Summer 2022 First Impressions – Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Episode Summary: In the Bakumatsu era, the Shinsengumi were nearly wiped out by a mysterious group of masked foes. In order to help defend the local populace against these enemies who seem to have some connection to the Shogunate, Todo Heisuke, the one Shinsengumi member left standing, kidnaps a group of death row inmates and provides them with a choice – either join the ailing Shinsengumi by “becoming” its lost members, or be executed immediately.

Most of the criminals choose to take on these new roles. Among them is Ichibanboshi, a brawler with a laser-focused desire for revenge. When he discovers that his personal goals align with that of the Shinsengumi, his decision to join them is an easy one. Unfortunately his brash attitude and unique fighting style leave something to be desired within an organization that prides itself on its swordplay. Yet, when he encounters one of the masked Ronin about to raise his sword against an innocent family, Ichibanboshi is able to draw from the power of the Shinsengumi he now embodies to dispel the strange, malignant forces controlling the Ronin.

Impressions: The longer you engage with the anime medium, the more interesting the Shinsengumi become. Part historical figures, part mythological entities, they’ve been transformed into folk heroes along the lines of how we like to picture some of the American founding fathers and past presidents. They’re distant enough in the past that it’s easy to attribute all sorts of accomplishments to them, and if we choose not to do too much digging they can help us feel good about the history of where we live.

They’ve also been codified enough that we feel free to riff on their personas. Here in the US that means we get to enjoy such masterpieces as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Likewise in Japan there exists media like Shine On! Bakumatsu Bad Boys.

This is a fairly fun take on the Shinsengumi mythos, proving to some extent that the Shinsengumi endure just as much due to their legend as their literal real-life accomplishments. Case-in-point: it seems fairly easy for the characters in this series, in spite of some of their often… disturbing personal quirks, to step into the personas provided to them. What they’re trying to fulfill isn’t so much the function of a body-double, but more the purpose of a (benign?) boogeyman and a force to help counteract the type of political movements that are harming the rest of the local populace. This doesn’t require the criminal characters to look or act like their Shinsengumi namesakes; it simply requires them to become them in name. The rest will (hopefully) follow.

I’d classify this episode as “silly fun.” Our focal character is the sort of red-color-coded brash doofus that plays off of the other color-coded character stereotypes in an entertaining, if not entirely original, manner. There’s nothing particularly off-putting here. It’s the perfect kind of low-commitment Summer entertainment that doesn’t ask too much of its viewers. That may or may not be your thing, but I had some fun with it.

Pros: This show has a unique visual style that I enjoy. I can take or leave the texture filtering – it’s not intrusive here but I’m not sure it really adds anything either – but the character designs have a lot of personality and the animation is fairly good. It’s a fun episode to watch.

Cons: Partly because of the type of show this is – an ensemble series with several different named focal characters – some of the character designs resort to annoying visual and personality stereotyping. The most egregious of these is Bou, who’s essentially a “big dumb fat guy who likes to eat.” He speaks in stilted Japanese and his personality thus far is mostly that he hits hard and is always hungry (and sometimes even steals food). In the year of our Lord 2022 it bothers me that we’re still being asked to endure things like this.

Content Warnings: Violence, including hand-to-hand combat and sword-related violence. PTSD/trauma.

Would I Watch More? – It’s difficult for me to say. There are certainly some aspects of the episode I really liked and I have a soft spot for original stories. On the other hand, this series seems to have a sort of brash shounen energy that I really have to be in the right mood for.