Anime Review: Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki (Bloody & Gory but lacking Substance)

Historical/war anime is always an interesting watch because it is interesting to delve back into the past and see a fictional perspective on what it could have been like. Furthermore, most of them are gory/bloody, and that makes it more enjoyable and real to read. Examples of such series that are doing well are Drifters (more of an war isekai involving notable historical figures) and Kingdom (god tier series about China's Warring States period). Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki is different in its premise as it uses the inspiration of the Mongol invasion of Japan as its base, and when I read the synopsis, I was very interested since the Mongols were highly regarded invaders (It reminds me of the Age of Empires game - ahh how nostalgic). Anyway let's go back to the juice.

Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki starts off well, showcasing how crazy the characters are. They are exiles who are taken to Tsushima Island, and eventually are forced to protect the island from Mongols. What I disliked about it was that they were too crazy and I didn't feel amazed at their power, with some exceptions like the archer guy. And that's in comparison to Kingdom, which is jaw-dropping sometimes but also can be very cliche sometimes, but at least the MC in Kingdom didn't have to deal with cannons, and guns. The MC in Angolmois dealt with enemies with guns with their swords, when he could have been easily shot or bombed. It's just too ridiculous. Another aspect of the story was one character's death - Nagamine, Hangan just dies in such a lame way, and the end felt a bit rushed cause of many of the characters died near the end and it felt like they just wanted to rack up kills and just finish it up.

Really? Come on.....

One aspect I like about this anime is its cast of characters, which all have unique traits and skills, and maybe it's reminiscent of Golden Kamuy, perhaps even Rainbow (imo). However, they didn't feel like they meshed together, but then again they are just a band of exiles who didn't know each other beforehand, so what can you expect? There was no amazing/iconic character in this anime to be honest, all of them seem bland, but if I had to pick one, it's probably the archer guy. The art style is also not the most superb, but it's better than most, and it's not going to make your viewing experience any worse.

Overall, this anime was somewhat of a disappointment. I read some of the reviews for it and some people praised it well so that's why I gave it a shot, but unfortunately it was not to my tastes. I would generally avoid this anime and I rather people watched Drifters or Kingdom, but if you got time, might as well try it out, maybe you will like it. At least it is blood and gory, but it is somewhat ridiculous story-wise. 

 

Overall Score: 6.5/10

Story: 5/10

Characters: 7/10

Art: 7/10

Sound: 7/10

Enjoyment: 6/10