The first thing I’ll get off my chest is that this particular show is in the same formula as Pokemon. It is a show based off of a line of toys (rather than a video game) created by Bandai. The show has a very long name when translated to english, so I will be sticking to calling it Onmyou Taisenki.
With that in mind, we are already aware that this fifty two episode show is mainly geared towards a younger audience, rather than an older lady like myself (read: twenty five). So if you’re a youngin’, you may like this show a lot more than I did.
So, this show starts off in the feudal era, or perhaps earlier than that. People known as Toujinshi go around eliminating demons and the like. They make contracts with creatures known as Shikigami. There are many different species within the world of Shikigami. Insects, mammals, fish, reptiles, and a few others. Or maybe that’s all. You don’t really see other species than animals, fish, reptiles or insects.
A village is attacked by a giant Shikigami whose identity is kept secret til near the end of the series. This small family argues about their child, who is seemingly the head of the Ten’ryu, a clan in charge of protecting a gate to the realm known as the Fukumaden. A home for youkai, amongst other things. The attacking clan is called Chii’ryu, who were in charge of eliminating the youkai that leaked out of the dimensional gate.
The true reason for the attack is something that will spoil a majority of the plot, so I’ll just let you in on the alleged reason. The Chii’ryu believe that the Ten’ryu have been mistreating them and taking advantage of the resources within the demon realm.
The main protagonist is a boy named Riku Tachibana. Or Tachibana Riku, however you wish to call him. However, there is an underlying message that this may not be his real identity, given the opening scene in the first episode. On the way to school, we meet a childhood friend of his named Momo. Personally, I find this girl annoying as all hell. She has a high pitched voice, she spaces out in her own little love-world with Riku. Oh yeah, she has a deep liking for Riku, but she is in denial with herself and doesn’t tell him at all. Almost every episode we see at least one scene of her spacing out and over-exaggerating the events around her.
During the first episode, we see Riku subconsciously do weird hand-movements in front of a small shrine on his way to school as he meets Momo. We find out later the true purpose of his quirky habit. He meets this one kid named Yamase who apparently has a fixation on old mythical stories and occult stuff. However, we quickly find out that he has an ulterior motive and that he works for the rival clan of Chii’ryu. In the latter half of the first episode, we see Riku’s grandfather is a priest capable of using Toushin, which are cards that use your ki for various effects. During this time of stalling, Riku hides in the shrine by instruction and discovers this contraption wrapped in a cloth, known as a Drive.
Well, due to instruction once more, he does the quirky hand signs, which activates said Drive and takes him to a separate realm within his mind. This is where he makes a contract with the main Shikigami of the series, Byakku no Kogenta.
This is where the redundancy kicks in. Every single time Kogenta appears, or any Shikigami appears, “Species no Name” is said. Every. Single. Time. Even if they didn’t say it when they first appeared, they make an importance to say it. “Even though it’s already late, ‘Species no Name, kenzan!’”
And later on in the series when they discover more “In” moves, they find Kogenta’s sword, and that has to be the longest animation for a “technique”, ever. Riku slices the In, the screen switches to a flowing line of panels and one opens with a burst of light as a sword slowly; slowly being the keyword here, appears out of the door. Kogenta makes a note to say “It’s here!” repeatedly. How many was it, now?
“It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here!” The sword slowly descends closer to the ground. “It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s here!” Kogenta grabs the hilt of the sword. “Saikaidou Kotetsu. Sanjou!”
…Every. Single. Time. (Although we’re lucky on the last half of the series when this stops and the sword appears the same time Kogenta is summoned. …Thankfully.)
…Ugh. Aside from these many, many repetitions. ..Oh, I forgot to mention another one. Special move names. Every single special move has a “Hissatsu!” in front of it.
Now, that’s not to say that the story is bad in any means. The story is good, if you can get past the battles. Hell, in one of the “battle of the week” episodes, my persona made her sexy presence known. The only regret I have is that she was a “monster of the week”, rather than a permanent presence in the show. She’s not a succubus, I know, but she’s close enough, personality-wise. She’s sexy, she dances, she flaunts her figure, she teases… Mmm. So yummy.
I also forgot to mention that all three of the supporting characters, well, four if you count the teacher, are really annoying. The teacher has a bit of me in her, though. …Just a bit. The latter half of the series is much, much, better than the first half because they mostly drop the shikigami of the week formula and concentrate on the plot of the show.
I know I made this show out to be really bad, but only the repetition is bad. Like I said, geared towards a younger audience than my lovely self. So if you can get past the battles, then I would say the show is good enough to see at least just once. Although my advice is to just add it onto your queue list of shows, and once it comes up, then you can watch it.
Oh. I also forgot to mention that there is a bit of homage to Pikachu in one of the episodes, except it’s not really a homage. Just…coincidence. I hope.
So if you haven’t noticed already, I give this show a netflix.
