Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai

Yatagarasu is the anime equivalent of NHK’s Taiga drama, a historical television series highlighting certain prominent figures in Japanese history broadcasted every year (the last one I watched was Sanada Maru from eight years ago, highly recommend that one if you haven’t seen it already). The story follows two second-born sons and their political conflicts, one as the crown prince and the other as a servant to the former, during what looks to be the Heian era (per the show it takes place at Yamauchi in an alternate universe). Although the concept of power struggles within the imperial court and bureaucracy in general are not ... new by any means, the portrayal is reasonable, considering that in traditional cultures first born sons tend to succeed as family heirs versus latter born children. The addition of the ability to shapeshift into ravens makes the plot more interesting as well. The art style is a bit too rigid for my liking but it works.

It’s certainly a breath of fresh air to see an actual seinen anime that lives up to its tag and not some cliche isekais that are a dime a dozen. This show is easily one of my favorites for the season, albeit not garnering enough attention. If you enjoy period dramas and/or a proper seinen story similar to the likes of Ōoku, don’t miss this one.

Historical, fantasy, action, romance(?), and political intrigue. This one is for anime fans who are sick of the isekai sludge that's been dominating the industry for the past few years. And though it may be too early to grant Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai any kind of high praise, so far it seems to be a fair contender for the best anime of Spring 2024.

As with many historically themed anime, it is centered around a struggle of succession; a conspiratorial fight between two brothers for the throne. Our young MC finds himself taking the position of attendant to the royal heir, and is promptly ... thrown into a world where death and deceit are the tools for political conquest. What sets Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai apart is its fantasy setting, in which the citizens of this world are capable of transforming into giant three-legged crows. This fantasy element has yet to be explored in depth, but there seems to be an interesting connection between social status and the state - "human" or crow - of transformation one is allowed to take on.

If you are a fan of most other historical anime, chances are you will love this one too. The art is gorgeous, the music is good, the pacing has felt appropriate, and most characters have been quite likable so far. These first few episodes have led me to believe that this is an anime of substance.

I'm 3.5 episodes in and seeing perverted jokes and references... maybe that's my personality but when you add a third leg to something and put it in the middle and constantly reference that, I have a hard (heh) time getting over that. It distracts me from the overall plot constantly and i paused many times to make sure what I saw was what i saw and that i wasn't crazy for thinking it was something non PG. Idk if that is the humor of the whole thing, but i wanted to warn people who weren't prepared for that, like I wasn't when i was approached ... by it 2 mins into the first episode.