Streaming: Crunchyroll
Episodes: TBA
Source: Manga
Story Summary: As young Emperor Nero ascends the throne, a young boy named Cestvs is enslaved and brought to Rome to enter the brutal world of slave boxing. Cestvs has a slight build and by all accounts he should be easily-defeated, but specialized training by Zafar, himself a former slave boxer, helps him to make the most out of his speed and reaction time. Cestvs’ master promises freedom to any of the slave boxers who win 100 fights, so Cestvs has a sharp uphill climb through the fists of some of the most brutal fighters to achieve his goal of escaping slavery. But his greatest challenge may be in Ruska, son of one of the Emperor’s military leaders, and a master of hybrid hand-to-hand combat.
Impressions: Boxing really isn’t a sport I’m all that interested in. It’s brutal and bloody, and I just don’t have a taste for watching people beat the crap out of one-another. My dad tried to put on an MMA fight at Thanksgiving one time, and I freaked out (because it was messing up my appetite). But modern boxing at least has rules in place so that the combatants don’t literally kill one-another on a regular basis, and that’s more than I can say for the version of the sport featured in Cestvs. I’m not sure how historically accurate this series is when it comes to Ancient Rome’s purported penchant for gratuitous death-dealing as entertainment for the bloodthirsty citizenry; we’ve all heard the legends of people getting torn apart in terrible ways while the people in the stands cheer, their thumbs pointed down to condemn the defeated, but that’s always seemed like something of an embellishment to me. However, that’s the version of history to which this series seems to subscribe, and it doesn’t shy away from depicting violence and at least mentioning several deaths as a matter of course.
Those are the stakes that our protagonist has to contend with, although the pacing of this episode is so strange that it’s difficult to get a grasp on how high those stakes actually are except in retrospect and by doing literally all of the legwork the story refuses to. After the episode opens by being dropped straight into the middle of a match between Cestvs and an opponent, we quickly rewind to his first match against his beloved friend and fellow slave. He’s apparently already been training as a boxer at this point, but that’s context we’re left to figure out on our own when he’s not immediately pounded into the pavement by his much larger, stronger friend. One ill-timed training scene later, and he’s off to downtown Rome where he meets his rival, wins his first match with little trouble, and even meets the Emperor. A lot of things sure did happen! And strangely enough, most happened in typical 2D fashion, except for the weird, obvious CG at the very beginning. I wonder when Cestvs gains enough skill to level-up into the third dimension?
I’m disappointed that this isn’t a more eye-grabbing opener, because it’s based on a slightly older manga and I always feel compelled to root for adaptations that don’t simply draw from what’s been popular in the most recent couple of years. But unfortunately this episode just feels very rote, lifelessly slipping historical facts into a bland story about a protagonist who in better hands would probably make for a compelling character. He’s literally the ultimate underdog – an enslaved person fighting for his chance at freedom. How do you screw that up? I guess by tossing him into a passionless adaptation like this.
Pros: This is a fairly unique setting for a manga/anime, that’s for sure. I think it’s expected for Western media to draw from Roman history, whether accurate or not, for the purposes of period entertainment, because elements of Roman civilization were so formative to our current culture (or at least we like to believe so, for good or ill). It’s always interesting to me when more distant cultures seem inclined to mine it for material as well.
Cons: I hate to have to harp on this one more time, but in this episode we have yet another example of mediocre CG that manages to ruin any semblance of immersion one might otherwise be able to maintain. Believe me, as much as I like traditional or 2D animation, I’d love for 3DCG to also be a viable option; instead in most circumstances, especially when it isn’t allowed the same love and care as its 2D counterparts (although, in this case it kind of looks like it has) it just doesn’t mesh well stylistically at all. The OP, ED, and opening scene are animated using 3D models and it just doesn’t look right. But, it is better than EX-Arm, I’ll give it that much.
The characters just don’t have any vibrancy to them. Like I said, I don’t care for boxing, but I’d accept it as a story vehicle in service of interesting characters. I want to be invested in Cestvs’ story, but the show seems determined to keep from making him very likeable.
Content Warnings: Sports violence (boxing-related punching and some violent wrestling). Character death (shot to death by several arrows). Blood. Enslaved characters.
Would I Watch More? – This… just isn’t the series for me. I’ve also got a boxing-related series that I’ve been looking forward to watching (Megalobox), so this one just can’t compare.