Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Intriguing, if sometimes a little confusing as well.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 31, 2012

Color me pleasantly surprised: maybe there is something at least relatively new under the anime sun. After a summer where seemingly every release dealt with over the top fan service offering buxom females fighting aliens, or alternatively buxom females who were themselves alien, it’s nice to get something that may in fact trod some well worn territory but manages to do it with a fair amount of innovation and panache. Intrigue in the Bakumatsu may look like a traditional samurai anime, but it manages to invest that genre with some interesting supernatural phenomena along with a nicely nuanced take on a tumultuous time in Japan’s not so ancient history. Bakamatsu is a term which refers to the late Tokugawa Shogunate era (roughly 1853 – 1867), but the term literally means “end of the curtain”, and that’s a fitting description for an anime that uniquely weaves in a traveling theatrical troupe into its convoluted tale of political machinations and otherworldly influences, including a nefarious Red Skull that looks like it was ported over from a nearby showing of Captain America. The main character of Intrigue in the Bakumatsu is Akizuki Yojiro (usually referred to as Lord Akizuki in the series), a self-described ronin (i.e., a samurai without a master) who is on some kind of mysterious quest as the series opens. Akizuki soon finds himself interacting with a group of kabuki actors known as the Yuyama Troupe, named after a young woman, Yuyama, who quickly catches the eye of Akizuki. Both Akizuki and Yuyama are characters with a fair amount of trial and tribulation in their pasts, and those elements are slowly revealed over the course of the anime, clarifying exactly why both of these characters are out to right certain wrongs. Intrigue in the Bakumatsu is a series rife with a kind of unseemly element of overweening corruption at the highest level of power, and both Akizuki and Yuyama (as well as the rest of Yuyama’s traveling circus of actors) have their separate agendas which are meant to restore a modicum of justice and equilibrium to an incredibly unbalanced era.

Part of the major back story for Akizuki plays like a masculine version of Balsa, the lead (female) character in Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. Both of these characters are wandering mercenary warriors and both are haunted by some past actions which led to the death of a person they were supposedly protecting. Akizuki is perhaps a somewhat more ethereal character than Balsa, and in fact he bears the nickname “Eternal Assassin”, giving him an otherworldly quality that certainly plays well in terms of this series’ emphasis on paranormal phenomena and Akizuki’s own quest to vanquish a sort of metaphysical evil which is housed in a giant artifact known as The Head of the Conqueror).

On the other hand, Yuyama and at least a couple of the other actors in her company are haunted by their own past tragedy, in this case a horde of villains who have caused the deaths of several loved ones of the actors. If Akizuki’s quest is decidedly supernatural, Yuyama and her friends are on a much more “physical” search, trying to track down those who caused the devastation that has caused untold misery for several of these characters. Playing out in the background of all of these intersecting plot lines is a rather well detailed, if occasionally confusing, depiction of Japan slowly giving way to its long held feudal traditions as a number of foreign influences (notably British) are pounding at the country’s figurative (and in some cases literal) battlements.

The series tends to use Yuyama’s troupe’s performances as “cover” for their actual activities in trying to track down their former tormenters, and of course Akizuki is along for the ride. In fact, by the end of this set of episodes (this first volume contains the first 13 episodes), Akizuki has been enlisted as an actual “actor”, despite the fact that he has discovered that his meeting with Yuyama may not have been entirely by chance. The final episode weaves several strands together, as a performance turns out to be a major step forward in both achieving vengeance as well as finding the mystical evil presence. In a tangential anecdote, I couldn’t help but remember a high school performance I participated in. I played Bill Sikes in a production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! and one evening the retractable knife I had to “kill” Nancy malfunctioned and I ended up splitting the actress’ lip really badly. A huge spurt of blood erupted, which the audience thought was a “special effect”. Almost in unison they emitted a collective “Ooooh,” and several people began applauding. There’s something quite similar at hand in Intrigue in the Bakumatsu’s climax, as an unwitting audience witnesses a rather spectacular display of “real life” action as well as some supernatural elements but just accepts it all as part of the play they’re witnessing.

As compelling and, well, intriguing as Intrigue in the Bakumatsu is, there are some narrative hiccups along the way. The series tends to segue over and over into flashbacks or other sidebars that interrupt the flow of the main storyline. There’s also a tendency to cut back and forth between the separate (if interconnected) arcs of Akizuki and Yuyama, which can be at least momentarily disconcerting. The story could have been pared down, at least a little bit, with fewer extraneous elements getting in the way of the main focal points. On the plus side, the central storyline here is nicely developed and almost always interesting. The series also has a nicely varied design aesthetic. There are a number of nice little moments which tend to exploit a quasi-theatrical “look”, especially when Yuyama’s personal arc is being explored.

Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Intrigue in the Bakumatsu is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sentai Filmworks with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The first thing that many anime fans will notice is how disparate several of the design aesthetics are in this series. Long swaths of the series are animated with an intentionally soft and even grainy look, which are then suddenly intercut with razor sharp sequences. Generally speaking, the softer elements tend to be used for flashbacks, while the "current" happenings are a good deal cleaner. A lot of the series tends to favor a muted color palette, with slate grays, browns and beiges filling the frame. That may lead some to think that there isn't much "wow" to the visual element of the series, but I personally was really impressed with the overall look of the series, and in fact it actually helps to make the show really pop when it does finally explode into brighter primary colors. Line detail here is very sharp and the overall image is beautifully clear and well detailed.

Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Intrigue in the Bakumatsu features both its original Japanese language track as well as an English dub, both presented via DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mixes. Once again, the Japanese track is mixed quite a bit lower than the English track, and so those who like their audio on the bombastic side will probably want to opt for the English dub, even if they generally tend to favor original language options. Fidelity on both of these tracks is excellent, and voice work is also appealing (and really quite similar in tone and general ambience) on both of these tracks. The series has some really nice music, including lots of cues that use kotos and ethnic flutes (or at least synthesizer approximations of those instruments), and those ring through the soundfield with a great deal of sharpness and appeal.

Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Clean Opening Animation (HD; 1:43)


• Clean Closing Animation (HD; 1:32)


• Trailers for Other Sentai Filmworks Releases


• Disc Credits

Intrigue in the Bakumatsu: Irohanihoheto Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Intrigue in the Bakumatsu is a really welcome breath of fresh air after a glut of anime offerings that just seem to be slightly reworked versions of the same old, same old. Akizuki and Yuyama are both really interesting characters, both with tragic elements in their back stories. The political intrigue of the story is also very interesting, if occasionally a bit on the confusing side for those not up to speed on Japan's convoluted history. And the supernatural elements are also quite well handled and very well integrated into the generally "realistic" feel of the series. Intrigue at the Bakumatsu does have some problems, though, mostly in terms of how it reveals its story. It takes too many tangential trips into flashbacks and weird little sidebars and those detract from the overall momentum of the series. But even a slightly flawed series like this is head and shoulders above the cookie cutter outings that seem to define more and more recent anime. This Blu-ray is awfully light on the supplements, but its video and audio are excellent. Recommended.