Anime Review: Drifters (Iconic Historical Figures Battle It Out)

Anime involving the historical theme is usually very interesting and something that catches my attention. One well-known example is Kingdom, and it's probably one of the popular historical action series in Japan, and perhaps the world. I actually didn't read Kingdom until a couple of weeks ago even though my friends have told me to read it numerous times so that we can discuss what's happening, but I'm up to the latest chapter now. That's just how addicting it is. Drifters is one of these series that caught my attention when I was browsing through the list of old seasonal anime, since the synopsis was interesting and the score was decent, I gave it a try.

The story essentially involves two "players" who bring historical figures that are at death's door into this new world. You got two groups - the Drifters vs the Ends. The Drifters are generally not cruel and do not tolerate the hurting of innocents, despite driven by violence and victory, and has no magical powers other than their raw strength/capabilities/technology they had in their previous life. The Ends are historical figures who died under unorthodox and often violent circumstances, and as a result forsaken their humanity to gain supernatural powers. To be honest, you would expect the Ends to win due to their supernatural powers, but the Drifters have intelligence and tactical skills that allows them to compete with the Ends. 

The concept is interesting and new to me so that's why I thought it was interesting. The cast of characters are also very interesting since they involved iconic characters like Oda Nobunaga (my man!), Hannibal, and even the Ends had iconic characters that everyone would likely to have heard off like Jeanne d'Arc, Mitsuhide, Rasputin. Pitting iconic historical figures together just seem so fun and interesting to watch - I just can't describe it, and it's a pity there's only 12 episodes of this, but apparently there was some teaser at the end that possibly a second season can come when it is 20XX, so at least a sequel is possible within my lifetime :'). The plot of this 12 episode series is essentially an introduction of the characters, and we see their development of pacify the natives of this new land - the elves and the dwarfs, and to inspire them against the humans who treated them as slaves. The ending involving the introduction of Mitsuhide also leaves us in anticipation of any future sequels, and entices individuals to go read the manga to find out what happens later in the plot.

That's a cool poster from Crunchyroll.

Overall, Drifters is a really good anime, and an interesting concept. I mean who doesn't love watching historical figures battle it out, and not necessarily physical battles, but sometimes mental battles as well. One of the most ridiculous things of this anime however is that Hitler was apparently a Drifter?!!?! The fk??? That part literally made me kek, but I'm not surprised since a Japanese kamikaze fighter was also a drifter as well (perhaps showing that Japan still believe they did nothing wrong in WW2? Tbh, I'm not gonna look deep into it since it's just a fictional series). This is a definitely recommend if you love series like Kingdom, but with a "fantastical twist" to it.

 

Overall Score: 8/10

Story: 8/10

Characters: 8/10

Art: 8/10

Sound: 8/10

Enjoyment: 8/10