acting are good, so yeah. No fault etc. For the character development, I will give this a 8/10. More could be developed, however, if I am to compare the last and first episode, all characters have grown up and matured so at least for this, I will be giving it credit though more development for miharu could be better, I mean throughout the anime, his role is minimal except having better relationship with yoite. I gotta say I really enjoyed this anime despite its weak plot and art, so I will put it at 9/10. As for the overall, in average, it is about 6/10 so yeah.

Watching Nabari no Ou was just the luck of the draw for me. I was bored and just wanted an anime that would keep me mildly entertained-even if it was short lived. The very first episode had my heart pounding. It was exciting, it took me in from the very beginning, it definitely caught me off guard. When it comes to the story line though, I had to take off a couple points. In the beginning it was way to similar too Naruto. Ninja, a teacher, three students, one wants revenge on their brother (For killing their family, no less), and a couple other details I must spare. At first it was a little...odd with these almost exact similarities but, if you can spare your feelings towards this in the beginning (honestly, I really didn't mind it much....) you'll realize they have an incredible difference that makes Nabari so unique. Instead of focusing on ninja and getting stronger, I have to say this anime focused a lot more on the relationships of the characters and this is what I grew to love about this anime. Story: 8/10 Art was very satisfactory. Some characters may have been simple but, they weren't rushed. Each characters looks was unique in its own way. The artist did a great job by staying in the boundary of not being too dull or too flashy. I feel that most would agree with me on that. Art: 10/10 Sound was good, I really don't have too much to say besides that I liked it. It wasn't the most amazing opening/endings in the world but, they were enjoyable. Sound: 9/10 Such a variety this anime held. I have to say this is one of the best animes I've seen in this category. You get practically a taste of everything. I also have to point out how much I loved the main character who wasn't so damn predictable. Yes, Miharu was the break I needed from all those hyper, sometimes brainless mains you see in most animes such as this...... Character: 10/10 I throughly enjoyed this anime. It's sad though.....be prepared to feel a lot of the emotions the characters portray. Like I said, this anime is mainly about the relationships among the characters and you'll get pretty connected to them. You can actually understand them....feel their emotions like there yours.... I loved the experience and for once, I'm happy that I got bored and decided to take a chance.But, I must warn you.....it has a very bittersweet ending that, depending on the person, you may feel quite disappointed. Enjoyment: 10/10 Overall 10

Ninjas are usually trained thieves and assassin; forgoing humanity to get whatever job done. And NOBODY's suppose to know about (after it's too late). They're a galaxy away from anything anybody's seen in Naruto, Ninja Nonsense, and Kagekara Mamoru. But "Ninjas With Issues?" "Emo Ninjas?" Here in Nabari no Ou, we meet a bunch of characters where half of them would KILL YOU and you'd never see it coming. Yet you have this one "ninja," one Thobari Kumohira, who's suffering from some ailment. I'm not talking about his fear of being on moving vehicles. I'm talking about "hesitation." He talks a good game and can back it up. But he can't, for the life of him, kill another person. Well... ...the story's written well enough. And the characters are good enough. (And non-pathetic, for once.) And Thobari's "hesitation-itis" is played out for drama more than it is for comedy. So yeah. "Naruto for functioning grown-ups." "The lives and times of ninjas when they're not ninjas." We need more anime like this, done for people whose reasons aren't "4 Da lulz."

Nabari No Ou was certainly not your typical shounen ninja anime. It starts off introducing us to a pretty normal middle school student named Miharu who unknowingly holds a power many others are after called the Shinrabanshou. I like how it pretty much just jumped right into the plot. So Miharu is pretty much being pursued by a bunch of modern day ninjas the whole time because they want the Shinrabanshou's power for their own often selfish reasons. The character bonds developing and breaking is what this anime is mostly about. It tends to slip away from ninjas and fighting and ends up being about friendship and and deep feelings. There is a thin line between the "bad guys" vs. "good guys" The main character avoids trying to pick sides and has an independent mind. If youre more into action I would say this might not be for you. If you like animes with deep characters who have a wide range of personalities than I would definitely recommend.

Recommendation: Fans of shounen action series will enjoy it. It doesn't fully come together as a "great" series in the end, but it's enjoyable and well-made even if it isn't anything revolutionary. Story: The story follows a quiet middle school student named Miharu, who is discovered to have a power (the Shinrabanshou) inside him that effectively makes him a god, able to shape reality and even time as he wants to, only he doesn't know how to use it yet. It also follows the various groups and people that get involved with Miharu or try to take advantage of him to use the power for themselves. I did appreciate that for most of the series, the plot was engaging and it was fun to follow the shifting alliances and goals. It's a bit like Golden Kamuy in the sense that there are very few people that are entirely good or evil, and several groups are competing over the prize (Miharu in this case) to further their own agendas and will cooperate or betray their allies accordingly when it makes sense for them to do so, without that really being presented as "right" or "wrong" except in a few clear cut cases. It's simply treated as a natural course of action towards achieving their goals. Unfortunately, it does break down towards the ending. Things stop really making sense, the reveal of the big secret that Thobari has been hiding for the entire series is only surprising in the sense that it's so underwhelming, and a lot of questions about the Shinrabanshou ultimately get vaguely hand-waved away without satisfying answers. I don't know if I would necessarily characterize the ending as "bad" since it mostly hits the right character beats and does what it's supposed to, but it was far messier than it needed to be and felt a little flat at the same time. Audio/Visual: Really good voice acting, featuring the ultimate delight of a Jouji Nakata-voiced main villain. The voices are often expressive enough to cover up for the stone-faced facial animations in certain characters (Raimei most notably). Character design is occasionally an issue, but otherwise the animation is pretty strong, especially for a series that's almost 15 years old. The action scenes are dynamic and well-animated, not usually enough to blow you away, but they do certainly look good. The visuals are a microcosm of the show itself. Nothing really unique or exciting, but it's executed competently with a handful of small flaws here and there. Characters: The characters are probably the strongest part of the show. There are a few that are sort of useless (Kouichi is somehow the least impactful member of the group defending Miharu even though he's literally immortal, for example), but the vast majority are good, or entertaining at the very least. Yukimi was my personal favorite, but you can take your pick for the most part. Hattori was great hamming it up as a villain, Thobari is a complete disaster of a person in a compelling way, even Miharu evolves from an explicitly uninteresting person that actively avoids being noticed by others into a more open person through his unexpected friendship with Yoite. Overall, I'd call it a sort of generic shounen action series, but well made enough to elevate it beyond being purely generic. It's worth checking out if you like this sort of series, but it's really nothing that you haven't seen before if you've seen most of the major tentpole anime franchises.

Might contain a hint to a spoiler, no actual spoilers, but I hope you guys don't kill me. 1) The anime should have had fewer episodes because some events should have happened earlier and we all know what we were waiting for, so unless, the author decided to bring more things to the story afterwards, it was likely to have the expected event to happen by episode 10 as a MAX; nevertheless, that did not happen. Hence, we were all waiting for the "Shinra Banshou" (or however you write it). Which leads to point 2. 2) The character development took too long. There were many events that called for the character to gain some power in any way. You know how in some animes, there is a mishap that happens to someone dear to the main character, or to the powerful character that couldn't unleash his/her power and when that incident occurs, the character gains power and saves the day, that was required. That did not happen, malheuresment. So, that really sucked for the main character; nevertheless, Yoite's character was better treated. 3) Yoite had his strong points and then he fell with a valid reason and when he rose to power again, even for a scene, it made sense. It was enjoyable and unexpected, in a sense. So, Yoite's character was better treated than our main character, Miharu, whose power was not well-treated or was not seen used during intense moments as hoped. A lot of failure on Miharu's character. 4) Back to my main point because of failure to treat Miharu properly and failure to proceed in the story by extending the time, it leads to not-so-good anime. Meaning that the anime could have improved tremendously if they shortened the episodes because the characters would've developed earlier, or so we would hope for that. And if Miharu's power were used at the appropriate times, even if not fully, it would've excited things.

here is a show that needs to be seen to really get how good it is, Nabari is a show about ninjas and to some degree it is related to "other ninja shows" whose name i won’t go into, BUT it is a show that from my mind needs to be respected as its own thing, so when you have a look at this show don't get put off by the fact that it is apart of the same line of shows that you dislike or jumped in thinking it is the same one that you love so much and turning it off soon after because it isn't, you know who you are. i went into this show as one of those people that don't really like the "other shows... its Naruto for the retards" that this one is apart of, i was just watching it to pass time and didn't think much into it and reading some Reviews saying what i am saying now persuaded me into watching it. now it is time to get to the point Nabari is about friends and what it means to be happy and the hardship you go throw to get said happiness that is if it could have been achieved in the first place and that is where Nabari shins because it does something i think anime or story's for that matter could not do... it made it realistic and i don't mean in the fight scenes "cos that shit is a bullshit as it gets" i mean with the people they all have realistic ways they do things real motives that most people would fall into and the best part that is the ending how it all fits and falls apart at the same time it is one of the best endings and this shows gets sad as hell so be prepped for that not Clannad sad but still sad: Synopsis: Miharu have the power of the gods the Shinrabanshou and with it he can do whatever he wants he can control time, destroy anyone or anything, and can make you immortal, but he can’t use it yet until he reads all the scrolls of the ninja, with people wanting to use him found in every corner and believe me everyone, he decides to use the power to help a friend a dyeing kira user named Yoite who wishes to be turned to nothingness because of what he has done in the past: so like it or not, i don't care i just want to get it out there that if you haven't seen this show you should do so it’s not the best show out there just because i like it, hell it isn't even my top 10 but i felt that it deserves more then it gets, so if you don't believe me read about it from other Reviewers and see for yourself i give this show a 9 out of 10 and sorry for my spelling i suck i know and as always ICETRUCKER OUT

Nabari no ou is my 2nd favorite anime of all time (after Kuroshitsuji of course=D). I went into it not sure what to expect. It looked like a shounen with ninjas and lots of fighting (not really my thing) but I found that it was sooo much more than that. Story 10/10 The story is very original and not what you would expect from a ninja story. It took me 3 episodes to get into it, and a few more for me to really get interested. After that I was completely hooked. I liked that there were mini-plots within the main one. There were side stories like Raimei's and Gao's, but they were focused on just enough that they didn't distract too much from the main story. The only complaint I have is that the whole thing is pretty complicated. Some complex ideas aren't completely drawn out and it can take awhile to figure out (especially what the heck the shinrabanshou is)! It tested my patience a bit, but it was definitely worth it. Characters 10/10 The main characters in Nabari no Ou are each very different individuals and I liked that their personalities differed. Despite the differences, relationships between the characters were meaningful and complex. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just say that some of the characters you'd least expect are incredibly compatible and enjoyable to watch together (you'll know who I'm talking about). There was just the right amount of backstory for each character. I think that greater importance of a character = more backstory, and that's exactly how it played out. Art 8/10 The animation isn't fantastic, but it isn't bad. There isn't too much detail and colors are mostly neutral. Like I said, the animation wasn't bad-it's well drawn and it's not really anything I'd complain about-but it isn't fantastic and gorgeous like Kuroshitsuji or Ouran High School Host Club for example. Sound 9/10 I will have the theme song stuck in my head for all eternity, but it isn't a bad thing! I actually got the song and although I don't know what any of it means, it's a really catchy song! The ending theme was great too. The voice acting was phenomenal and they were really good at portraying the emotions of the characters. And I'm not surprised with J. Michael Tatum, Chris Patton, and Joel McDonald in the cast! Besides that, sound effects weren't to generic and I thought the music used really fit the mood of the scene. Enjoyment 10/10 I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of Nabari no Ou and there is no doubt I'll be rewatching it soon (and again after that). The plot really kept me interested and the side stories kept me wondering how the other characters were doing. The characters were definitely the best part of this anime and I can't say it enough. I don't think there's a specific group of people who would enjoy Nabari no Ou-it's kinda for everyone. There's action, comedic relief, drama, and supernatural themes. It's deemed a shounen, but I think girls would really enjoy this because of the character relationships and the bishies :) Hope I helped!

this is honestly one of the greatest modern animes i've seen in a really long time. judge me all you want, but hulu helped me discover it. the storyline could use a little bit of work, i got lost a lot and had to rely on the internet to clear a few things up. but it is a good story, a bit unique from the ones im used to watching. the animation of it is on point, at least for my tastes. i love this style of animation and that's ultimately what drew me in to watching it. i think the voice actors are superb for this show, i've heard a lot of things about brina's voice, and i must say, i really agree with it all. i first heard her when she played ciel in black butler, i tried getting into the anime itself but it was a no go. however, with all the raving recommendations for it, i might give it another go. but anyways, i've heard a lot of scruff about english dub vs japanese dub, and i get where they're coming from. some voices sound unnatural or just plain unappealing. certainly not the case for the nabari no ou cast. im a bit sad that the series is so short lived and a bit underrated, seems to be the case for a lot of good animes. i've rewatched it a few times, and it's still just as good if not better than the previous time. highly recommended.

"This has got to be one of the most depressing anime's I've ever seen.." This is what's going through my mind as I scoff at an ending so terrible it may as well have been a couple lines of text epiloque after ep 24 If you're looking for an anime with cool fights, this isn't it. If you're looking for an amazing storyline with engaging characters, this isn't it. If you're looking for stunning visuals or amazing cinematography, you guessed it, this ain't it. Perhaps the fact that I've been watching top notch anime's lately isn't doing Nabari any favours, but this doesn't diminish the fact that for a ninja oriented anime that focuses on character relationships rather than long flashy battles, Nabari No Ou has absolutely horrid story progression. I mean my god I found myself skipping an episode or two just so I could finish it quicker, thinking that maybe the fact that everyone had a different stake in the battle would culminate in an amazingly profound ending that would completely redeem everything up to that point. I was wrong. Boy was I ever wrong.. The ending not only failed to redeem the series, it actually exacerbated my utter disdain for the story. Worst of all, for an anime that drags its feet as if they were cemented to the floor, the story isn't even fleshed out. The rundown: Nabari no Ou centers around a boy named Miharu Rokujou who is unaware that he is endowed with divine powers that grant any wish. Naturally the ninja world becomes aware of this and so he is targeted. Not by the entirety of the ninja world, but mostly just one group. The first ten episodes are about getting the story started and creating a backdrop, then up to episode 16 it's a bit of a garbled mess with some in depth relationship changes, and from then on the story collapses like a house of cards in a windtunnel. The story basically goes tunnelvision on the main character and his personality-twin, about how they are both fragile and keep being used by others, getting captured then escaping only to be captured again, and this process repeats itself a good 4 times by my count, until the final episodes. When you reach the final episodes your are either filled with a sense of accompishment for having stuck with it, or with a sense of dissapointment for having nothing better to do, either way, you'll end this series feeling depressed. When in a traditional hero's journey the amazing climax comes after the black moment, in nabari no ou they managed to follow up the black moment with another black moment, and then just call it a day. Do yourself a favour, watch something else. By god if you've seen EVERYTHING but nabari no ou I'd urge you to re-watch your top 20 before even touching this series. Stay away.

Nabari No Ou took me about three episodes to really get into, but once I was there, I was totally hooked. In this modern-day setting, ninjas still secretly exist throughout Japan in an underworld. Although he’d like nothing more than to help his grandmother run a family restaurant, our protagonist, Miharu, has a secret art within him (which manifests as words crawling creepily over his skin) that all the other clans are desperate to get their hands on. So, rather against his will, Miharu attracts a little band of three protectors who vow to not let the secret art fall into evil hands, and they travel around trying to solve the dilemma of getting the art out without killing the vessel in the process. Sounds kind of dumb, but it’s oddly fascinating, and the world-building is believable. I liked almost every character I encountered—especially the bad guys, one of whom, the ever-sickly Yoite, really steals the show with his partner Yukimi—which is rather unusual. Characters who at first seem one-dimensional are revealed to have hidden depths and secret pasts. The main obstacle to it being one of my favorites is that Miharu’s character kind of requires him to be uninvolved and apathetic in the beginning. Which, yeah, kind of sucks when the whole series is riding on the protagonist. But as the series goes on, you realize that Miharu’s characterization is a deliberate choice that ends up working very nicely.

I loooove this anime. Personally I look for a combination between a good story, good character relationships , and action. And this anime delivers them all. It does have ninjutsu, samurai, and forbidden jutsu...but its not centered on those things. The best part I would say is how the character relationships play out during entire series. It does have simliarities to naruto in the jutsu aspect. However I would say its more serious than naruto is in general. However it does have points of cute humor in the character relationships. I recommend this to anyone who likes anime even a little and are looking for something different. It's an excellent series.

Overview: Whenever ninjas are brought up among anime fans, the first word that usually comes up is "Naruto". As someone who's never seen that show, however, my experience with ninjas in anime are instead the following- the movie "Ninja Scroll" and the series "Nabari no Ou". Unfortunately, I ended up finding more enjoyment in the 90-minute runtime of "Ninja Scroll" than I did in the entire 26 episodes of "Nabari no Ou", as the latter falls short in a few areas while failing to really excel at anything. Story (6/10): Set in modern-day Japan, the story follows Miharu Rokujo, an apathetic 14-year-old boy who has no real ambitions beyond inheriting his family's store. One day, however, he gets targeted by a group of ninjas known as the Kairoshu and gets hit with two big revelations- within his body lies a scroll known as the Shinra Banshou, which apparently has the ability to grant any wish, and his classmate Kouichi Aizawa and teacher Tobari Durandal Kumohira are both trained ninjas whose duty is to protect Miharu and prevent the Shinra Banshou from falling into the wrong hands. Together, this trio, along with the female samurai Raimei Shimizu, must enter the hidden ninja world of Nabari and find a way to seal the Shinra Banshou, due to Tobari's belief that it is simply too dangerous to use. However, it's not long before Miharu encounters a mysterious boy called Yoite, who is soon shown to have his own plans for the Shinra Banshou. Sadly, while the premise is fresh and interesting enough, the story itself and its execution just feels dull and uninspired. The characters have a habit of just blindly going along with what others say while rarely questioning anything, which can often get pretty frustrating, especially when they have no real reason to trust certain people. In Miharu's case, this is at least justified by the fact that he doesn't have any real desires, but even as he starts to become more assertive and tries to question things, circumstances allow the person to dodge the question, showing this as an anime that enjoys its mysteries far too much. Ultimately, the main appeal to be found in the story isn't the plot itself, but with the individual character arcs. The problem is that these arcs often feel very disjointed from each other, with certain ones being wrapped up before others are even introduced. The result is that the cast of characters feel like a collection of random strangers rather than a cohesive group, which frequently bears the question of what exactly the writers are trying to say with the story overall. Even the ending ends up feeling rather lacking despite the fact that things are brought to a conclusion, which probably isn't helped by the fact that this is yet another anime that overtook the manga. As a whole, the story had potential and would definitely have benefited from a lot more development, which is quite unfortunate, to say the least. Art & Animation (8/10): "Nabari no Ou" is a very good-looking anime. The character models are especially good, as they are really well-drawn and animated, as are the effects of the various ninjutsu techniques. One part that's rather lacking, however, is the environments. Sometimes, they look good, but there are other times when they look more like canvas paintings, which just looked very odd to me and stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison to everything else. Sound & Dialogue (8/10): "Nabari no Ou"'s soundtrack, while far from terrible, tends to just blend into the background more often then not. The opening is also very forgettable and I skipped it pretty much every time after the first time I heard it, though the second ending theme is quite nice. The voice acting is great, with Brina Palencia being able to a very convincing boy's voice for Miharu, and Chris Burnett, Kate Oxley and Joel McDonald doing just as good as Kouichi, Raimei and Yoite, respectively. As good as the voice acting is, however, the dialogue leaves quite a bit to be desired, in no small part thanks to the overuse of the words 'apathetic' and 'Angel of Death' which are used to describe Miharu and Yoite respectively. Characters (6.5/10): The characters are likable enough, but how likable tends to vary greatly. Miharu starts off the series as an empty shell, having no particular likes or dislikes and wanting nothing to do with the world of Nabari. However, it soon becomes clear that while he may be apathetic, he's not cold-hearted, as he does care for the people around him. He also starts to become more emotional after meeting Yoite, who gives him a purpose and a reason to actually use the Shinra Banshou, which causes him to defy his teacher Tobari, who is very adamant about the Shinra Banshou ever being used. His character development is slow, but nice, and the last episodes in particular really show just how much more human he's become compared to what he was at the start of the series. The second protagonist is Yoite, a wielder of the Kira ninjutsu technique, which slowly diminishes his life force to the point that he hasn't got long to live. While a ruthless killer, he's also very sad and empty because of his past. It's revealed in pieces over the series, but apparently it broke him to the point that he honestly believes he should have never been born, and wants Miharu to use the Shinra Banshou to erase him. As the series goes on, he gets happier and even starts to show a compassionate side. His personality overall is very similar to Miharu's, and this is implied to be the basis for their bond. My favourite character, however, would have to be Kouichi Aizawa. On the surface, he's a very energetic and friendly person who's usually always smiling. While this isn't an act, in combat he is absolutely merciless, never hesitating to kill those who get in his way and stating you have no business in Nabari if you aren't willing to get your hands dirty. It's ironic that one of the nicest characters in the series is also one of the most ruthless, and this arguably makes him the show's deepest and most interesting character. It's a shame, then that he doesn't get too much focus in the series aside from a few episodes in the middle, with his character arc being wrapped up rather clumsily. There's also Raimei Shimizu, the only female main character and a self-styled samurai, relying solely on her swordplay rather than ninjitsu tricks. As such, she doesn't follow the rules of a ninja e.g. while ninjas believe that discretion is the better part of valor, Raimei believes in never running from her enemies no matter who they are. She gets a good amount of focus in the first half of the series, but largely exits the spotlight in the second due to her main story being over. Nevertheless, she remains a reliable member of the group, with a kind, loyal personality to boot. Next up is Kazuhiko Yukimi, a ninja who acts as Yoite's guardian and has a job in the normal world. While initially presented as an antagonist due to being a member of the Kairoshu, it soon becomes clear that it's just a job to him and off it he's not that bad of a guy, even serving as Yoite's conscience early on. He also differs from almost any other ninja ever in that he's the only one to use a gun, stating early on that it's his way of adapting to the 21st century, and I found myself liking and respecting him for that alone. However, there is one character I really didn't like and that is Tobari. Dear God, Tobari! While as an Irishman, I must at least give him credit for avoiding all of the Irish stereotypes (he's half-Irish), that unfortunately is just about all the credit he's going to get from me, as he has about half a dozen other traits that make him far more annoying than any stereotype. He's stubborn, incompetent, self-righteous to the point of hypocrisy and despite being the oldest of his group, he frequently acts like he's the youngest, and is definitely the dumbest. He also refuses to take a life, despite Nabari being a world where it's kill or…

This one's a little tricky for me to think about. On the surface, Nabari no Ou is yet another ninja action series involving a teen caught in the center of the heavy conflicts between clans. Many of the characters follow stock archetypes typical of action anime like this such as the sensei, the avenger, the mysterious evil power within the lead and an evil baddie and his cohorts wanting to rule the world. Some of them do grow out of these archetypes as the series progresses, though others and certain elements of the series don't get much in the way of fleshing out such as the evil power within Miharu and the motives of Fuuma. The plot's pretty typical as Miharu tries making sense of his personal desires and the power within him as he encounters more folk among the Nabari world. Also, the animation isn't really impressive here with noticeable shortcuts, washed out backgrounds and plain-looking character designs. Ultimately what did lead me to care for the series was the bond that later develops with Miharu and Yoite as both share in the fact they are tragic figures caught up in circumstances beyond their control and rely on one another for emotional/ mental stability and support as the series presses on. Both do wind up leading one another to change their present outlooks on living with Miharu becoming less apathetic and Yoite slowly breaking off from his clan. I suppose this is kind of similar to how Marlene and Yuji's relationship affected my thoughts on Blue Gender. Without the character dynamics involved with the main pairings for Blue Gender and Nabari no Ou, both titles would be lacking a major hook to keep me engaged for the remainder of their runs due to how cliched they are otherwise without focusing on them. Overall, I suppose my thoughts of this series are mixed. It's mostly subpar in premise and presentation, though the major focus on Yoite and Miharu's bond kept me engaged enough to the series for the entirety of its run. Your mileage may vary with this one.

Nabari set the ninja world in contemporary times, and it correlates it with supernatural law, world and and powers. It is quite an original anime, the style is similar to a love shojou and also the themes are similar: much more introspectiveness and emotional themes than scene of fights. A thing I hardly get in this anime is the pace, it seemed to me that the authors needed to stretch a long narrative in 26 episodes, so the passage between events is very fast and sometimes absent, and sometimes it seems that the things aren't taken seriously because of the pace of it. This led us to the characters, the characters are ambiguous, and they take much parts of the stories, characters that are supposed to fight each other are shaking the hands and drinking together, this can happen absolutely but there's like no embarass. The moral position of the characters isn't so clear and it seems to me that narration forces things to be irreducibles and unsolvable, like no compromise for some reasons. We face villains with distorted reality that are liquidated then re-appear then disappear again. The character development in some way exists, and there is surprisingly weight for secondary characters. The story isn't complex, and surely it is original but for the reasons I said before it can be boring.